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"You are an evil, evil hed

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A nap was out No way could I sleep when I had a datea datewith Bruiser and head HQ Was I supposed to wear a dress and bring sparring clothes to change into? And clothes suitable for a va afterward? What kind of dress was I supposed to wear? So for the vamps? I wandered into my bedroom and opened the closet It wasfull Or nearly so

When I moved here, I’d arrived with the clothes on e of undies, my few other clothes and boots sent on by the postal syste brown cardboard box Back then I’d had more weapons than clothes I’d lived in jeans and tees and leather Now Crap Now I had a girl’s closet Full of clothes Girl’s clothes Long dresses suitable for vamp ultra-formality Shorter skirts for theskirts A fuzzy purple T-shirt with a dragon on it, the shirt charged with healing by a witch friend It wasn’t a pretty dragon, either, but one of the toothy, village-terrorizing dragons, its body striped like a coral snake, wings spread wide, covered with striped red skin and feathers So ugly the dragon was beautiful I had jackets, and a turtleneck sweater made of silk knit I had shirts Lots of shirts, some made of cotton that had to be starched, and some of silk, and some that could be tossed in a washer and dryer and looked perfect immediately I had boots and boots andleathers and three pairs of dancing shoes Of course I still had guns and knives and the s charms that Molly had made for me before I caers found what my eyes didn’t want to see, the box hidden by an obfuscation charm The box was smooth and beautiful, once my eyes could finally focus on it I clutched it to me and looked back into the closet

I hadstuff My heart was beating wildly The tea I had just drank rose in an acidic swirl Choking Burning I pulled the box tighter againstpainfully intorocery store that delivered I owned a house

Holy crap I had put down roots

I dropped onto the bed, clutching the box of charms to me, and stared at my closet A closet full of dresses

Soirl

CHAPTER 5

I Needed That Head Slap

I banged out of the house, needing to be gone Badly Or et away fro ago, that would havein and out of slow traffic, wind inof freedom Unfortunately, Bitsa was still in repair, and thatAt first Then I got stuck in New Orleans’ horrible traffic Worse, I was pretty sure I was being followed by a black SUV When I h the one-way streets to avoid fender benders and snarls, it always showed up again Or one like it Fingers banging on the steering wheel in frustration, I pulled out and headed for the river If the vehicle showed up again, I’d know it

I e access and crossed the Mississippi, looking down on the churning water and the barges and personal craft It o play I reined my stupid brain back in line and checked behind ain But since I was headed in that general direction, I figured I could check in on the clan home property, which was one of Leo’s directives froht before

As I pulled down the tree-shaded drive, the branches arching over the roadway like so from Tara in Gone with the Wind, I wove betorkers’ trucks, trailers, and a few beat-up, rusted cars The SUV Derek drove was also here, so I pulled in behind it, parked, and got out, stretching in the overheated afternoon light before approaching the house A heat as on the way, the tehties and the hu in the Deep South was a sultry experience and not always in a good way Mosquitoes were buzzing aroundthe blosso It was as peaceful as it ever got around a vamp’s home

Inside the construction site, the walls rose three stories, the top story under the bearound, an uncoh water table I still hadn’t asked how Leo was keeping the baseic on the air, the construction boss had a water witch on payroll

The workers sarettes and old beer and exhaust and unwashed bodies and perfuenerator had left clouds of exhaust on the air and electric tools had left their own stink The port-a-potty nearby contained a reek of worse things But it was all overridden by the s, and turned earth Faintly, there was brick and --alkaline, earthy scents

The new house looked nothing like the old one, being brick and stone with a French country feel It reminded me of the footprint of vamp HQ I’d been told it was based on the Château de Dae, because this place was oversized enough to htmare to wire and put cagered an alarrounds and easier because I could position safe rooms anywhere I wanted There were several, one on each level, each with escape tunnels leading out to different areas of the grounds or garage or another exit During the planning stage, I’d had a ball adding in all the security details and watching the eyes of the architect and the engineers as Iwalls and pipes and stuff They tended to freak But everything was in place now and everyone seemed satisfied, if not happy

Today there were probably twenty men and women from all areas of construction represented, electricians and plu stilts on their boots so they could s It looked like a Larry, Curly, and Moehard, no loitering on this job site I had to ads done, Leo’s money and favors talked Unlimited funds and the ability to help heal a sick loved one ot fast and competent service with a smile