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Eli slapped hireement, but for the B word Not allowed in my house I stuffed a crisp piece of bacon in on top of my chuckle It was maple bacon with lots of black pepper, just the way I liked it "We ing in some Naturaleza vamps left over from de Allyon’s brief visit" There were two kinds of vamps: Fame Vexatu sleek and refined and beautiful, and the Naturaleza, the kind who treated humans like food to be hunted and killed Lucas Vazquez de Allyon, also known as Death’s Rival, was the latter kind Naturaleza were faster and meaner and harder to kill, hence e--the fore much at any time--but his scent smelled relieved And the Kid blew out a satisfied breath Their relief let me kno bad I’d been I set down ar, and sipped Eli leaned back in his chair, his T-shirtfit--very, very fit--and exposed part of the newish scar that trailed down from jaw to chest The scar was a lumpy mass over Eli’s collarbone and his almond-mocha skin still pulled on it in odd hen he moved

Eli looked relaxed, but he watched me with an intensity that Beast wouldn’t have liked, had she been awake The Kid--roorowth spurt, looked back and forth between us with an eagerness I didn’t understand

"I’rouchy I letstuff"--I shrugged at the vague word, because they didn’t know about the binding and I wasn’t going to tell theet me down I just realized that today And while I still have to deal with that stuff, I’ away fro would do ot back from Natchez, my Beast and I could find a way to free Beast frohead and be done with it

I chuckled softly at the thought and waved away the curiosity on the faces of the two guys "Never o ahead and pick up anything you need for your arsenal," I said to Eli, uns To the Kid, I added, "Generate a list of electronic gear we ht need Start with throay phones and some com units that can’t be listened in on Unlike round areas, and since we’ll likely be tracking down vaht, we’ll need equipround or allow us a work-around"

The two guys shared a look while I chewed on another piece of bacon It was one of those guy looks that see or maybe is on the stupid side "What?" I said, irritated

"Natchez ht be a proble "Well, crap" I hadn’t thought about that The Kid was a convicted felon, on probation, and though we had gotten per shoot-outs had not gone unnoticed Things would likely be harder now Before the Younger brothers ca for his brother’s war records, hunting for clues about the origin of the scar and the reason for Eli’s earlyBrother wanted to keep an eye on hiitily "I’ll see if I can get so him over the state line into Mississippi"

"Yeah Okay" I sopped up the grease on uys were still looking athiood to have you back," Eli said blandly

And then I got it I sed, drank souys were planning on leaving" I felt Beast wake up and listen in, ear tabs twitching

The Kid blushed and concentrated on his plate "We talked about it," Eli said easily "We need a job We figured we could pick up so farther north, but still in state I have a few contacts"

I stuffed in another bite of egg and pushed in a triangle-shaped piece of toast after it, but watched them as I chewed When I finished my plate of food I set my fork to the side and blottedthe shoulder holster, the Walther, and the va the blade, I lay it on the table, re, set it beside the knife, and leaned back inEli’s posture

I took a slow breath and let a hint of Beast intobecause I’ve been difficult andmy business away?" I’d made it an either-or half question, half accusation, but there were ainst skinwalkers"

The Kid’s eyes ide because I hadn’t spoken aloud about my most recent revelation when I shifted in front of nearly every person I knew in New Orleans, giving away my secret in a very public way I had, in fact, refused to speak about that incident at all, and Eli and the Kid were still curious about it Insanely curious

"Or maybe," I went on, before either could respond, "Rick LaFleur offered you a gig that he would ordinarily have offered to ood reasons--and is looking for ways to shut me out of his life So he offered it to you instead"

Eli’s eyes shifted away just a hair and back The Kid’sit "Rick," I said There was a coht as well have cursed from the way the Kid flinched Rick worked for PsyLED now, Homeland Security’s Psycho supernatural crimes He was s--withhi suit