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.” Without another word to Fianna, he wandered off.Peter turned on his heel and walked away from her, too.“Lovely.It’s as though I have the plague.”“Is something wrong, Fee?” Greg handed her a glass of sparkling water with a lemon slice.Fianna shook her head.“Something about Vince seems off.”Greg shrugged.He shook his head and smiled down at her.“It’s probably nothing.Too many girls, not enough sleep.Now let’s get some food before there’s nothing left.”Chapter NineDes and Ric arrived during lunch, and once again, Greg found himself dragged off into his grandfather’s study, without Fee.This was a smaller group, with only the immediate family and Peter and Maurice present while Des brought everyone up to speed on his investigation.“Basically what we’ve learned is that this drug’s primary component is sodium chloride, common table salt.” Des leaned against the mantel as he spoke.“And the chemical traces in the salt indicate it’s totally unrefined, and not recently harvested sea salt.At a guess, someone is using the abandoned mines under the city as a source.There are also chemicals in it that are simply not found on this plane of existence.Along with the magical residue, this makes us certain it’s demonic—probably Gravaki demons, which are about the nastiest-assed kind there is.”Ouch.No wonder Des was willing to work with the lupines on this.He hated demons, especially Gravaki, even more than he disliked shifters.About five years earlier, one of the monsters had raped and nearly killed Des’s sister, Elise.Considering Des’s ability to carry a grudge, Greg was sort of surprised there were any Gravaki left alive in the city.Greg ran through his knowledge of demons.Unlike some religious beliefs implied, demons had nothing to do with good, evil, heaven or hell.They were simply beings from other planes of existence.They came in all shapes and sizes, and Greg thought most of them avoided Earth as much as possible.Humans weren’t known for being friendly to other creatures.Still, sometimes the species that could pass as human did wind up living among them.Greg didn’t know much about any of the various types, but he did know that Gravaki was a plane full of aggressive, violent beings that didn’t have any problem with rape or murder.Anything to do with them was going to be trouble.“The problem with this particular drug is that it seems to be most addictive to Fae and witches,” Ric added.“Anyone with any trace of magic in their genetic makeup is particularly susceptible.We think there might be another version—one targeted at shifters.”“Which might either be an effort to get rid of other paranormal beings or just to get control over them.” Ivan nodded at the two guests.“Thank you for bringing us this information.”Maurice shook his head.“I can’t see that this is relevant to us at all.Frankly, I don’t see a pattern.There’s always been violence between the smaller packs.That doesn’t equate to some grand conspiracy.”“I agree.” Peter glared daggers at Greg.“The problem I see is lupines forgetting their place and their obligations.”Maurice smiled slowly.“Perhaps instead of chasing after petty criminals, we should be getting our own house in order.”What the fuck is this? Greg had never been more glad to see his grandfather than when Ivan walked over and took his arm.“If you’ll excuse me, I need to have a word with my grandson about his upcoming nuptials.”Greg breathed a sigh of relief and followed the old man into his private study.“It’s hard to believe we’re in an enclosed compound,” Fee said to Lana as they walked through the woods behind the big house.Though there were a few other small dwellings on the property, the bulk of the parcel acres had been left wooded.“I know.The woods were always my favorite part of visiting my grandparents.That and hanging out with Greg and George and Katy, of course.Sofia was never fun to play with.”“Greg and George must have found solace out here as well,” Fianna mused.“Growing up in that place—it couldn’t have been easy.”Lana shook her head.“No, it wasn’t.Having each other is what got them through.”They walked a little farther, toward a small, glassy pond, dotted with fallen yellow and red leaves.A cool breeze brushed their cheeks, but the weather was still warm for late October, and they wore only light jackets over their jeans and sweaters.“Have you decided on a date for the wedding?” Lana paused beside the pond, looking down into the water rather than at Fianna.“I’m guessing soon.”“We haven’t talked about it at all.” It was as honest an answer as Fianna could give.Lana had become the closest friend she’d ever had.She hated to lie to her, even by default.“Sometimes, I’m not even sure we’ll go through with it.”“You didn’t have any wine last night or any coffee this morning.” Lana looked up and smiled.“Even though you really looked like you could use it
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