Stormrage
looks of things, a lot of people were about to start suffering withdrawal, but that was better than a lot of people about to suffer death or a permanent stay alone in a nightmare.
    Raven flipped to a few days before , but found no entry for Shevlin or his sister. She couldn't say she was surprised, the preliminary tests indicated that there was no Thirst in their systems. But still, someone had left the Thirst at the scene.
    She put the notebook in an evidence bag and slipped it into her purse. When she left the room she could hear the sounds of Levac and the repeated boom his new Automag and she ran in that direction. She passed several piles of clothing and ash before she reached the end of the catwalk. A staircase led down to another office area and a back door that stood open to the cold night air. Levac was backing toward the door with a redheaded woman handcuffed to his left wrist and two vampires moving toward him. He was holding them at bay with the barrel of his Automag, and even at this distance Raven could tell the slide was locked back. The only thing keeping him from being a midnight snack was that the vampires didn't realize the pistol was empty.
    He's brave…, Raven thought. Braver than anyone ever gives him credit for.
    She drew her own pistol and ejected the magazine. She replaced it with a fresh one and whistled as loudly as she could. The two vampires spun and looked up at her. Behind them, Levac almost sagged with relief.
    "Hi there!" Raven said in a cheerful voice. "I don't suppose telling you to surrender, you're under arrest for selling drugs, murder, attempted murder and atrocious fashion-sense would do any good?"
    The vampires hissed and sprang into the air , going directly for Raven's throat.
    "Yeah, I thought not." Her pistol flamed four times and she covered her head for protection from the flying ash and burning leather. When the cloud cleared she trotted down the stairs and over to Levac who had holstered his Automag and replaced it with his police-issued Beretta.
    "W ho's your friend, partner?" Raven asked.
    "This is Ms. Rayne DeGrey," Levac said dryly. "I believe she is the ringleader of this little party we crashed."
    " You invaded my business without a warrant and killed my staff," Rayne said in a faint French accent. "I want my rights and my attorney."
    Raven stepped forward and looked Rayne in the eyes. To her surprise the woman was human; not lycan, not vampire, but human.
    "Ms. DeGrey, what is a nice French woman like you doing with vampires like these?" she asked.
    "There is no such thing as a vampire," Rayne replied with as much dignity as she could muster.
    "I'm glad we 've got that sorted out," Raven replied. "Let me be clear, we didn't need a warrant. There was more than enough evidence of a crime in progress outside to call in SWAT, you're lucky it was just us. Ms. DeGrey, you are under arrest for the manufacture, storage and sale of the narcotic known as Thirst, the attempted murder of a young girl who was dying on your doorstep and for messing up my hair. You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you exercise that right when it comes to any questions about blood-suckers. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. If you say anything about your missing staff I will make sure you rot in a prison for the criminally insane instead of cushy Club Fed…"
    Raven continued reading Rayne her rights as she and Levac escorted the woman back to the waiting Shelby …
     
    * * *
     
    Two hours later Raven and Levac sat on Raven's desk sipping coffee and flipping through Zhu's reports. DeGrey had been taken to processing and Aspen's team was collecting evidence from the meat-packing plant. She had already confirmed that the vials were identical in size and shape to the ones found at the Shevlin residence. More tests would be needed for an exact match, but it was close enough for Raven to use against DeGrey in interrogation.
    The autopsies confirmed what they

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