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I peeled off soical in nature" I said the last out of the side of my mouth Her eyes darted deeper into the restaurant, then to the door Darius had used to make his exit "I’m not here on vampire business Not even remotely He just doesn’t take a hint, like I told you earlier But I aoing on in this town, have you? Anything that doesn’t seeht?"

Her eyes hardened and her jaw set That was the first sign that she didn’t want to get a narc sign hung around her neck

Which , just like the mermaid

I half lifted esture into playing with my ponytail so the patrons in the restaurant didn’t read anything into it "I totally get you not wanting to stick your neck out, but I’ trouble to anyone who doesn’t deserve it I’ your town out, that’s all I have no affiliations here"

"The Magical Law Enforcees for months They haven’t found squat"

"Clearly they are idiots"

"You an idiot, too?"

"So far, yes, I a The Mages’ Guild has a big presence here, and despite the MLE office trying to keep their investigation quiet, the guild has caught wind of it They like to deal with problees themselves They don’t like outsiders in their affairs So their response was to lean on the MLE office so the office would clam up" She met and held my eyes "There’s a reason it worked"

"And has the guild sent someone to check into it?"

"Not as far as I know But it doesn’t uild says soet hurt Do you get what I’ stinks, and it’s not a stench I want co, but here’s the thing Scare tactics don’t work on es want to see who really sits at the top of the power pyraet in h types like theain"

Adrenaline puh e, even an indirect one, always fired me up I continued, "In thepeople and harnessing their energy to call de de, but--" I shookhi him in, I really mean battle him and accidentally kill hio down So can you help me if I promise your name will never come up? Which is an assurance I can make, because I don’t even know your name--"

"Lily"

"Oh As in, the owner of Lily’s, which serves the best breakfast ever?" She nodded "That’s okay, I’ll forget your name as soon as I leave Names never stick But I need your help Please I usually wouldn’t resort to begging, but if I don’t wrap this up and get out of town quickly, I’ll have to fulfill a promise to a shifter--one that concerns a vaical species any o was not at all You can see my predicament"

She looked at me for a moment, clearly indecisive "Satisfy my curiosity on the deal and I’ll tell you what I know"

Chapter Sixteen

Agnon once again forced the lesser deical summons for itself It materialized in the same place as before, within a blood-spattered chalk circle The saic to contain Agnon