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.One of the stalls was selling water pistols, each one costing a hundred dollars, and bottles of water that had been sanctified by a priest as ammunition.No one was quite sure if it would actually work – Golem had explained that there were several different strains of vampire, each with their own laws – but the dealers were raking in the money.Beside them, there were a dozen stalls offering Italian stew, heavily laced with garlic.The signs beside the stalls promised that a meal a day would keep the vampires away, with a smaller note indicating that anyone who wanted to claim their money back had to report in person.It wasn't particularly funny, Matt knew.Anyone who came to claim his money back might have become one of the undead.“My brother lives up in Idaho,” he said, shaking his head.“He sells guns – or he would, if he had any left.There’s such a massive backlog of requests for guns and ammunition that it may be weeks before he gets more stock in from the manufactures.Apparently, there’s a blacksmith from the SCA who has been melting down silver and using it to produce bullets.”“Silver bullets,” Daniels mused.“For werewolves, I presume?”Matt nodded.The military had already thought of the concept, although it had taken time to convince the manufacturing plant to start producing the bullets.Right now, the guards at the base holding the werewolves all had silver bullets in their guns, while others had been distributed all over the country, particularly in Fort Hood.No one had caught the werewolf that had bitten Joe Buckley.He rolled his eyes as he looked at the stalls.“I’m surprised that you haven't been given orders to shut this lot down already,” he said.“I remember when we had to arrest a pair of kids for selling homemade lemonade.Made us look like jackbooted thugs.”Daniels snorted.“Our beloved Mayor is suddenly in political hot water,” he said.“Too many people think that there’s a vampire or werewolf lurking behind every tree, so the word has come down from City Hall.We’re not to do anything about these stalls, or about the makeshift weapons.I’m not actually sure what we’re supposed to do about people bringing in weapons from other states.Turn a blind eye, I suppose.”He looked up at Matt.“What the fuck happened to your eye?”Matt scowled.“I tripped and fell down the stairs,” he said, tightly.“But I’m perfectly fine.”Daniels knew that he was lying, but he didn't press the issue, thankfully.Matt didn't want to have to tell him that Golem, whose mere existence was supposed to remain secret, had been so convinced that Matt was a Hunter that he'd convinced Matt to test himself against one of the Navy SEALs who had been assigned to guard the complex.The SEAL had knocked him down in thirty seconds, somehow leaving Matt with the impression that he’d held back.It hadn't been very reassuring.As darkness fell over New York, the streets rapidly began to empty.Matt found it more than a little eerie; normally, New York never actually bothered to sleep.There were bars that remained open all night, discos where night owls could dance from dusk till dawn, brothels that accepted customers at all hours of the day.now, however, they would have to close.Businesses that remained open until late had been reporting increased absenteeism among their workforce, simply because people were scared of vampires.It seemed impossible that one vampire could cause so much panic.“Good luck,” Daniels said.New York’s SWAT team had been armed with stakes and holy water, as well as each man eating garlic before going out on deployment, but so far they hadn't even managed to get a sniff of the vampire.Judging from what Golem had said, the vampire was more likely to get a sniff of them and avoid them like the plague.“Try not to get turned, like those idiots in Central Park.”Matt rolled his eyes.The idiots who had produced movies with sexy vampires had a lot to answer for, at least in his opinion.Hundreds of idiots who thought that they wanted to become creatures of the night had flocked to New York, taking up position in Central Park to offer themselves to the vampire.The fact that the first known victim had died and then not come back to life hadn’t dissuaded them.Eventually, the NYPD had been forced to take them into custody for their own safety.They hadn't gone quietly.The city seemed to be quieting as the darkness grew stronger, as if it were holding its breath.Matt reached into his coat and checked the stakes he’d been given, along with body armour, a gun carrying silver bullets and holy water.Golem had been surprised by the existence of modern body armour, something that had puzzled Matt until he’d realised that his time had had magic capable of burning through any armour.Maybe it would surprise the vampire too.Maybe I should have brought the SEALs, he thought, as he began to walk through the streets.With so few potential victims around – even the homeless had been moved into shelters, after some argument – the vampire was likely to home in on him.But it all depended on just what kind of vampire they were dealing with.Some of them according to Golem, could go for an entire week without having to feed.And they had other tricks up their sleeves, just waiting for unwary victims.Feeling his heartbeat pounding in his chest, Matt kept walking.***Layla crouched on a rooftop, staring down at the deserted streets below.She’d fed too openly, part of her mind realised, and now her prey were hiding from her.The rest of her mind simply didn't care.What did it matter if the sheep knew that there was a wolf hunting them? They would still become lunch for the prowling wolf.But she couldn't go out in the daytime and apparently vampires did need to be invited into a person’s home [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]