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.Christian s shoulderslifted slightly as he stared at the door they had just exited. Only time will tell. He turned, looking back at the men sittingaround the table. Now where were we? * * * *Jacob held on to the leash as he walked down the street of theresidential neighborhood, enjoying the fresh night air.The moon wasonly a sliver in the sky, clouds barely wisps as the sound of singingcrickets sounded all around them.It was peaceful.He grabbedShelby s hand, giving it a light squeeze as they walked Mango.The houses in this area were about a half a mile apart from eachother, affording the owners privacy in this heavily woodedneighborhood.Observing Shelby as he walked beside him, Jacob noticed a smileof contentment on the man s face that had been there all evening.Heknew it was just because of the well-placed cock he d given his mateearlier.The man seemed to just float along next to him, happy withthe world.Jacob wrapped an arm around his little vampire, knowing the manwas happy Jacob hadn t bitten the dust.That made two of them.Hemay have thought that everyone had their time to die, but come on,longevity behind his wildest dreams? Not even he was foolish enoughto pass that by.It must have been the sickness clouding his mind at the time. 108 Lynn HagenMango pulled at the leash, and then came trotting back over toJacob, walking beside him obediently when a man pulled into one ofthe driveways and got out to check his mailbox.There was nothingthreatening about checking a mailbox, so why did the hairs on hisneck stand up and a cold wind blow down his spine?Slowing his steps, Jacob deliberately began to pull Shelby behindhim.The little vampire looked up at him confusingly, but didn t fightto stay next to Jacob.Mango even began to give off a low growl.Jacob pushed Shelby away from him as a gun appeared in theman s hands.Mango was going ballistic, barking and pulling at hisleash to get at the stranger as the sound of bullets exploded in thepeaceful night.Releasing the leash, Jacob used his newfound speed to run towardthe man and disarm him in a span of a second.The man lookedshocked and paled slightly as he looked from Jacob to the gun that heno longer possessed. Who are you? Jacob snarled as he pressed the gun under theman s chin, the metal pushing the man s head back. You re one of them, he said as if surprised.If the man hadn tknown, that meant he was gunning for Shelby.That didn t makeJacob feel any better.He wanted to pull the trigger so badly that hisfingers itched.Why shouldn t he? The guy had shot at them.It wouldonly serve him right and eliminate the threat to Shelby.But Jacobwasn t a coldblooded killer.Not today anyway. I asked you a question. The guy swallowed, the gun moving slightly under the man swhiskered chin. I can t tell you. He has to be a hunter, Shelby said as he pushed to his feet,brushing his hair from his eyes.Mango walked right to Shelby s side.Jacob was glad the dog recognized Shelby as one of his masters.TheGerman Shepherd stood vigilantly next to the small vampire asShelby gazed at them with large, frightened black eyes. For the Rest of Eternity 109It didn t take a genius to figure out what Shelby was saying. Soyou thought you would pop Shelby and then what, get into your carand drive away? Shooting the man was looking better and better.Jacob had to fightnot to tear the man s throat out.Images of the prince killing theintruder that day in the front foyer played in Jacob s mind as he usedhis weight to press the man into his car. They are an infectious disease, and it s only getting worse. Theman s face switched from shock to hatred. There are vampireseverywhere now, killing innocent human beings, draining them dry.They have to be stopped.You have to be stopped. The man was talking about the rogues, but Jacob knew not allvampires were blind killing machines.He had met quite a few decentones, not only at the club, but at the manor as well.He agreed that thescourge of the vampire world needed to be stopped, but this wasn tthe way.Randomly shooting suspected vampires was nothing butcoldblooded murder.Shelby could have been killed.And that thought twisted Jacob sgut into a tightly woven knot.Jacob bared his fangs, making sure thestranger felt the implication. If you sneak up on anyone else, I ll useyour own gun to blow your fucking head off.Get the hell out ofhere. Taking a step back, Jacob gave the man room enough to get intohis car and drive away.It may have been an unintelligent thing to do.The man may come back to kill him, but Jacob had also seen the fearin the guy s eyes.Call him a sucker. Let s get home, Jacob said as he stuffed the gun into hiswaistband, making sure the safety was engaged first.He didn t wantto blow an ass cheek off if he tripped.Shelby quickly joined him asthey headed back toward the manor.Jacob couldn t deny that he had been scared shitless, butadrenaline was pumping through his system at the idea that he hadbeen able to defend his little vampire.He hadn t been winded or tired. 110 Lynn HagenIn fact, he had felt strength inside of him that hadn t been therebefore, fueling his muscles for the fight. Thank you, Shelby said as he grabbed Mango s leash, forsaving my life. Jacob leaned toward Shelby and kissed his temple. I didn t getconverted to walk this life alone. Shelby grinned up at him, but there was tension in every crease ofthe man s face.Even his deep dimples wavered slightly.They reachedthe manor quicker than humanly possible, vampire speed.Jacobescorted Shelby and Mango inside and then went looking for Logan.He found the shifter around back, scanning the wooded area. A hunter shot at Shelby and I on our walk. Logan rested his arms loosely across his chest as he regardedJacob. Did you kill him? Jacob pulled the gun from his waistband and handed it to theshifter. No. Newborns. Logan tsked. Being a newly born vampire, youshould have blindly torn his throat out, Jacob.Interesting. Interesting? What did that mean? Jacob waved a hand at the gunas he turned to walk away. A gift. He ran his hand through his hair,his hand shaky as he finally let go of the long-held breath.Damn it,Shelby could have been killed tonight, and he let the bastard go.Jacobwasn t sure why he had done that.Every cell inside of him hadpushed Jacob to kill the man, but he had resisted
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