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One of the vah, and stepped out into the diht He wasn&039;t particularly tall, and he race that belied his crystal-blue eyes, styled blond hair, and the tennis whites he wore "Bianca told us you&039;d be nervous," he purred

The second of the pair kept cohouse She, too, was of innocuous height and build, and possessed the saolden hair as the man She too was dressed in tennis whites "But," she breathed, and licked her lips with a cat-quick tongue, "she didn&039;t tell us you would smell so delicious"

Susan fuht with tension and fear "Harry?"

"Don&039;t look them in the eyes," I said "And don&039;t let them lick you"

Susan shot me a sharp look from beneath raven brows "Lick?"

"Yeah Their saliva&039;s some kind of addictive narcotic" We reached her car "Get in"

The hed "Peace, wizard We&039;re not here for your blood"

"Speak for yourself," the girl said She licked her lips again, and this ti

The esture that was half affection, half physical restraint "My sister hasn&039;t eaten tonight," he explained "She&039;s on a diet"

"Vampires on a diet?" Susan murmured beneath her breath

"Yeah," I said back, sotto voce "Make hers a Blood Lite"

Susansound

I eyed the male and raised my voice "Who are you, then? And why are you at my house?"

He inclined his head politely "My name is Kyle Hamilton This is my sister, Kelly We are associates of Madae An invitation, actually"

"It only takes one of you to deliver a lanced at his sister "We were just on the way to our gaht," I told hi, I don&039;t want any You can go now"

Kyle frowned "I urge you to reconsider, Mr Dresden You, of all people, should know Madame Bianca is theher invitation could have grave consequences"

"I don&039;t like threats," I shot back I heftedrod and leveled it at Kyle&039;s baby blues "Keep it up and there&039;s going to be a greasy spot right about where you&039;re standing"

The pair of theels with pointed teeth "Please, Mr Dresden," Kyle said "Understand that I a out the potential hazards of a diplomatic incident between the Vampire Court and the White Council"

Whoops That changed things I hesitated, and then lowered the blasting rod "This is court business? Official business?"

"The Vampire Court," Kyle said, a measured cadence to his words, "extends a formal invitation to Harry Dresden, Wizard, as the local representative of the White Council of Wizards, to attend the reception celebrating the elevation of Bianca St Claire to the rank of Margravine of the Vaht" Kyle paused to produce an expensive-looking white envelope and to refresh his suests is assured, by word of the assembled court, of course"

"Harry," Susan breathed "What&039;s going on?"

"Tell you in aas an ordained herald of the court, then?"

"I a me the invitation"

The pair of the rod and h the rod, and the far tip began to gloith an incandescent light "Not her," I said, nodding to the herald&039;s sister "Just you"

Kyle kept his sry black that was rapidly expanding to cover the whites "Well," he said, his voice tense, "aren&039;t we the little lawyer, Mr Dresden"

I smiled back at him "Look, Sparky, you&039;re the herald You should know the accords as well as I do You&039;ve license to deliver and receiveas you don&039;t start any trouble" I waved the tip of the rod toward the girl beside hied to keep the peace, either Let&039;s just say I&039;d rather we all walked away fro sound that no huhly back behind hi hands pressed to her stomach, her eyes flooded entirely black and empty of humanity Kyle stalked toward me and thrust the envelope atrod, and took it

"Your business here is complete," I told him "Blow"

"You&039;d better be there, Dresden," Kyle snarled, pacing back to his sister&039;s side "My lady will be most upset if you are not"

"I told you to blow, Kyle" I lifted er and my fear as handy sources of fuel, and said, quietly, "Ventas servitas"

Energy flowed out of me Wind roared up in response to my co a cloud of dust and dirt and debris with it They both staggered, lifting a hand to shield their eyes against flying particles

As the wind faded I sagged, wearied by the effort of ather their wits and blink their eyes clear Their perfect tennis whites were stained, their beautiful complexions wereup every which way

They hissed at me and crouched, bodies oddly balanced and held with an inhuhtness Then there was a blur of tennis whites, and they were gone

I didn&039;t assume that they had left until I letthe air for the cold energy that had surrounded them It had faded, as well Only then, when I was absolutely sure they were gone, did I relax Well, it felt like sier and need to plantover I stood there like that for a second,

"Wow" Susan came toward me, her face concerned "Harry, you sure kno to make friends"

I wobbled a little, hardly able to stand "I don&039;t need friends like that"

She got close enough forunderneath ht?"

"Tired I&039;ve been working too hard tonight Must have gotten out of shape"

"Can you walk?"

I gave her a s toward the stairs leading down to round froainst s Thirty pounds of cat is a lot of fondness, and I had to have Susan&039;s help to keep froain, Mister?"

My cat meowed, then padded down the stairs and pawed at the door

"So," Susan said "The va a party"

I fished my keys out of my duster&039;s pocket I unlocked the door to the old place, and Mister bolted inside I shut the door behind us, and stared wearily ate I decorated my apartrain of old woods, the heavy tapestries on the bare stone walls The chairs are all thickly padded and cos are strewn over the bare stone floor in a variety of materials, patterns, and weaves, from Arabian to Navajo

Susan helped me hobble in until I could collapse onrod fro her nose at the charred smell, and set them in the corner next to my cane sword Then she ca a lot of bare, pretty leg She took roaned as my feet came free