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Which worked out, since her cell at home was currently occupied

I crouched down--not very far--and scratched at her ears and sides She leaned her head forward to rest onleft behind But it’s just two nights, and you’re right here in the sa and left, feeling guilty Then again, I also had no doubt that Shadow could break down the ancient door if she really wanted to I was just hoping she’d choose to destroy the beanbag chair if she needed to punish me Dashiell had paid for it

I found Kirsten downstairs in the largest dressing roohtfully on her lower lip as she looked over a pile of spell materials that was spread over the vanity counter She was dressed in a cream-colored silk blouse, loose but cropped at the waist, covered in itty-bitty sequins Her satin skirt was an earthy brown, tight at her waist and flaring out at her thighs, and her white-blonde hair was braided around her head, with tiny blue rosebuds embedded in the braid They were the sareasy and poor, like I’d wandered into the Oscars in yoga pants "Wow," I said without thinking "You look aave me a frazzled s in a "not bad, could be better" kind of look I fought the urge to look down at what I earing "I like your necklace," she offered "What’s happening with the boundary witch? Any change?"

I’d left Kirsten a voice mail after we captured Katia, but I hadn’t known if she’d actually gotten it I gave her an update about Katia, and Lex’s prediction that she’d be dead through the night As Kirsten listened, her eyes kept flicking back down to the spell -ass ward, and I knew she was a little nervous about it

"Where do you want

She directed me to the downstairs ballroo to mill around I didn’t know anyone there, so I went over to the refreshment table Because all of the staff had to be from the Old World, and o waitstaff in favor of one long table of hors d’oeuvres and pre-poured beverages, which could be supervised by one or two people trading off The setup was a lot like a high school dance refreshh school had a lot of money, expensive tastes, and access to beer and wine We had discussed serving blood for the vampires, but it was eventually decided that they could eat before they arrived Tonight was about keeping the peace, and watching vampires drink blood isn’t exactly a peaceful experience

I nodded at the petite witch behind the table, as currentlysure the little rows of food were lined up with a precision that would make any OCD sufferer proud I actually felt kind of bad about grabbing a small container of popcorn, but I did it anyway, because it was the fancy kind dipped in white fudge And if a fight broke out, I , Kirsten was setting up the wards outside They involved two coo-away-humans spell on the entire block, which would also coered to want to leave Then there was a second,the building with intent to take a life

During our planning s, I’d asked if she could block anyone who intended to hurt someone else, but Kirsten said that was nearly impossible It was already very difficult and complicated to deter and so Plenty of the attendees would sort of want to hurt one another, and a few of the on it, and the difference was particularly slippery It was much easier to block murderous intent, because that would hopefully be rare

Of course, ainst itself, which itches couldn’t usually spell vampires or olves at all I had mentioned this concern to Kirsten too, but she’d assured us that she’d been experiured out a way to blend gravitational ic, and she was confident that she’d cracked the problem

I’d dropped the subject, but inwardly I was still worried, mostly because I couldn’t see how Kirsten could have tested her new spell How many people could she knoho truly intended to couy wouldn’t be able to send gun-toting humans in here, and hopefully he wouldn’t be able to enter either, not if he was planning to kill souarded by one vauards had been carefully selected for their teness topaid very well for their ti tired but pleased I wasn’t sure how to ask her if she’d been successful without insulting her, so I just showed her a thumbs-up with rinned and nodded Then she pointed toward the side door I turned Two hu crates of beer, suddenly put down their loads, turned, and beelined for the exit at a near trot I relaxed So far, so good

"Scarlett!" cried a familiar, cultured voice behind me I turned to see Beatrice, Dashiell’s wife and the official hostess for the party portion of the Trials Like everything else in the Old World, this was a calculated decision, like a vaood cop/bad cop Dashiell would be the stern, rule-abiding leader, and his ould soften the blow by char everyone afterward