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The gurgler just ahead started to moan, a rhythmic, pained sound, and the scent of hu over the perfunored it and sped ahead, into the last room I took in the details fast

It was lit with candles on every surface and was decorated in white and pink, with a Victorian four-poster in the middle of the floor space The linens were thrown back and mussed, as if it had been used recently, but the bed was empty There were silk and tasseled ottomans and dainty chairs and more dolls on shelves The ere covered withshutters, but the back door was open, letting in the night and the sound of the Mississippi skirling past Against the back wall of the feminine bedroom, beside the propped door, two hus over their heads, hands behind their backs, as if they were lined up for a firing squad Judging by the clothes and stature, the one on the left was Esmee

Four vamps stood at parade rest, two on either side of the hus and those weird clothes they ay back when, with stockings and big buckles on platform shoes, and padded shorts Vas just a bit over an inch long, which identified theed into a deadly whole I was alreadyas I took in the final particulars and bloodya scarlet dress the exact shade of her hair and of the blood that smeared her red lips In her lap was a huues open to the waist, exposing his hairy belly and unshaven neck and face Blood poured in a steady stream from his neck, which had to be deliberate Va blood vessels to close and skin to tighten, stopping bleeding als The hu, but his pulse, visible from the way his head and neck were extended, was too rapid, and he was pale She had taken too aze

As nized Silandre from her photo, her hair the color of a sunset before a storraph, her skin had been the white of a corpse, blue veins visible beneath its pale surface, but was now pink and flushed She had been drinking her fill Whatever she had been before and whether she was on Hieronymus’ list or not, Silandre was now a Naturaleza She hissed at me like a cat, and I realized she was also totally nutso Crap The crazy ones were always the worst

I slashed forward

In one of those faster-than-possible moves, Silandre tossed the body athuman Silandre rose to her feet, eyes va bloody, two-inch fangs Her bodyguards attacked Knowing I would be too slow, I continued my spin, blades out to my sides As we allinto the air Tiuards topast , scissoring uards and rolled again The gun clattered Herbal-scented blood splattered one fros severed I pivoted to htEli followed her while I bent over the hu I raced to the back wall, pulled the black bag off Esh her bonds Her arms fell limply to her sides and she dropped to her knees Just as the vale

"Stay put!" I shouted to Esmee, my own voice lost beneath the roar in my ears I dropped hteen-inch blade, effectively a short sword Picking the vamp who seemed the most lively, I shoved him flat on the floor with ht it down Hard It’s a lot more difficult to behead someone with a sword thanith a dull steak knife It was a lucky strike, because his head rolled cleanly away, gallons of fresh blood gouting froue vamps, Naturaleza vamps, uncured vaet paid to kill the

I stepped across his body to the next one, prepared to repeat the ot one ar to rise On the vamp’s chest were a line of holes; the stink of silver and vamp blood reached me Eli had used silver rounds and, just like the vamps in the woods earlier, the silver hadn’t stopped the vamps any better than lead

My partner stepped back inside and shouted, "She’s gone Down the scaffolding to the water" Which was not what I wanted to hear

I beheaded the second vaushed across the floor in spreading pools, staining the white rugs The third vamp didn’t want to die, and despite the silver in his blood, he grabbed the handle of the sword as I brought it down I didn’t have to be able to hear to knoas growling His fangs slashed atwith a snap that reverberated up s were hard When his head snapped back, I struck down and again And again Until he was in two parts The fourth vamp was fully awake by then and I realized I had made a crucial mistake He came at me

CHAPTER 7

Sheet Creases on His Left Cheek

I raised the bloody, silvered vaun into the varated like a water demonstration It was easy work thereafter to pin him to the floor withheavily He wasn’ton it