The smile left his face altogether, and he stopped looking like a tavern owner. Jesse was one of the reasons I'd always respected Adam, even when he frustrated me the most. Why is it that in all the adventure movies the heroine doesn't have to get up and go to work? "He's holding his own," Adam told her. Fond of it as I am, my home is a single-wide trailer as old as me. Even though he sometimes filled in for me when I was sick, I hadn't even thought about calling him for help with the garage—proof that it would probably be better if I didn't try going to work today. Is Samuel around?" Maybe. But I was pretty sure he'd done it out of habit, because it shouldn't have worked on me. My nose was useless. "All right. It was the "please" that got to me. It should please you that he was really shocked when you foundLittleton so soon." Somewhere, someone slammed a door and I jumped. The amusement left his face and his eyes narrowed as he said curtly. I grinned back at him, a little ruefully. When I negotiate contracts, I don't like to exert undue influence on the people I'm dealing with. They used to be cheap good cars; now they're expensive good cars. I jumped in the SUV when Adam opened the door. "Come to me." Adam growled and Samuel whined eagerly and took a half step closer. "Warren had kept me more or less updated on the hunt for the vampire-sorcerer, such as it was. he asked, as if he hadn't reacted in any other way to Stefan's comment. Maybe it was bad enough to drive off normal humans, and that's why the parking lot was nearly empty. I might not want to love Samuel—not after the way we'd once hurt each other—but I didn't want to lose him either. You're reading Chi No Wadachi . The old church had once had a fair sized yard, but there was little left of it butsunburnt weeds chopped almost level with the ground. I couldn't tell if he knew Stefan was afraid or not. "Enough." Everyone knew that there was someone pulling the werewolves' strings, and there was a lot of speculation about who it might be. Apparently if I can kill the vampire, the demon will just go away. But mine weren't. Mother with an infant in the other. "I have a friend in the Seattle PD who tells me his whole department is waiting for someone to get killed. Samuel hissed when he touched the buckles. How long would it be before one of them realized they hadn't heard from their grandparents for too long? "Some of us aren't as limited as others," he answered me. "I'm looking for Stefan." Dumb, I thought,dumb sheep waltzing right into the slaughterhouse. "Can you look at me then?" I relayed Bran's question. He'll grow up strong and healthy." I slapped my hands lightly on my thighs and leaned forward. Rather than answering him, I leaned over Littleton 's chest and whispered, "Drachen." "Mmm," I said. You can stop now." I wasn't familiar with the name of the artist, which was scrawled almost illegibly on the lower right corner and on a small brass plaque on the center of the frame. I wasn't surprised that Honey fought mean. No one faced off with Bran. "The man who opened today found him in the Dumpster when he was taking out the trash. I heard her quick footsteps up the stairs. I had to cut through his jawbone to free my wrist. "Warren, I won't let any of the wolves go near him. I would have thought that all of the vampires had been told about me, but apparently not. "We'll do that tomorrow. Maybe he felt the same way. "But just a few minutes ago Warren tried to get out of bed and Kyle yelled at him. "That's right. "You don't look happy to see me," he said with a quick grin that didn't show his fangs. I wondered if Stefan knew what was in the bathroom and that was why he'd been afraid when we were in the parking lot—there were things that even a vampire ought to be afraid of. The resilience and warmth of his flesh against my temple helped my headache. And, after the demonstration Littleton had given me last night, I knew I was going to need Andre to destroy him. It wasn't enough to go after Littleton . I took a step back anyway because my instincts were telling me that I wasn't the biggest predator here. Something aroused his bloodlust. I knew that there were magical ways of telling if someone lied, too. He looked at Stefan who shrugged. I must be getting used to being around vampires. Needless to say, it's as popular with the werewolves as the helmet law was with the motorcyclists when it first went into effect. After deducting the actual material cost of the restore and the shows, we split the profits according to hours spent on the project. Maybe he thought I was trying to be funny. Not a trusting soul, our sorcerer. I backed up the length of the garage, then ran hard toward the bag. "No," he said and riffled around in his pocket for the paper with Adam's phone number on it. Dominance among wolves is a combination of force of personality, strength of will, physical ability and a component of other that I can't explain to anyone without the eyes, ears, and nose to sense it—and those with the proper senses wouldn't need it explained. Metal fell with a loud crash: the sorcerer's power was failing, allowing his prisoners to escape. I pounded my hands on the steering wheel, impatient with the red light. "They are afraid. You understand that death is more powerful than life. Not likely. He still wasn't speaking much, but he obediently switched directions and took me into the tiny third bedroom that hummed with various bits of electronics. Some of the images he called up were going to come back in my nightmares. "If the vampire who made him isn't dead, he should have to obey him." Stefan was among the strongest of mine, but the return of the remains of one of his companions tells me that