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From a shelf in the closet, I removed the box I used forto show the wear, but it did the trick, and though I had no intention of dressing up, the box also held so on top of the socks that protected my s I had no idea how I’d gotten the earring, which was a mystery for another day I’d woken up fro on the bed beside led ofabout it was still ically active, literally The little sucker moved around I kept the coyote in a sock I had put the two ical pocket-watch amulets inside socks too, and now they cradled the coyote on either side Weird But then, my whole life eird these days

I duain, and wiped ers on my pants The aross They were not so I wanted to keep, but since I had no idea what they did, I was loathe to toss the From beneath the socks, I removed a black velvet box Inside was my chain-mail throat protector, which I latched on, the silver over titanium cold on my throat and chest I put the boot box away

At seven-thirty, Eli and I were driving through the dark, on our way to theeapons and with Leo’s vah silence was usual between us, this time Eli said, "So How do you want to handle this?"

"TooI just fly by the seat offrenzy for some reason and attack?"

"We were invited, so I don’t expect trouble That said, if so we shoot, stake, and run"

Eli actually srin with one ofthe photos of the vamps I was to meet, photos the Kid had loaded up into an electronic pad that looked like so H re, but bald Like, the guy didn’t even have eyelashes And then there was his love and heir, Lotus, a lovely female va next to Big H and she looked like a teenager, her black hair a veil of silk drawn to one side and hanging below her waist, wearing some kind of kimonolike robe and scarlet shoes H’s sons, Zoltar and Narkis, were next in the file Zoltar er possessed, and Narkis meant "daffodil" I shook my head Vamp names eird The boys were prettier than their father, but not by much I also looked over the profiles of the local clans’ blood-masters, primos, and secondos There were photos of bars and warehouses and businesses in the file too, properties owned by vamps

"We’re in On Top of the Hill," Eli said of the old historical district "Destination?" I gave him the address, turned off the tablet, and set it in the side pocket of the SUV

Hieronymus didn’t ask us to meet at his Clan home, which was an antebellum plantation home outside of town, but rather in an old warehouse in Natchez Under the Hill Under the Hill had been changed drastically by the earthquake of 1811, an earthquake so violent that it altered the course of the Mississippi River The eddies, floodwaters, violent swells, floating debris--including trees and fully laden, crewless boats carrying whiskey, furs, flour, hardwood lumber, and other items from the North--landslides, and avalanches had taken off over a hundred acres of the old streets And when they were rebuilt, and then rebuilt again under General Ulysses Grant, they were inal

There were three Under the Hill streets, each over a halfparallel with the river Each street cut into the slope, led hairpin loops on the ends that put Lombard Street in San Fran to shaed up and down the hill between houses and gardens and businesses Earlier incarnations of Under the Hill had offered no attempt at beauty, but once vamps came out of the coffin, when Marilyn Monroe tried to turn the president in the Oval Office, it was discovered that va into the earth of the hill, s With Beast vision overlaying ic everywhere--reds, yellows, silvers, and greens all infused with black and silver and gold sparkles of power It seemed concentrated in three places, one location on each street, the three forle with the apex at the hilltop

We wereat a warehouse on theEstablish was an old redbrick two-story and was situated on a corner, up against the sidewalk The twelve-foot-tall wooden front doors were banded with rusted iron and open to the night air Music, sounding like live stringed instruh and into the street The ere narrow and covered with solid iron shutters, sealed tight The place was a firetrap, with liht air--and vamps were fla to do with the history of the city and Big H’s clan, so on history and ritual, having lived throughthe predatory hunter clans to live in proximity to one another without all-out war

We drove around the block before parking, weaving between the fancy cars of the fanged and wealthy Vehicles lined the streets, as there was no parking in front or at the side, only a tiny lot in the back that was packed with cars secured behind a twelve-foot-tall chain-link fence with razor wire on the top Inside it were a dozen black Lexuses, three Caddys, and one old Bentley, its creaht At each car stood a huerous Several smoked, and I loweredover the herbal scent of vaarettes, chewing tobacco, and marijuana

"Sloppy" Eli said