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He accepted the cash with a nod, then walked over to one of the broken s and assuuard" position – hands behind his back and feet slightly apart The occasional ripple of blue running down Valdis’s length showed she was as alert as heroff ht came on as I entered, and the black slate ar neither the fire nor the water had da circuits in this part of the house Tao’s insistence on having separate circuits for the various sections of the warehouse had finally paid off I dumped the dress into the laundry chute, then stepped into the shower The water caht teainstthe water to run down rief and tiredness as easily as it washed away the griot down to the business of washing I didn’t have time to waste, and asthe jets of hot water e and soothe, there was too much to be done

Once dry and dressed – this time in more sensible jeans, a sweater, socks, and boots – I headed for the living roo near the end of hon e of events or circu here staring at it wasn’t going to hts it had in store for me this time

Azriel appeared as I so mine War sense of dread Obviously, ood

But this time it wasn’t from my father Not only was the paper qualityon the front was very different It sient in what I’d ter what to expect or who it was froernail under the flap and opened it up Inside was a single white sheet of paper The e was short – It is imperative we meet, but we can only do so on the astral plane I will be where we first lanced at my watch One o’clock was only twelve lanced at Azriel "What do you think?"

"My iht is that Tao must have been here at the time this was delivered Markel is a vampire, and he could not have left this note on your bed due to the fact he has not been invited into your hoht of that "I’iven an awful lot could happen in a forty-minute time frame I waved the note "Could this be a trap?"

"It is always a possibility" Azriel’s expression gave little away – as usual – but his tension flowed throughit twitch "And I can neither follow nor protect you on the fields He lanced down at the note again, and wished I had the capability to read between the lines But other than the tension flowing through me – bothme squat

"The ests he has no desire for anyone to witness it" Azriel’s voice was grireatly"

And Markel was canny enough not to displease Hunter – which only o Just in case"

Azriel raised an eyebrow "In case of what? You have enough to deal with as it is, Risa There is no need to be seeking more trouble"

"What if it’s not trouble? What if it’s so vital about the keys or our sorcerers?"

"If it was so vital to our quest, it would have come to us via Hunter" He crossed his arh I don’t know if I’ve got enough tiet onto the plane" I was still very , after all, and it took ht frame of mind to astrally step out ofwith disapproval, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t felt that before

I crawled onto the bed and got myself comfortable, then closedit down, drawing it deep As my heartbeat became more measured, a sense of peace enveloped an to slip away Then, as Adeline had taughtabove rasp it It felt thick and real against those fingers, and as strong as steel… I pulledit Dizziness briefly swept over nored it and kept clian to vibrate Then, suddenly, I was free and floating above antic shed that was the Central Pier function center on Melbourne’s docklands district – the place where I’d not only first an In an instant I was there

And so was Markel He was tall, with regal features and a body that was as lean as a whip He bowed aslittle away but his brown eyes showing a touch of relief

It is good of you to come His mind voice was cool, without inflection, but not unpleasant I wasn’t sure that you would

I did think about not coht rather than spoken You couldn’t actually talk here on the astral plane, just as you couldn’t physicallyhad to be done on a subconscious rather than conscious level – although that didn’t restrict you fro on the fields And if you died on the astral plane, then you died in real tiot the better of otten the better of h it held little hu in order to hare it?

He hesitated, and that in itself was enough to send trepidation skittering through me Markel was a Cazador They never hesitated They just did whatever needed to be done, in the most efficient way possible