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I sat on the arm of a chair, a position that allowed me to see the doorway in ave e of balance Troll grinned atthat I hadn’t seen this chair before, and that I suddenly scented Katie on the air, maybe the bet wason the security screens I said, "Mithrans As in the mystery of Mithras in ancient Roman lore?" Troll looked i is on Wikipedia, you know Anyone can look it up Not that the vamps and the Mithrans have been linked absolutely Unless you just did I , but Troll didn’t seelanced at his laptop in irritation and I grinned The real world was catching up with the vamps Mithrans Whatever They couldn’t like it However, more than half of as available about vaus, fiction, or wishful thinking, sometimes a mixture of all three And nowhere was there an explanation of why vamps were affected by Christian symbols It was my personal quest to find out about that, not that I’d had any luck

"Leo’s muscle planted the camera," I said "Bet on it"

Troll sat back in his chair, be to ask how I kneith such certainty I changed the topic to see what happened "I’ht," I said "Where in the Quarter do you reco?" He couldn’t quite keep the startled tone out of his voice

"Great way for a gal to sue chased down and ate a working girl last night I’ if it coirl in your dreaood I’ll drop by on my way out Maybe you’ll think of a place"

Back at the freebie house, I streaked on dark red lipstick and wrapped my braided hair up in a turban with Beast’s travel pack in the folds I strapped three crosses aroundone around ht, and strapped a short-bladed va partner would find it unless ere doing the tango and got real friendly I put two full-sized stakes into my turban and two handmade, silver-tipped, collapsible travel stakes into specially sewn pockets in my undies The purple and teal skirt rode low on my hip bones and the peasant top rode low onbra beneath Sexy, but showing nothing The skirt whispered around my calves with each step

I swished on a little bronzer to brighten old eyeliner, and slipped into the new dancing shoes In the mirror, I tested the movement of my skirt in a little maya hip move that looked like sex Satisfied, I snapped off the bath light, made sure the house was secure, and closed down the laptop, standing in the dark house, thinking

I had spent an hour in an online search into theaith a confusing battery of i that sounded likesane or free fro The house was dark and I h it by h the s to the front door I sar before I saw him The Joe Rick I threw the locks and opened the door, swished ed in" I couldn’t resist the taunt Rick’s eyes bulged at the sight of me I was afraid I’d have to catch them and stuff them back in the sockets I chuckled and said, "Thanks for the couess Troll sent you over"

"And me," a soft voice said from the street

I looked over the speechless Rick’s shoulder and spotted his co shoes, flashy jewelry, and lots of makeup "Bliss?"

"Miss Katie sent aveelse and stopped The scent of fear was faintly bitter on her skin I had no idea why Katie had sent her to ht, Bliss," I said "All I’ for is a really stinky va vales clanging "You’re kidding , but what do you know about your birth parents?"

"Nothing Why?"

"It doesn’t ue vamp lure and vamp sniffer-outer She was also Katie’s eyes

Before we left, I wrote down the address of the Cherokee elder for Rick and asked him to track down the owners of all property within three miles in any direction It was a lot of land, and the research would keep hi stuff I hated Then I lockeda trail on the air even a huh the Quarter, taking our ti for Bourbon Street We were passed by tuxedo-clad waiters on the way to work, couples out for a roood ti for an early dinner or maybe just a snack to hold thelamoured to look like older wo and why they needed a disguise Bliss watched the group, her face tight with concentration, and I wondered what she saondered a lot of things and I had very feers She and Rick chatted as alked, and I felt their eyes settle on me often, their curiosity like a blanket held aroundto say, and let y, and heavy, as if it carried extra weight, as if lightning and to I perspired in a ss and thighs with each step, thearound old nugget lay together around my neck, the stones warm The voices and people we passed were relaxed and slow The ambiance was heated, as if dance had already found me, as if I had slid into the rhyth out the various scents

The srease, and people filled the air Food and liquor, exhaust and perfume, vamps and witches, drunks and fear, sex and desperation, and the scent of water Everywhere, I was surrounded by water, the power of the Mississippi, the nearby lakes, the not-too-distant reek of swamp The overlay of coffee with chicory, the way they brewed it here The scent cohts hid asbehind fans or party balloons Music poured fro with soul Together, it brought Beast close to the surface I could feel her breath in the forefront of ainst h

There were a few cops on foot, their presencea measure of security to the tourists But the officers were nervous, each with a hand resting on gun butt, faces and eyes hyperalert, radios trans information to them in a steady stream They were all twitchy

Besides weapons and Kevlar vests, NOPD cops carried GPS tracker devices Each had a built-in "officer panic alar a button If a cop pressed it, an alar the officer’s GPS location, calling for all officers to respond And ithoop

The devices hadn’t helped the cops the rogue had killed Had they not carried theale button?

Cruising every street were media vans, local affiliates of CBS, NBC, ABC, a FOX News van with a picture of Greta Van Susteren painted on the side, even a local cable van The reporters were looking for local color and anything they could get on the killer of cops and prostitutes--each hoping for an exclusive they could parlay into bigger ratings and increased personal fa, the streets were less crowded than I expected, far ht Beast hunted The word about the killer vamp had done a number on the crowds I had never been in the French Quarter on a Saturday night, but I had a feeling the bar and restaurant traffic was down Not good I hadto the streets in packs, searching for the rogue Killing any unlucky, handy vamp

Our walk ended up at the Royal Mojo Blues Company The smell of fried food and beer and the sound of liveThe RMBC had an outside dining area, a bar, food that srill, and a dance floor And the people not on the streets? They were inside The place was packed My feet were tapping before I reached the door After a preliue, I headed to the dance floor, losing Bliss and Rick in the crowd

A black wo seventies piece by Linda Ronstadt She was backed up by five other uitars A selection of wind instruround roar, with Beast picking up a feords here and there: flirting, business co place sotto voce between two patrons near the bar No vamp discussions And the only vah it was fa alone wouldn’t make me stand out I flowed onto the floor, into the crowd Into the heat and swirling smoke and started to move I opened with a corkscrew and shifted into a h school/teenaged misery and the freedom of RL--real life--was a year of belly dance classes The best thing about belly dancing was the freestyle moves it added to oogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">