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DINNER WAS ALL BUT OVER

Cody and Brendan were drinking coffee, picking at the last of Beulah&039;s cherry pie, when a blood-curdling scream sounded from the bedroom above

Cody knocked his chair over as he leaped to his feet

He raced for the stairs, bounding up the steps in seconds He didn&039;t knock, didn&039;t hesitate, didn&039;t go through his own rooh the door of Alex&039;s rooht She was siht ahead

And screaht havehad been disturbed

He hurried to her bedside, clasped her shoulders and shook her gently "Alex, what is it? What happened?"

She blinked and fell silent, staring at him

"Alex?"

She gasped and grabbed his aret out to Bill Simpson&039;s ranch His wifethe boys" She stared at hi, but therefor her boots Cody saw that Brendan had followed hi in the doorway, the rest of the household behind him Brendan looked at him quizzically and whispered, "Did you tell her?"

Cody kneas asking if Cody had told Alex about the Si whether Alex e dreao," he said to Brendan "We&039;ve got to get out there"

"You&039;re not going without me," Alex said

"Alex, there&039;s no reason to risk-"

"There&039;s every reason It wasLevy, you and Bert keep a close eye on the house," Alex said

"Alex, I&039; you we&039;re going to have another child to bury if we don&039;t get out there-fast," Alex said, already putting on her jacket

Cody orried that he ht at a crucial moment by the need to protect Alex, but since she was already heading for the door, he reckoned he had no choice

"Bert," he said, following Alex, "get over to the saloon and warn the sheriff This et us out of town Be on the alert"

Bert nodded gravely

"Levy, don&039;t leave the house," Cody said

"I won&039;t," Levy vowed solemnly

"Let irls be ready to defend yourselves"

Alex, familiar with the way out to the ranch, rode in the lead Cody and Brendan raced just behind her, neck and neck

Cody glanced up at the sky Still a few days until the next full moon

Still a few days before Milo Roundtree would ht sky, leery of what e dreaet Alex out of town?

They pulled up at the gates of the farns that warned, No Trespassing Trespassers Will Be Shot on Sight

Cody circled his horse away, then rode hard for the fence and sailed over

Brendan and Alex followed suit

As they neared the house, Alex called out, "Bill, it&039;s Alex Don&039;t shoot You&039;re in danger, and we&039;ve co for Bill to open the door He broke it down and strode inside, al into the un in his hands

He was obviously debating whether he should be using it or not

"It&039;s your wife," Cody heard Alex say "She&039;s sick, Bill"

Cody left the the roo on the bed next to one of her sons, her face contorted and her s as she leaned toward the boy

Cody flew across the roo her off the bed He straddled her on the floor while she shrieked in fury and swung her fists at his into his flesh By then the boys were awake, shouting, crying

Jared, who had so nearly just been drained by hishim on the back

By then, however, the others had coet the boys out of here!" Alex cried, then ed to corral Jared, while Bill collected his other son in his ar down at his ith a combination of horror and fear

Brendan s very effectively by sitting on therapple with her aret her under control, Bill burst back into the room

"Oh, thank God! She&039;s still alive You can&039;t kill her Butwhat on earth is going on?" he demanded

At the sound of her husband&039;s voice, Dolores went off in another frenzy of rage, kicking, shrieking, trying to free her arrasp

"Bill, damn it, I don&039;t want to have to kill her," Cody said "Getto doher take anyone else down, do you understand?"

Bill nodded jerkily and disappeared

A minute later he was back with the requested rope Cody carefully tied her arainst Brendan&039;s hold with a th Then the two men hefted Dolores onto the bed and tied her there All the while, she was straining toward the as she tried to bite

"What should we do?" Bill asked anxiously

"You should get out of here," Cody said softly "You don&039;t need to see her this way"

Bill stared at Cody, his eyes pleading "She&039;s irl"

"I know that, Bill, and I will try to save her Now, go look after your sons They need you" As Bill left the room, Cody turned to Brendan and said, "I need ive her your blood?" Brendan asked, frowning "It&039;s too soon after last tiht I heal quickly"

"This quickly?"

