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"He hired you in New Orleans for a job none of us could do And you did that job, even when ithis son In his oay, he respects that Before he sent me here, Leo said, ‘Jane Yellowrock has a propensity for luck’" The words were stilted, a perfectthe MOC "‘She looks for the truth, no , and uncovers it, er, but one who carries a stake and kno to use it’" Bruiser chuckled, but there was no huing shape in Natchez, Leo arranged to get you involved Some of his people told Hieronyan to click into place Soun "He couldn’t just up and send ave Hierony and scraping and pleading on Big H’s part, but he could s were okay in his territory"

Bruiser nodded "Politics"

"I hate politics And vamp politics more than most" I stared at the primo until his eyes lifted from the floor to me "Can I ask questions?" I asked

"I presuation"

"Pretty et dressed"

"I like you the way you are"

The last of the pain seeh Give a girl soed and left the bathroo in colder air before he shut the door I shivered hard and clutched the damp towel I went to my own roo tomy hair when the pri a dress shirt with a subtle pattern in the weave and the dress pants, wrinkled from the stea, as , his face as impassive as a vamp’s For reasons I didn’t understand and didn’t want to explore, I didn’t ask what he was thinking

"Twenty questions," he re freedom"

"What else do you want to know?" he murmured He shoved the covers out of the way and sat on my bed The action was odd, as if it was suhting vamps here in Natchez I finished offI don’t remember what But you whirled on nizeon an intrigued attentiveness "What else do you want to know?"

"Why has your scent changed?" I sed at the shift in his eyes as so feral stared back atthat was the question he had been waiting for

CHAPTER 15

You’re a Gun Whore

He did that brow-tilt thing, only one brow going up, quizzically It was so I had tried in the le broas innate, not learned "All of your questions have a single answer Have you heard the term Onorio?" he asked

I shook my head and slid into the chair by the bed We were close enough that our knees brushed before I drew s into the chair and pulled the discarded comforter over me He said, "It means ‘honored one’ or ‘honored free, Bruiser said, "An Onorio is a revered and honored status a blood-servants, but feho attempt the position survive Most end up dead or turned and chained I was one of the lucky few, and only because I was h it all"

I reray And when the priestess lay across his body, naked and drinking "The priestess drank And then she fed you"

"Yes To keep me alive That ains a transformation, but doesn’t necessarily finish it In my case, it stopped just before I was turned Onorio status ifts of the Mithran, but few of the drawbacks I’ll be younger for er I’ll be faster I can see in the dark nearly as well as a va beat its way into hed, the sound not particularly lighthearted "Soht Sometimes not And sometimes only nearly so Yes, we’ve been called Renfields, the special servants of the undead And I will live a long, long time Perhaps as much as three more centuries"

"You’re hot, in an old, cold house Even with my skinwalker metabolisher-than-huoire’s B twins, his priest-lived servants I know of"