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“Stop that,” she said, lips firh

He wanted her to laugh with hi sex, wanted her to play with hih?”

“Did you discover her nah”

The snow had begun to fall in earnest when they hit the street again, but there was no wind, the world a serene sheet of white Before doing anything else, he made a call—while Ash pretended to check out the well-litdisplay of the sex shop next door His purpose was to touch base with a combat-trained Tower vampire he knew patronized a nearby dance club Emaya didn’t miss a beat when he asked her to keep an eye on Khalil

Janvier would’ve preferred to do it himself, but Khalil had already spotted hiliain Khalil also knew Janvier as an individual, whereas he was unlikely to have run into Emaya—or to notice her if he did The statuesque Emaya was more akin to Ash than she was to the prettily plump and submissive creatures Khalil preferred

“Are you alone?” he asked her

“No Mateo is with me”

“Good” If Khalil was behind the murder, he’d obviously become even more sadistic as the years passed, but Eth to take hiether, keep hi him, and contact me with a full report once he returns to his home”

If Khalil was the killer, he was too smart to choose a victim who could be easily linked to hiht was safe—from death, at least Torture re victih those volunteers didn’t always know the extent of what awaited That grim truth at the forefront of his mind, Janvier said, “I want to knoho he speaks to, what he does, anything that strikes you as unusual about his behavior”

“Got it”

“Even a hint of trouble, call me or the Tower”

“Will do, but ht, so we have plenty of backup nearby if we need it”

Relaxing, Janvier waited until the other couple arrived in case Khalil slipped out in the interi Ash about her apparent interest in the erotic toys on display She laughed and, with her phone, snapped photos of the various ite Mateo or Eh to the Tower alerting D situation He also , but that it didn’t appear critical at this point It may be a residue of the battle trauma I think the vampire leaders should be contacted tos down The bloodlust wasn’t hazardous yet, but give it a few e

Janvier had once come into a town that was meant to be a rest stop for couriers only to find every part of the small settlement sticky with rust red, and the two resident valuttons on the warm, nude corpse of the woman who’d been the lover to one He’d executed both on the spot It was the only way to contain the slaughter