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"Ju He jumped into the tree beside you and juht at you Good shot, by the way"
"You’re sure the shotgun was loaded with va to be certain
"I stole them froun and reht, I determined that they were indeed un nut pal in North Carolina I duone inside We should have gone in But we sat in the SUV, night air h, chilled and damp I started to speak, but Eli beat , flesh-regenerating vampire zombies" His brow crinkled "They weren’t zombies Were they?"
"No They were vamps But they were a different kind of va"
"Maybe" He opened his door, and I followed Eli Younger into the bed-and-breakfast, to discover that our proble
Jameson met us in the foyer, hands on his hips and a frown on his face "Where is she?" he demanded
"Who?" we both said
"Esmee" His eyes widened and he dropped his arms "She didn’t unfire that clung to us At our puzzled expressions, he fished a key out of his shirt pocket and opened the door of an inlaid cabinet to reveal a gun safe Four e He scrubbed his face with one hand "Beau is going to killtogether all of Esone to hunt vamps"
"Most likely with two of her less-than-civilized, less-than-refined, uneducated neighbors She left just after you did, clai that you had asked her to introduce you to thea car for her But I would bet a month’s pay that Buddy and Bubba picked her up, and I doubt that those two even know that we have a mayor"
"Buddy and Bubba?" Eli said with a half-lifted brow Everything the y, the barest minimum of motion and muscle needed to accomplish the deed or indicate the emotion
"Twins They share a defective brain between theet practice on the back forty" He stood, and it was the first time I had ever seen Jaer Middle-aged, but in good shape
"You double as security for Esmee," I stated
"Yes Her sons, Beau and Gordon, hired us My wife is a licensed practical nurse We take care of Esmee She said you sent a car for her, or I’d have driven her into town"
"Does she have a cell phone? We can trace it Maybe use it to track her"
"Already did," the Kid said fro coordinates to your cells, with an overlay of nearby streets Her position is constantly changing, and right now she’s off road"
"The twins have off-road vehicles Those ss," Ja her back," I said, racing up the stairs "I have to change" I needed arht than Eli’s shotgun or ht on my heels, our feet loud on the old wooden stairs "I have soht make a difference with the silver-resistant vampires," he said atthe head of the only va, I entered s My few clothes and ar in the closet, and my toiletries were on the bath cabinet I wasn’t used to life with servants
I changed into va clothes: combat boots, and motorcycle-style armored leather pants and jacket over fleece to keep me warm I double-checked the placement of the removable, padded-ar and the M4 was loaded with seven silver va rounds Way better than Eli’s two-load I slid the weapon in and out of its harness several ti up when it was needed; that kind of thing was the difference between life and death I added another handgun to the three I already carried and slid a sed the hair-stick stakes in ed my head on the roof of the SUV and stabbed myself Dumb I could smell my own blood, which I hadn’t noticed until now I didn’t have time to shift into Beast and heal, and there was no way to bind the scratches I was going to be a calling card to every vamp in town, but there was no help for it I didn’t bother to checkto a fashion show
Four minutes after I enteredand his hands were erin as he ever had,that the flesh around his eyes was faintly crinkled "Where’s your toy?" I asked