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"I can’t do that, I’m afraid," she said, her words stiff E, and added, "Shall I meet you there?"

I pulled the phone away fro And then it all started to coether "Crap," I whispered When I put the cell back toup

I looked down at my dress and then ataround front in five uy and follow" I stuck oire’s roooire’s eyebroent up slightly Before anyone could ask, I said, "I’m not quite sure why, but I have an idea It’s possible that Shaddock was attacked I’ll call back when I know est you stay within the confines of the hotel until you hear fro for a reply, I backed out and closed the door "I’ve gotta change You guys need to be in jeans and well ar flak jackets Co to Shaddock’s barbeque joint for dinner and dancing"

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

You’ll Be True-Dead

A burind Country Western number could be heard out in the street, even over the steady patter of rain, an oldie goldie about a funeral in a bar, the singer propped up by the jukebox, dead Which fit a few of the people inside, so and had no heartbeat to speak of When alked in the door, the place was mostly deserted of normal human customers, but there was still a crowd coers-on of the vamp community, blood-slaves and junkies Oddly, there were no blood-servants If I didn’t already have alar off in my head, that alone would have spelled trouble The place smelled of cooked meat and the dry, herblike scent of dead meat Vamps I tucked my three silver crosses into my shirt as Beast rose in ; it was a version of the two-step, but ayor dance style warranted Lincoln Shaddock and Evangelina Everhart had their legs entwined and their faces close together, whispering, laughing I smelled vamp and witch blood and sex on them, heated from the dance And the pink spell covered them both

I already knew that Lincoln Shaddock had bitten her, leaving two constricted pinprick spots on her neck, but I didn’t knohy They had lived in the saested they had been together before So why now? Why was Evangelina spelling the region’s most powerful vamp? What exactly did the pink rosy spell do? As I watched froht flash out of Evil Evie and zip around the room like a bat out of a hellhole It whipped around and disappeared into Shaddock’s chest "Crap," I whispered I’d seen that before To low on theet a rooet a better view," Derek said

Before the witch noticed us, I pulled my men into a shadowed corner table I’d had n and problenment options We sat, my jeans stuffed into Lucchese boots with ash wood stakes exposed at the tops, each of us loaded with enough concealed guns, knives, and silver to bring true-death to every fanghead and hu at the end of the bar, his face like a slab of granite and eyes black as ht He inclined his head slowly, and ured that was tacit permission to do whatever I needed to his boss

When a perky waitress ca at the table "Drink nothing, eat nothing," I said, thinking of knockout drinks to disable us, or poison to finish us off

"Copy that," Derek said

I studied the scene The va booth seats, one or two to a booth, their huathered at their sides Blood-drunk slaves were s as security, cooks, waitstaff, bartenders, and busboys Once they looked us over, they returned their attention to the dancers, a security lapse no blood-servant would ever make One-handed, I checked the placement of my hair stick weapons: six wood stakes and a slender-bladed, sheathed knife With noring the way

The connection opened, and I heard R&B/island nature sound of the new house band at the Royal Mojos Blues Club, a bar and dance joint owned by the va, Jane How are you?"

I pulled in a slow, calood You?"

"Do you need o with pretending there weren’t a dozen innuendoes in that one question "I need you to run an errand for o to my bedroom and into the closet I need you to pick or smash open the weapons cabinet in it, and look for a black velvet bag If it’s there, I need you to open it and pour the contents out on a table Don’t touch it And call elina stole sos to do in your bedroorab, but yes I’m only a few blocks from there I’ll call you shortly" The call ended

Lincoln had his hand under Evangelina’s shirt Public displays of affection were not Shaddock’s style; I didn’t like what that said about his state of mind As for Evil Evie, she was once the most stuck-up, inhibited, repressed woman on the planet Now? Not sohowoff her sisters and if that wasthe spell I studied Shaddock and his dance partner, thinking about what I’d just set in ot to my freebie house in New Orleans he would know I hadn’t planned to return My belongings were in cardboard boxes on the floor of the closet, packed for shipping They had Molly’s address on theht say or do, but I figured it wouldn’t be pretty

While aited, I sawdead stepped into the restaurant They weren’t powerful as in physically i Doerous And, crap They had decided to pay us a visit They surged toward us across the floor with the boneless, nearly gravity-defying grace of the hunting vaill at the door They want so unless they wanted soun oil and ammo"

As they neared, I felt the crosses under low The va a beaded buckskin fringed jacket and dark brown jeans with boots She had feathers woven into her blond hair On her, the look worked Seeing the glow on hed low, as if crosses didn’t scare her Her fangs snapped doith a s teeth Beast huffed in delight, which always surprised ill said, "Are you boys here to try your hand against Linc?" There was insult in the word boys, as thick as if he’d used the N-word But it was threat in the tone thaton silvered blades, the s

"Hold," I said I stared at Mooney’s eyes, blue as her daughter’s, not va and Lincoln to Grégoire on his knees, quaking in shame and fear"

Dacy smiled "You’un Leo’s enforcer?" Her accent was pure Tennessee, probably poured on thick to keep fro like the threat she undoubtedly was, but the heavy accent sounded weird co out of a vamp’s mouth I didn’t reply I had seen the tere an enforcer used to establish control over vamps, but I hadn’t really studied it I didn’t fully knohat enforcer et stuck with any nasty duties I hadn’t already signed up for, not unless agreeing kept ed, which was universal for, Call it what you want

"No need for violence, y’all," she said "If I’da wanted you’uns dead, you’da been hairl says I can trust you, Jane Yellowrock, even if you do huntthe truth, then I’ll be happy to stand aside and let you"--she tapped her cheek as if thinking of the right phrase--"interfere withHe’s actin’ foolish, which ain’t like him a’tall, and is unworthy of us’ns" She stood Over her shoulder she said, "Try not to hurt hi Beast show in ill followed her to their table It was easy to see as heir and as spare: Dacy was fire, with political savvy, brains, and power Pickersgill was smart, but in the power department, he was her shadow As they settled, the outer door opened, and Adelaide entered She was dressed in slim casual clothes and a pair of Italian leather boots that likely costlook around the restaurant, met my eyes and let her lips curl up on one side Then she walked to herme In the past, I would have pulled Beast back down and tried to pretend that nothing had happened when Dacy and I had our little dialogue, but lately I didn’t bother I was getting tired of the angry, wary condemnation in his eyes each time I proved I wasn’t purely hu her claws Cats didn’t care who liked the as everyone else knew their place--at the cat’s feet, under the cat’s claws Derek sat forward, his body tensing Before I could act on that subtle dare, , Bruiser’s number on the display I punched a button "And?"