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semi-estranged family didn’t mean he’d do the same. I took down all the information as if I were sure of his answer.
    “Thank you, thank you so much. I knew it was the right thing to do to call another woman. We manage the men so much more than they think, don’t we?”
    “Actually Micah manages me more than the other way around.”
    “Oh, is it because you’re police like Rush? Is it more about the badge than being a man?”
    “I think so,” I said.
    “You’ll bring Micah?”
    I didn’t want to lie to her, but I wasn’t sure the absolute truth was anything she could handle; she needed something to hang on to, to look forward to while she sat and watched her ex-husband rot while still alive. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, just thinking it was terrible. I couldn’t leave her to watch it with no hope, so I lied.
    “Of course,” I said.
    “See, I’m right, you just say you’ll bring him. You manage him more than you think.”
    “Maybe so, Mrs. Morgan, maybe so.”
    She sounded calmer as she said, “Beatrice, Bea, to my friends. Bring my son home, Anita, please.”
    What could I say? “I will . . . Bea.”
    I hung up, hoping I hadn’t lied to her.
    • • •
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Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novels by Laurell K. Hamilton
    GUILTY PLEASURES
    THE LAUGHING CORPSE
    CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED
    THE LUNATIC CAFE
    BLOODY BONES
    THE KILLING DANCE
    BURNT OFFERINGS
    BLUE MOON
    OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY
    NARCISSUS IN CHAINS
    CERULEAN SINS
    INCUBUS DREAMS
    MICAH
    DANSE MACABRE
    THE HARLEQUIN
    BLOOD NOIR
    SKIN TRADE
    FLIRT
    BULLET
    HIT LIST
    KISS THE DEAD
    AFFLICTION
    STRANGE CANDY
    Specials
    BEAUTY
    DANCING

A BERKLEY BOOK
    Published by the Penguin Group
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    DANCING
    Copyright © 2013 by Laurell K. Hamilton
    Excerpt from Affliction copyright © 2013 by Laurell K. Hamilton
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    ISBN: 978-0-698-15643-2
    First edition: September 2013
    Cover design by Judith Lagerman
    Cover photograph of young man © CURAphotography/Shutterstock; peeling paint © DHuss/iStockphoto
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.