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We tooled around the heart of the French Quarter, checking on three properties that Santana had owned, one across the street from the Royal Mojo Blues Club, the sraffiti, one on Conti Street, and a block of buildings on Frenchn of or scent of the SoD at any of theot to the Garden District early, with sunset still ninetyand clouds Eli parked on Chestnut Street and we got out, locking the gold stuff in the SUV, setting the alarhborhood Eli whistled and I couldn’t disagree with the notes that said the neighborhood was exclusive and pricey

"When I first caht clans: Mearkanis, Pellissier, Rousseau, Laurent, Desmarais, Bouvier, St Martin, and Arceneau" I counted theht clans, four once kept official clan homes in the Garden District: Mearkanis, Arceneau, Rousseau, and Desmarais" Now, thanks to a vamp war--small by vamp historical standards, but still pretty influential--there were only four clans, Pellissier, Laurent, Bouvier, and Arceneau "That leaves three fancy digs in the Garden District empty: former clan homes for Mearkanis, Rousseau, and Desht say you’ve been rough on the fangheads in New Orleans"

More like an opportunistic bunch of vamps had used my appearance and the death of Leo’s heir at my hands to start a coup d’état, and had failed, but I didn’t go there, except to acknowledge, "Sorand old house--"was Mearkanis Clan Ho toknow, the Son of Darkness attended a party here the night he disappeared"

"And you think wein Eli’s tone that said he thought I was either dense or thinking a little too wishfully

"I don’t knoe’ll find, but with va back before God made turtles"

Eli took the place in like a soldier, checking out high locations in neighboring houses where an ene the lack of tall fences and razor wire, with only the ubiquitous wrought-iron fencing at the front and a stuccoed brick wall at the side street A stepladder or an excellent high jurounds The eren’t barred, or high off the ground, or secured except for shutters and thumb latches There were numerous entrances and, yeah, easy access via two streets

"Nightmare," Eli e, two-storied, pink stucco home as a New Orleans architectural archetype, with its ht iron, or its porte cochere, discreetly located in the back Or its double bays or arched s And the grounds with the ancient live oaks and pal shrubs, and flawless lawn For Eli, it was all secondary to security I thought it was pretty and wondered how many years I’d work security before I lost the ability to si

One of Leo’s armored SUVs pulled up and parked behind our vehicle I reer seat drove an old panel van and I rode a way-cool Harley bike Noas driving an ar combat boots and leathers He was dressed in casual trousers and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the tie loose at his throat like a businesses in either of us It was definitely a different Derek, though still looking fit and tri vaer side, giving the place the same once-over Eli had, and he frowned I hadn’t expected Derek there and didn’t like his body language or the scent he was giving off, both of theressive and defensive, a spiky scent full of testosterone He pivoted on one foot, like a soldier in maneuvers, and looked us over And frowned "Wait here," he said to the driver and closed the door

"You like this setup?" Eli asked hi to the house

Derek shook his head, his eyes hard "Hate the place But designing the security for it was before my ties," I said, casually "In cases like this it’s "

"People are insane," Eli said

"Not really," I said "The inside of the house would have been full of hungry and sleepy vauess that anyone who broke in would become some vamp’s dinner"

"That is one kind of security," Derek said "But guns level that playing field" Changing the subject, he said, "Leo said you ht want to check out the place for traces of Joseph Santana While I’rade needs, to include physical structure, interior, and security, which I’ll turn over to a few contractors and designers for cost analyses" Which verifiedLeo did

Derek jangled some keys "Let’s check out the inside"

The best word for the house was h bizarre had its place in the description too And cold, even in the heat wave, with the AC on and run up to frigid The vibes the place gave out said it had not been a happy place, while the décor suggested that if ht happiness, the vamps and humans who had lived there would have experienced unrelieved joy

Marble foyer, lots of fancy ork , leather upholstery, burled-wood antiques that I thought ht be from the Art Deco period There were old-fashioned hand-painted wallpaper and a staircase that could have coht out of The Sound of Musicproblem with the ambiance, besides the pervasive cold and the deep silence, was the bloodstains Like, everywhere A battle had been fought there Maybe more than one And while the bodies had been reht for clan dominance had taken place there Oror Leo had massacred every vamp in the place The old blood still had a stink to it So did the old fear and horror

I glanced at Eli and he tilted his head at me He’d seen what I had But when I looked at Derek, he lookedsoht Tense and surprised andso He pulled a weapon from his spine holster, a small seuous schnick as a round entered the chamber, ready to fire Eli did the same with three weapons, but he reholstered two of them