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Criminy watched the confession, silent, his expression unreadable

Since Crian to shout, his voice filled with an ugly, prideful righteousness "The gods speak throughThe Bludmen must be destroyed, the earth scoured of their pestilence Only lory of eternity"

"Are you done yet?" Cri around , but I couldn’t tell if the croas hungry for blood or just entertainment

"I will never be finished," Elvis said, his voice rising and gaining force like that of a preacher on a roll "For reater power than your vile spirits of blood And you can’t kill hteous and special and on aacross his face He pulled Pemberly from his shoulder and whispered into the round and loped along the line of wagons

Elvis didn’t kno to respond to that He just nodded once as if accepting fealty

Cri to himself "Oh, it’ll just be a moment," he said "But please believe that I’s have been taken into account, and your path is perfectly reasonable"

The croittered There were a few giggles Elvis deflated a little and began to cast around for support

There was a flash of copper, and Peain on Criminy’s shoulder, her tail wrapped around his ar from her little black hand

It was the jar of powder from Mrs Cleavers’s trailer, wrapped in his handkerchief The poison

"Here’s the thing, though, Elvis," Cri that you deserve a pro off the clockworks and running the locoe"

"I don’t believe--"

"I’ off Elvis "But you will You see, I’ve been thinking we need a clown A good, old-fashioned Pierrot And you’re going to do your makeup all by yourself We’ll start with pure white, just like your soul"

Elvis took a step back, and the color drained fro calass jar and held it out to Elvis The terrified man turned to run, but Catarrh and Quincy appeared and held hier than they looked The crowd stepped in closer, a solid wall of bodies Half of thery, half were curious, but none showed even a hint of sympathy

"You can’t do this!" Elvis shouted "It’s ainst the laws! You’ll lose your license! My human brethren will see you punished!"

"Murder?" Crined confusion "My dear sir, I’ you a promotion It’s just powder A simple bit of makeup Mrs Cleavers uses it on everyone Why on earth would you be frightened of powder?"

The crowd had ht circle around them by now, and I had a front-row seat from behind lare and bared her teeth

"I use itto fear froled, but there was no escape

Criain and said, "Go on Paint your face, clown Unless you’d like to tell your friends and coworkers anything special?"

Elvis looked at the powder, then at the crowd He hung his head, apparently realizing that the Bludmen would end him, one way or another, now that they knehat he had done

He dipped a gloved finger into the powder and looked at it sadly He drew a stripe froer full and drew a line from cheek to cheek With a cross drawn on his pallid face, he looked up at the crowd

"I regret nothing," he said, and blood spilled froround, eyes open Dead