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We sat in silence for a few seconds, both of us staring at the open door Finally, I had to fill the silence "My, people do coo quickly here"

Jean-Claude didn&039;t get the otten it He liked the "Wizard of Oz" Jean-Claude answered "

Someone chuckled The sound made me reach for the Firestar The voice was faant

"Silver bullets won&039;t kill me anymore, Anita My new master has promised me that"

Liv appeared in the open car door, peering in at us, muscular arh to flash fangs When you pass the five-hundred s when you want to She was grinning like the Cheshire cat, very pleased about so shorts so that all that body-building hts She was one of the vamps that Jean-Claude had invited into his territory recently She was supposed to be one of his vampire lieutenants

"What canary did you eat?" I asked

She frowned at me "What?"

"The cat that ate the canary," I said

She continued to frown Liv&039;s English is perfect, no accent of any kind Soe A lot of the vainal accents but they still don&039;t understand all the slang But, hey, I bet Liv knew so that I&039;d never heard

"Anna is asking why you are so pleased with yourself," Jean-Claude said, "but I think I already know the answer"

I glanced at him, then back at Liv I had the Firestar out but not pointed She was supposed to be on our side I was getting the feeling that ed

"Did Liv say, her new master?" I asked

"She did," Jean-Claude said

I raised the gun and pointed it at her She laughed It was unnerving She crawled into the back seat, still laughing Very unnerving Liv e, but she wasn&039;t powerful Certainly not powerful enough to laugh off silver ammo

"You know I&039;ll shoot you, Liv So what&039;s the joke?"

"Can you not feel it, ma petite? The difference in her"

I steadied un pointed at her impressive chest I was less than two feet from her, at this distance the bullet would take out her heart She wasn&039;t worried She should have been

I concentrated on Liv Tried to roll her power in my mind I&039;d done her before, knehat she felt like inmy skull, hu note so deep and loas almost painful

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly I kept the gun pointed at her "If I pull this trigger, Liv, even with the boost in power you&039;ll die"

Liv looked at Jean-Claude It was a long, self-satisfied look "You knoon&039;t die, Jean-Claude"

"Only the Traveler could ant promise, and hope to keep it," Jean-Claude said "You are a little too feed"

Her face was disdainful "He is above such petty desires He offered me only power and I accepted"

Jean-Claude shook his head "If you truly believe the Traveler above the desires of the body, then he has been verycareful around you, Liv"

"He is not like the others," she said

Jean-Claude sighed "On that I will not argue, Liv But be careful that his power does not becohten me, but it will not work, Jean-Claude His power is like nothing I have ever felt before, and he can share it I can be what I waswith his power, Liv, it will not make you a master If he has promised you that, then he has lied to you"

She hissed at hiht"

He shrugged "Perhaps"

"I thought Liv took an oath of loyalty to you," I said

"Oui"

"Then what&039;s going on?"

"The council will be very careful to observe the rules, ma petite The Circus is a public business, thus the council ht have crossed the threshold uninvited Instead, they found someone to invite the vamp in the back of my Jeep "She betrayed us?"

"Yes," he said softly He touched my shoulder "Do not kill her, ma petite The bullet would enter, but the Traveler would not allow her death You would simply waste a bullet"

I shook my head "She betrayed you, all of you"

"If they could not have bribed so us I much prefer this method," he said

I stared down the barrel of the gun at Liv&039;s ser and not worried about it She&039;d done all the da her to save us I didn&039;t want, or not want, to pull the trigger I sier, or even outrage, just good business It was a bad precedent to allow anyone to betray you and survive It set a bad exa her ood business Sweet Jesus I put up the gun I didn&039;t want to kill anyone that coldly Killing didn&039;t bother

Liv leaned back in the seat, grinning, pleased I&039;d seen the futility of shooting her If she only realized why I hadn&039;t done it, shebehind the power of this Traveler Confident that it was shield enough against anything If she pissed ht, maybe we&039;d test the theory

