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TheLeo drink from me My heart thudded painfully I forced myself to inhale slowly His scent filled my nostrils It wasnot the same, not quite the saies and pheroain Rick dropped his leg to the floor He was professionally interested in the MOC’s primo He was personally interested in my reaction to the primo Soul sat forward The boys dropped their heads and shoulders and as if looking at tablet screens, studied the rest of us beneath lowered brows Eli atching my reactions, a, "Dude, isn’t that MOC’s top huht here"

Soul swept her hair back She was interested in Bruiser in both professional and very personal ways Her nostrils fluttered She liked the way he s, which hfor control of ht for mates

Crap, crap, crap on toast My breath ca killing teeth I’d rather fight a score of rogue va to be bad I just knew it

In the shadows behind him I spotted the sheriff Of course Why not one ht The sheriff hadn’t been involved in the cleanup of vaht be a new player to theht to Eli, who sat up and sucked in his already rock-hard stomach Wry amusement pulled my mouth to the side I shifted e Dumas

Eyes on Bruiser, I took a breath to force some sort of equanimity, lifted my sandwich, and bit in Bruiser looked like a million dollars, spiffy in suit pants and polished loafers with tassels His white dress shirt was rolled up to his elbows, his tie loose, and his suit coat was slung over his shoulder by one finger

Bruiser shifted his eyes from Rick to me and smiled Beast’s reaction started atHe betrayed us, I thought at her He was disloyal Beast didn’t care

Sylvia, who had eyes only for Eli, said, "We have more preliminary data on the dead found in Esther’s old lair Nine vamps and forty-seven humans, twelve of them children" The rooot a call fro any and all help And then, onwitches"

The pheroain, fast this time, to surprise and worry as we all turned to her "Until today eren’t sure, as the Acheé fauess--a fa males is indicative of a possible witch connection And their neighbors claietables year round"

"Howa brand new, top-of-the-line cell phone out of his pocket to take notes

"Four," Sylvia said "Three adults and a thirteen-year-old who hasn’t reached puberty"

Puberty hen ht not know that," I said

"Precisely We have Criht"

"Details," Rick said

"Introductions," the sheriff said If she had fangs, she would have been showing thelare that was all cat Quickly, he returned his attention to the lady sheriff and snored He offered his intros, and Sheriff Turpin said, "You’re part of the help the governor promised us Law enforcement of Adams County is always happy to ith PsyLED" But her tone was dry and tight Proper protocol would have been for Rick and Soul to report in to Sylvia before co here, and she wanted them to know she didn’t appreciate the misstep

I watched as Rick made nice-nice with Sylvia Turpin, LEO to LEO They see other players in the roo each other over, a so, here in Natchez after the shootout I had left the scene with Rick, and the glance they were exchanging suggested that the priether And liked it Crap Inside, ht at her Me too

"NPD is handling the lair The Acheé place falls underto keep citizens safe and run the criing ht back Our local expert says it’s both Naturaleza vamp blood and witch And the witches had silver-shot ammo on hand It didn’t slow the vamps down"