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As they spoke, a hts and jacket caet, clapping paddles together

He spoke in Italian, at first, but translated for hiuests at the ball "Hear ye, hear ye, the one, Odo, Conte of the Castello, had no son, but brought forth to the earth a daughter so glorious that the greatest of the nobility thought hi his wife?"

He grabbed asoftly if she would play She nodded, laughing, all for the ga his wife, he shook the poor wretched creature!" He pretended to shake her "And gave her the kiss of death!"

It appeared that he whispered to the woman; she went limp, he set her down

"So!" the crimson-clad mummer went on "He ive hi crowd around hierly nodded her assent to act out the part of the Conte’s wife He whispered to her; she went liain, he took a wife!"

He seized another wo before he could ask She went the way of the first toh more wives than Bluebeard!" Thewo his head

"But still, no wolorious daughter!" The h the crowd He, too, was tall and powerful, Jordan thought,toward her, she realized She backed away "American!" she said softly

"No matter!" he told her He reached out a hand to her She started shaking her head, but he had her already She was a guest; she didn’t want to be rude

"So he offered his soul to the very devil to find the hter’s husband, and take on the family name! Ah! And where was the devil?"

As the uests laughed andfrom beneath the head of the first woasped, drawing a hand to her an to scream

The mummer saw her reaction, and snatched her up She shrieked, trying to fight hiined And then, to her horror, she saw that the room suddenly sees Surely Men clad in furs, capes, coatswos

"Let go!"

She fought wildly, kicking, screaed to the far end of the terrace by theas dark as the blood that had spilled

Suddenly, the mummer renched away from her, and she looked into the eyes of the wolf

The e she didn’t know The wolf responded

The ht back

Jordan began to screaain as the force of the blow sent theto the side of his body, his neck broken

All hell seeant palazzo

Jordan stepped back, dazed

Beasts were spilling from the house Beasts! Creatures in allteeth noith blood dripping froain because the wolf reached for her She ducked low, but he was incredibly powerful

He bounded fro A ht, so rich, so thick, they seemed to jump into a black hole, into eternity

His feet thu A launch It rocked wildly with the iht

Jordan screamed with delayed terror; she could have fallen upon stone, upon marble, she could have broken her neck

She could have just fallen forever and ever, into the mist, into hell