![]() ![]() I sat back in my chair and slid my gun into its holster. "Only till she opens her mouth," said Dave from his perch on the railing.Īppreciative laughter, even from me. Do you fool a lot of people with that sweet little redhead act?" "I had my doubts about your ability to lead a crew like this when I first saw you. ![]() "I gotta tell you, Jaz," said Matt as he wiped down his s.h.i.+ny black crossbow. Ten a.s.s-kicking twenty-somethings (with the exception of our two loyal vamps) who'd just given the government their money's worth. Our crew of Helsingers, newly formed and just beginning to gel, was scattered among white wicker chairs and matching porch swings. We were sitting on the front porch of a plantation house we'd just cleared of predatory vampires and their human guardians, trying to blow the stench of death out of our nostrils as we cleaned our weapons. And as I clutched at that collection of gold and jewels, what I remembered was not the day Matt had given it to me, but the day he'd told me about his first job. But the ring gave me the solid comfort I needed just now. I carry another, less tangible token of his love with me wherever I go as well. I stuck my left hand in my pocket, closed my fist around my engagement ring, glad to have something of Matt's I could touch. Of course there were a few additions you'd never see in Mayberry, including a st.u.r.dy crosspiece from which hung two nooses, a couple of trapdoors, as well as an open s.p.a.ce under the stage so the audience could see the bodies fall. It stood at one end of the plaza, a long, flat stage like the mobile judges' stands small towns erect for their parades. And - oh s.h.i.+t, we are so in the wrong place at the wrong time - the gallows. They didn't seem to be in religious mode. They didn't broadcast the upbeat excitement of a party crowd. Benches and streetlights marked the edges of the plaza, which ab.u.t.ted high- rise office buildings on three sides that glared down at a collection of restaurants and luxury-item merchants on the other.Ī one-way street circled the plaza, giving cars a way to enter and exit the area, but it had been cordoned off for the safety of the two thousand or so men and women who'd congregated there. When it was empty, I supposed it stretched the equivalent of three or four blocks, an expanse of gleaming white concrete set in a complicated cylindrical pattern, echoing the rugs the country was famous for. The farther we walked, the more we saw, as if an army was gathered somewhere near the heart of the city. He might not have agreed, except they were moving in our general direction anyway. Let's follow them and see where they're going." Time for another lie, because I sure couldn't tell him I'd met somebody who'd filled me in on the backstory while I was spying on him. ![]()
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