I shook eymen of vampirekind I needed more weapons I had love compart I couldn&039;t wear theood knife

"I&039;ll tell them about any weapons I see," she said

I finished buckling the knives in place "Yvette and Balthasar know I have the gun I&039; to be subtle here, just prepared" I opened the door and stepped out I scanned the darkness for h the really old ones could hide alht Some vampires had cha with their surroundings I&039;d seen one that could wrap hi them aside like a cloak It had been impressive

Liv scooted out of the car to stand near hts to cross her ar for that nonchalant bodyguard look She was six feet tall and built like a brick outhouse; she didn&039;t have to try hard to look intiot out of the car onhimself between the two of us I wasn&039;t sure who he was protecting; her orcoat in his arest, ma petite, that you wear this to cover the weapons"

"I&039;ll tell them about the knives," Liv said

"If the weapons are in plain sight, it is ht feel compelled to take them from you"

"They can try," I said

Jean-Claude handed me the coat, draped across his arms "Please, ma petite"

I took it from him He didn&039;t say "please" often

I slipped the black coat on I was res One, it was too damn hot to wear a coat Two, Asher was six foot orup the sleeves

"Anita," Liv said

I glanced at her

She looked serious now, her strong Nordic face blank and unreadable "Look into uys do, sit around watching old Dracula ue?"

Liv took a threatening step forward I just stared up at her "Save the big-bad-vampire routine, Liv We&039;ve done this and you can&039;t roll me with your eyes"

"Ma petite," Jean-Claude said, "do as she asks"

I frowned at him "Why?" Suspicious, who me?

"Because if the Traveler&039;s extra power can bespell you through Liv&039;s eyes, it would be better to know here in relative safety than inside areater foes"

He had a point, but I didn&039;t like it I shrugged "Fine" I stared at her face, into her blue eyes, though the color was a little washed out froht

Liv turned; a spill of yellow light fro violet-blue, almost purple Her eyes were her best feature and I&039;d never had any trouble aze

I still could Not even a twinge

Liv&039;s hands balled into fists She spoke, but I didn&039;t think she was talking to either of us, "You proh power to roll her h tocoat

Liv laughed, a loud bray of sound She raised her ar her around like drapes in the breeze

The cold wind raised the hairs on the back of my neck, but it wasn&039;t the temperature, it was the power in it

"Now," Liv said, "look into my eyes, if you dare"

"Little better on the dialogue," I said

"Are you afraid to aze, Executioner?"

The cold wind that had come from nowhere died, then faded, a last icy caress I waited until the summer heat slid over me like plastic wrap, waited until sweat trailed down my spine; then I looked up

Once upon a ti any vamp in the eyes I&039;d had soerous Their gaze was one trick that alreater, extent My powers had grown, and the vampire aze So as I afraid now?

IAt first there was nothing but their extraordinary color A tension went out of me, my shoulders loosened They were just eyes Then it was as if the violet of her eyes ater, and I was so rose from her eyes and pulled , but now so It sucked me under like water under ice I screaainst that cold film of ice, reached for a surface that wasn&039;t physical, wasn&039;t even ainst the pull of that darkness

I ca lot with Jean-Claude&039;s hand grasped in ht?"

I just shook otten how otten how helpless I felt My oas s

Liv leaned against the side of the Jeep She seemed tired, too "I almost had you"

I foundIt wasn&039;t your eyes I was being sucked into It was his"

She shook her head "He promised me the power to do you, Anita To take your mind"

I let Jean-Claude help"Then he lied, Liv It&039;s not your power, it&039;s his"

"You fear me now," she said "I can feel your fear in my head"

I nodded "Yeah, I&039;h it up" I started backing away from her More weapons I needed more weapons

"It does make me happy," she said "You&039;ll never kno happy it makes me"

"His power has left you, Liv," Jean-Claude said