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"Wait!" The hive queen’s voice was sharp

Miss Tarabotti continued ht She comprehended what it must be like to be some trapped furry creature in a reptilian den She stopped when she found her way barred Lord Ambrose had moved with a vampire’s characteristic swiftness to prevent her departure He sneered at her, tall and distressingly gorgeous Alexia found she ruff and a little scruffy round the edges

"Remove yourself froht her brass parasol Why had she left it behind? What this ood sharp prod to the nether regions

Miss Dair stood and calets and troubled blue eyes "Please, Miss Tarabotti Do not leave just yet It is only that their ave Lord A Alexia solicitously by the elbow, she led her fir with a rustle of green and gray taffeta and feeling even e until the hive queen sat down across fro the bell rope The pretty violet-eyed elique"

The Frencha fully laden tea trolley, coherkins, candied le

Countess Nadasdy served the tea Miss Tarabotti took hers with milk, Miss Dair took hers with lemon, and the vampires took theirs with a dollop of blood, still warm and poured out of a crystal pitcher Alexia tried not to think too hard about its origin Then the scientific part of her wondered ould happen if that jug contained preternatural blood Would it be toxic or just convert theth of time?

Alexia and Miss Dair helped themselves to food, but no one else in the room bothered to partake Unlike Lord Akeldama, they clearly did not appreciate the taste of food nor feel co it Alexia felt aard eating while her hostess touched nothing, but she was not the type to ever be put off good food, and the tea, like everything else in the hive house, was of the very highest quality She refused to rush, sipping slowly fro for a second helping

Countess Nadasdy waited until Miss Tarabotti was halfway through a cucumber sandwich to reopen their conversation They talked on safe and banal subjects: a new play down the West End, the latest art exhibit, the fact that full ular holiday for working vampires, since olves had to absent theentlerove town house," Miss Tarabotti offered, getting into the spirit of the shed "I understand the duchess is in high dudgeon Apparently, it brings down the whole tenor of the neighborhood She should count her blessings; if you ask gled Miss Dair, clearly thinking how e about all day and night

The duke added, "Or scandal of scandals, it could be Claret’s" He naentleman’s club that catered to olves

The vahed uproariously at that It was creepy in its lack of decorum

Miss Tarabotti decided in an instant that she did not like the Duke of Herove" The hive queen segued in a slithery fashion onto the subject she had really su her ball the night before last, Miss Tarabotti?"

Alexia put her teacup down carefully into its saucer, then set both onto the tea trolley with a faint clatter "The papers described it accurately enough"

"Except that you were not named in any of them," said Lord Asupernatural," added Dr Caedes

"And no reference to the fact that you had executed the killing blow" Countess Nadasdy sat back, a faint smile on her round pleasant face The ss and the little dents they left in those full shepherdess lips

Miss Tarabotti crossed her arms "You seem well infor

"It was an accident," gru her defensive posture She took a bite of Battenberg without really tasting it It was an insult to the little cake, for it was usually good and worth appreciating: thick sponge with homemade marmalade and crystallized ale seeritty

"It was a very tidy stake to the heart," corrected Dr Caedes

Alexia went immediately on the defensive "Too tidy: he barely bled Do not blindside me with accusations, venerable ones, I did not drive him to starvation" No sane person would ever describe Miss Tarabotti as a shrinking violet When attacked, she fought back with interest It could have been the result of her preternatural state; then again, it could simply be a ridiculously stubborn disposition She spoke decidedly, as though to a sulking child "That valect He had not even been trained out of larvae stage well enough to recognizeclose enough, she probably would have prodded the queen with a sharp finger to the sternuht I’d like to see her try! She contented herself with frowning fiercely

Countess Nadasdy looked taken aback, not having anticipated such a shift "He was not one of mine!" she said defensively