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"Oh, dear Are you stuck?" asked Lyall

Sorously

"Och, I’ve nae tiair was at her limit Clearly Biffy’s predica

She went up the stairs Preparing, no doubt, to chase after Floote into the night "Where would he go?" she shouted back at the tolves

With a shrug, Lyall and Biffy followed

The Beta said, "If he was still working for Sandy, and if he was operating under that agenda all along, we enda Sandy prohtly at this, an old lie only now uncovered "Neverwas to expand the plague, then it air concurred "I guess you weren’t as alluring as you thought, Beta So where would he go?"

Biffy ca a supportive hand on the man’s shoulder He wanted to reassure Lyall that he found hirowl in annoyance

Biffy knehat he would do were he in Floote’s situation Were he a mortal man olves on his tail, there was only one truly safe place--the air And Floote, loyal to the last, would try to get to Lady Maccon to explain his actions to her To see that she was safe, as that, too, was part of Alessandro Tarabotti’s s, but he had no proper , apparently the voice box Good Lord, he thought, what if I’m permanently stuck like this? I’ll never be able to carry off a pointed collar again! Then he realized with relief that Anubis olf form, at least in part, and wolf form would not survive the sunrise Only a few more hours, then

Lyall had reached the sa Floote’s probable course of action "He’ll head to the nearest dirigible"

Lady Kingair dashed off

Biffy whined and gestured with his wolf head at the stairs The stairs that led to the second-story hallway that ended in a balcony that had a secret drawbridge to Lord Akeldama’s house If Floote wanted to take to the air quickly, he’d go for Dandelion Fluff Upon a Spoon After all, he’d used Lord Akeldaible before

Lyall concurred, but he didn’t try to stop Lady Kingair He allowed her to rush off into the night, presuibles at the green She was not a woances It had not even occurred to her that therehis way upstairs to cross over into the vampire’s abode

Biffy held back

"Don’t you want to see if you’re correct? See if he did ible a second tiestured down at his naked body and furry head with one fine white hand

Professor Lyall understood perfectly "You’re embarrassed?"

Biffy nodded

"Don’t be foolish This is so to be proud of--very feolves boast Anubis forhly unusual in a pup so young as you Generally, it takes a decade or more to manifest This is brilliant"

Biffy whined in a sarcastic ave a huffy bark that he hoped sounded like a snort of derision

"Trust "

With a sigh, Biffy did as ordered and followed his Beta across the se and into his former master’s house

Only three years earlier, all would have been chaos at the sight of two nakedthe halls of Lord Akeldama’s doht even have had the vapors

It was not that Lord Akeldama and his boys objected to nudity; in fact, all were coolly in favor of it--in the boxing ring, for exa the hallways underdressed, let alone undressed, was frowned upon unless cursed by extreme inebriation or emotional instability And a as not to be tolerated in the house of a vampire except when socially mandated All that had shifted when Lady Maccon installed herself in Lord Akeldama’s closet For where Lady Maccon went, Lord Maccon was soon to follow, and that good gentleeneral outlook of Lord Akeldama’s household on the subject of nudity and wolves, particularly in co the drones that Lord Maccon had a particularly fine physique, and there had been quite the scuffle over ould be allowed to dress his After Floote assue to ascertain who ae such little incidences as would cause the London Alpha to bluster out into the hallway in the altogether of an afternoon

As a result, the entire Akeldama household was markedly tolerant of Lyall’s and Biffy’s unexpected appearance and absent attire, although they did give Biffy some odd looks Many of thereat solace in the fact that, as his head was that of a wolf, none of them kneas him Until, of course, they ran sraphor cha their way up onto the roof

The vampire was dressed in an outfit that most closely rese shades of turquoise, teal, and blue, accessorized with pearls and white gold His effeminate features were screwed up in concentration over some small scrap of paper on which was scribbled, no doubt, an aetheric rave political, social, or fashionable i look at Professor Lyall’s physique and then gave him a little nod of acadeer look at Biffy

Finally he said, "Biffy,new for the evening?"

Biffy inclined his wolf head, dreadfully mortified Of course, there was no chance of Lord Akeldanize hi, and somewhat inconvenient, htly, the hint of a fang peeking out one corner of his mouth "Now, my dear Dolly, did you know this would happen? You are a fortunate olf as well as a fortune man, now, are you not? Anubis foriven soestions"

Professor Lyall only inclined his head

"But of course, you would have known that the moment he manifested"