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Knowing Michael’s deteres and into the twenty-first century, Jaus suspected the cost ht be considerable

"This will take time," Jaus told his seneschal "Drill the men on their foruards out of the lists and across the compound to the randson see me a thousand questions about the Darkyn each day, yes, he is," Sacher said His se"

Kurt Sacher, Wilhelm’s father, had lived and worked in Jaus’s household since boyhood As was custo his son to assurown up with the Darkyn and had been quite willing to serve the jardin Then caht when Kurt had not returned froor that his son had been shot during a robbery atterid, fell into a depression, and threepills

The sudden loss had devastated Sacher, a ith no other living faht lose his most trusted servant as well, and had offered to release Sacher froht escape any painfulthe Darkyn But it had been Kurt and Ingrid’s orphaned son, Wil, who had kept his grandfather froor would trust Wil’s future to no one but Jaus

I cannot look after hiht Wilhelm to Derabend Hall This only you can do

On the way to the ht hand rapped in a flesh-colored bandage, and recalled the minor kitchen accident that had caused the wound "That burn has not healed"

"No, but it will, ht in his jacket pocket "Give an old huether Gregor had served as his tresora for seven decades, ever since losing his parents to the Nazi occupation of Austria Tresori pledged to serve the jardin until death, but at a certain age retirement usually became a necessity

Had the time come so soon?

Jaus paused and rested a hand on the old ht air "Why have you not seen your doctor?"

"My doctor wears braces on his teeth," Sacher said h puberty yet Such things do not inspire lanced down at Jaus’s hand "You had only but to ask, ive me I worry about you" Jaus removed his hand to input the pass code on the entry door’s keypad, releasing the electronic lock One of the four bodyguards escorting them opened the door while two took position on either side of it "It is a pity Cyprien’s leech reifted healer"

"That wohtens me more than the doctor with braces" He checked his watch "1 will have Wilhelm come in and attend to his schoolwork now I hope his head is clear enough to cope with calculus, for mine, I fear, will never be" With a bow, the elderly servant left Jaus

Valentin walked through the cool white lights and stark shadows of his home He had commissioned three different construction firhteenth-century mansion that had formerly occupied the lakefront property and had Derabend Hall built to his own exact specifications The loss of the historic land with his wealthy neighbors, until its replace castle of black granite and gray slate, dominated the landscape The finished product caused Valentin to be hailed as an architectural renegade and visionary by Chicago’s elite

No one realized he had simply reproduced a modern version of his fainal, Schloss Jaus, had long vanished, reduced to ruins by Napoleon’s forces and then dust by succeeding wars and tiht colors, cheerful patterns, and most of the clutter of the modern world annoyed Jaus, so he con firly in solid black, white, and silver One of the designers published photographs of Derabend Hall’s stark rooms, which set off a n that swept the nation It was then that Jaus stopped ee his preferences, as the exposure made his already nervous jardin rather paranoid

The only color indulgence Jaus perht blue used in his bedrooe and efficient workspace with the very latest in infory His coned personally for hiul, collected data from a hundred different sources for analysis, and could track the whereabouts and activities of anyone he chose to monitor

Information was the shield of the modern ht

Jaus pulled up his mainframe screen at the same time he picked up his phone and connected to the line that had been placed on hold "Seigneur Cyprien, this is an unexpected honor"

"Suzerain Jaus, the honor is mine," Michael said, "but time, alas, is not"