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Even on a Sunday afternoon, the high-ceilinged waiting room of Thomas Nolan&039;s studio was croith aspirant s, knobbly vertebrae and knife-blade cheekbones Pulses throbbed in throats, wrists and ankles She wouldn&039;t knohere to bite, for fear of scraping bone Pretty creatures perched on low, backless couches like uncorasshoppers They wore in fancy dress: astronaut, flairl, Boy Scout Glass-top tables had still-life arrangeazines the waifs couldn&039;t read and exotic fruits they wouldn&039;t eat

Big black-and-white art in a white tux, Rita Hayworth as Gilda, Jack Andrus as Ulysses, Bardot on a motorbike, Byron Orlok as Clayface, Theda Bara as Countess Addheed Sos to black-lipped et the point A chrolanced at the selection panel: &039;A Whiter Shade of Pale&039;, over and over

her face, at first just ghostleeeee, turned

Nolan&039;s Chinese personal assistant was present, issuing orders to minions Kate was surprised - the PA was the woon She&039;d usedKate hadn&039;t kept track of the woe Deaths, her father, had joined his ancestors Before the ceiling fell in on his Limehouse lair, he had issued his custoain&039; So far, it hadn&039;t

&039;Kate,&039; Lin Tang acknowledged, stone-faced &039;And sohter even than her, Lin Tang wore a blackof gold rings sewn together Her hair once fell unbound to her knees Now, she had sharp-cut fringes and showed the nape of her neck Kate re Carpathian Guardsmen with twin scimitars in the Battle of Lamb&039;s Conduit Street Did anyone else here realise the tiny woerous than the bald, pockmarked wrestler who barred the inner doors? He was for show: ar, flower painted on his forehead Lin Tang ht have inherited him from her father

In the &039;90s, a tihter had served in different branches of the Underground dedicated to the overthrow of Prince Dracula Then, Lin Tang dutifully carried out her dreadful father&039;s bidding Later, she turned against him - for love, Kate understood - and made her oay in the world Good for her Not a vahty years ago Her family had access to potions and elixirs Like vah, invisible price The Lord ca&039;s painted face h his pockets for his warrant card, and found it only after Griffin had flashed police ID at Lin Tang

&039;We&039;d like a ith Mr Nolan, miss ?&039;

Lin Tang gave nothing away

&039;It is a serious matter,&039; Bellaver insisted

The wrestler shifted a little

In this bubbleworld, B Division&039;s authority was scarcely recognised No wonder the Super ary of the case When Kate started as a crime reporter, policemen found it almost i Well-born ruffians of the 1880s, like Caleb Croft and his chuet aith anything In this egalitarian age, being famous - no es which once came with title and estates

&039;Tho

The doors opened behind the wrestler, bu him out of the way Thomas Nolan, more wasted than Toby Dammit in the poster, stalked out, blond hair wild, brick-dust streaks on his blinding white jeans Not a tall man, he displaced a lot of air Behind hi noticed the Presence

&039;Thorapher began inspecting the crop ofinto eyes None spoke

&039;Hopeless, useless, spotty, malnourished, too tall t&039;chah! The lot of you, out out out!&039;

The astronaut misted up the inside of her plastic bubble helmet and passed out Her spacesuit had a vent which exposed her miraculously flat midriff in aclapped her hands, like her father signalling that more Western barbarians be tossed into the river The uessed they&039;d be replaced by interchangeables within the half-hour The cowgirl took the spacegirl with her

&039;You ,&039; he said to Bellaver

Then he came to Kate

&039;but you interest ers and looked through it at her

&039;Snappy snappy,&039; he said &039;Teeth please&039;

&039;He

&039;I means teeth,&039; said Thos slid out of gumsheaths

Often, her teeth noticed she fancied so of interest Meanwhile, he saw her as an object Danashers,&039; he said &039;Come in and we&039;ll expose some film&039;

&039;But I&039;m I don&039;t no reflection No pictures&039;

He s about that, luv You&039;re definitely what I want&039;

If this was the only way in, then

Thoht better of stopping Bellaver froe-works The studio still se sheets of white or pastel paper were tacked to the walls Ca wo in a silvery evening dress Barefoot, her soles were grubby fronised Barbara von Weidenborn, a professional artists&039;of the Dracula family tree, she was now in abject distress, like a harem bed-warmer who has failed to please the sultan and is dooers The wrestler escorted the Dracutwig off the premises Kate trusted there were no trapdoors hereabouts for such poor things The Daughter h brief acquaintance suggested Thoe Deaths

Kate sahat Barbarushka&039;s proble Polaroid photographs, all of strange shadows on white paper

&039;I won&039;t photograph either,&039; she insisted

Nolan summoned an attractive, auburn-haired woman She wore a black sweater and britches and had a cine around her neck, full of cosmetics rather than ice creaic&039;

The woled, oddly Her eyes watered

&039;That&039;s got silver in it,&039; she said, gripping Edwina&039;s wrists

&039;It&039;s so you&039;ll show up,&039; Nolan said

&039;I don&039;t necessarily want to,&039; said Kate

Edas strong, Kate realised She ht well be up to a tussle

Bellaver stood back, aned up for whatever this was, especially if it involved disfigureraph va explained

&039;You have such a look,&039; the photographer said &039;But if it&039;s not on filuet older,&039; she said

&039;Wouldn&039;t you like to see your own face?&039;

&039;Not really People weren&039;t kind about it&039;

Nolan was puzzled

&039;Shesaid &039;When she arm, Western women with red hair were considered hideous&039;

Kate on for her concision

And glasses,&039; Kate said And freckles&039;

Nolan peered at her and didn&039;t see a proble The snapper spent his days peering through viewfinders at Jean Shri with specs, frecks and ginger, it was one in the eye for all those lads in cricket caps whoher to dance in 1886 They were mostly dead, of course

He picked up a ca at her