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Naturally the war had been fought because of a vampire
No, not true A vampire and a shapeshifter
Vampire Cato Leone had fallen deeply and madly in love with shapeshifter Susan Chaisse, who had fallen in love with him in return The two had been unable to understand why they weren’t allowed to fall in love Frankly Jagger didn’t understand it, either Old World prejudice had done them in It had been a Romeo and Juliet scenario, a Southern West Side Story, a tale as old as ti love seldom cared about proper boundaries Man and every subspecies of man seemed prone to prejudice, and it was usually born of fear and or economics Either way, the outcome was almost always the same In this case, just as in Shakespeare’s tale, it had been cousins of the young lovers who had caused the problems Susan’s first cousin Julian had taken on the for, half vampire, half olf, and attacked Cato Shapeshifters were truly gifted; they could take on whatever shape they chose, and mimic not only another’s appearance but take on their powers, as well Cato hadn’t even knoho he was battling, and in the thick of the fight his own cousin jumped to his aid and was killed by the shapeshifter That raised an uncontrollable rage in Cato, who in turn killed his attacker, and because the shapeshifter had taken on a guise that was partly olf, Cato’s family had attacked the olves, and the violence had threatened to spill over into the streets The power that Fiona MacDonald’s parents had su parties had cost the, could exert thatBut they had known as well that if the battle had erupted into the huht about the destruction of them all Humans far outnumbered the various paranorh the largest concentration of any such creatures was right here, in New Orleans, Louisiana, commonly referred to locally as NOLA History had decreed that they all learn how to coexist Werewolves learned to harness their power at each full moon, and vampires learned how to exist on the occasional foray into a blood bank, along with a steady diet of cow’s blood The shapeshifters had it the easiest, subsisting in their huetarians these days
"Fiona," he said quietly, "I can only repeat what I’ve said to the ate God knows there are enough idiots living here, andall the time, ant to think they’re vampires You can’t deny that this city does attract more than its share of would-be mystics, cultists, wiccans, psychics and plain old nuts"
"I heard that she was entirely drained of blood," Fiona said flatly
He wished that he were dealing with herlife; she had been a fine Keeper, along with her husband, Ewan The two--both born with the marks of each of the three major subspecies--had been fair and judicious And wise They had never jumped to conclusions; they had always done their own questioning, conducted their own investigations They had loved those they had been born to watch, never interjecting the there in case of disputes or problems--or to point out potential probleer took a deep breath He had become a police officer hi itself Most of the underworld--Keepers included--had co a real houn as long ago as the 900s, and in 1022, even ainst some of the doctrines of the church--had been burned Witchcraft had become synonymous with devil worship, and the e in ies, and sacrifice and even eat small children In 1488 the Papal Bull issued by Pope Innocent III set off hundreds of years of torture and death for any innocent accused of witchcraft Jagger found it absolutely astounding that any intelligent h the years could possibly have been the devil worshipping witches they were conde If they’d had half the powers they were purported to possess, they would have called upon the devil and flown far away from the stake, where they were tied and allowed to choose between the garrote or burning alive
Sadly thousands of innocents had perished after cruel torture The Inquisition had thrived in Germany and France, and many of those who truly weren’t human left to escape possible discovery Many of the roups, came to the New World from the British Isles Pixies, fairies, leprechauns, banshees and n of Jaland Before 1590, the Scots hadn’t been particularly interested in witchcraft But in that year Jaan to enforce the laith a vengeance and impose real punishment He was terrified of a violent death, and certain that witches had been responsible for a storm that had nearly killed hieneral into a frenzy, torturing and killing for thethe most hideous of methods
When the Puritans headed for the New World in the early 1600s--intent, oddly enough, on banishing anyone from their colonies as not of their faith, despite the fact that they had traveled across the ocean in pursuit of religious freedoan to make their way across the sea to a new life, as well
There were other witchcraft trials in the New World before Salem, but it was the frenzy of the Saleration The French in America had little interest in witchcraft, and French law allowed for a great deal more freedom of belief
By the ties alike had h not particularly trusting of one another, they had still found a safe home
Until the elder MacDonalds had been killed Their deaths, their sacrifice, had been noted by all clans and families And not only had peace been restored, there had been a sea change in the way the different species felt about each other There had been a nues since that tiainst any interht themselves superior
But overall, there had been peace America was a free country They were free to hold their own opinions about sex, religion, politics--and one another They obeyed the laws, the countries and their own And their ainst hu human persecution down upon them
"Yes," he said quietly, "she was drained of blood"
"And a va to tell you--I’ve only just begun to investigate," he said
"Oh, please I’m not with the media"
He looked at her in the rearview e or wisdoood thing to say She stiffened like a raed to speak evenly
"My parents died to keep you all fro upon the citizenry of the city in your lust for power and desire to rip each other to pieces My parents were unique--both of thens But that was then, and this is now My sisters and I were born without the full power of n of the winged being, Caitlin with the n of the fang But here’s where we do have an edge--I have all the strengths of the vampire, and the vampires are my dedicated concern, just as Caitlin must watch over the shapeshifters and Shauna is responsible for the olves Don’t you think I wish my mother was here, too? But she’s not And I will not let the va that promises discovery, death and destruction for hundreds of our oho are innocent Do you understand? Whoever did this must be destroyed If you don’t handle it, I will"