"She struggled with patrolling, mostly because of the bruises and broken bones she'd endured at home," Sawyer continued. "Eddie wasn't much better at helping since it had nothing to do with books."
Jacek took a long draw from his mug. "We offered to help Crystal. That was her name. I helped her with her stake aim while Sawyer fielded all of her questions. That went on for just a couple weeks."
"And then?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"Eddie came by to get her for patrolling and found his house on fire," Sawyer said, his voice low. "Obviously we hadn't bitten Crystal, so we didn't sense anything had happened until no one showed for patrol. We went searching, thinking something was wrong, and then we found Eddie in the middle of the street, half out of his mind with grief. His family was dead."