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“I’ truly penitent “I’ainst er off so that we could do this our way”

Miriarowled

Freyja looked down at Phoebe with a mixture of astonishment and admiration

“I’ mess of cold blood you’ve so carefully laid out for , rat to mouse, Caucasian females to Asian men And I’m deeply sorry to reflect badly on ,” Phoebe continued “I am not worthy to share her blood, and yet I do”

“That’s quite enough” Miriam said

But Phoebe was not finished y She bolted for the table and began downing the rereat speed

“Revolting,” she proclailass tumbler to dust in her hands She took up the next “Gaoblet snapped in two, the bowl separating from the base “Putrid, like death” She spat the liquid back into the shot glass, which was inscribed with the warning BAD DECISIONS MAKE GOOD STORIES “Not bad, but I’d rather drink cat” Phoebe flipped the elass over so that the bloody residue slid down the sides andon the table

On Phoebe went around the table, slurping blood and tossing glassware aside until she had consule silver julep cup was left standing Phoebe wiped her , and dotted with splashes of blood

“I’d drink that” Phoebe pointed to the sht-sided cup with beaded decoration around the rim (made by a Kentucky silversmith around 1850, if she was not mistaken) “But only if there was no cat around”

“Progress, I think,” Freyja said cheerfully, surveying the carnage on her dining room table

A gasp announced the arrival of Françoise—ould, of course, be expected to clear away the mess

But it was Miriam’s dark expression that held Phoebe’s attention Miriam’s face promised punishment—and not within any predictable human timeframe

Miriam banished Phoebe, Cinderella-like, to the kitchens to assist Françoise It took several trips up and down the stairs just to clear the debris Phoebe was grateful for her newly enhanced cardiovascular system, not to mention her vampire speed

Once the table was cleared, the surface wiped, the floor scrubbed by hand with a brush, and the bits of glass plucked out of Phoebe’s knees and shins, Phoebe and Françoise busied thee of all the breakable glasses, just in case, and handed Phoebe the ones made of metal

“Why do you stay with Freyja?” Phoebe wondered aloud

“This is my job All creatures need jobs Without one, you have no self-respect” Françoise’s reply was succinct, as usual, but it didn’t really answer Phoebe’s question

Phoebe tried a different tack

“Wouldn’t you rather be doing so see to the office and keeping up with the latest develop and authenticating pieces whose value was either unknown or long forgotten

“No” Françoise snapped her dish towel and folded it in thirds before hanging it on the waiting rail She turned her attention to a heaping basket of laundry and switched on the iron

“Wouldn’t you rather work for yourself?” Phoebe illing to entertain the possibility that there were hidden rewards to cleaning and cooking, but she couldn’t fathom a life in service to others

“This is the life I chose It’s a good life I am well paid, respected, protected,” replied Françoise

Phoebe frowned Françoise was a vampire, and her arms were the size of small hams She didn’t seem in need of protection

“But you could study Go to university Master a subject Do anything you liked, really” Phoebe tried folding her own damp towel It ended up badly, one side uneven, pulled out of shape by her efforts She hung it on the rod next to Françoise’s

Françoise removed it and snapped the linen open She folded it properly and rehung it on the rod It was perfectly ave off an air of perfect doazines herand mildly reproachful at the same time

“I know enough,” Françoise replied I kno to fold a piece of cloth properly, which is more than can be said for you, her expression said

“Didn’t you ever wanter to anger another vaer than she was

“I wanted undy, the soil in e of forty like ot it”

Phoebe sat on a nearby stool, her fingers threaded together She shifted, nervous, on her seat Françoise had never uttered so many words at once—at least not where Phoebe could overhear her She hoped she hadn’t offended the woman with her questions

“I wanted warht,” Françoise continued, to Phoebe’s astonisho to sleep without hunger, and never again wonder if there would be enough food to feed the people I loved I wanted less sickness—sickness that caust to take people away”

Phoebe recognized the cadence of her own display of temper before Freyja and Miria She was subtlyWith vampires it was so very difficult to tell

“So you see, I already possess all that I have ever wanted,” Françoise said in closing “I would not be you, with your useless learning and see independence, for all the world”

It was a startling announcement, for Phoebe felt her life was nearly perfect already and only going to get better with an eternity to do as she pleased and Marcus at her side

“Why not?” Phoebe demanded

“Because I have soain possess,” Françoise said, her voice dropping to a confiding hiss, “a treasure that no amount of money can buy nor time secure”

Phoebe leaned forward, eager to knohat this treasure was It couldn’t be long life—Phoebe had that now

Françoise, likean attentive audience She had also mastered the art of the dramatic pause She picked up her bottle of lavender water and spritzed a pillowcase with it Then she wielded the hot iron with the sa else in the house

Phoebe waited, as unusually patient as Françoise was unusually forthco

“Freedom,” Françoise said at last She took up another pillowcase and let her words sink in

“No one pays any attention to me,” Françoise continued “I can do as I please Live, die, work, rest, fall in love—and out of it, too Everybody is watching you, waiting for you to fail Wondering if you will succeed Coust, you’ll have Milord Marcus back in your bed, but you’ll have the eyes of the Congregation on you, too After word spreads of your engagement, every vampire on earth will be curious about you You’ll never have a , will be long”

Phoebe stopped her nervous shifting, and the room was so quiet that even a warmblood could have heard a pin drop

“But you need not worry” Françoise folded the s another damp one from the basket “You will not have liberty, but you will succeed at your job—because I will be doingyou from those ould do you harm”

“Excuse an, sounding truly penitent “I’ainst er off so that we could do this our way”