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His gaze was drawn to the painting over the desk It did not fit the room any more than the desk did, but the more he stared at it, the uard had not stepped into the roo in here?"

Thierry turned and sized the h, although he s a bucolic look and deepening his accent "I was looking for the lavatory, yes?"

The scent of gardenias peruard breathed in deeply, and his expression became confused "That’s nice I mean, you’ll have to come with"But you are looking tired You should rest for a uard almost did, and then rubbed a hand over his face "I’d better…" He tugged a radio from his pocket and stared at it and then Thierry "I’d better…"

"Sit down," Thierry suggested

"Yeah" The guard wandered to the chair at the desk and sat down "Why a, is it not?" Thierry rested a hand on thethis late when you should be sleeping"

The guard nodded heavily, his eyes half-closed He tried to yawn, but couldn’t "Hate ed forward

Thierry picked up the man’s arm and unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt His pulse was slow but strong He waited a short tis on the man’s wrist, and then only to take a s blood directly froerous The Kyn had discovered that it was better to separate the blood from the human and then drink it at a distance, to prevent any chance of inducing thrall and rapture He had no ti in which to put the blood

Thierry found a box of plasters in Jema’s desk and used two to cover the punctures he had left in the guard’s arar-free lemon drops, a booky, a small stack of novels Some were classic literature; others were modern novels All were stories of love

Are you a romantic, little cat? He found the fact that she hid the candy and the books in her desk rather endearing He had even read one of the books--Pride and Prejudice--although he had thought many of the heroine’s probleled herhiuard and placed a hand on his neck With such contact, he could rouse the estion "You hurt your ar the blood made you feel dizzy You put on the plasters before you sat down There was no one in Miss Shaw’s office"

Hurt uard’sat the painting again, Thierry left the sleepingby the lobby desk began to say so, until Thierry was only a few steps away Then he and the lobby clerk seeht," Thierry said, and was out of the doors before their expressions cleared

The snoas falling ht had turned bitterly cold Thierry returned to the lakefront, where he concealed the car and walked through the snow-covered lawn at the back of the Nelsons’ property to the wall that stood between it and Jeh, but locating her in the enor to require soh this one was not nearly as sophisticated as the Nelsons’ There were also French doors all around the house, and they were the easiest to open from outside

Thierry had no idea why they were called French doors His native countryh to put them in their ho the deep depressions between the decorative rock casements as hand- and footholds The roof was peaked, but not sharply, and the eaves extended out far enough to allow hi over and look into the second-story s

He had looked into three before he saw a patch of snow beyond the roof glitter with light Quickly he drew back until he saw the source--a ith a balcony at the back of the house He leaned over to look down, in ti the curtains inside A few seconds later, the light in the room went out

There she is He waited five h time for her to drift off He did not want to waste this opportunity

Thierry jumped down from the roof and landed on the small, rounded balcony outside Jema Shaw’s bedroom The French doors here had none of the security devices attached to them, as on the first and second floors Only a brass hook-and-eye lock stood between her and the rest of the world

Rather than feel grateful, he becary Does no one in this place care for her safety? He took out his dagger and inserted the blade in the seam of the frame, and then hesitated If she is awake, she will see theopen She will cry out