"Yes I think Hell, Brendan, it&039;s this woman&039;s only hope"

Brendan left the rooainst the wall and watched Dolores as she began to slowly return to true consciousness She closed her eyes and went still, then, a moment later, opened her eyes and looked around She seemed absolutely mystified by the fact that she was tied to her son&039;s bed

She stared at Cody "What-what happened?" she asked

As he walked toward her, a look of alarm came over her features "Where are my children? What have you done with ht The boys are all right But you&039;ve beeninfected You nearly killed your son tonight"

She stared back at hi her head "No," she whispered But he could tell that she believed hian to moan

"Dolores, you have to trust ive you blood My blood It will fight the disease"

"Where&039;s Bill?" she asked plaintively

"He&039;s right outside I didn&039;t want hiain"

Tears suddenly filled her eyes and trickled down her cheeks "Amy I love my Amy so much But my boyshow could I hurt ht ht, but I have to keep you tied up for now I&039;ht ht you, Mr Fox," Dolores said "I proainst her bonds again, not fighting, but desperate "I&039;d rather die than hurt my boys Please don&039;t let that happen If Iif I don&039;twell, if I don&039;t coot to kill er"

Brendan returned with Cody&039;sneedles, while Brendan assisted hi "Blood transfusion is quite an a to keep her callish physician named William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood Shortly after that, doctors tried the first transfusion, but it wasn&039;t until 1665 that someone was finally successful, and it wasn&039;t even on a person A physician na thes After that, there were several successes with humans, but because the doctors used animal blood, the law stepped in and it was a hundred and fifty years until we started being able to use human blood to save people&039;s lives"

Cody wasn&039;t sure she was paying any attention to his words, but she see," he told her

Dolores let out a little cry as the needle went in Cody swiftly unstrapped the tourniquets he had tied around her ar his blood to flow into her, as she asked, "A our best," Cody assured her

Then her eyes closed, and she fell silent

Cody took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fist to keep the blood flowing

"Cody," Brendan said warningly "Enough"

Cody nodded As Brendan put pressure on Dolores&039;s arm and withdrew the needle, Cody tended to himself

"What do you think?" Brendan asked anxiously "Does she have a chance?"

"There&039;s always a chance," Cody replied grimly "We&039;ll just have to wait and see"

MILO ROUNDTREE PACED beneath the trees, his shoulders squared, his expression hard Nasty

The woman squared her own shoulders and approached him "You sent for me," she said "But you could have just come to me You had no problelance that sent chills racing through her

"I&039; ed She reinal seduction so well

She&039;d never stood a chance against his blandishments and promises She had believed that he adored her, needed her, wanted her, and that she would be a queen a they wanted To rule the world

"All right," she said crisply "What do you want?"

"Why is everything taking so long?" he de-by day-very soon now, if they aren&039;t already"

She laughed "Cody Fox and Brendan Vincent Two athered so htful for a Cody Fox isn&039;t a normal man" He shook his head "Neverin town?"

"In town? Things are going very well I&039;ve already turned many people, and soon I&039;ll have turned even more," she said proudly "Now, as to the Apache campI&039;ve heard it&039;s quiet now And I haven&039;t heard about the fa on itself out at Calico Jack&039;s, either But I&039;ve already started infiltrating the ranches I&039;ve done as you desired I haven&039;t failed"

He grasped her suddenly, his strength terrifying, and wrenched her to him "I made you, my love And I can destroy you"

"I have done as you desired," she repeated, trying not to shake He was so powerful, and she&039;d seen the hen he was displeased, he turned on his own

He released her so suddenly that she alhtened and stood very still

"We&039;ll see about the ranches," he told her

"By toht," he said "I will know"

She kept her distance as she said, "If you don&039;t want to come yourself, send anyone you want to check on e ered him Good She hadhim that he was selfish, and a coward He would cheerfully risk others&039; lives, but never his own, letting the townsfolk shoot down his

And she was, she knew, expendable

He walked over to her, but she held her ground, staring at hi eyes

His arm shot out, and he slapped her Hard So hard that she fell to the dirt

"Remember this, and remember it well I ave you power-I didn&039;t leave you to rot, or survive off rats and vermin in the woods Cross me, failhione

A LEX HAD GATHERED BILL and the boys in the kitchen, where she had Bill light the kerosene laas stove, and she&039;d made hot chocolate He had politely thanked her, but he seeed around until he found a bottle of whiskey he apparently kept hidden in a cabinet

"I don&039;t understand-what are thosethe silence

"You&039;re old enough now to understand," Bill said "Your baby sister-she wasdiseased And she ive the disease to yourtoto"