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As Victoria watched, a duo of vaed forward and snatched two spectators away froarden shadows One of them was still masked, and looked like a medieval Crusader dressed in a dark red tunic The other was a woown in the Grecian style

She started toward theown Stu, she twisted around to meet a red-eyed undead

She ramown, and heard the slaether He tripped back and she helped him with the point of her stake, then turned back as he exploded into dust

Someone whirled sharply next to her, followed by a soft poof of vaolden as Adonis hilanced at her with a sharp nod, and, as two undead rushed at them, Victoria spun one way and Sebastian leapedand they both found their targets

Victoria glanced around, realizing that the pinkness of her vision had eased a bit People crowded the area, standing on the da the patio, unaware that va to snatch the in enthe them off?

Perhaps it was the realization that she, Max, and Sebastian were there, slinging stakes about Then Victoria stopped She rong There was no sign of Max’s tall, dark figure

The last tiht her out to the dance floor He’d beentoward the tables of food and drink, far from the entrance to the patio

Then she reer wore the vis

So shoved her from behind and she stumbled deeply She used her forward motion to roll over in a somersault--a very unladylike technique that Kritanu had just taught her--then sprang to her feet, stake still in hand The vaed after her, and when she steadied herself and turned, she went after hiht as he exploded

As she turned back to the crowd of people, she reoers who’d been taken off by the valance at Sebastian, who seeor, Victoria dashed off down the brick pathhere the two vaed their prey

Down the dark path she barreled, unfae black ashes wafted and swirled like s half into a boxwood or so her balance, she paused, listening She’d left Sebastian to handle the group of vao after the ones ere already feeding fro to do

But she couldn’t leave them to be killed in the shadows of a rosebush

And Max could take care of hi cry h a thick bush too dark to identify She rae and drag over her thigh She kept going, heedless of the noise as she shoved the thin, sharp branches out of the way Then she saw the shift of move else, she sprang the last few feet forward The varound in a puddle of white-and-gold fabric Victoria launched herself at the vampire, and saw the dark drool of blood from the corner of her mouth

The undead was a tall, corpulent female, her arms as bulky as those of a burly , and faced her, ready "The fe at her consciousness, Victoria sed hard And focused She s the feral curl of her own lips--but she didn’t have ti ferocious and confident With a quick snap, she broke off a wrist-sized branch as long as her leg, and swung out powerfully

The ferabbed at it as Victoria expected she would, and Victoria gave a hard yank, pulling the vampire off balance As the heavy creature lurched forward, Victoria leaped out of the way and tripped the lu undead, then spun to slam the stake deep into the back of her evil heart

Before the dust had settled, she sturound, and turned her over Her nized the shy Miss Melissa Keitherton, who spoke of little but her beloved cat Da, and despite the blood oozing from her neck, she wasn’t terribly hurt It was a ser amount of blood She would live to spoil Damian with catnip another day

Victoria ripped a piece of silk frohtly, around the neck wound, and she then flung Miss Keitherton over her shoulder

When she reached the patio again, she came upon a scene that could only be described as Hell The house was in orange and red flalow over the figures standing at the horizon of light and darkness Sh upper s open to the summer air The ballroom, which appeared to be the last room on the lower level broached by the fire, was filled with black s their way relatively slowly through a rooently to the ground, Victoria turned back and saw that the last pair of va that their companions had been vanquished, had turned tail They bounded into the darkness, slick and dark and fast, and Victoria couldn’t resist She preferred that there be none to tell the tale to Lilith, or any other creature who ain, heedless of the now-tattered gown and the slipping silver brooch on her shoulder, she heard a loud noise behind her Faltering in her chase, she turned just in time to see the house’s roof fold in on itself The sound of screams, dulled by the roar of fire and distance, reached herand urged Victoria to return

She let the va, suddenly, that she hadn’t seen Gwendolyn Had she made it out of the house? Were there others trapped inside? Max?