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At least here she could eliminate any creature that accostedher with the slaossip bachelors of the ton

"I don’t sense any undead," she told Sebastian as she stepped on so horribly squishy A rank odor squelched afresh into the air, and with her next step she felt so hard and cylindrical roll beneath her boot A bone Hopefully a canine one

"Do you not?" he asked, his voice s made by their stout leather boots "Perhaps there are no vampires about, then Only the harmless toshermen, which we may come upon if they venture this far"

"Or perhaps you lured me down here for another reason"

She could see the wickedness of his sht "Why should I ruin a perfectly good pair of breeches--not toyou here, when I’d much prefer to have youelsewhere"

His frank words caused a sudden swirl of pleasure in her belly, and Victoria gave an unladylike snort to diffuse the war her nostrils with putrid stench She wondered how the toshers couldcopper, bones, rags, and anything else of value to sell on the streets above And how va the odor when the arlic took them aback

"Of course," Sebastian continued, "it’s not as if you’ll be clutching atas this Much to ret" He brandished a torch that cast sporadic shadows to break the darkness, but Victoria found that she could see surprisingly well even outside the glow

She was just about to make a wry rejoinder when she beca water Then she felt a faint prickle at the back of her neck Her disgust with the dark, viscous environment slid away, replaced by the familiar rush of readiness and a cold s his head as if to hear better "At last Just when I thought ell and truly lost"

"We’re not alone," Victoriainto a full-blown chill

"Undead?" His voice dropped to match hers

She looked up at him "Do you not sense them?"

"I do now that you say it," he said "And it’s no surprise, as we’re near the place I was looking for"

A sudden splash behind the to meet the red-eyed va a slow-, malnourished tosherman, for the half demon had taken a moment to roll up the sleeves of his dull shirt, and that attention to groo

"You should have worn cuff links," Victoria said conversationally the instant before she staked him into undead dust She blew off the tip of her stake and turned back to Sebastian, atching her with an odd sort of smile

But before she could wonder what it her "Take care," he said, gesturing ahead of the damp, she sahy The filthy water fell away, only a few paces ahead of theness A wall loomed beyond the falls, a clear dead end "What now?"

"There" He gestured with the torch, and she saw a crude ledge slanting up froh for a man to ascend into"Is that an entrance?" Victoria peered up at the dark wall rising in front of them

"You can see it fro it more clearly

"What’s up there?" Victoria had already started to hike up the inclining ledge, keeping her stake at the ready Water dripped fro quietly on the rock beneath

"So that I’m certain you’ll be fascinated to see," he said from behind her, suddenly very close "Perhaps you’ll even wish to rewardyou" His breath arle braid she wore tucked into her coat