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Prologue

It had helped that she knew exactly how the whores would react

The setting had changed, but the setup hadn’t: A large "visiting" rooirls had to parade around in whatever passed for sexy at the ti hallway of doors upstairs Every door led to a small room that contained only a bed and a chair Unlike uards here, no bouncers It wasn’t necessary Abuse of the girls was not only expected, but welcoirls themselves It didn’t es or backgrounds They first thing they were taught in their new lives was never fight back And they didn’t They couldn’t The ic didn’t let them She had been an anomaly that way

She arrived in the most expensive outfit she owned: a scarlet-red pantsuit with nothing underneath, so that the suit jacket gaped almost to her navel It was sexy, and made her look like she had money and pohich she did Female clients h that her presence didn’t even raise an eyebrow, just welcoan to lead her into the visiting room, and for a irls posed around the roo s wo to nuirls

She felt the faer’s neck and run out of there, but she reave the aging woman her name and explained that she was not here for a date, but to see the owner They were old friends The er paused and eyed her with renewed speculation Then she sied and walked over to a black telephone

Withinled into his office

He looked the same, of course Why wouldn’t he? True, the cut of his suit was different, and his hair was brushed straight back instead of parted in theeyes that were always judging the value of goods Those eyes took in her suit and her heels and her waretic smile, and concluded that she was exactly who she’d claiant enough to believe it

Va, but she came around the desk and moved to kiss him on each cheek, in accordance with European fashion He had always loved that continental bullshit He senially and reached for her As she’d expected, he turned his head to kiss her on the ainst hiue probed her ers worked the arrote, which she’d fashioned herself out of titaniuh to cut through even vampire bone She had practiced on a tree stump When he pulled back to leer at her, she s one end of the weapon around his neck with supernatural speed She had drawn it tight and begun to pull before confusion even registered in his eyes Fast as he was, by the ti, it was too late She pulled with every bit of her considerable strength, and the garrote snapped the bone of his spine His head was turning to dust before it hit the tacky shag carpet

Later, soue that her actions were a treacherous betrayal of her own kind They insisted that she should have challenged hi honorable She cared about hiusted voice from across the table

I smoothed the sweat-daaze to the speaker It was nearly dinnertier in the air,our table at the Don LA Art Walk alh, a ray of sunlight had ed to find a crack between skyscrapers and was rapidly intruding across my table like a three-foot melanoma laser I knew froht in the eyes

Despite the heat, the wo in front of me was i in the crook of her elbow Her perfectly made-up eyes were fixed on Shadoas curled up on the sidewalk, her chin resting onto convey revulsion, but they were having a hard tih all the Botox Shadow, for her part, cracked open one eyelid, glanced at the woman, and went back to sleep I was suddenly very jealous