“I’ll have a CD couriered to the White House, send our bona fides over, and request that a secure conference room be set up for a briefing with th... Secretary of Defense,” Dale said.“He’s already seen the CD,” Mike said wondering why they would brief the Secretary of Defense on something that he already knew about. Despite the President’s general disdain of the military, the Secretary of Defense was a good supporter of the armed services. Mike wondered how long he would last in that position.“I. By the time he realized how stupid and trivial his skimming was, it was already a death sentence if discovered.Even without contemplation, the reality of his situation had finally sunk in, scaring him badly. He had become a frightened bully, a species ranked among the most despicable on the planet. Megan had been a convenient outlet for his bottled up fear and rage, and her escape and fighting back had accelerated his deterioration.Alex Kokchek was very tough. Only the very tough got to be. “There.” The vamp said, when done. “Now we wait a few moments for the poison to metabolize out.”The English word ‘metabolize’ was jarring, mixed in with the others.John’s involuntary swallows, ridding his mouth of saliva alerted his jailer that he was regaining his motor control. A long-nailed hand rested on his chest. The talons clicked distractingly on his armor.“Now,” the Vampyr warned, “I can easily return you to the paralytic state, with just a tiny scratch from one of these.”A finger. Ken expected that there would be rulesfor the residents as all seemed so good together and there were never anyapparent arguments, no standing grievances, or differences of opinionamong the residents that his wife ever mentioned, only telling him aboutthe constant level of harmony and good feelings between all theresidents. He was also advised that considering the smaller size of theresident's apartments and all the extracurricular material the homeprovided, he could not bring much from his.