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They were snaking themselves around the blonde, as also human in appearance She had short, pale hair, her eyes heavy-lidded, her lips parted She wore a white halter top and a short black skirt Flah heels revealed black-painted toenails One man was in front of her, the other behind her, and both licked at her neck

Ava debated what to do, how best to lure thele solution presented itself, one of the guys clasped the woly followed, perhaps in a trance as Ava had been The second one stayed close on her heels

There was only one thing she could do, Ava realized Stupid or not, she chased after them Would have been nice if they’d headed toward the back door instead of the front, but no

They quickened their steps, and she did the sarabbed the one closest to her, stopping hiaze whipped to her Black eyes, so deep, like a pit, only insanity waited at the bottom Contacts? And why hadn’t she noticed before?

He had a beautiful face … so beautiful … those eyes didn’t pro she’d been, they promised--McKell, McKell, McKell She continued her study The vah cheekbones, lush lips, like McKell’s, but the arm she held lacked sizzle

"Don’t speak," she said McKell "Just head outside with me To the back of the club I’ll make you happier than you’ve ever been"

The vauage she didn’t understand and had never heard before Her brain fogged--until she wondered if McKell spoke that language, too The fog cleared

The other guy stopped and honed in on her, as well The moment their eyes locked, she knew she was dinner He nodded The blonde had stopped, too, and trailed the new direction of his focus Her eyes narrowed; she ht have hissed

McKell Ava offered both vao outside, and have sex" Too obvious?

"You changed your mind" His voice was cultured, his tone melodious

McKell "I did? I don’t remember" McKell "All I can think about is the fact that I want to be with you"

His smile was slow and wicked "Coaze never strayed from Ava "Go away This one was our first choice, you a distant second"

McKell "Outside?" She pointed to the front door, then shook her head "Too o that way" Now she pointed to the back door Where McKell waited

He shook his head, dark hair swaying "The alley reeks of garbage"

She’d been out there and had noticed a slight sed Just how acute were vampire senses? "And the front reeks of car exhaust"

"That’s e’re going to a new location So, are you in or out, beautiful?" The second vampire, the one closest to her, leaned down and whispered, "I hope you say in The things I’ll do to you …"

Though the fog re into hi, but if she protested any ht," she said "Let’s go outside" The , and were distanced froes, she would screa, and hopefully catch them

Rather than lead her out, both men stiffened, sniffed the air

"Is there a problem?" she asked

"McKell," one of them whispered

McKell was here? Thank you, thank you, thank you She scanned the crowd … searching … there She experienced a starburst of giddy relief He’d come inside

He spotted her, as if attuned to her, and scowled And then, heaven save theaze

Thein her nails, holding tight At the sa the cartilage with the heel of her pal The other leapt into a run, leaving his injured friend behind McKell was too far away to reach hih hu them no heed

Except, when she next blinked, she found herself outside--though she’d never reached the double doors Another blink, and she was in front of her car--AIR issued and a loan fro fro tiram my voice into the car," he commanded

She did, a process that took a minute, maybe two, and in another blink she was inside the car, in the driver’s seat She looked to her right McKell now sat in the passenger seat, watching her expectantly And, if she wasn’t olden and creamy, just as it had in the forest, as if every ray searched until finding hiht, his lips redder than usual One of the va of, "Where are the vae, then motioned to the backseat with a tilt of his chin Had he expected her to balk about the time manipulation? Probably She’d tried to make him promise not to do it, after all As dire as the circurateful

She turned, gasped Sure enough, both vampires were unconscious and slumped over each other Gold star, McKell He’d done what she hadn’t Won

"Thank you for co him

"You’re … welcome?" A question, not a statement "Is this a trick? I didn’t trust in your ability to protect yourself I caved to worry I--"

She chuckled, cutting hi?" Ain the undertone He leaned toward her, grabbed onto her, gaze raking her, probing for injury "I will ," she assured hiet my purpose" My morals She didn’t think she would have let the bastards touch her, though Or that she would have touched them In the end, she would have snapped to her senses Surely

McKell eased off her, and smoothed his T-shirt with practiced strokes "Understandable The dark-haired one, the one you were groping, can talk people into anything, even things they don’t want to do Well, humans And he can do so better than most The other, his brother, can hypnotize"

The one she was groping? "If you consider breaking his nose groping, I feel sorry for you"

"We sent the raid for food," he continued blithely "Only they never returned, and I never caught word of their defection, so we assumed they were dead"

Two years In all that ti in, perhaps venturing out unhar the day, if there were a way to do so Exactly the kind of answers McKell had been wanting So Her first day on the job? Perfection Toe of regret in her chest He’d proained She’d helped him capture a few vampires--two equaled "a few"--so all that was left was for hi Or whatever else they had planned for hier feared that Mia would want to kill him Not with his potent vampire blood, his ability to scent out the Sch&ouness to help