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Miss Tarabotti frowned at this unexpected diatribe Wasn’t her friend supposed to be on her side? It did not occur to her how confoundingly odd it was for a va a olf

The va with hi beastie? And, ruenerously with copious other attributes" i«

Miss Tarabotti let go of his hand and crossed her arms "I would not have hiht in flagrante delicto"

"You were caught what? This siets better and better! I demand all the particulars!" Lord Akeldama looked like he anticipated a deliciously vicarious experience

Outside in the hallway came another of those hubbubs that frequented the Akeldama household For the ossip, neither remembered the house was supposed to be e room burst open

"Here!" said the man at the entrance Ain Lord Akeldama’s splendid house

Lord Akeldaripping it firold pipe art piece from the mantel He pressed hard at a hidden button in theout each end of the pipe and clicked into place One was sharpened ironwood, the other solid silver Not art, as it turned out

"Where are my on-premises drones?" wondered Lord Akeldauards?"

The man in the doorway had no answer for either of them He did not even appear to hear He did not approach buttheir sole avenue of escape

"He has got a female with hi them both," came the sharp reply Then some kind of complex Latin phrases were issued The terms used were outside of Miss Tarabotti’s lie old-fashioned accent as to make them particularly difficult to decode

Lord Akeldama tensed He clearly understood as said, or at least what it implied "No That is impossible!" he whispered

Miss Tarabotti felt that if he had not been vampire-white already, he would have blanched His supernatural reflexes seeer in the doorway vanished to be replaced by an all-too-fanant, wax-like face

CHAPTER TEN

For the Good of the Colass bottle up high in one hand She was momentarily hypnotized by the repulsive fact that he see the door firmly behind him, the wax-faced man advanced toward Miss Tarabotti and Lord Akelda its contents about the room as he went He did so with infinite care, as a conscientious flower girl scatters petals before an advancing bride

Invisible fumes rose up from the drops of liquid, and an odd sary turpentine

Miss Tarabotti held her breath, plugging her nose with one hand and raising her parasol into guard position with the other She heard a dull thud as Lord Akeldaolden pipe weapon rolled away, unused Clearly, all his plethora of information did not include the latest medical pamphlets on the application, use, and smell of chloroform Either that, or va than preternaturals

Alexia felt light-headed, not certain how long she could hold her breath She fought the sensation asroom door and fresh air

The wax-faced man, apparently unaffected by the furess Miss Tarabotti reht before how fast he could move Supernatural? Perhaps not if the chloroform had no effect But assuredly faster than she was Miss Tarabotti cursed herself briefly for not bringing her conversation with Lord Akeldama more rapidly around to the topic of this man She hadher deleterious parasol Brass haft and silver tipcontact with the man’s skull, yet neither seeain just below the shoulder He brushed her weapon aside with the flick of one arasp in astonish bone carinned his horrible not-teeth grin

Too late Miss Tarabotti realized that she had breathed inward in her surprise She cursed herself roundly for a fool But self-recriminations were to no benefit The sweet chemical smell of the chloroform invaded her s Blast it, thought Alexia, borrowing one of Lord Maccon’s favorite curses

She hit the wax-faced man one last time,Her lips began to tingle and her head spun She swayed dangerously and reached forith her nonparasol hand, groping for the wax ainst his horrible smooth temple, just below the Von VIXI His skin felt cold and hard Nothing at all happened to hie back to nor Definitely not supernatural Here, Miss Tarabotti realized, was the real monster

"But," Alexia whispered, "I am the soulless one" And with that, she dropped her parasol and pitched forward into darkness

Lord Maccon arrived ho cobbled drive to Woolsey Castle just as the sun set behind the high trees planted along the western edge of its extensive grounds

Woolsey Castle stood a respectable distance froh for thee of all the amusements London afforded Woolsey Castle was also not the impenetrable fortress its name implied but instead a sort of trumped-up family manor house with multiple stories and excessively excitable buttresses Its most important feature, so far as the olves were concerned, was a very large and secure dungeon, designed to acconer was reputed to have had some rather indecent proclivities, outside of his fondness for flying buttresses Whatever the cause, the dungeons were extensive Also key, in the pack’s