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"Tonight you get a taste of what our world wil be like when our competition is out of the picture Fol ow ht on his heels Kristie’s group started shoving and clawing right through the et to the front

"Don’t e o thirsty I don’t care!"

Kristie barked an order and her group sul enly fel behind Raoul’s Fred and I waited until the last of theht Then Fred did one of those little ladies first sweeps with his arm It didn’t feel like he was afraid to havepolite I started running after the ar to fol ow their smelFred and I ran in co Maybe he was only thirsty I was burning, so he probably was, too

We caught up to the others after about fivequiet They were focused, and more disciplined I kind of wished that Riley had started the training sooner It was easier to be around this group

We crossed over an empty two-lane freeway, another strip of forest, and then ere on a beach The water was sone almost due north, so this must have been the strait We hadn’t passed near any residences, and I was sure that was on purpose Thirsty and on edge, it wouldn’t take too anization into a screaether before, and I was pretty sure that it was not a good idea now I re over the woo Riley had better have a whole lot of bodies for us or people were going to start tearing each other up to get the e

"Don’t hold back," he told us "I want you wel fed and strong - at your peak Now let’s go have some fun"

He dove s excitedly as they subed, too Fred and I fol owed more closely than before because we couldn’t fol ow their scent under water But I could feel that Fred was hesitant - ready to bolt if this was soasbord It seemed like he didn’t trust Riley any , and thenthe others kicking upward Fred and I surfaced last, and Riley started talking as soon as our heads were out of the water, like he’d been waiting for us He must have been more aware of Fred than the others were

"There she is," he said, waving toward a large ferry chugging south, probably ht down frooes out, she’s al yours"

There was an excited led Riley was off like a shot, and seconds laterhiht for the control tower on top of the ship Silencing the radio wasour reason for caution, but I was sure there was more to it than that Humans weren’t supposed to know about vah for us to kil thelassout of his way and disappeared into the tower Five seconds later, the lights went out

I realized Raoul was already gone Heafter Riley Everyone else took off, and the water churned as if an enor

Fred and I swam at a relatively leisurely pace behind them In a funny way, it was like ere sos at exactly the saot to the boat about three seconds later, and already the air was ful of shrieks and the warm scent of blood The smel made me realize exactly how thirsty I was, but that was the last thing I realized My brain shut down co but fiery pain in my throat and the delicious blood - blood everywhere - pro to put that fire out When it was over and there wasn’t a heart left beating on the whole ship, I wasn’t sure how many people I’d personal y kil ed More than triple the nu trip before, easy I felt hot and flushed I’d drunk long past the point at which my thirst was total y slaked, just for the taste of the blood Most of the blood on the ferry was clean and luscious - these passengers had not been dregs Though I hadn’t held back, I was probably at the low end of the kil count Raoul was so surrounded by led bodies that they actual y made a little hilHe sat on top of his pile of the dead and laughed loudly to hi The dark boat was ful of sounds of delight I heard Kristie say, "That was a - three cheers for Riley!" Some of her crowd put up a raucous chorus of hurrahs like a bunch of happy drunks

Jen and Kevin swung onto the view deck, dripping wet "Got

’em al, boss," Jen cal ed to Riley So some people must have tried to swim for it I hadn’t noticed

I looked around for Fred It took me a while to find him I final y realized that I couldn’t look directly at the back corner by the vending machines, and I headed that way At first I felt like the rocking ferry was h that the feeling faded and I could see Fred standing by theHe smiled at aze and saw that he atching Riley I got the feeling that he’d been doing this for some time

"Okay, kids," Riley said "You’ve had a taste of the sweet life, but noe’ve got work to do!"

They al roared enthusiastical y

"I’ve got three last things to tel you - and one of those things involves a little dessert - so let’s sink this scow and get hohterthe boat Fred and I bailed out theand watched the de for the ferry to cruroan of metal The midsection went down first, with both the bow and the stern twisting up to point to the sky They sank one at a ti the bow by a few seconds The school of barracuda headed toward us Fred and I started swi our distance A couple of ti he wanted to say, but each tie his mind Back at the house, Riley let the celebratory mood wind down Even after a few hours had passed, he stil had his hands ful trying to get everyone serious again For once it wasn’t a fight he was trying to defuse, just high spirits If Riley’s pro to have an issue when the ambush was over Now that al these vao back to any h, Riley was a hero Final y - a while after I would have guessed that the sun was up outside - everyone was quiet and paying attention From their faces, it see he had to say

Riley stood halfway up the stairs, his face serious

"Three things," he began "First, ant to be sure we get the right coven If we accidental y run across another clan and slaughter them, we’l tip our hand We want our enes that mark this coven, and they’re pretty hard to miss One, they look different - they have yel ow eyes"

There was a usted tone

"There’s a lot of the vampire world out there that you haven’t encountered yet I told you these vampires were old Their eyes are weaker than ours - yel oith age Another advantage to our side" He nodded to himself as if to say, one down "But other old vampires exist, so there is another way that we’l know them for sure and this is where the dessert I mentioned comes into play" Riley s to be hard to process," he warned "I don’t understand it, but I’ve seen it for one so soft that they actual y keep - as a member of their coven - a pet human"

His revelation was met by blank silence Total disbelief

"I know - hard to s But it’s true We’l know it’s definitely theirl wil be with them"

"Like how?" Kristie asked "You ?"

"No, it’s always the sairl, just the one, and they don’t plan to kil her I don’t kno they e it, or why Maybe they just like to be different Maybe they want to show off their self-control Maybe they think it er It makes no sense to me But I’ve seen her More than that, I’ve smel ed her"

Slow and dramatic, Riley reached into his jacket and pul ed out a s with red fabric wadded up inside

"I’ve done so the yel ow-eyes out as soon as they got near the area" He paused to throw us a paternal look "I watch out foron us, I grabbed this" - he brandished the bag - "to help us track theet a lock on this scent"