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"That’s one dose?" Dae and wished he could have a picture of the look on her face

"There are enough doses in here for the next three days and then some," she said dryly

"Well, I’d better find out what it does" Dae of coffee

She opened the vial, tapped it lightly over theThe sprinkle of powder dissolved instantly

He took a sip A little nutty, just a little sharp Actually quite--

He wheezed His body suddenly had a kind of battlefield alertness, a fierce need toue After the first few explosive seconds, he felt hiht reservoir of energy

He drained the es, just the feeling that the reservoir got delightfully bigger

Jaenelle carefully packed the vial into the box "Everything has a price, Daemon," she said firave him could have cut a man in half "No, it is notI use this sometimes--which you willnot mention to any of the family They’d throw three kinds of fits if they knew This will keep you going, even if you don’t get any food or sleep, but if you don’t renew the dose every six hours, your feet are going to go out from under you and you’d better be prepared to sleep for a day"

"In other words, if Ion around ht, I’ll remember"

She held up another vial, this one full of a dark liquid "This is a tonic for Saetan I figured he’s going to be weakened physically, so Ito have a kick like a team of draft horses Add it to an equal amount of liquid--wine or fresh blood"

"If I use the stimulant, can I use ing to keep her lips fro "But if youdo use your blood, make sure you pour it down his throat before you tell him what it is because it’ll kick liketwo teams of draft horses--and he will not be happy with you for the first couple of ood enough condition that he could howl about being dosed

Jaenelle took a deep breath, let it out slowly "That’s it then"

Dae down on the worktable "I want to superviseWill you wait for me?"

Her smile didn’t reach her haunted sapphire eyes "I’ll wait"

"Prince Ssadi"

Daemon hesitated, turned toward the voice "Draca" She held out one hand, closed in a loose fist Obediently, he put his hand under hers When she opened her hand, colored bangles poured into his--the kind of bangles woht

Baffled, he looked at the bangles, then at her

"When the tiive thesse to Ssaetan He will undersstand"

She knows,DaehtShe knows, but No, Draca wouldn’t say anything to the coven or the boyos The Seneschal of Ebon Askavi would keep her own council for her own reasons

As she walked away, he slipped the bangles into his jacket pocket

Surreal jumped when the door to her room flew open

"What in the na?" Dae the door

"What does it look like I’?" Surreal snapped Silently, she swore A few more minutes and she would have been able to slip away undetected

"Itlooks like you’re about to ruin several hours of careful planning," Dae?" she asked suspiciously

He sith a creative vileness that surprised her "What do you think I’ve been doing since we got thatgift thisin alone?"

"I’ve been an assassin for a lot of years, Sadi I could have--"

"One-on-one kills," he snarled "That’s not going to get you very far in an aruards, you can be sure the four people you’re going in for will be dead by the time you reach them"