Page 1 (2/2)

He looked at her as though she had suddenly sprouted whiskers and hissed at him

Miss Tarabotti was surprised Supernatural creatures, be they vahosts, owed their existence to an overabundance of soul, an excess that refused to die Most knew that others like Miss Tarabotti existed, born without any soul at all The estiistry (BUR), a division of Her Majesty’s Civil Service, called her ilk preternatural Alexia thought the ternified What vampires called her was far less complimentary After all, preternaturals had once hunted theht persons were kept in the dark, so to speak, but any vampire worth his blood should know a preternatural’s touch This one’s ignorance was untenable Alexia said, as though to a very small child, "I am a preternatural"

The vareed, obviously still not quite coies, lovely one I am overwhelmed to meet you You are my first"--he stumbled over the word--"preternatural" He frowned "Not supernatural, not natural, of course! How foolish of me not to see the dichotomy" His eyes narrowed into craftiness He was now studiously ignoring the hair stick and looking tenderly up into Alexia’s face

Miss Tarabotti knew full well her own feminine appeal The kindest coarner was "exotic," never "lovely" Not that it had ever received either Alexia figured that va when cornered

The va for her neck Apparently, he had decided if he could not suck her blood, strangulation was an acceptable alternative Alexia jerked back, at the sa her hair stick into the creature’s white flesh It slid in about half an inch The vale that, even without superhu shoes She fell back He stood, roaring in pain, with her hair stick half in and half out of his chest

Miss Tarabotti scrabbled for her parasol, rolling about inelegantly a her new dress would miss the fallen foodstuffs She found the parasol and ca it in a wide arc Purely by chance, the heavy tip struck the end of her wooden hair stick, driving it straight into the vampire’s heart

The creature stood stock-still, a look of intense surprise on his handsome face Then he fell backward onto thein a lius kind of way His alabaster face turned a yellowish gray, as though he were afflicted with the jaundice, and he went still Alexia’s books called this end of the vaht the action astoundingly si flat, decided at that moment to call it the Grand Collapse

She intended to waltz directly out of the library without anyone the wiser to her presence there This would have resulted in the loss of her best hair stick and her well-deserved tea, as well as a good deal of dra dandies ca uess Alexia felt the most likely explanation was that they had becoardless, their presence forced her to pretend that she, too, had just discovered the dead va, she screamed and collapsed into a faint

She stayed resolutely fainted, despite the liberal application of s salts, which made her eyes water most tremendously, a craoas getting reen tri shades to co crushed into oblivion under her weight The expected noises ensued: a good deal of yelling,about, and several loud clatters as one of the housemaids cleared away the fallen tea

Then came the sound she had half anticipated, half dreaded An authoritative voice cleared the library of both young dandies and all other interested parties who had flowed into the room upon discovery of the tableau The voice instructed everyone to "get out!" while he "gained the particulars fro lady" in tones that brooked no refusal

Silence descended

"Mark er than srowl in Miss Tarabotti’s left ear The voice was low and tinged with a hint of Scotland It would have caused Alexia to shiver and think pri far and fast, if she’d had a soul Instead it caused her to sigh in exasperation and sit up

"And a good evening to you, too, Lord Maccon Lovely weather we are having for this time of year, is it not?" She patted at her hair, which was threatening to fall doithout the hair stick in its proper place Surreptitiously, she looked about for Lord Conall Maccon’s second in command, Professor Lyall Lord Maccon tended to maintain a much calmer temper when his Beta was present But, then, as Alexia had come to comprehend, that appeared to be the main role of a Beta--especially one attached to Lord Maccon

"Ah, Professor Lyall, how nice to see you again" She smiled in relief

Professor Lyall, the Beta in question, was a slight, sandy-haired gentlereeable, in fact, as his Alpha was sour He grinned at her and doffed his hat, which was of first-class design and sensible material His cravat was similarly subtle, for, while it was tied expertly, the knot was a humble one

"Miss Tarabotti, how delicious to find ourselves in your company onceher, Randolph," barked Lord Maccon The fourth Earl of Woolsey was er than Professor Lyall and in possession of a near-per when he was in the presence of Miss Alexia Tarabotti, ever since the hedgehog incident (which really, honestly, had not been her fault) He also had unreasonably pretty tawny eyes, any-colored hair, and a particularly nice nose The eyes were currently glaring at Alexia froly intimate distance

"Why is it, Miss Tarabotti, every time I have to clean up a mess in a library, you just happen to be in the ave hireen taffeta gown, checking for bloodstains

Lord Maccon appreciatively watched her do it Miss Tarabotti e degree of censure, but there was nothing at all wrong with her figure He would have to have had far less soul and a good fewer urges not to notice that appetizing fact Of course, she alent and spoiled the appeal by opening her mouth In his huly verbose fe her efforts to brush away nonexistent blood drops

Alexia reminded herself that Lord Maccon and his kind were only just civilized One simply could not expect too much from them, especially under delicate circumstances such as these Of course, that failed to explain Professor Lyall, as always utterly urbane She glanced with appreciation in the professor’s direction

Lord Maccon’s frown intensified

Miss Tarabotti considered that the lack of civilized behavior ht be the sole provenance of Lord Maccon Rumor had it, he had only lived in London a comparatively short while--and he had relocated frohed delicately to get his Alpha’s attention The earl’s yellow gaze focused on him with such intensity it should have actually burned