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It was sio, they’d hidden from the sun and humanity had been scarce They’d used their wiles and hunted discreetly, careful not to take too much from a community lest their presence be suspected Va the day Others lived apart in large coht i a stable of healthy blood donors at their convenience But foror absent the fear of a powerful leader

And so they hunted Hue unless there were other entice down rules about speed Giving the hus prolonged the hunt and added extra amusement But the practice had almost become taboo with the explosion of the human population It was considered too risky Too blatant And no respectable leader would allow it

But then, Ivan had always been fond of breaking the rules

A whiff of enticing blood reached Baojia’s nose There was a human close A woman And she had Elixir in her syste, it er?"

"No, it kills them," Natalie said "Eventually"

"It ritted teeth The hu closer "Then it weakens the amnis and causes confusion It attacks the mind Eventually, it will drive you mad"

"That would explain their behavior," Tulio ht with each other like dogs The hued "We’re , they’d die of heatstroke and thirst before anyone found the these hunts?"

Tulio said, "I think so I haven’t seen hinize some of his men They don’t take part in the hunts, just watch The vaes Lots of accents"

Baojia sensed it before he saw it A vibration in the wind or the earth So tipped hi

"Tio now"

"What are you doing?" Natalie said "We can’t just let thelared at her "There will be ten or more vaer than average, we don’t want to confront them Besides, officially, we are on their territory They would be within their rights to attack us"

"Baojia!" Her indignant voice tore at him "You can’t let them"

He turned over to look at her "What would you have me do? Take humans from another’s territory? It would start a war It’s likely Ivan or one of his people has fed frois to do with as he pleases" He saw her face drain of color "Natalie, we are not prepared to fight theht"