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Hopefully Gil has enough room to join us I didn’t even want to think about ould happen if she popped into the bedrooainst the wall as I turned the sink on full blast Then Iit on as well The roar of water made the small space even more uncomfortable, but it created a nice blanket of sound

"Gilda?" Nathanial asked

I waved him into silence It worked before It had pissed her off But it had worked

I said her naic crackled in the air and Gil appeared, standing in the tub basin Well, good thing she alore rain-boots

"You better have a really import--" she started

I threwthe words

"Keep your voice down," I whispered, looking around as if I could spot the unseen ears thather cheeks "I told you not to use ed "I know I know Sorry, okay? I didn’t have a choice Listen, I don’t have ti on It involves va is that we’re in Deer fell from her face, and Gil’s eyes widened as she looked around "Demur? That’s where the--"

"Yeah I need you to find Bobby Set up a ht, but don’t tell me where, and whatever you do, don’t show up unless I call Okay?"

Someone knocked on the French doors Of all the ood chance the knock had nothing to do with ti out of sight Or with Gil’s yelling

Nathanial pressed a finger over his lips in the classic sign for silence before slipping out of the bathroom wordlessly Gil and I just stared at each other as we listened through the door I didn’t recognize the male voice that asked Nathanial where I was

Dammit Nohat?

A knock sounded on the bathrooether but she disappeared

Nathanial stood on the other side of the door, a sht, the Collector had told Aphrodite to send sorabbed the stack from Nathanial and retreated back into the bathroom

My first assessment that the stack contained clothes had been a little over optimistic Aphrodite had sent old satin robe

Gee, I’ll match the bed The robe had a s to it so the da my new finery, I turned the water off and dropped e I letNathanial’s intense scrutiny Another knock sounded on the bedroom door

"The Mistress said you needed a snack before dawn," a man in his mid-twenties said as he let hiht jeans, leaving his wellmuscled chest bare Like the other human men who served Aphrodite, he had a rich, unseasonable tan, but the slightly orange tint indicated his came from a bottle

Oh hell A snack He meant him

I wasn’t desperate for blood, but I couldn’t hold out forever At the same tiht have the possibility of being tagged and then shifting when the gate to Firth opened I couldn’t leave a trail of city-shifters and rogues in my wake

Not only would it earn e discovered I’d created

I could drink fros and claws When the gate to Firth opened, he e had already been done It couldn’t be helped But no reat to risk

I opened my mouth to tell the man to leave, but he reached out a hand and rubbed his thu my bottoainst s slid out I couldn’t help it Couldn’t stop it He leaned in, his ed breath tumbled over my lips, and the next, the air in front ofout of the blood daze as the race, not fully of his own volition

Nathanial stood only a foot from him, his arms crossed over his chest "Your services will not be required"

"But the h the air "You misunderstood her command You are not required"

The man shoved his hands in his pockets "I was told to--"

"Leave," Nathanial said "Or I will re to protest