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New Orleans’ pretty, aboveground va, not with round nests Here, they were usually aboveground, often delicate and sweet-looking, painted in pastels like lavender andh the s the bell, and stepped to the side of the door, out of the way The door was solid wood, old but well preserved, painted charcoal, with a bronze mail slot in theand a nine mil loaded with silver ai for answered his own door in the dayti She stood maybe four feet six and was even skinnier than I had been before I bulked up; she probably still shopped in the children’s departht at the chin and dyed a stunning shade of pink, a color that enhanced her reot to sniff her out Literally When I did take a breath of the ice-cold air that was billowing out, she smelled of lilacs, sea salt, copier toner, and blood-servant She earing a severe, dark green suit and a frilly blouse in a pale shade of jade green On her lapel she wore a brooch composed of clustered pearls and an emerald that even I kneas priceless
She lifted her arched, pink eyebrows and asked, "May I help you?" Her voice was Minnie Mouse with a severe cold, both high-pitched and husky
I passed her a business card--the personal one that read, JANE YELLOWROCK, and below that, HAVE STAKES WILL TRAVEL It was sort of a joke, one appreciated by the older blood-servants and vamps who remembered the black-and-white cowboy TV series The pink-haired woman was no exception She tittered
"Do I welcome a modern-day paladin onto the prerand gesture "Welco us as well?"
I motioned Eli in and heard the distinctive sound of a round being ejected from the chamber as he walked up to me He handed me my sidearm, which I rechecked and holstered The woestured to us to sit, saying, "You may call me Pinkie I fulfill the requirements of maître d’hôtel here at Acton House" On soh-worthy, but on Pinkie it worked She was tiny, but there was soood manners She had an accent I couldn’t place, but it wasn’t French, Spanish, or Gere?
As in most houses of its kind, the front room took up the full sixteen-plus feet of house width and the rest of the house went straight back, each roo into the next, until a stairwell offered other alternatives The furniture was period antiques: lots of carved dark wood, curlicues, s of uns furniture, old rugs, lots of doodads, and that pervasive old-house s vegetable dyes The couch I sat on was as hard as a board and stank of old horsehair and dust mites
Pinkie took a seat on a tiny upholstered chair, just big enough so that her toes touched the rug beneath She earing patent leather Mary Janes She was adorable A weird part ofthat underneath the cuteness, she was arerous
"How can I help you?" Pinkie asked "The new pri, except to say that I was to have the private room keys in hand"
"We need to see the lair of Joses Bar-Judas," I said
Pinkie’s forehead formed neat little rows of wrinkles in confusion
"Joseph Santana," Eli said "That lair It’s supposed to have been locked for decades"
"Since he vacated the pre "Yes Room two-oh-one Coh the next roo fireplace Over her shoulder, as she , she said, "I’ve alanted to see the best guest suite"
"Guest suite?" I asked "This is a what? A va up the stairs "Acton House idely used back in the day, before the Mithrans acquired the property they now use as their Council House Visiting Mithrans had special needs and requireuard theive theht, access to suitable para arrangements, and access to European five-star chefs Acton House provided it all, and we still do, when called upon, though at the moment, our rooms are empty"
"You’ve never taken a sneak peek at the sealed room?" Eli asked
"Of course not," Pinkie said, surprise in her voice and in her scent "That would have been a betrayal of trust" Our footsteps were hollow in the wide stairwell, and faintly, I heard a tinkle, as ofht "Though I didn’t knohen I took this contract--not back then, so long ago--taking that peek, as you put it, would have contaminated the scene with my skin cells, my hair, and my scent I do watch all the latest cri secret "An addict of them, in fact And I’m aware that a sealed criree back and forth
We reached the second floor and entered a very narrow hallway leading back toward the front of the house The hall was no more than twenty-four inches wide, and as I looked both ways along it, I saw four doors to the rear, one at the stairs, and one at the front Six roo some of the vamps shared a bathroom
"So you didn’t seal the room yourself?" Eli asked from behind me
"No Certainly not I haven’t been caretaker here that long My predecessor, Professor Acton himself, the scion of the owner, followed the orders of the heir of the master of the city at the ti that young Master Pellissier gave the order No one has entered since"