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Our teapots were ss The cupboards had been es Les

Iris shivered as Caie "Can you tell us what happened?"up breakfast dishes when I heard a crash fro rooone, and second, it sounded like so rather than the slaar vanilla and jasmineand I knew that Karvanak was in the house"

She hung her head "I was afraid to run out back He ie and slipped into Menolly’s lair As the latch closed, I could hear somebody enter the kitchen Another moment, and I would have been too late There was a lot of noise, shouting and crashing I crouched in the dark and waited I didn’t knohat else to do I didn’t have my cell phone, and when I picked up the land line down on Menolly’s nightstand, it was dead"

I picked up the receiver on the wall phone and listened "No dial tone They ie to Iris and wandered over to what had been the playpen She ree skillet from the mattress pad, then pulled the cushion away frolass was stuck to it She set Maggie on the cushion and dropped to the floor beside her

Iris let out a long sigh as she looked around the room "How’s the rest of the house?"

"Just as bad as the kitchen Except for Menolly’s lair We’re facing a lot of cleanup A lot of loss" The kettle whistled, and I poured our tea

"OhMirror?" Camille jumped up

"I didn’t notice," I said, and she took off for the stairs

I pressedout a frenzied beat in the back of erator door The denored it The contents were intact He pulled out a loaf of bread, lunch s for sandwiches and silently set to work I had to give it to him When the chips were down, he did what needed to be done without urging or complaint

Ca a platter of roast beef sandwiches We looked at her

She shook her head "Shattered We’re going to have to send soh the portal to Queen Asteria and ask her if she has a spare All ofAnd on the not-so-urgent but irritating side, my makeup’s been upended and smashed Thank heavens for hardwood floors If I had a carpet in my bedroom, it would be trashed" She pulled out her cell phone "I’et"

While Caed in a trash can from out back I turned my attention to the mess on the kitchen floor Sandwich in one hand, with the other hand I began tossing chunks of broken glassware and battered pans into the can

Iris joinedover a spot by the table where at least four place settings of our good china lay, s platter in her hands and hung her head

"I’irls I feel like I should have been able to stop them"

"Don’t be ridiculous," Smoky said "You’re lucky you had time to hide You saved yourself, and you saved the cub Otherwise, you’d both be demon fodder by now Rāksasas are cannibalistic, you know They feast on anything that walks on two or four legs Karvanak would happily munch you down for an afternoon snack and then folloith Maggie as dessert So don’t even think that you were lacking courage You did the s Now, sit at the table, and eat"

Iris flashed hion friend I felt so helpless, sitting there in the dark For about two hours, I wondered whether it was safe Should I try to come up? Should I wait? What would happen if Delilah or Camille came home alone and found the Rāksasa in the house? It’s been a soul-searching , that I can tell you"

I stared at the ie and Iris was quelled, a new, uneasy feeling began to grow "Oh shit Oh hell"

"What’s up? What’s wrong?" Ca a few unbroken plates from the rubble

"Chase! I went to see hi room was trashed I stopped in at Erika’s, but she said she hasn’t seen hi the truth" My gut twisted Had Karvanak been there? I hadn’t sain, he had plenty of lackeys working for hi "You don’t think the demons took him, do you?"

"I don’t know," I said miserably "There wasn’t any blood--not any that I could see Only the living room was tossed I left just as Sharah arrived But, could it be coincidence? Iris, do you have any idea what the de for?"

She shook her head "No The seal, perhaps?" With a loud sigh, she led her fingers The whisk broohted themselves and went to work on their own "There’s no need for us to bother ourselves with this mess when I can set the tools to work by themselves"

"Or who," Smoky said after a moment

"Who what?" I asked Cae and was dishing it out to go with Smoky’s sandwiches, which were so well-endoith beef and cheese that the meat overshadowed the tomatoes, lettuce, and bread I didn’t mind I was a carnivore I bit into a second sandwich and closed my eyes as the taste of rare beef trickled downfor a what, but a who What if they were searching for Iris and Maggie? All of your cars were gone except for Menolly’s, and Karvanak knows she’s a vampire He knew she’d be asleep You’ll notice they didn’t co, when you’d all be at ho

"I think the de for a time when Iris would be alone and unable to protect herself," he said

"Youinto the nearest chair

"Not necessarily--" S him off

I flipped open the phone "Hello?"