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Xhex wasn&039;t precisely sure which far for, so she materialized in a wooded area off Route 149 and used her nose to tell her what direction to head in: The as cohtest whiff of baby powder, she tracked the scent, vaporizing herself at hundred-yard intervals through the scruffy, mowed- down cornfields that had been lambasted by winter&039;s winds and snow

The spring air tingled in her nose and the sunlight on her face warmed wherever the breeze didn&039;t brush over her skin All around, skeletal trees had halos of bright green, their tentative buds drawn out of hiding by the promise of war spree

When the stench of lessers was all she could siven her and knew that she was so close she could--

Xhex took form at the next row of maples and stopped dead

"Oh fuck"

The white far to write home to Mom about, just a wilted structure next to a cornfield, surrounded by a ring of pines and bushes Good thing it had a lawn, though

Otherwise the five police cars that were jammed up close to the front entrance wouldn&039;t have had enough roo herself as syhosted her way up to aand looked inside

Perfect tiot to see one of Caldwell&039;s finest throw up into a bucket

Although it wasn&039;t as if he didn&039;t have good reason to The house looked like it had been bathed in human blood Actually, scratch the "looked" It had been covered in the shit, to the point where she tasted copper on the back of her tongue even though she was out in the fresh air

It was like Michael Myers&039;s kiddie pool in there

The hu roo their ith care not only because it was a crime scene, but obviously because they didn&039;t want the stuff splashing up on their pants

No bodies, though Not one single body

At least, not that was visible

There were nascent lessers in the house, however Sixteen of them But she couldn&039;t see theh froht over theain?

What the fuck was he up to? Calling the Brothers, announcing this shit and then getting the cops to co to 911?

She needed answers to so much

Mixed in with all the blood was so over a patch of it, looking like he&039;d found so icky Yup that amount of oilysweet scent she&039;d followed--so she had to assume that the inductions had been successful and as hidden was no longer hulanced around the forest behind and before her Where was the O around to the front of the house, she saw a postave a statement to a uniform

US Postal Service to the rescue

No doubt he&039;d been the one to drop a di caht their gag reflexes to do their jobs, and waiting for Lash to make himself known--or for any other lesser to make an appearance When the television crews showed up about a minute and a half later, she played witness to an al a poorwas finished, she started pestering the cops for inforander of as doing inside

Didn&039;t that just slap the serious journalist right out of her

As she went full chick and passed out into the arms of one of the uniforain

Shit She ht, but as so often happened in war, she was in a waiting game until the enemy showed

"Surprise"

She wheeled around so fast, she nearly lost her balance: The only thing that saved her froer hand, which was raised up high, over her shoulder, ready for use

"I e&039;d showered together"

As Blay choked on the coffee he&039;d made them both, Saxton sipped at his cup just fine To the point where it was pretty obvious the guy both engineered and enjoyed the reaction he&039;d gotten

"I really like surprising you," the o And naturally, those da a blush impossible

Easier to put a sedan in your pocket It was that obvious

"And you know, the environreen or naked as it were"

Saxton was lounging against the satin pillows of his bed in a silk robe, whereas Blay was stretched out all along the base of thedown the extra duvet that had been folded so precisely Candlelight turned the scene into so all kinds of lines and boundaries

And what do you know, Saxton was beautiful a, his pale hair so thickly waved, it seeh it was unmoussed, unsprayed With his half-mast eyes and his siven the scent he was throwing off, able to be what Blay needed

At least on the inside His exterior wasn&039;t quite up to the job: His face remained swollen, his lips puffy not from an erotic pout, but some asswipe&039;s punch, and he moved carefully, as if there were still a lot of black-and-blues on him

Which was not cool His injuries should have been healed up by now, so the attack He was an aristocrat, after all, and had a good blood line

"Oh, Blaylock, whatever are you doing here" Saxton shook his head "I still don&039;t knohy you came"

"How could I not have"

"You like being a hero, don&039;t you"

"It&039;s not heroic just to sit with someone"

"Don&039;t underestiruffly

Which htly sarcastic self alland afternoon--but he had been attacked Brutally

"Are you okay?" Blay said softly "Really okay"

Saxton stared into his coffee "I find it difficult to fathom humanity sometimes, I truly do Not just in that race, but our own"

"I&039;ot you in iven that half of his mouth was distorted "Not exactly the route I had planned to take to get you here but it is lovely looking at you in the candlelight You have the body of a soldier, but the face of an earnest scholar The co"

Blay finished as in his cup on a oner and nearly choked Orand"Do you need a refill on the coffee?"

"Not right now, thank you It was perfectly made, by the way, and that was also an excellent, if obvious, deflection"

Saxton put his cup and saucer on his orroan To keep hiuy, Blay put his cup on the blanket chest below and let his eyes wander around Upstairs was all Victorian Eorgeous, lush colors--which he&039;d learned during his excursions to the kitchen The understated and proper and reserved got left at the cellar door, however Down here it was all straight-up boudoir, everything French, with curving s Lot of satin and black-and-white pencil drawings of gorgeousvery much in the same way Saxton was

Only without the robe