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"GO SEE," THE QUEEN TOLD ME

"What? But all y&039;all are stronger than I am! And less scared!"

"And we&039;re the ones she&039;s suing," Andre pointed out "Our sebert glided into the darkness

A door across the landing opened, and Batanya stepped out

"I smell death," she said "What&039;s happened?"

"We ca," I said "But the door was unlocked already So in there"

"You don&039;t knohat?"

"No, Sigebert is exploring," I explained "We&039;re waiting"

"Let uarded" She turned to call back into the suite, "Clovache!" At least, I guess that was hoas spelled, it was pronounced "Kloh-VOSH"

A kind of Batanya Junior eer, brown-haired, less terrifyingbut still plenty formidable

"Scout the place," Batanya ordered, and without a single question Clovache drew her sword and eased into the apart our breaths - well, I was, anyway The vamps didn&039;t have breath to hold, and Batanya didn&039;t seeitated She had moved to a spot where she could watch the open door of Jennifer Cater&039;s place and the closed door of the King of Kentucky Her sas drawn

The queen&039;s face looked alhtly less blank than usual Sigebert came out and shook his head without a word

Clovache appeared in the doorway "All dead," she reported to Batanya

Batanya waited

"By decapitation," Clovache elaborated "The wo mentally - "in six pieces"

"This is bad," the queen said at the saed exasperated glances

"Any hu to keep my voice small because I didn&039;t want their attention, but I did want to know, very badly

"No, all vao-ahead nod fro off pretty fast"

"Clovache, go in and call that Todd Donati" Clovache went silently into the Kentucky suite and placed a call, which had an electrifying effect Within five minutes, the area in front of the elevator was crarees of living

Aa maroon jacket with Security on the pocket seee, so he must be Todd Donati He was a policethe undead But that didn&039;thad happened so early in the su that would cause him more work than he was able to handle He had cancer, I heard clearly, though I wasn&039;t able to discern what kind Donati wanted to work as long as he could to provide for his faone, and he was resentful of the stress and strain this investigation would cause, the energy it would drain But he was doggedly determined to do his job

When Donati&039;s vanized hi (the vao Baruch iss born As a hued a bunch of fancy hotels in Western Europe When he&039;d told a vaht over" (not only to the va and profitable hotels for a syndicate of vaed in both ways

Now Christian Baruch had eternal life (if he avoided pointy wooden objects), and the va in the uy or a law enforcement expert, and he wasn&039;t the police Sure, he could decorate the hell out of the hotel and tell the architect how ood would he be in this situation? His hu a suit that looked remarkably wonderful, even to inexperienced eyes like mine I was sure it had been made for him, and I was sure it had cost a bundle

I had been pushed back by the crowd until I was pressed against the wall by one of the suite doors - Kentucky&039;s, I realized It hadn&039;t opened yet The two Britlingens would have to guard their charge extra carefully with thisaround The hubbub was extraordinary I was next to a woman in a security uniform; it was just like the excop&039;s, but she didn&039;t have to wear a tie

"Do you think letting all these people into this space is a good idea?" I asked I didn&039;t want to be telling the wo Didn&039;t she ever watch CSI?

Security Wo here?" she asked, as if that roup that found the bodies"

"Well, you just need to keep quiet and let us do our work"

She said this in the snottiest tone possible "What ould that be? You don&039;t see at all," I said

Okay, maybe I shouldn&039;t have said that, but she wasn&039;t doing anything It seerabbed ave a kind of yelp of surprise "That really wasn&039;t what I meant you to do," I said with soainst the door of the suite

There was a large silence fro trouble," said Security Woman

Maroon looked awful on her, by the way

"Landry, what are you doing?" said an overly reasonable male voice It was the kind of voice you use with an irrational child

"She was telling me what to do," replied Security Wo even as she spoke

"What was she telling you to do, Landry?"

"She wondered what all the people were doing here, sir"

"Isn&039;t that a valid question, Landry?"

"Sir?"

"Don&039;t you think we should be clearing out some of these people?"

"Yes, sir, but she said she was here because she was in the party that found the bodies"

"So she shouldn&039;t leave"

"Right Sir"

"Was she trying to leave?"

