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&039;I was surprised when you called,&039; Kate told Eric DeBoys &039;I didn&039;t think a new-made blood like you would be interested in an old stick likeoff his chin dimple as well as his teeth &039;I&039;m at St Bartolph&039;s to learn from my elders&039;

&039;I&039;m not a teacher And I&039;m not an elder&039;

&039;No, but you&039;re an example&039;

The School of Vampirism had its own dusk till dawn student bar, The Deconsecrated Chapel Pa fro in alcoves, replacing sacred is onto Rudolf Valentino in The Count, WC Fields in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break and Orlon Kronsteen in London Screams and lipstick-kissed heart-shaped wounds on the necks o f J ean Harlow in Red Dust, Jane Fonda in Cat Garou and Mavis Weld in Clara Croft She&039;d seen that before, at Thomas Nolan&039;s studio - the work of the same alteration artist, or just a trend she&039;d not noticed till now?

Just in case this date was ht! - ro and sit in the corner Not that Kate could have stopped her bodyguard The underage elder drank sugared blood through a straw The high glucose content was added artificially, not because the donors were diabetic She shooed away a couple of warm boys who tried to chat her up

Most of DeBoys&039; fellow Black Monks were in the bar Arue of the dance-floor

Dru, the vao, was here, alone She sported a black eye and a si one of Nezu attack

Things were changing on campus, as folk found out who their real friends - or real ene played records The Zombies&039; &039;Time of the Season&039;, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown&039;s &039;Blood&039;, Question Mark and the Mysterians&039; &039;96 Tears&039; Cathy and Pony go-goed in perfect sync on a chessboard floor with lit-up white squares Scruffy guys watched the twins, fascinated

No sign of Ja spun The Royal Guardsmen&039;s &039;Snoopy vs the Red Baron&039; - not a favourite pop pick of Kate&039;s Responding to the song, Nezuirls They responded aggressively, like basketball players ave her a Japanese the Biff Bailey and His Jazz to the instrumental, in a clear soprano &039;Ue o h&039; If King had known Nezu out &039;Three Wheels on My Wagon&039; or &039;Nellie the Elephant&039;

Kate and DeBoys drank Gold Top The Boy Eric wasn&039;t on a student grant budget She guessed he was fro about him was expensive He had a Norman name DeBoys DeBois Of the woods Thatbad wolfish aspect, like soerous than the fox

She hadn&039;t drunk Gold Top in a while She tried not to think who it had coood stuff If she stood, she&039;d be a little giddy

&039;What do you want to be when you grow up?&039; Kate asked

&039;Do we grow up?&039;

&039;I wonder soree is in Law but I o into politics&039;

&039;Which party?&039;

&039;That&039;s the problem None of them appeal&039;

&039;Traditionally, thanks to Lord Ruthven, the Tories are the Vampire Party Enoch Powell has probably undone that A well-spoken lad like you&039;d be welcome on the editorial board of the Socialist Vampire&039;

&039;A bunch of Scrawdykes,&039; DeBoys sneered &039;So many Points of Order, never a Point of Action&039;

&039;Do you want Action?&039;

His eyes gleao still, you know&039;

As I said, I&039;m not&039;

&039;I never said you were I mean Professor Croft He&039;s like a lizard He never moves He hasn&039;t moved He&039;s found his crack - his coffin - and he&039;s coht have outgrown his master? Or wanted her to believe that

&039;Don&039;t underestimate him,&039; she said

&039;I don&039;t He&039;s survived centuries But he&039;s stuck When I turned, things sped up It&039;s the same for the rest of us&039;

&039;The Black Monks?&039;

&039;You could call us that&039;

This evening, he wasn&039;t wearing robes, but a black velvet Carnabetian suit His cream ruffle shirt was unbuttoned Medallions - inverted crosses, a boar&039;s head, a Blue Peter badge, a ruby-eyed Aztec skull - clustered on his hairy chest

It was a good thing she&039;d dolled up Kate wore a Jean Varon outfit, a purplelace-up boots Not soear as a gift froed to pacify her after a simple job went south on a cross-channel ferry

&039;We move fast, Kate Think fast We should call ourselves the Quick&039;

&039;Do you have a hed &039;Like Ji&039;

&039;I drive a Mini&039;

&039;But you&039;re Quick I can see it&039;

&039;Maybe I used to be Then I well, I did grow up I was always the Sensible One They called me that when I was alive, as a polite kind of insult "Sensible"this lupine toff her life story? Was she fascinated? Or was it the Gold Top? Her brain was fizzing

&039;Where are "they" now?&039;

&039;My friend Penelope - who is mostly who I mean when I say "they" - is still knocking about Though she didn&039;t get married, as it happens Bit of a failure, there Goes to show you shouldn&039;t gloat too e, Miss Reed&039;

&039;I shouldn&039;t be mean about Penny She&039;s not had an easy ti turned out the way she expected, either&039;

The man who hadn&039;t married Penny hadn&039;t one now Sometimes, when the wind blew a certain way, she saw the faintest trace of Charles Beauregard in Richard Jeperson, who now sat in Charles&039;s chair on the Ruling Cabal More often, sadly, Richard reminded her of Edwin Winthrop, another Most Valued Meenes Club She didn&039;t much care to be reminded of Edwin, still alive with so his sharpness Eric DeBoys had an Edwinian streak: a glint of wanting so to rip it out of you with a smile and some flowers A walk in the woods with DeBoys would end up with rough and tumble in the chase She wondered if she should put hiive the Lovelies someone to squabble over

A fuss broke out at the other side of the bar Si which didn&039;t carry over &039;The Legend of Xanadu&039; Anna Franklyn crossed her ar flinched at the whip-cracks in the song andat the wars He completed his exit, then needed to co the draood this time and the warm lads jeered

&039;Uh oh,&039; said Kate, &039;Anna&039;s in the wind&039;

The snake-woman walked across the dance-floor Her tiny, sari-inhibited steps showed off her hips Her head cobra-wobbled Cathy and Pony stood aside as she glided past They were still in a dance duel with Nezumi, whoon her ceiling was Nezu, the monkey, the batusi and yosaki naruko

Without invitation, Anna sat at their table A lit candle was stuck in an ereen in the flickering light She blinked sideways

&039;Simon&039;s in a tizzy,&039; she said

&039;Simon&039;s always in a tizzy,&039; said DeBoys &039;He&039;s a wet and a weed&039;

&039;&039;Tis true,&039; Anna sighed &039;Marshes and nored Kate and started fiddling with DeBoys&039;s sleeve, stroking the velvet nap like cat&039;s fur, then rubbing it the wrong way, then sain

DeBoys s his ar at Kate too, with unreadable serpent eyes

Kate wondered if she should find a reason to leave, but didn&039;t think DeBoys wanted her to go Far fro hiht If he could tell her anything, then he&039;d cough it up when he felt he was in power

That ht be what Eric DeBoys most wanted - from the Law, from politics, from life - power over others And control So: sexy fascist vampire dandy This was Machiavelli&039;s Prince &039;68-style

&039;This scene is a drag tonight, Eric,&039; said Anna &039;Let&039;s go out&039;

&039;Ladies?&039; asked DeBoys

&039;Sure,&039; said Kate &039;I&039;ame&039;

&039;I&039;ll just bet you are,&039; he said