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I was too sleepy still to bother hissing and simply stared at her as if she had three eyes, mainly because she did Of course, the third one was painted on her forehead in ould have been an Egyptian style on Earth She wore a cobra headdress and golden robes and sandals Her skin was the -limbed and unnaturally skinny She leaned down to slap rowl

"Now," she said firmly "Or you’re out on the streets"

I could only nod

She flapped out the door like a crane that had crashed through a costume shop, and I stood, still a little sore from my time on horseback Funny, how I could contort my body into all sorts of unnatural positions but could barely walk after a few hours of riding behind Vale I closed the door and dressed quickly without benefit of the ewer of water that see Yesterday’s clothes were now dirt-infused rags that needed to be boiled in lye, but I couldn’t very well go out in the cobweb-thin nightgown I’d been given With noroom somewhere below so that I wouldn’t seem an utter mess to my neorkers

There was no lock on the door, but I checked that it was closed fir it into a hole in the mattress I hadn’t told Vale about the few coins that remained from Mademoiselle Caprice’s stash, not topowder As of right now, they were the s I owned

Outside in the hall, I ran into Bea and gave her what I hoped was the sign for Goodand not I spit on you and chop off your arave esture The one she tried next was faed "I don’t eat"

She shook her head no and did another sign

"Mouth rain?" I guessed "Drool?"

With a silent laugh, she ainst her neck

"Oh! Do I need blood?"

An enthusiastic nod

"It would help"

She inclined her head, and I followed her down the stairs In the hallway, ht for the niche where Vale had kissed me--and I had kissed hiainst the brick wall nonchalantly and s forto plan, he was out in the city, trying to find information on a pretty blond Bludman who had recently appeared under mysterious circumstances

I almost missed it when Bea ducked down a different niche that was actually a hallway Just a little ways in, she opened a hobbit-sized door and scrunched over before disappearing inside With little choice, I followed her into the dark Sh, but below my knees it was so dark that I couldn’t tell if the sandy debris under my feet was dirt, stone, or more crushed bone When Bea finally knocked softly on a wooden door, I stopped behind her and heldfor fresh air At least I wasn’t trapped in here with a yummy human

The door opened a few inches

"Eh?"

The face that appeared in the gap surprised the hell out of me, as I’d written a paper on the syirl frorave;re, except that her eyes weren’t dead They were narrowed and annoyed under hay-colored bangs that had lost any luster they originally possessed

Bea inally tried with ic, Beatrice," the girl said severely "You kno Madame Sylvie feels aboutoh"

Bea had moved aside to reveal me, doubled over in the tunnel "Hi," I said with a little wave

The girl sucked air in through her teeth "Must be the new Bludman" She put a reddened hand to her pluown "Are you as tarinned "Want to step into the tunnel to find out or just give h, and the girl shrugged as if cleverness was an itchy flea in an especially tender place The door closed, leaving Bea and ely silent

When the door opened again, the girl shoved a chilled vial into my hand "It’s cold and old But if you slip me a few coppers, I can maybe find some fresh"

"I don’t have coppers now, but I will soon"

She raised one plucked eyebrow "I don’t have fresh blood now, but I willthen"

The door closed, and Bea’s hand patted ives the new girl trouble, right?"

I caught a flash of her nod as she moved aroundthat I couldn’t sip without throwing back my head, I curled my hands around the vial to warust of air about halfway through, and when I looked up, I saw a flash of lavender clouds lit by the weak sun I hadn’t seen asince entering Paradis, so it was the first ti into the cataco storm filtered down like dust, and a lone raindrop sizzled on my cheek Up ahead, Bea tapped the walls, and I hurried on