"No, sir"

"But you handcuffed her"

"Ah"

"Take the fucking handcuffs off her, Landry"

"Yes, sir" Landry was a flat pancake by now, no air left in her at all

The handcuffs came off, to ry I could have decked Landry But since I would&039;ve been right back in the handcuffs, I held off Sophie-Anne and Andre pushed through the crowd; actually, it just kind of lad to get out of the way of the Queen of Louisiana and her bodyguard

Sophie-Anne glanced at my wrists, saw that they really weren&039;t hurt at all, and correctly diagnosed the fact that my worst injury was to my pride

"This isLandry butsure everyone there heard her "An insult or injury to this woman is an insult or injury to me"

Landry didn&039;t knoho the hell Sophie-Anne was, but she could tell pohen she saw it, and Andre was just as scary They were the two ers in the world, I do believe

"Yes,Now can you tell me what happened here just now?" Todd Donati asked in a very reasonable voice

The croas silent and waiting I looked for Batanya and Clovache and saw they wereSuddenly Andre said, "You are the chief of security?" in a rather loud voice, and as he did, Sophie-Anne leaned very close to ens"

"Yes, sir" The policeman ran a hand over his mustache "I&039;m Todd Donati, and this is my boss, Mr Christian Baruch"

"I am Andre Paul, and this iswoman is our employee Sookie Stackhouse" Andre waited for the next step

Christian Baruch ignored ive a roast I was thinking of buying for Sunday dinner "Your presence is a great honor to lie jaw and dark hair But his sray

Sophie-Anne took the coether for a second Showing fang wasn&039;t an exactly subtle way of saying, "You shake , aard second Then I said, "Are you all going to call the police, or what?"

"I think we must consider e have to tell the fun of rural-southern-huo see what&039;s in the suite?"

Todd Donati pushed his way through the croith no subtlety at all Sigebert, who&039;d been guarding the open doorway (for lack of anything better to do), stood aside to let the huuard worked his way over to the queen, looking happier when he was in proximity to his ruler

While Donati examined whatever was left in the Arkansas suite, Christian Baruch turned to address the crowd "Howhad happened?"

Maybe fifteen people raised their hands or simply nodded

"You will please round level, where our bartenders will have so special for all of you" The fifteen moved out pretty quickly after that Baruch knew his thirsty people Vamps Whatever

"How many of you were not here when the bodies were discovered?" Baruch said after the first group had left Everyone raised a hand except the four of us: ebert

"Everyone else may feel free to leave," Baruch said as civilly as if he was extending a pleasant invitation And they did Landry hesitated and got a look that sent her hurtling down the stairs

The area around the central elevator seemed spacious now, since it was so much emptier

Donati came back out He didn&039;t look deeply disturbed or sick, but he did look less composed

"There&039;s only bits of theh; residue, I guess you&039;d call it I think there were three of theht be two of theistration?"

Donati referred to a palm-held electronic device "Jennifer Cater, of Arkansas This rooation of Arkansas va possibly got a little extra emphasis Donati definitely knew the queen&039;s history

Christian Baruch raised a thick, dark brow "I do know my own people, Donati"

"Yes, sir"

Sophie-Anne&039;s nose ht have wrinkled delicately with distaste His own people, my ass, that nose said Baruch was at most four years old, as a vampire

"Who&039;s been in to see the bodies?" Baruch asked

"Neither of us," Andre said promptly "We haven&039;t set foot in the suite"

"Who did?"

"The door was unlocked, and we smelled death In view of the situation between ht it was unwise to go inside," Andre said "We sent Sigebert, the queen&039;s guard"

Andre simply omitted Clovache&039;s exploration of the suite So Andre and I did have so that wasn&039;t quite a lie He&039;d done a masterful job

As the questions continued -if the queen would still have to go to trial now that her main accuser was dead I wondered whoed to; it was reasonable to assuhts regarding Peter Threadgill&039;s property, and I knew Sophie-Anne needed every bit of income she could claihts to Arkansas, since Andre had killed Peter? I hadn&039;t thought through howover the queen&039;s head at this su myself all these questions, I realized that the most immediate issue had yet to be addressed Who&039;d killed Jennifer Cater and her companions? (How many Arkansas vamps could be left, after the battle in New Orleans and today&039;s slaughter? Arkansas wasn&039;t that big a state, and it had very few population centers)

I was recalled to the here and nohen Christian Baruch caught my eyes "You&039;re the human who can read minds," he said so suddenly that I jerked

"Yes," I said, because I was tired of sirring andeveryone

"Did you kill Jennifer Cater?"

