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"I don’t know, Gerbert," I replied, shaking off his grip "Ysabeau lived under your roof for weeks and you never discovered it"

"It’s half past ten" Sidonie von Borcke strode into the rooht Let’s conclude this sordid business and ation of the Bishop fathe world of Benja the tote bag on the table in front of me Domenico reached for it, still curious about its contents

"Don’t" I looked at him Apparently my eyes spoke volumes, for he withdrew his hand quickly

"So, Sidonie, a the question?" I asked her abruptly In spite of her calls for a quick resolution, she was proving to be aout every exchange with irrelevant detail until I was ready to scream

"Not at all," she huffed "I merely wish us to consider the matter with proper efficiency"

"I re in what is clearly a family problem," Gerbert said "Madame de Clerreater scrutiny Already the Knights of Lazarus are on the scene and looking for her husband It is best to let e?" It was the first ti with the exception of her "No" when called upon in the first vote

"Blood rage is a matter for the vampires to handle We will discipline the de Clerment and take appropriate ht be infected" Gerbert tented his fingers and looked around the table "You can all rest easy on that score"

"I agree with Gerbert Furthermore, no scion can be established under a diseased sire," Domenico said "It’s unthinkable Matthew Clairmont must be put to death, and all his children with hileanized

"Yes, Mr Watanabe?" I nodded in his direction

"What’s a weaver?" he asked "And what do they have in coe?"

"Whatin coe va in common How could Diana and Matthew have had children otherwise?" Agatha looked at me expectantly Before I could answer, Gerbert stood and loomed over me

"Is that what Matthew discovered in the Book of Life?" he demanded "Did you unearth a spell that joins the two species?"

"Sit down, Gerbert" Janet had been knitting steadily for hours, looking up every now and again to nly

"The witch must answer!" Gerbert exclaimed "What spell is at work here, and how did you perfored the tote bag towardin the Bodleian Library

There were gasps of astonishment around the table

"This is a trick," Sidonie pronounced She rose and made her way around the table "If that is the witches’ lost book of spells, I demand to exarowled as she went past his chair

"Here" I handed to Sidonie

The witch tried to spring the clasps, pushing and tugging at the s, but the book refused to cooperate with her I held out er to be back where it belonged Sidonie and Gerbert exchanged a long look

"You open it, Diana," Agatha said, her eyes round I thought back to what she’d said in Oxford all those ed to the daemons as well as the witches and vampires

Somehow, she had already divined a sense of the contents

I placed on the table while the Congregation gathered around me The clasps opened ihs filled the air, followed by the eldritch traces left by the spirits of the creatures ere bound to the pages

"Magic isn’t pere of panic in his voice

"Tell her, Gerbert!"

"If I orking ic, Domenico, you’d know it," I retorted

Do on elongated human form with hollow, dark eyes

I flipped the book open Everybody bent forward for a closer look

"There’s nothing there," Gerbert said, his face twisted with fury "The book is blank What have you done to our book of origins?"

"This book s the air a suspicious sniff "Like dead anies so that the scent rose in the air "Daemons

Vampires Witches They’re all in there"

"You ht" I nodded "That’s parchether with creature hair, too"

"But where is the text?" Gerbert asked, his voice rising "The Book of Life is supposed to hold the key to many mysteries It’s our sacred text--the vampire’s history"

"Here is your sacred text" I pushed up my sleeves Letters and sy to the surface like bubbles on a pond, only to dissolve I had no idea what , but I suspected they were full of characters, too Satu backed away from me

"You bewitched it," Gerbert snarled

"The Book of Life was bewitched long ago," I said "All I did was open it"

"And it chose you" Osaer to touch the letters on athered around the point where his skin touched ain

"Why did the book choose Diana Bishop?" Domenico snarled