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Tatius nodded See, that wasn’t so hard

Says hiht you wantedaze I didn’t want to put Nathanial or er over one stupid question Tatius’s hand flexed on h to acknowledge with ned interest, particularly when they are displaying an overt amount of affection for their masters It would be rude Noork on that affection

Rude? I looked around and realized none of the va anyotten over the surprise of seeingI have a lot to learn about va a crash course soon Goody

Aloud Tatius said, "I’ve sent for the Collector"

The atmosphere in the room, which had been thick with curiosity, turned restless at his words Boots scuffed the ground as the va the wall shuffled, and Nuri, who sat to Tatius’s side, s her pleated skirt

Tatius propped a booted foot on the table and held up a hand The va the room I wanted to stand, or at least squirm, but Tatius’s hand around my waist keptopen, revealing the dark hallway beyond

The air rushed out of the room as every undead creature in the room sucked in one anticipatory breath

A man stepped into the doorway Actually, he ducked under the door frahtened, his head nearly brushing the nine foot ceiling The giant Nathanial had spoken to earlier still wore thefrom his cuffs and collar, but he’d discarded hisloose around his blocky face Elizabeth, the vampire the Collector had called on to ‘assist’ Nuri, walked in at the giant’s side She’d also abandoned her urine with dashes of color brushed on her eyes and cheeks

The giant’s strides were tight, not like he wasan effort to walk slowly, but like it was habit for him to match his steps to hers He inclined his head when he reached the center of the roo her dress in a display of white lace From the corner of azes going back to the door

Two htly away from each other, and from us, so that their shoulders were turned toward the corners of the roolowed slightly orange in the flickering candlelight as they walked in a strange synchronized ether No, not pressed, joined Conjoined twins? I stared, I couldn’t help it, as they approached the council table and spun slightly so first one and then the other could bow to Tatius Then they joined the giant and Elizabeth, and all eyes rated to the doorway

A lone woman entered next The Collector Her face was full of severe lines, as if s would have made her crumble She’d removed every trace of her festive ht, nononsense bun, and her gold-triray ht at first she was in her late forties--or had been when she’d been turned--but as she drew closer, I realized her smooth hands, loosely clasped in front of her body, and her wrinkle-less face belonged to a younger woh, broith no warmth, were old Very old

As she walked across the room, her steps slow but assured, several other people slipped into the roo the opposite wall from the non-council Haven vampires

The Collector stopped before the council table, her back straight, her chin firhtest inclination of his head, siant had made

"I bid you welcome, Collector," he said, his foot still propped on the polished wood table

"I confess to feeling less than welcomed, Puppet Master"

Her eyes traveled over the council, me in Tatius’s lap, his booted foot, and then moved on "It has been several hours since the body of a e was found, and I have seen no results, no reco in our power to discover how your wo those we’ve questioned, including this child "--he jostled ht her for you to examine"

I tried not to flinch at the word ‘exah my hands anyway, aze drawn toour guest a comfortable seat," Tatius co the wall slipped out of the roo an unadorned chair over his shoulder It must have been on hand Was it hospitality that Tatius offered her the chair… or a power play that he’d made her wait for it?

The vaaze never lifting higher than the floor Then he scurried back to his spot on the wall, leaning against the draped stone like he could sap strength from the rock

The Collector lowered herself onto the chair as if it were a gilded throne The giant ht didn’t dwarf the plain-looking va perfectly drab, unassu against his leg, and the twins ee faathered around their ave entle squeeze before he started to stand I jumped to my feet

"At the time your human’s body was found," he said to the Collector, "every vah to touch" He nodded in my direction