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And then, leaping up to the balcony fro into the room via the opencanified and butlerlike asa olf, was Floote

Alexia stopped trying to touch Queen Matakara and turned in a slow, ponderouseverything underwater

"Conall Maccon, I thought you were dead!"

Lord Maccon looked up at his wife froo, and barked at her

"Do you kno I’ve been suffering for the last week? How could you? Where have you been?"

He barked again

Alexia wanted to throw herself at his about him She also wanted to whack him over the head with her parasol But he was there and he was alive and everything was suddenly working again The numbness vanished and Alexia took in the world around her Her brain, somewhat absent for the better part of a week, returned to full capacity

She looked to her butler "Floote, what have you done?"

Floote only pulled out a gun and began shooting vampires

"Prudence," Alexia called sharply, "come to Ma to suck the blood out of the arm of a very surprised drone, stopped and looked over at her mother "No!"

Alexia used that tone of voice The voice that Prudence rarely heard but knewlady!"

For Prudence, currently a vaht this very moment was very fast indeed In a veritable flash, she was at Alexia’s side Alexia grabbed her daughter, turning her human once more, and then, without any kind of compunction at all, lifted her up and set her in the lap of Queen Matakara of Alexandria

Prudence said, "Oh, Dama," in a very somber voice and looked deep into the torrave and gentle as any nurseto the wounded on a battlefield She stood up on the frail wo soh the chaos, appeared on the other side of the aged queen The inventor assessed the situation In a few quick les and snaps at the botto fell away, exposing the vampire’s face fully to Prudence’s metanatural touch

Under the ainst the bones of her chin, but it was clear she had once been quite beautiful Her face was heart shaped with an aquiline nose, broadly spaced eyes, and small mouth

Prudence, drawn by the newly exposed flesh, placed one small, chubby hand to the vaesture, and Alexia couldn’t help but ihter so

Complete and total pandemonium resulted

All the va off whoever they had been fighting with or feeding on They charged This only frightened Prudence who, now a vampire once more, leaped nimbly out of the way and dashed about the room pell-mell

Matakara, ainst the straps and tubes, letting out a silent screaony

One of the vampires turned to Alexia "You! Soulless Make it stop!"

Lord Maccon, still a wolf,with old dark vampire blood, leaped to his wife’s defense His hackles were up, his teeth bared in a snarl

"She cannot die," cried out one of the valish than Alexia had previously supposed "We have no new queen!"

"So you, too, will die" Lady Maccon was unsyo e even six vampires can do to one city"

Alexia looked around Mada She was tussling with the beautiful female drone on the opposite side of the throne Mr Tumtrinkle lay fallen in one corner Alexia wasn’t certain he still breathed Several of the other thespians were looking worse for the wear One of the younger, prettier actresses bled copiously from multiple neck bites Floote stood in the midst of the melee, wooden knife in one hand, an expression of utterly unbutlerlike ferocity on his face When he caught Alexia’s eye, his custo fro sound and saw Tunstell sobbing, his red head bent over the crumpled form of Ivy

Alexia’s friend lay broken and bloodied, her neck a ruin of torn flesh Baby Pri in the crook of Ivy’s flaccid arm Tunstell scooped the child up and clutched her to his breast, still sobbing

A shout distracted Alexia froed to capture Prudence He ran toward Alexia with the toddler’s struggling for-and-spoon race Alexia kneould try to hand her the child She dodged away Not that she didn’t love her daughter, but right then she certainly didn’t want to touch her

Lord Maccon snarled and intercepted the attack, perfectly understanding Alexia’s predicament