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Miss Dair cleared her throat delicately, interrupting them "Gentlemen, I aestured with her head at Miss Tarabotti, who had otten

Miss Tarabottiand tried to look cunning

Dr Caedes swung around and gave her a very hard look "You"--his tone was excessively accusatory--"are going to be trouble Preternaturals always are Just you keep a careful eye on thoseout with Werewolves also have an agenda to keep to You do realize that?"

"And you bloodsuckers, of course, are all sweetness and light with onlyBattenberg cru! She is trying to make a funny," said Lord Ambrose snidely

Miss Tarabotti stood and nodded to the asseerously rude So rude, in fact, that unless she uess, actions would soon be required She would rather cut her visit short at words This seemed an opportune htful visit," she said, s in a way she hoped looked predatory "It has beenher words carefully-- "educational"

Miss Dair looked to the hive queen At the countess’s nod, she pulled a nearby bell rope that was discreetly hidden behind a heavy velvet drape The beautiful blond maid appeared oncea bit like she had just escaped the jaws of some unpleasant beast

She was just starting down the front steps toward her cab when she aylaid by a fierce grip on her upper arer than she appeared to be It was not supernatural strength either; she was only a drone

"Yes?" Miss Tarabotti tried to be polite

"You are of ze BUR?" The maid’s violet eyes ide, earnest

Alexia did not know quite what to say to that She did not wish to lie, for she had no official sanction A pox on Lord Maccon and his archaic principles! "I ae, yez?"

Miss Tarabotti nodded, leaning forward Partly to appear interested, partly to ease the viselike grip the girl persisted in ht, I will be covered in bruises

"Tell lanced around "Ask ze ones My master, he iz a rove He vanishez last week Poof" She snapped her fingers "Like zat Zey brought ood work, but ze comtesse, she only just toleratezI will last"

Miss Tarabotti had no idea what the girl was on about Lord Akeldaovern to understand the truth of his words "Uh, I aht Alexia, no har "Try to do what, exactly?"

"To find out where ze roves are gone Az well az why ze new onez co at keyholes

Miss Tarabotti blinked, trying to follow "Va out of thin air? You are certain they are not the sa shirts to ave Alexia’s weak attempt at humor a reproachful look

"No, I suppose they would not be so unfashionable, even as a hoax" Miss Tarabotti sighed and nodded "Very well, I shall try" She was thinking that the world was getting evenon, and BUR even less, what could she possibly do to comprehend the situation?

Nevertheless, the maid seemed satisfied Clearly, she did not share Alexia’s reservations She let go of Miss Tarabotti’s ar thein puzzle hackney She did not notice that it was not the sainally arrived in, nor that it was driven by a different coachman

She did, however, realize instantly that there was so your pardon! I thought this carriage was available," said Miss Tarabotti to the bulky individual slouched in the corner of the facing seat "I told my driver to wait, and here you were in exactly the saize I" She trailed off

The man’s face was in shadows, his features obscured by a wide coachreeting, no acceptance of her apologies He did not even bother to loved hand to tip that horribly inappropriate hat to a strange lady blundering about in his rented transport

"Well," said Miss Tarabotti, disgusted by his rudeness, "I shall just be off then"

She turned to leave, but the driver had climbed down off the box and now stood outside in the street, barring her exit His features were not shadowed A nearby gas laold and shiny Alexia jerked backward in horror That face! It was like a wax copy of so not quite human, smooth and pale with no blemish, no scar, and no hair to speak of On the forehead four letters had been written in soed black substance: VIXI And those eyes! They were dark and curiously blank, so flat and expressionless it was as though nothing lived within the mind behind the, yet so

Miss Tarabotti backed away fronance The apparition reached forward and sla the handle to lock it closed Only then did his set expression change He grinned a slow lazy grin that crept across his waxy face the way oil spreads over water His ht white squares, not teeth Alexia was certain that smile would haunt her dreams for years to come

The wax man vanished from the door , presumably to pull himself onto the driver’s box, for, within the next an to move It rattled and creaked over the London street cobbles, heading toward a place Alexia was reasonably confident she had no desire to visit