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The witch turned to hten your load," she said kindly, "but Larten’s soul has flown to Paradise He died nobly and earned the reward of the righteous He is at rest"
"I’d rather he was here," I saidtree, waiting for tears which still wouldn’t come
"What about the rest of the vampaneze?" Alice asked "Are any of them still in my city?"
Evanna shook her head "All have fled"
"Will they return?" Alice asked, and by the glint in her eyes I saw she was half hoping they would, so she could settle a few scores
"No" Evanna smiled "But I think it’s safe to say that you will run into therowled, and I knew she was thinking of Morgan James, an officer of hers who’d joined the vampets They were human allies of the vampaneze, who shaved their heads, daubed blood around their eyes, sported V tattoos above their ears, and dressed in brown unifor her dark cheeks clean The teacher had fought like a tigress in the tunnels, but the events of the night had caught up with her and she was shivering helplessly
"For you - for now," Evanna answered cryptically
"What does that mean?" Debbie frowned
"You and the Chief Inspector can choose to distance yourselves from the War of the Scars," Evanna said "You can return to your ordinary lives and pretend this never happened If you do, the vaain"
"Of course we’ll return to our lives," Alice said "What else can we do? We’re not vampires We don’t have any further part to play in their war"
"Perhaps," Evanna said "Or perhaps you’ll think differently when you’ve had time to reconsider You’ll return to the city - you need time to reflect, and you have affairs to put in order - but whether or not you’ll choose to stay ?" Evanna’s eyes flicked over Vancha, Harkat andafter that monster, Leonard," Vancha said ied, "but you’ll be wasting your tiy Moreover, you will jeopardize your position Although you are fated to confront hi hiht miss the final destined shon"
Vancha cursed bitterly, then asked Evanna where she suggested he should go
"Vampire Mountain," she said "Your clan should be told about the Vampaneze Lord They must not kill him themselves - that rule still applies - but they can scout for hiht direction"
Vancha nodded slowly "I’ll call a te for hiht falls Darren - are you and Harkat co?"
I looked at my fellow Prince, then down at the hard brown earth of the forest floor "No," I said softly "I’ve had all I can take of vampires and vampaneze I know I’m a Prince and have duties to attend to But I feel like my head’s about to explode Mr Crepsley et away from it all, erous time to cut yourself off from those who care for you," Vancha said quietly
"I can’t help that," I sighed
Vancha was troubled by my choice, but he accepted it "I don’t approve - a Prince should put the needs of his people before his own - but I understand I’ll explain it to the others Nobody will trouble you" He cocked an eyebrow at Harkat "I suppose you’ll be going with him?"
Harkat lowered the rey-skinned Little People) and smiled thinly "Of course" Mr Tiny had resurrected Harkat from the dead Harkat didn’t knoho he used to be, but he believed he could find out by sticking withthe Stone of Blood, but it’ll be easier if I have a rough idea of where you’re heading"
"I don’t know," I said "I’ll just pick a direction and ?" I stopped as a picture flashed through hts, of circus vans, snake-boys and hammocks "The Cirque Du Freak," I decided "It’s the nearest place outside Vaood choice," Evanna said, and by the way her lips lifted at the edges, I realized the witch had known all along that I’d choose to return to the Cirque
We went our separate ways as the sun was setting, even though we hadn’t slept and were ready to drop with exhaustion Vancha departed first, on his long trek to Vaed me hard and hissed in my ear, "Be brave!"
"You too," I whispered back
"We’ll kill Leonard next tirinned weakly
He turned and ran, hitting flitting speed seconds later, vanishing into the gloom of the dusk
Debbie and Alice left next, to return to the city Debbie asked s stood I needed to be by myself for a while She wept and clutched me close "Will you come back later?" she asked
"I’ll try," I croaked
"If he doesn’t," Evanna said, "you can always go looking for hiess "Hold on to that Keep it closed When the two of you decide upon your course, open it"
The Chief Inspector asked no questions, just tucked the paper away and waited for Debbie to join her Debbie looked at o with her - or ask her to co cold and hard in ht now
"Take care," I said, turning aside and breaking eye contact
"You too," she croaked, then sobbed loudly and stumbled away With a quick "Goodbye", Alice hurried after her, and the to one another as they went
That left just me, Harkat and Evanna
"Any idea where the Cirque’s playing?" the witch asked We shook our heads "Then it’s lucky that I do and a between us, she looped her arht, and led us through the forest, away froround caverns of death, back to where ht first started - the Cirque Du Freak