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He swirled the ice cubes around in his glass “You know I can do what I want, right?”
“And you knohy you na human female whose bite scars and lack of panties under a short denim skirt announced her availability for any va stupid shit”
Hunter snorted “To try to stopstupid shit”
“I do have backup, you know” He jerked his head toward Baddon and Jaggar as they e sated and relaxed But they arriors through and through, and beneath their loose-gaited swagger was a deadly alertness that no aazes took note of every individual in the place as they made a beeline toward Hunter
“How is it,” Baddon drawled as they approached, “that this is Hunt’s party and we got all the action?”
“Not me” Riker held up his hands in denial “I fed, but I have a beautifulhome to”
Jaggar punched Riker in the shoulder “Lucky bastard” He eyed Hunter “I saw you with that busty brunette Did you get some?”
“Depends on what ‘so himself
For the first ti all his crazy into the wind and doing the feainst hi – had weighed too heavily on his ht of her put hi but have sex
Then there was the curse Oh, and the possibility of a spy inside the clan whoinfo to Shadon
Hunter was so screwed
“Hunt!” Riker jogged after him “No stupid shit”
“Yeah, yeah,” he e that came out into a dark alley The narrow street, cluttered by Dumpsters and crates, was otherwise clean and, even better, deserted
The club sat on the outskirts of Seattle in a posh neighborhood the cops and vampire hunters left alone It was possible that they were aware of the existence of the club, but as long as no wealthy humans were harassed or killed, the law tended to stay away No sense in bringing attention to a “vampire problem” if there wasn’t one
Except that there was a problem, and soon it would spill over into even the areas that had been ignored for decades It was a stor since the day humans discovered that vampires existed
The sh the streets, htlife that kept this part of Seattle hopping even in the cold winter months A siren blared in the distance, so distant that none of the hu about would hear it
How these weak humans had conquered and enslaved the vae when it came to weapons, and they outnumbered vampires by a bazillion to one, but Great Spirit above, they were stupid
Baddon took the lead as they approached thelot where they’d left the clan’s Land Rover, his hand tucked beneath his biker jacket, ready to draeapon Eager to draeapon, probably
The parking lot’s lights went out, shrouding the SUV in darkness, courtesy of Baddon’s ability to ave thee over huhtened caution Riker insisted on was a waste of tiilant, and when the safety of clanti dead
Jag and Baddon ranged out ahead to secure the ied behind, renal, Hunter dug the keys out of his pocket
“I’uments”
There was so but no formal protests as they piled into the vehicle Rike took the passenger seat and plugged classic Creedence Clearwater Revival into the radio, and Hunter got to listen to three big va the entire thirty-” faded out for the second tiravel drive that led deep into more than a hundred acres of land owned by the clan The property was used for storage and hunting, and it also contained two setaways
Or as hideouts
He parked the truck inside the barn, where other vehicles were stored, froar’s classic Corvette and Baddon’s Harley Froh the forest to the public lands where their headquarters were located in less than half an hour
Unfortunately, a recent increase in human activity in the forests meant that vampires had to be more cautious Now Hunter and his clanon foot both for silence and totracks that would lead humans to headquarters
“Fucking huh the woods
There was a ht a scent that raised the hairs on the back of his neck
“Everyone… stop”
Already on high alert, they dreeapons and squared off in fighting stances as Hunter lifted his face to the breeze The stench of unwashed skin, alcohol, tobacco… and stale va of distant campfire smoke
“Poachers,” he whispered harshly “At least a dozen”
“Shit” Baddon, his black hair longer in the front than the back, shoved his bangs out of his eyes as he flipped the safety off his crossbow
They keptit slow and quiet But as they approached the edge of the lake that the clan used for swi out A bullet punched into a tree trunk mere feet from Hunter’s head
“Stake Reapers!” Baddon shouted, and fk, this was not good
Vaued by hunters and poachers for decades, but Nicole’s messy defection from Daedalus – and humanity – to join MoonBound and becoun to call for the exterhter controls on enslaved va a vampire, and so in on the rush to grab as many vampires as they could sell before wild vampires became extinct
Worse, the Stake Reapers had proved to be the roup Hunter had come across, and Baddon’s speculation that the outlaw club had a va