Page 26 (2/2)

"He went after our Alpha" Professor Lyall reh to clean theled fro seeood, your father, very good He’d been trained by the Templars for one purpose and one purpose only--to hunt down and kill supernatural creatures But even he couldn’t take on an Alpha Even an insane, sadistic bastard like Lord Woolsey was still an Alpha with a pack at his back"

Professor Lyall put his spectacles down on a side table and rubbed a hand across his forehead "I told him not to, of course Such a waste But he was always one to pick and choose listening to ht for the first time that Professor Lyall and Lord Akelda their emotions To a certain extent, this was to be expected in vampires, but in olves????Lyall’s reserve was practically flawless Then she wondered if his very quiet stillness were not like that of a child cli into hot water, afraid that every little s hotter and more painful

Professor Lyall said, "Your father’s death taughtneeded to be done about our Alpha That if I had to bring down another pack to do it, so be it At the ti Lord Woolsey The dewan and--"

Alexia filled in the rest of his sentence "Conall Maccon, Lord Kingair So it wasn’t sie of leadership you were after; it was self-preservation"

One corner of Lyall’s et, my lady, I’m still a olf It took me nearly four years to plan I’ll admit that’s a vampire’s style But it worked"

"You loved ood h the little journal It orn about the edges fros

Professor Lyall let out a little sigh "Do you kno old I ah to know better Things are never good when immortals fall in love Mortals end up dead, one way or another, and we are left alone again Why do you think the pack is so important? Or the hive, for that matter It is not simply a vehicle for safety; it is a vehicle for sanity, to stave off the loneliness Our mistrust of loners and roves is not only custom, it is based on this fact"

Alexia’s brain buzzed with all these new revelations, but finally the whirling settled on one thing "Oh, lordy, Floote Floote knew"

"Some, yes He was Sandy’s valet at the ti him quiet?"

Professor Lyall shook his head "Your butler has never taken his orders fro the cover, and then offered it back to Lyall "Perhaps you will let me read it in its entirety soh he ht cry Then he sed, nodded, and placed the book inside his waistcoat pocket

Alexia took a deep breath "So, back to the crisis at hand I suppose neither of you is currently planning to kill Queen Victoria, even in jest?"

Two almost sitrack all this time?"

The olves looked at each other, neither of thehed and extracted the sheaf of paper Madaiven her from her reticule "So this is entirely useless? No connection between the last attempt and this one Pure coincidence that the poisoner you were going to use, Professor, happened to die in service to the OBO And that she possibly then beca to me"

"Looks like it must be, my lady"

"I don’t like coincidences"

"Now that, hed and stood, using her parasol as a crutch "Back to the beginning, I suppose Nothing for it I shall have to return these papers to Madahtily at the very idea "Perhaps toht Bed first"

"A very sensible idea, my lady"

"None of that from you, Professor, thank you very much I’m still miffed I understand why you did it, but I aly to the door, prepared to clie into her closet boudoir

Neither olf tried to help her She was clearly not in the mood to be coddled Lyall did touch her arm as she passed The action turned him mortal for a moment Alexia had never had an opportunity to see him mortal before He looked much the same as he did when immortal--perhaps there were more lines about his mouth and at the corners of his eyes--but he was still a pale vulpineto tell Conall?"

Alexia turned around slowly and leveled a decided glare in his direction It told him, in no uncertain terms, exactly how she felt about this state of affairs "No, no, I’nity as was possible given her condition, she waddled froalleon under full sail

Only to run into Felicity in the hallway It was like trundling full tilt into a pillar of molasses, the conversation likely to be sticky and the individual attractive only to creepy-crawlies Alexia was never prepared to run into her sister, but on such a night as this when the chit should be fast asleep, it really was beyond

Felicity, for her part, was bleary-eyed and wearing nothing but a highly ornaown, the excesshands, to her breast Her hair was a tousle of golden curls that cascaded over one shoulder, a ridiculous pink bed cap perched precariously atop her head The nightgown, too, was pink, a foulard with printed s, a quantity of lace triht Felicity looked like a big pink Christmas tree

"Sister," said the tree, "there is afroo back to bed, Felicity It’s only a olf Really You’d think people never hadcaht I have a private word, before you seek your rest?"

Felicity’s eyes widened and her breath caught

Alexia turned around "Yes, well, if you insist, Major Channing"

A sharp elbowbelly "Introduce us," hissed Felicity Her sister was looking at the Gamma with much the same expression as that which entered Ivy Tunstell’s eyes when faced with a particularly hideous hat, which is to say, covetous and lacking in all eleht attire!" Felicity only gave her a big-eyed head shake "Oh, very well, Felicity This is Major Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings He is a olf and , do please meet my sister, Felicity Loontwill She is hu after ten minutes’ conversation"

Felicity tittered in a ht was musical "Oh, Alexia, you so like to have your little jokes" She offered her hand to the handsoize for my informal state, Major"