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PROLOGUE

AMELIE

"Ihave a surprise for you," Oliver said

I-not without reason-expected hi rare jewels, or even a new petbut instead he held out a piece of expensive, heavy paper anville seal in the corner in thick, still -ax

"Read it"

He col apsed into one ofover the other, and gave , slow s farWe had been ene time, uncomfortable al ies for the past few years, and nownow, I hesitated to put a name on ere

In more-ancient days, the ould have been inti, as the situation required

I loweredexpression and read the words inscribed in gorgeous, flowing script-the hand of a trained clerk, obviously, who'd been given proper education in a time when that truly mattered

WHEREAS the Elders' Council of Morganville, concerned for the safety and security of all within its borders of influence, has resolved to enact a law requiring the identification of all persons, whether mortal or immortal Such identification shall further be carried upon the persons of residents at all times Whereas such proof of identity is vital to the health of our community, we also are resolved that the violation of such requirements shall be considered a direct offense to the council, and as such may be punishable with the First, Second, and Final Actions as written within the codes forreat community

In approval of these requireanville sets her signature hereupon

I froze, pen at the ready, and frowned "What's this?"

"As we discussed," he said "The requireanville to carry appropriate identification For the vampires, of course, the requirements are somewhat different, but they'l still carry a card It wouldn't do to appear to be discriminatory"

"Indeed not," I said, a ripple of irritation gliding througha year to implement such identification measures, until they could be properly explained"

"I would have believed it was possible to wait that long had I not heard a ruitating against us" Oliver's voice carried a bitterly dark undertone now, and his distaste for the nouerre of our most bothersoular face Age is of no consequence to vas with it, but Oliver was a rarity-a vampire who had been turned in his later years, and retained that appearance in his i his brown hair and lines pinching his skin at the eyes and mouth He could appear waro learned that Oliver was first, last, and always a warrior

And thisCaptain Obvious, as the huanville now nahter, deter us harm We had kil ed him a dozen ti what they are, we'd never expected at first for the probleain; yet as soon as a Captain Obvious fel , another stepped forward, masked and hidden, to take his place And now, it seeer

I felt Oliver's gaze on ; for allthe barriers that had fal en between us, his ambition wasn't one of them He deerous dance, and that was part-if not most-of the attraction

"Yes," I said "If they feel confident enough in their oer to openly follow yet another rabble-rouser, then I suppose we nature, allloops and swirls and slashes, to the bottoe fashion, this would be photographed, digitized, transferred to bland and simple words on a screenbut the effects were the same The word of a ruler was law

And I was now the uncontested ruler of Morganville allmy enemies had fal en; the sickness that had crippled va had been conquered at last, thanks to the intervention of hu Claire, apprentice to my oldest friend, Myrnin We had likewise dispatched at last my father, Bishop, that blood-maddened beast And just in the past few e of extinction, had been destroyed and were no more

Now, nothing stood between my people-the last of the vahtly due us

Nothing, that was, but the too-confident pride of the huether, allowed to grow and flourish and prosper in cooperation and under strict conditions; hue part, with fear, spite, and resistance that grew stronger each year

No more