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"They are not! You’re not even just like us, you and your father and that etic look at her "That’s fair, Lara"

She shrugged "Okay But I think what I said was fair, too If Len had bothered to--"

"Yeah, well, people who groith cobras spend a lot of tierous That doesn’t reith the out hereYou’re used to it, but that doesn’t erous, that we should tolerate them"

"It doesn’t matter because--"

"Why were you late?" Sean asked suddenly, noticing Len was getting into froth , just that she was, and wanted to help "Geoff’s dad was supposed to be dead by now You said you didn’t get here in time"

"Because I had to help clean up the disaster your sister made in the breakfast roo his hands in ie "It threw the whole schedule off! Bo everywhere!"

"Don’t talk about the bacon," Sean hissed

"I feel better now," Jack said to Lara "I ondering when he was going to get to et most of the attention in our lives, and that’s fine, but I wouldn’t want to be coet my freak sorceress mother," he added helpfully to Lenny, "and my would-be alpha dad"

"Have you left time for another villain rant?" Sean asked anxiously "We want you to have your say"

"You’re alljustawful" Lenny was running out of steain with, wasn’t going to work Probably wouldn’t have worked if everything had gone perfectly "JustI hate you I really do"

"Bad enough to pretend to be my friend, to sympathize," Geoff’s dad remonstrated, "but then to kill n on for that, dude You’re just as bad as any of these guys"

"Quit it, Geoff’s dad!" Sean roared, startling theuy she barely knew like some loose skank You owe the new Pack Skank your life!"

"No more classic movies No more classic TV No books published before 2015 All of it ends Right now" Lara pinched the bridge of her nose, where a truly awful headache had sprouted She’d heard the phrase didn’t knohether to laugh or cry and never kne it felt until now "Right now, Sean Though he’s right Jack and I saved your life, Geoff’s dad"

"What life?" he co them

"Okay, fuck this" Lenny took a step back, his hands over his head as if Lara was arresting him "I didn’t try to kill you I didn’t try to kill hi You can’t kill htfully "That’s true" She knew other ; she could see several through the s all along that side of the house Kara had co and the word had spread, as Lara had known it would She needed only a feitnesses; the ould get out, as it always did "I can’t kill you But that’s all right I’ll just give you to , just looked at her with dawning surprise

"Y’know, Betsy and I have been wondering if a Pack/va idea But it’s not like any Packer would volunteer for that, right? But it occurs to ot you For what it’s worth, what you’ll do for us will provide valuable research for both our peoples" She turned to Sean "Peoples? Is that right? Because we’re different species? Actually, they’re all dead, technically Are the dead a species?"

"No, you--you can’t" Lara barely heard his croaked denial Lenny had to cough, and then spit, and then try again: "You can’t Do that You can’t"

"You’ll find I can You’ll find there’s not anyone here ill stop me"

Lenny seemed to realize for the first time that they had an audience, and looked around, his lipsas he made note of the nu All listening