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"Oh, ain, "Oh, ?" Fiona deave her anger free rein again "I would think, if there was a need to knock, you would have toldher and wanting only to get away to think--about Caitlin’s words, Jagger’s absence "I’d like to grab a shower"

"A shower? You need to be decontaminated," Caitlin snapped

"What?"

"You ith--you ith Jagger DeFarge!" Caitlin said

How did she know? Fiona was certain that her sister hadn’t seen Jagger She was positive He never would have put her into that position He could be far faster than any speeding bullet Even if he had been sound asleep, with his acute hearing, he would have knohen Caitlin twisted the knob, and he would have been gone, rather than let her sister catch him there

"Caitlin, this isn’t really any of your business," Fiona said

Caitlin stared at her, her jaw clenched Finally she spoke icily "I’m afraid that, because of e are, it is very one

Ruing the situation--but never the deed--Fiona hurried into the shower Afterward she brushed her teeth, dressed quickly in a soft knit halter dress, grabbed her sandals and sped down the stairs A glance at her watch assured her that she hadn’t ain--and that her sisters would be at the breakfast table

Caitlin ry, but Shauna was just amused

"Ah, there she is at last The fallen wo tiet in bed with somebody," Shauna said

"But a va out the word

"Does somebody want to run up to the roof and announce it to the city?" Fiona asked

"Honestly, Fiona I can’t believe that in the ht a vahed and walked over to the coffeepot on the buffet Antonia--a shapeshifter--came and helped them out three days a week She was a natural housekeeper and a warure She’d been with the into the shop one day and overhearing the that even between the three of the up with the house and the store

Antonio , with a slight touch of pecan

Fiona got her coffee, then turned to face Caitlin She loved her sister so much, and she knew that Caitlin loved her, too She hated it when they were at odds

"August Gaudin has been coht as well live here They’re goodbeings So is Jagger DeFarge"

"How can you say that? You hardly know him," Caitlin said

"One way or another, we’ve known him forever, actually," Shauna said in Fiona’s defense "Caitlin, coht as well, too"

"None of us should become involved," Caitlin said quietly

"Perhaps we shouldn’t," Fiona said, walking over to where her sister was sitting at the dining room table

"I’m sorry Maybe I should have, but I didn’t really know myself untilLook, that’s not the point We have to worry about the real problem here, not whether or not I choose to have sex, or ho not to overreact Honestly" She took another deep breath and stood, her hands on her hips "But the vampires started the war, the war that killed our parents, Fiona"

"They--they didn’t start it alone," Fiona said

"They started it over an affair--a love affair--between a vario," Fiona said quietly "I’ to war"

"Everyone will start to think that ly

"Would that really be such a bad thing?" Fiona asked

"Let ," Caitlin said

"It’s not you or er It’s the rest of the underworld It’s people It’s the world around us I’m sorry, but the world is filled with prejudice, and that’s sis?" Fiona asked

Caitlin looked at her and sighed "I don’t want you to feel the hurt the world can dish out," she told her sister

Fiona hugged her, suddenly at a loss for words

"Get serious Half the shapeshifters were drooling over hi to be fine When is the wedding?"

"Wedding?" Caitlin gasped

"Shauna! Stop, I beg you There is no wedding," Fiona said "Seriously, there’s a killer out there, and catching hi sex with a vampire," Caitlin noted sourly