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Without being asked, I assuuys pat ht only enough weapons to fight off and incapacitate or kill two vamps if they decided to attackh vaht down by sheer nu eneers in my halfhearted count I waited as my weapons were taken inside and locked away in the weapons safe I’d had installed in the nook near the front door

"This way, Miss Yellowrock" My frisker opened the inner doors into the marble-floored foyer The smell of mixed vamp, blood-servants, and human blood hit me like a landslide It was the stench of a funeral home: herbal and floral scents--dry and desiccated--all the mixed blood, some old and some brand-new Beast’s ear tabs twitched, and I opened my mouth so she could taste/s the scent blend or not, I couldn’t tell But I could feel her desire for Leo as she auto the others and breathed it deep The binding on her pulled hard at o find her ht at her

She spat in reply and hissed, showing her teeth, but backed away, into the deeps of

"No, ma’am It’s our pleasure to provide you escort"

"Nice Names?"

"Steven, with a V, Locke, with an E, and Stephen, with a PH, Hope"

"Mmmm" I stuck my hands in my pockets and followed Steven-with-a-V down the hallway and up the stairs "Steven," I said, "not to quibble, but if I had a weapon still on et your weapon Suggestions?"

Steven-with-a-V stopped and gestured me forward, to walk beside higy fe him down "Yeah, that works Unless there are more than one visitor Then maybe two escorts?" Steven nodded and I said, "I’ll adjust the protocols Thanks" I knew all that stuff, and had already for theed the paperwork, Steven-with-a-V would be able to say soe Yellowrock’s not bad for a chick Even if she did ihter at the little woh before closing the door behind me The papery, peppery scent of Leo floodedthe silvered chain of the binding in an iron fist Warhthe scents Leo’s was heated with the smell of anise, old paper, and ink ht at h, but kept it in, and shoved down on her to show her that I was alpha, not her There would be nowith Leo

I walked down the short wide foyer into the room beyond The office of the Master of the City had been rebuilt in the last few ain looked just as it had the first time I was here It was a less inner roo with tapestries and heavy drapery; Oriental rugs in every shade were scattered over the floors Not that long ago, one rug had been heavy erecat blood That one was gone, probably with the cops and later stolen away by the va on to evidence when vampires were involved

The roo the old ones all seemed to like, probably for the ambience of their own time as humans The bookshelves around the fireplace were new, filled with antique books, and hiding two no-longer-secret escape passageways I’d been hard on Leo’s secret-keeping

The furniture ood, solinted in the firelight and laback chairs were around a sht have been hand-carved for a Spanish royal in colonial tionomic desk chair, the armoires locked behind it They did double duty as file cabinets

There was a chaise longue in the back of the office, a fancy one with tufted gold velvet upholstery and a velvet throw Once before, I had been here and a naked girl had been sleeping on it Tonight it was ereed and showed rand old tiback chair, uninvited Put my boots up on a table andat his desk in the leather chair, papers on the table before hi as he wrote Thean old-fashioned shirt, crea loose Not like a ht silk with a pattern, chosen fro in a closet, but slender white ties that were part of the shirt itself, part of the rounded band of the collar The upper part of his chest was visible, collarbone catching the light in a pale-pale sheen, along with a few black chest hairs His legs were stretched out under the desk, encased in black pants, some sort of nubby fabric with a dull sheen, and on his feet were black socks and plushy slippers His black hair was pulled back into a little queue with a black ribbon, a loose tendril brushing his cheek I kne preternaturally soft his hair was How silken his skin Beast stretched out, purring

I curledthe pull of the binding, and wondering again why Leo never see was co into Beast It was the only thing that ether on the desktop, and raised his face from the desk to me His eyes were French black, his skin pale olive Fro across his forehead and down his teht I breathed in, and he sht Leo’s eyes held mine, without a hint of compulsion, curiosity in his expression rather than a predator’s gaze, and I let s have changed since you arrived in my domain," he said slowly "You are not entirely at fault, but you area catalyst, a goad to transformation" That was true, so I didn’t respond "We needed this stiht, but it has been painful to ht a war since I first ca lots of his friends, disbanding half of the established clans, leaving four instead of the original eight, and that was only the es So, yeah, painful He had a point

But I wasn’t going to let it stand as totally , because no as that the truth At the same time, I also didn’t want to provoke hi to annoy the alpha predator over the phone, and totally different to bait the vamp in his lair I said, carefully, "You used oals"

He shrugged elegantly, his head, shoulders, and arraphed "I am the creature that nature and the Mithran blood has made me I make efforts to rule with fairness and compassion, but I am not afraid to use the skills and abilities and people at my disposal as I see fit to accomplish ends that will keep my people and my lands safe"

Behind him, the door opened I s a new cologne, subtle and citrusy, applied with the light hand of someone who lived with predators who had an excellent sense of s perfu, his hands behind his back, as if at parade rest, though as far as I knew, he had never been to war He gave a s slowly as he took in my boots on the table, my slouch, and Leo’s studied patience "Leo Jane," he said, acknowledging us both, in order of social and doance itself, so fro, and so as Leo’s chief blood-servant, head of security, and Enforcer Leo’s real Enforcer, as opposed to ht he was dressed in slacks and a starched shirt, the sleeves rolled up to show his arms, lean and muscled, and worn, brown loafers, no socks Which made me smile for reasons I didn’t bother to try to understand

"Sit, my primo," Leo said When Bruiser sat beside s to discuss First is the illness of several blood-slaves It is not the plague Moremuch like the coularly" Toto discover if they share anything in common Worse is the disappearance of a Mithran in what appears to be a hoax or perhaps a kidnapping I speak of this only to keep you infore in the search or the investigation at this tie will deal with this issue I have other needs for you

"Tonight at dusk, I will receive a communiqué from the European Council There have been ruhtlittle" I al of the full New Orleans Mithran Council just after ht to discuss this call" He looked at his pri soather to announce to the clans the European plans and rulings, as well as to present the new Mithrans who have risen this season"

To me he continued "I wish you to oversee the security for this gather In-house protocols, safetythe caterer’s arrival and exit"

A gather was apeculiar to vaather and coiance to show up Then it was like--and yet very unlike--a deht party, drink a few humans, maybe have a little sex, because for vaht to business and discuss Said discussions were not always peaceful; some required persuasion and a battle of coathered would come to some conclusion and act At least that hat had happened at the gathers I’d seen "Okay," I said "Standard security?"