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A knock sounded on the door Alek strode inside, carrying a brown bag "Phineas ca on Katya’s desk "He found the drugs you needed"

Katya peeked inside the bag Excellent She’d be able to htshade "Thank you, Alek How is the hunt for the slayers coht I don’t knoe can catch the for us"

"Then ry, they have to coave her a blank look

"It’s simple, my dear" Katya patted his cheek "All you have to do is kill soed herself to work Monday evening After her date with Angus, she’d been unable to sleep well Each time she dozed off, her lorious kiss Then she’d wake up and refuse to think about it

Instead, she considered the new idea of good Vamps versus the Malcontents She’d heard Austin say that Shanna Whelan insisted there were two different kinds of va Any woood

Emma also knew that Austin had befriended one of the fe of the reality show Hethrough now And there was no way Austin had been brainwashed He had the strongest psychic power ever registered at the CIA

She wasn’t sure what exactly had happened to Austin She only knew that he and Sean had argued, then Austin quit and Sean blacklisted hiovernment job Ever since then, Sean was suspicious of all of them and more paranoid than ever

When Emma strode into the conference roo, her two fellow team members were already there

Alyssa frowned at her "Are you all right?"

With a sigh, she realized she’d done a poor job of covering the dark circles under her eyes She sat in a chair next to Alyssa "I haven’t been sleeping well"

"Too , huh?" Garrett slurped coffee from a cup that boasted Too Hot to Handle

While pretty-boy Garrett launched into another chapter of his romantic conquests, Emma tuned him out She didn’t believe half of it, and besides, the last thing she wanted to think about was roht mind would kiss a vaue And even crazier than that - she’d enjoyed it! Good heavens, what a kiss Her face burned, just thinking about it

"Emma," Alyssa whispered "Are you sure you’re not ill? You look awfully flushed"

"I’hter when her boss strode into the room and slammed the door behind hirier than usual He marched to the head of the table and set down his laptop "It’s been ten hter was kidnapped by those vicious demons Ten months! They’ve probably drained her dry by now and turned her into one of theus Eht before that Shanna was happy, but she knew Sean would never believe it Her friendship with Angus was going to put her in an aard position at work This must have been what had happened to Austin She’d try e- him to see what else he had learned

"Garrett, I want you to continue watching the Russians," Sean ordered He turned to Alyssa "How is your research going on Romatech?"

"Very well," Alyssa answered "I’ve learned the na their license plates I’o inside, of course, due to their security measures, but last week I successfully hacked into their mainframe"

"Excellent!" Sean leaned forward "Did you learn anything about Shanna? I need to knohere she’s living"

Alyssa winced "There was nothing personal in the files about Draganesti or your daughter But I did find a list of cities and tohere they’re shipping the Vampire Fusion Cuisine Obviously, those o investigate"

E their ood ca up on Sean Whelan’s database of vaht But I still want sohter’s been seen there several tie to follow her to her new holanced at Emma "Can you take over while Alyssa’s out of town?"

"Yes" Although Eer sure she wanted to find Shanna What if the woe work out between a mortal and a vampire?

"Dah a file on his laptop

As she had many times before, Emma wondered if her boss had been bitten She’d suspected several times that he must have been the victim of a vampire attack His hatred was so intense

She’d considered telling hi activities In theory, she kneould understand But she also kne obsessed he ith finding his daughter He’d be furious that she hadn’t interrogated the va theed to kill theh, she realized the point was nowto have to retire frous said was true, and the Malcontents were going to hunt in groups, then she needed to take a break

"Here it is" Sean turned his laptop screen to face theht and spotted souy?"

The blood drained from Emma’s face as she watched the surveillance video There on the sidewalk, approaching Rous MacKay That was the first night she’d eous and mysterious human If only he were

"Another Scotsman in a kilt," Alyssa anesti’s house?"

"I wouldn’t call it living, but yes" Sean pointed at the clayus’s back "This one is different He’s heavily aruysin Central Park," Garrett said "You know, that night when the Russians vauys in kilts, but they all look the saet us MacKay? She watched hianesti’s townhouse He paused at the top, looked around, then vanished

"Whoa," Garrett whispered "He’s definitely a vahed Yes, he was, and if she was smart, she’d stay far away fro

"Well, Wallace? What do you say?"

E her "Pardon?"