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“Enough.”  The word, coolly spoken, just bare managed to penetrate the haze of fury that gripped Duke.  Kelsey stepped up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

He knew what she was doing—he felt it, the calm she tried to project into him.  Tried and failed.  He was too fucking pissed. He had to force his hands to let go, had to force himself to step away.  He dragged in a deep breath of air, but it did nothing to clear his head.  The air was ripe with the scents of adrenaline, Neal’s anger, and the lingering trace of Ana’s fear.

Neal, fangs dropped and his eyes half-wild, glared at Duke.  “What in the fuck is your problem?”

“Neal, I’m thinking you’re the problem,” Malachi said.  “If I were you, I’d shut the bloody hell up.”

The big vampire had been utterly silent until just a moment ago.  Now he studied Duke with curious eyes, his head cocked.  He had dark blue eyes, and they were usually about as easy to read as a closed book, but right now, they danced with humor.

For some reason, Duke knew the humor was directed at him but he really didn’t give a damn.  “If you’re expecting me to apologize, you’re going to be waiting a good long while.”  Then he circled around them and left.  At the door, he stopped and looked at Neal.  He curled his lip and growled.

Malachi and Kelsey watched as he left.  “It gets annoying—how often you are right,” Mal said to his wife.

She just smiled. The smile died, though, as she shifted her gaze to Neal.   “I believe it’s best if you left now.”

*

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Just a quick reminder on the contest:

• Runs through 12/1.
• Read the complete rules here.
• Comment @ my blog (Not via facebook, amazon, myspace, etc) to enter. Each comment gets you one entry. You can enter via blog comments once each day.
• If you post a link to the contest and then email me @ contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com, that will get you an additional ten entries. Put link in the subject line.
• If you preorder and forward the receipt to contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com, that will get you an additional twenty entries. Put receipt in subject line. Please remove all sensitive personal data.
• You can enter each way-if you post a link, comment and preorder, that is 30 entries, as well as one entry for each day you visit the blog to comment. You could get up to fifty entries for the grand prize.
• Names will not be shared/sold/traded/spraypainted on a billboard.
• Please note, to enter for the small daily giveaways done during the week, you must comment @ my blog.
• Daily giveaways will be Monday-Friday. Winners will either be posted here or notified via email so please make sure you check back often.
• Please do not cheat-trying to comment more than once a day, using different names/emails, is cheating and you’ll likely end up disqualified and barred from entering future contests.
• Do not post to sweepstakes sites. These contests are for current and potential readers and I do not want to them to be posted at sweepstakes sites. Should this contest end up at sweepstakes sites, I reserve the right to end the contest without warning and without giving away the rest of the prizes in the contest.
• Each (daily) contest thread will be closed within a day or two of its original posting.  So enter while it’s open!