"It had been a while since I'd tried such a direct approach, and the resistance was much stronger than usual; but my will overcame it almost effortles...ly. Shirley stood up and pulled off her sweatshirt, revealing a modest bosom clad in a sports bra. She kicked off her shoes, then pulled down her sweatpants and stepped out of them. Her panties were plain cotton; she tugged them off, then pulled her bra off over her head and dropped it. Awkwardly she removed her socks as well, and stood totally. I looked at Dad. “Bonnie went to sleep,” I said with surprise. “I thought she’d be too pumped to go to sleep but she conked out.”Dad nodded as he guided the car in to park outside our house. “She was up late last night as well, remember? She’s been running on empty for the last hour or so. I was amazed she made it this long. I’ll park out here so we can carry her inside and not have to get her through the yard and up the stairs.”We both got out and went around to the back seat. Bonnie was. And, who was going to attack him here in the Cut? Nobody except maybe the Prince’s men or our fleet, and either way a hundred men wasn’t going to save him.Vernon was here to negotiate. Put bluntly, the Lord of North Harbor wanted ships. He NEEDED ships. The Cut was open water, sure, but it would get fished-out quickly if everyone who lived beside the Cut tried to feed themselves from it. They needed ships that could handle the open ocean and either go fishing outside of the Cut, or go trading. After all, when a Vampire SEMI was ever found out, the first action taken is to cut off their heads. Vampires do not allow betrayal of their own kind to Hunters. The headmaster’s office wasn’t hard to find, and as David knocked firmly on the large cherry wood panel, I read the gold nameplate silently to myself: Headmaster James T. Cromwell. There was a short ruffling of papers and a clearing of a throat, who I suspected was James T. Cromwell’s. ‘Come in.’ David opened the door for me, entering.