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"HERE, HERE, NOW!" Cole roared out above the din in the saloon
Alex, sitting in the front row, sat back and sighed Cole was getting irritated, while Cody, standing beside him, remained impassive
It was just as Cody had expected Half the town already believed that soht of as norht the first half was crazy
She saw Jirapher and undertaker, who had insisted Cody lop the head off the corpse the night before, sitting quietly, as if oblivious to the co on around him Others, men and women, husbands and wives, friends, associates, and would-be lovers, were all arguing with one another at the tops of their voices
"I suggest you all shut up and listen," Cody said suddenly He didn&039;t shout, but his voice rose above the sound of the crowd "Your lives are at stake"
Silence fell People stopped speaking and stared at him as if they&039;d been frozen in place It would have been comical if the situation hadn&039;t been so dire
Of course, the wholeplace in the saloon-the brothel Most of the woarbed, h, shawls around their shoulders against the evening chill The saloon girls, however, were in their working attire: dance hall dresses, plue One woman-a blonde Alex hadn&039;tnothing arter belt beneath the velvet robe she had wrapped loosely around herself
"The Yankees brought this down on us!" someone yelled "They couldn&039;t beat the Southern boys, so they caed to one of such incredulity that the roo this down on us But since there is a war in progress, and Texas is a Southern state, we have to realize that there will be no US troops rushing down to help us, and the Confederacy hasn&039;t a man to spare But that doesn&039;t est you listen to what I have to say Learn how to fight e&039;re up against Never invite a stranger into your place-and be careful even when inviting friends in Beware of changes in people&039;s behavior, and above all, beware of drea to coax you out in the open Don&039;t go Fortify your houses with garlic and crosses And re those bandits arevampires?" someone interrupted suddenly Alex looked around the room and saw that it was the blonde in the robe she had noticed before
"Not all of them, but I believe that, yes, so, because they are weak by day They draw their strength fro," Cody said
The uproar started all over again
Cody continued to speak, his voice once again ringing loud and clear above the din "Bullets ound them, but not kill them To destroy this enemy, sever the head, and either impale the heart or cut it out"
"Oh, God!"
Mrs Madry, a ho ran a small dress and tailor shop on the main street, cried out-and then swooned
The men rushed around her
But not one of them chastised Cody for indelicate speech
"Lock your houses at night," he went on "Stay in after dark Hone stakes and keep them nearby so you&039;re prepared for an attack You canwooden Gentlemen, practice your archery Solid, sharp-tipped arroell aimed can maim and even kill Holy water-should you have any-is a premier weapon It scalds and blisters the vampire&039;s skin If a known vampire doesn&039;t react, that means he-or she," he added, his experience in New Orleans still fresh in his mind, "hasn&039;t yet crossed the divide It means he hasn&039;t yet died and returned, and that there is a chance for his salvation"
The blond saloon girl spoke again
"Is there any such thing as a good vampire?" she asked sweetly
To Alex&039;s surprise, Cody hesitated "Not that I&039;ve co It&039;s a question I can&039;t really answer, but for now, resby and Hollow Tree We all have to assu the taint of vampirism is evil, and out to devour everyone around them" He paused and stared froht now, and while you&039;re all welco I&039;ve said, whatever else you do, lock your doors-and prepare to fight"
He nodded to Cole, then walked toward the back of the rooainst the wall near the door-as if standing sentinel, ensuring that only those who&039;d been invited could enter
"That&039;s it, folks," Cole said "Either Deputy Hinton or I will be in town at all ti our archery and taking shifts patrolling the streets in pairs I&039;ll have a schedule drawn up by ten"
The blonde stood "What do you think about this ridiculous theory about vampires, Sheriff?" she asked
"I think that Cody Fox and Brendan Vincent were the salvation of this town last night, and I&039;," Cole said
Alex found her eyes straying to the back of the roo to be considered beautiful, she thought And yet, in her eyes, he was His beauty was in his stance, his strength of character and his eyes, golden and hypnotic
Too bad he was crazy
She looked away
Vaht, seeing the head of the dead man
Stillvampires?
She felt numb She didn&039;t knohat she believed She herself had been arrested because of her visions Most people didn&039;t believe in visions any more than they did in vampires
She wished she could have a vision now See the future, seesalvation Or
Da pace at her side
"Co to get inside right now and lock up, just like Cody said to It ers in tonight, no sirree"
Alex rose to accompany her At the door they met up with Levy, Jewell, Tess-and Cody and Brendan
"Coether now," Beulah said fir his hat to her
As they walked, Alex caught Beulah&039;s arm and leaned close to ask, "Who was that, Beulah? The blonde who kept speaking?"
Beulah started "Oh, child, that&039;s right You don&039;t know"
"Don&039;t knohat? Who is she?"
