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I laughed "What is it with you people and pop culture? Don’t you have your own stuff to quote?"

"I’, too, remember So I’m curious about my human side But the purebloods all love huet philosophical and say it’s because they know they’re going to die, but so others"

"Interesting choice Wouldn’t figure you for a Philip Roth fan"

"I knoomen are supposed to hate him But I love me some Roth He’s brutal, but he’s honest"

"You read a lot, don’t you?"

"That’s how I lived, for a long time," I said, as I pulled hts turning to Jason and the years I’d grieved for hieable "Anyway, yeah, I read A lot"

Julian used his elbow to poke me in the ribs, kindly if aardly "Well, now you’re living enough for three people" I snorted in agreement

We sat in companionable silence till I broke it with a question I kneas probably inappropriate but I was dying to ask

"Can I ask you a rather invasive personal question, Julian?"

"Probably Depends What is it?"

"Did you know your huht he was going to plead the fifth But then he took off his glasses for another round of his nervous-cleaning gesture

"No, I didn’t know him at all I don’t think my mother really knew him, to be honest He was basically a human sperm donor"

Julian’s voice wasn’t bitter exactly, but there was an edge to his normally warm tone

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked"

"No, it’s fine We halflings all have our stories--"

Julian’s words were cut short by a shout from Ryu

"Back!"figure was launched from the second floor of Tally’s apart sound as, a second later, her apartment blew heavens to Betsy

Julian’s sli us with his power We were two houses down from the blast, and yet, when he dropped his barriers, we could still feel the heat on our faces

"Holy shit," I breathed Julian’s face was as white astoward the blaze The others were kicking down the front door of the building, with Daoud frantically pulling fire extinguishers out of his jeans and passing the had at least five other apartht People would be home

I started forward but fell back as I heard the wail of sirens in the background A second later, the first of Stefan’s supernatural police arrived in an inconspicuous black sedan Then the humans arrived: both fire crews and police The supernatural and huether sea the other like master puppeteers while the other was totally oblivious to any intervention I retreated to sit on the hood of Ryu’s car as I watched the orchestrated chaos unfold, surrounded by neighbors drawn out by the explosion

"What happened?" said a voice to my left The question was repeated, and I realized the voice was aias leak," I ias leak? Wow"

I was trying to wrap my brain around Conleth Even as I stared in horror at the para’s victim, I felt such terrible pity for hi we’d read in the files yesterday There was one file of crayon drawings in which he’d drawn pictures of a s hands with two larger stick figures dressed in white uniforms A terrible parody of the "My Faarten

The h I was very obviously not listening

"… old buildings often have things wrong with the