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Connor dropped the thong like it was on fire, then resu He pulled out a sparkly flesh-colored thong with fake ivy twisted around the tube "I hesitate to ask"

"Our theid is doing an ode to Tarzan He'll swing across the stage on a vine while he's stripping"

Connor tossed theon the table and continued his search "It does look like a bloody jungle in here" He pulled out a vine of large leaves

"Hot Jungle Fever is highly contagious," Vanda said with a husky voice "I' leaf just your size"

He glowered at her

"All right, a banana leaf, then"

With a snort, he fished her car keys from the pile of vines and dropped them into his sporran

"Hey," she objected "I need those to drive home"

"Ye'll get the" He cra "'Tis shameful for Vamp men to dress - or rather, undress - like this in public"

"The guys enjoy it Come on, Connor You never wanted to take your clothes off in front of soirls?"

"Nay I' to keep Roman and his family alive If ye havena noticed, we're at the brink of ith the Malcontents And if ye havena heard, their leader Casimir is somewhere in America"

Vanda repressed a shudder "I know My club was attacked last Dece ht She tried not to think about it If she did, the thoughts would er, more horrid memories

And she had no intention of reliving thehtclub, where gorgeous men danced in skimpy costumes, and pints of Bleer could leave the coldest of Va warm and fuzzy

Each night could pass without pain as long as she concentrated on work and kept the past firmly locked in a mental coffin Days were even easier, for death-sleep was painless and nighto on like this for centuries if people would just leave her the hell alone

Connor gave her a syht He said ye fought bravely"

She refrained frorabbed her handbag and swung it onto her shoulder "So what's the deal? How much trouble am I in?"

"Ye'll find out" Connor ht "I'll take ye to thehall"

"No thanks I know the way" Vanda strode through the doors and down the hall, her high-heeled boots clicking on the spotless and shiny marble floor

The unpleasant smell of antiseptic cleanser couldn't completely mask the delicious aroma of blood The mortal workers at Romatech manufactured synthetic blood all day That blood was shipped openly to hospitals and blood banks, and secretly to Vamps

Roanesti invented synthetic blood in 1987, and in recent years, he'd cohts, Va lovely drinks such as Chocolood, Bleer, Blissky, or Blood Lite for those who overindulged The coered in the air Vanda took a deep, satisfying sniff to soothe her frazzled nerves

Her superior Valanced back and spotted Connor standing by the double doors He atching her progress with a walkie-talkie in his hand Did he suspect she'dto teleport to the parking lot and speed away in her black Corvette No wonder he'd confiscated her keys She could always teleport straight home But they knehere she lived and where she worked There was no running away from coven law

Of course, only Vaanesti as Coven Master of East Coast Va hall, Vanda's steps slowed If Roainst her, why hadn't he approached her in private? Why hus in the coven?

Connor's softly accented voice carried down the long hallway "Phil has arrived? Good Let me talk to him"

Phil? Vanda wobbled on her heels Phil Jones was back in New York? The last she'd heard he was in Texas Not that she was interested He was just amortal