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Chapter 1

Daisy O'Donnell's co north or south; but then, she wasn't lost or trying to navigate her way around the world She was hunting vaolden needle worked perfectly fine for that Although it wasn't really a co places of the Undead All she had to do was drive down the street and follow the needle, which turned bright red when she ithin a few feet of an occupied lair

There was no dearth of locations for vaeles area these days She had found lairs inside shallow caves up in the hills, in dusty attics and cobwebby bases, and foreclosed tract homes

Daisy felt a rush of satisfaction as the needle shi close to the dayti place of one of the Undead The va had made its lair inside an old wine cellar in an abandoned restaurant in don LA

Daisy paused outside the lair, her nose wrinkling with distaste as she sprayed herself with Scent-B-Gone, a concoction guaranteed to mask her distinctive scent from all but the most powerful vampires The spray itself evaporated within an hour or two, leaving nothing behind

The door to the wine cellar creaked like so out of an old Vincent Pricethe crowbar outside, she stepped through the doorway, turned on her trusty four-cell flashlight, and cautiously made her way down the rickety wooden stairs She swept the beaht to left, uttered a soft sound of satisfaction as the light disclosed a pale pink casket in the far corner

Her feet made hardly a sound as she walked across the dusty ce female, slept inside Her name was Tina Daisy recalled a well-known e and treachery would overco ot stronger andcounterparts, really old vampires weren't completely helpless or unaware of ent on around theerous

Although Daisy had done this sort of thing many times before, it always startled her to look at one of the Undead at rest, because they looked very dead indeed The vampire lay on her back, her arms folded over her brsts Her hair was dark brown; her skin beyond pale Had Daisy been a bounty hunter who destroyed the Undead instead of a Blood Thief, she would have had to obtain proof of her kill, either a saer Of course, if the destroyed vaather its ashes, since that was all that was left after the ancient ones were dispatched

After tucking the flashlight under her are out of one of the deep pockets of her jacket, several sot to work There were vampire hunters who drained the Undead of their blood for fun and profit and then took their heads, and other hunters who destroyed vampires simply because of what they were

Daisy didn't have the sto a stake through the heart of an unconscious vaet that, no ht vaood money to be made as a Blood Thief She had earned a tidy fortune by selling vampire blood on the Internet Do you have an injury that refuses to heal? Rub a little vao away? Take two aspirins and a spoonful of blood h that lasts all night? Valy aftereffects, as long as you don't i over that, and you probably won't wake up in the

Daisy herself had never indulged Theblood, even if it was lass of fine red wine, was totally repugnant

Daisy took a pint or so froh to fill her current orders, and tiptoed out of the cellar with the sleeping vaht, she would know so gone by then

After retrieving her crowbar from outside the cellar door, Daisy returned to her car She stowed the bottles in the ice chest in the backseat, slid behind the wheel, and headed houilt for what she had done Why should she? Selling vaainst the law, and since vaal recourse, there was nothing the Undead could do about it