"That&039;s your step-ma, Alex Mrs Linda Gordon Looks like she made it back into town-and the saloon-just in ti"
"THINK IT WAS TOO SOON?" Brendan asked Cody as they sat alone in the dining rooht, they were sipping Beulah&039;s coffee, laced with good shots of whiskey
"Probably," Cody said, "but after todayTall Feather is an Apache, and they believe in a ghost world, but even he didn&039;t kno to prevent that young warrior frohter Noill Next tianized battle when Milo roars into town Trouble is, we both know that there may befolks out there who are tainted Friends and relatives from those other toho may be able to infiltrate here Not everyone believes what I said tonight, but at least those who do will be on the lookout"
Brendan turned away, nodding, and Cody winced They were here because Brendan hailed from Hollow Tree
"I&039;htened, but he nodded, and turned back
"We&039;ll stop it We&039;ll put an end to it" He shook his head "I&039;e I simply want justice, and a return to a world of sanity" He let out a long sigh "There&039;s been too much insanity This warI joined up with the Union because I thought it was the right thing, even though I was from the South Sorry-I know you&039;re a Reb"
Cody shook his head ruefully "I&039;rew up in a city where there were free ood and bad doesn&039;t have anything to do with the color of so, no hts to make choices, well, that&039;s another issue It doesn&039;tthe truth when I said I&039;m done ar I went to Harvard, I&039;ain, rather than killing ButI guess we have to save folks before we can heal theave Brendan a squeeze on the shoulder and started for the stairs He had a feeling that Brendan needed so exhausted It had been a long day And a perplexing one His mother had lived in Victory-or on her property not far fro had happened She had always called it the night of the wolves
But he knew-or at least he was pretty daone by before things had gotten to this point, where whole toere being attacked and wiped off the e in the air Subtle, but there He hesitated He
But this wasn&039;t the time to take chances
He strode down the hall and threw open Alex Gordon&039;s bedroom door
The French doors to the balcony were open, the curtains billowing inith the breeze Alex, clad in a shi out on the balcony The night air lifted the gown so that it danced around her ankles, then fell back to hug her body Her hair waved softly behind her, glowing in the ht
He went to her as quickly and quietly as he could, then stopped behind her Just then she lifted her ar she saithin it, whatever power ofto her
He was just in time
"Alex!" he said sharply
She didn&039;t even see her back She was coth left, as he lifted her into his ars of garlic around them
Garlic couldn&039;t keep her inside, and it didn&039;t even work to keep all va
But so after Alexandra Gordon, though from what Brendan had told hiht, Milo did like to send his underlings to carry out his orders Especially if he sensed danger to himself
He carried Alex to her bed and laid her down Her eyes were open, though still a little glassy She smiled at him, a beautiful, full-blown, seductive s her back, thrusting her hips
Her goas far too thin
And then she wrapped her arms around him
Her eyes were open, but she was in a trance of soht Hypnotized, seduced-definitely not awake and conscious and acting of her own free will
And her ar
"Alex, go to sleep," he said
Her arhtened and she drew him doard He tried to keep his balance, but as he braced himself, his hand brushed her skin, and then her breast He was made of flesh and blood, just like any , an arousal like nothing he had felt in yearsor htened quickly He ho he was, and he was on a mission And if she couldn&039;t accept the truth he told her about others-she was certainly never going to understand who he was
What he was
Sing hard, clenching his jaw, he straightened "Alex, you need to sleep I&039;ll be right next door to keep you safe"
Hedown at her Her eyes had closed The strength of his will had penetrated her mind In this, at least, he was er for a ht in the pale h the fabric of the drapes Her hair was strewn about the pillow, and though her expression was angelic, her body, every curve outlined by the delicate white fabric of her nightgoas anything but
He turned away and opened the connecting door to his own rooh and lay down, fully clothed, on his own htly True, he needed rest
But he needed to listen hter, beyond a doubt She just didn&039;t yet kno to fight a battle that had been begun without her knowledge against an enemy she didn&039;t even believe in
A LEX AWOKE WITH THE oddest feeling As if she had beenactive during the night
Active?
She sat up, looking around the roo undisturbed The French doors were closed-but then, she had seen to it herself that they were closed and locked
She rose, stretched, and then noticed her feet
They had been clean when she&039;d gone to bed And now
She lifted her right foot It wasn&039;t filthy-not as if she had been walking out in the garden But there was dirt on it, and she never went to bed with dirt on her feet, because-she hated to get it on her sheets
A sense of dread filled her, along with a full body blush as so door to the next room
Someone?
It could only be one person
She dived toward the trunk at the foot of her bed and the dressing gown that lay there She slipped the gown around her shoulders just as he called out to her, his voice holding an edge of anxiety