he has failed." I swallowed bile and sat up using my good arm to push down and lever myself into a useful position. It's enough to make anyone crazy." Andre, I'd noticed, had drawn back in the crowd. I drove home alone a few hours later. "Yes, but she can't talk." I said softly. You'd think he'd be smart enough to pay attention to a man with the brains to be one of the top attorneys in the state, an attorney moreover with an Ivy League education. She stroked Darryl's arm to comfort him. I opened the door and noise poured out like water over a dam. He'd have been driven to feed eventually." "That's exactly what I needed to know." I was so certain of it, that I thought he had some plan in mind when he walked around Stefan's cage. Warren and Kyle weren't an item anymore—but I didn't think it was due to lack of caring on either of their parts. I left the pistols in favor of the Marlin 444 rifle which I loaded with silver— though I didn't know if the silver would do any more harm to a vampire than regular lead. "For that maid and for the others who should be with their loved ones tonight and not buried in the cold ground." CHAPTER 5 Hello?" That was one of the reasons there were more werewolves in the New World than inEurope , where the werewolf, like thefae , had originated. I hadn't forgotten or forgiven him for the flashlight, but I'd get even with him when I felt better. If he is hurt badly enough, there are ways of bringing him back under the control of a more powerful vampire, like Marsilia . Not that Uncle Mike had taken much notice of me. "Look, you can sit in this couch right here and stay all day." I don't know why. I looked like I'd been in a car wreck. Then he did something complicated and I ended up face down on the mat twisted like a pretzel while he held me there with one hand and a knee. Much as a starving Daniel had curled around Andre's wrist during Stefan's trial. "Daniel, you will sit up and take your place in the Questioning Seat." "Master?" If Littleton was like other vampires, he would not be active in the day. Muttering to myself, I threw on clothing: jeans, yesterday's T-shirt complete with mustard stain, and two socks with only one hole between them. Marsilia has allowed greed to overcome her common sense." Werewolves are made, not born. She was the reason I always called Bran's cell phone and not his home number. In an instant I was fully awake. I dreamed of Stefan driving his bus with that silly stuffed ScoobyDoo perched in the passenger seat. Even so…"But only if he asks," I added hastily. If I hadn't been able to hear the speed of his pulse, I wouldn't have known how scared he was. I wanted to feel his neck under my fangs and taste his blood. So did I . Without a word or an aggressive move, Adam backed him down. But before it starts, there is a moment of oppressive stillness when the culprit is alone, surrounded by the pack. "The baby you killed in the orchard?" The interior was in better repair than the outside, but it still had that college-student aura defined by lots of books and secondhand furniture. That he knew there was something wrong with his memories because he hadn't remembered me. I waited until he was gone then opened the door of the cell. As she moved, her beads made a soft chattering sound that reminded me of a rattlesnake. Stefan had known what I was for years, but had kept it from his seethe until I'd gone to them for help. It was the best chance I was going to get. "You're swaying," said Samuel after a moment. I worried about him. I asked, knowing that it wasn't completely true. I drummed my fingers against my kitchen counter and then stopped when it reminded me of the vampire's mistress. He waved his hands impatiently. He was an old customer who liked to chat. So I got Honey because Mary Jo was working twenty-four hour shifts at the fire department and Darryl's mate Auriele, the only other female in Adam's pack, was in Ellensburg taking a class to keep up her teaching certification. "Don't try to make us believe you care when innocents die." Honey, though, had been a werewolf for a long time and her control was excellent. That demon is raising all sorts of havoc for us here, keeping tempers at a killing edge as you have seen. When he spoke again, his voice was almost normal. The new vampire was clean shaven and his hair was combed and pulled back into a tidy, short, ponytail. "And the werewolves?" "Daniel?" When I was fourteen my foster father had killed himself, and that permanently removed the impulse. He curled up tighter when I opened the door and whimpered, muttering, "They're coming for me, Lord. "Bran told me you went lone-wolf in Texas ." I don't wear a cross. Sharp and pungent. It was covered with carvings, from the lion-paw legs to the gargoyle crouched on the top of the tall back. "I'll be right over." Especially when that lie might start afae -hunt. Stefan had done his dying a long time ago, so I saw no reason to be nice. Littleton had gone limp, his body flopped over face up when Andre pushed him off. His disbelief might not be flattering, but I kinda felt that way myself so it was all right. If he doesn't, he'll know someone who does." Under these circumstances it was a very, very bad thing. Honey had waves of shimmering golden brown hair that fell over her shoulders to her hips. But Honey watched me with faith in her eyes, so I had to try. One of the musicians, the one who'd offered his guitar, grinned at me as we switched places. I just kept looking out the window. I pulled up a chair next to Naomi, the same one I'd used last night, and, glancing again at the man curled up in the corner I asked again, "What happened to you?" 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