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"Wildly high," the detective adht it was an anomaly"
"An anole one of the victier was silent, and Caitlin could tell Ryder’s words grated on hier "We saw that last one die," he said softly "It looked like his heart was about to explode out of his chest"
Now Jagger looked to Caitlin--for confirmation, she realized She nodded silently
Ryder nodded, too "And that, right there, is your main clue That adrenaline overdose is what happens when a walk-in leaves a body"
Chapter 7
"A walk-in," Jagger said sharply
At the same time Caitlin demanded, "What’s a walk-in?"
"Other cultures have other names for them Devas Dervishes Shadow people Qlippoth" Ryder’s voice echoed in the chilled rooy that can take over huy that craves human fore its senses and wreak havoc, burning out the body so quickly that the human host dies of stroke or heart attack, just as in aoverdose"
Caitlin’s earlier distraction had disappeared; she was co and the gravity of the situation
Ryder looked to Jagger For a one, and the shifter spoke colleague to colleague "For soe in the human host that presents with symptoms of a meth overdose: massive adrenaline jolt, heart failure--but without quite the same resultant che and alcohol use et into a hu when that person is weak or in an altered state of soh, suicidal--or in the middle of sex"
He didn’t look at Caitlin as he said the last, but she could feel his words sizzle through her body
"So that er was saying
"Give the oblet of blood," Ryder said Jagger gave him a lethal look but didn’t rise to the bait as Ryder continued "Bourbon Street is as enticing to a walk-in as it is to a pickpocket or any other predator Easy prey And the…excesses of the arena make it easy for them not to be noticed by anyone around theer’s ascetic face was deep in thought "What are they doing here? Why New Orleans, suddenly?"
"They’re riding the trade winds," Ryder answered "There’s a whole group of the theh the Bahae over late su-related deaths and you’ll see--same pattern, spread out over various islands and jurisdictions"
Caitlin could tell fro up on that immediately
Ryder continued "These are not nors, but there’s one in their midst which seems to have taken control of the herd The others have for--whatever reason--coalesced around that one entity" Caitlin atching his face intently and saw that he darkened as he spoke There was so to; she could feel it in the weight of his voice as well as see it in his expression Ryder glanced at her briefly, as if feeling her scrutiny, then looked back to Jagger "They’re following this one, and I think ‘it’ is specifically targeting New Orleans because the feeding is so good As you said, if you’re looking for drunk, stoned or hu, Bourbon Street is the place to be Especially on--" Caitlin felt a chill "Halloween," shehis sentence Halloween in New Orleans was by noparty that Mardi Gras was, but as revels tended to do, it brought out all of NOLA’s bacchanalian fervor
"Three days away," she said, feeling ill
"And every drunk, stoned tourist in town is up on Bourbon Street for the night," Jagger concluded gri down at the corpse in front of them
"We have to move fast," Ryder suer asked hi
Caitlin was jolted back to the present, surprised at his sudden vehemence
"What the hell do you care what happens to this city?" Jagger went on
Ryder’s face closed like a shutter "That’s none of your business, vaether, shifter," Jagger replied, equally cold
"I have a job to do," Ryder said evenly "This city is where it led me I have no attachment here one way or the other"
Caitlin felt as if she’d been stabbed in the heart at his words, and the feeling was frightening I can’t trust him He doesn’t care It’s all a job for him She scrambled for detach but kiss Why should I feel torn apart?