I didn&039;t have to fake astonish otten the drop on three vampires No, I didn&039;t kill her She ca trash, but that&039;s the only time I ever even saw her"

He looked a little taken aback, as if he&039;d expected another answer or maybe a humbler attitude

The queen took a step to stand beside me, and Andre mirrored her, so that I was bracketed by ancient va But I knew they were re the hotelier that I was their special human and not to be harassed

At that very opportuneopen the door from the stairs and hurtled toward the death suite But Baruch was just as swift, and he barred the way so that the new vampire bounced off him and onto the floor The small vamp was up in a movement so quicka desperate effort to get Baruch out of the doorway

But the newcomer couldn&039;t, and finally he took a step away from the hotelier If the s, and as it was his body shook with tremors of delayed action He had brown hair and a short beard, and he earing a suit, a regular old JCPenney one He looked like an ordinary guy until you saw his wide eyes and realized that he was some kind of lunatic

"Is it true?" he asked, his voice low and intent

"Jennifer Cater and her companions are dead," Christian Baruch said, not without compassion

The small man howled, literally howled, and the hair onback and forth in a transport of grief

"I take it you are one of her party?" the queen said

"Yes, yes!"

"Then now I a stopped as if it had been lopped off by a pair of scissors

"But you had our king killed," the va, and as such, I&039;m entitled to inherit his state in the event of his death," Sophie-Anne said, her dark eyes looking almost benevolent, almost luminous "And he is undoubtedly dead"

"That&039;s what the fine print said," Mr Cataliades murmured in my ear, and I barely suppressed a yelp of astonish ly But Mr Cataliades walked as lightly as a butterfly, and I had no idea he was nearby until he spoke to ed to say

"Yes," he said "And Peter&039;s attorney went over it very thoroughly indeed The same applied in the event of Sophie-Anne&039;s death, too"

"I guess there were a lot of clauses hanging on that?"

"Oh, just a few The death had to be witnessed"

"Oh, gosh That&039;s ht and under her thuood reason"

"And other conditions?"

"There could be no second-in-coreat catastrophe had to occur"

"And now it has"

"Yes, it seems that it has" Mr Cataliades appeared quite pleased about that

Myaround like one of those wire bins they draw bingo numbers from at the fair

"My name is Henrik Feith," the small vamp said "And there are only five vampires left in Arkansas I am the only one here in Rhodes, and I am only alive because I went down to complain about the towels in the bathroohing, which would have been, shall we say, inappropriate Andre&039;s gaze re before us, but soave h In fact, it was hard not to shriek

"What rong with the towels?" Baruch said, completely sidetracked by this slur on his hotel

"Jennifer alone used up three," Henrik began explaining, but this fascinating byas cut short when Sophie-Anne said, "Enough Henrik, you come with us toupdates fro to call the Rhodes police?"

It was polite of her to address Donati as though he actually had a say in as done Donati said, "No, ma&039;am, this seems like a vampire matter to me There&039;s no body to examine now, there&039;s no film since there&039;s no security camera in the suite, and if you&039;ll look up" We all did, of course, to the corner of the hallway "You&039;ll notice that soum over the lens of the security camera Or perhaps, if it was a vau to review the tapes, but as fast as vampires can jump, it may well be impossible to determine who the individual is At the moment, there aren&039;t any vampires on the homicide squad in the Rhodes police force, so I&039;m not sure there&039;s anyone we can call Most huate vaet their backs"

"I can&039;t think of anything more we can do here," Sophie-Anne said, exactly as if she could not care less "If you don&039;t need us any longer, we&039;ll go to the opening cere this conversation "Master Henrik, if you are up to it, come with us If you&039;re not up to it, which of course ould understand, Sigebert will take you up to o somewhere quiet," Henrik Feith said He looked like a beaten puppy

Sophie-Anne nodded to Sigebert, who didn&039;t look happy about getting hisorders But he had to obey her, of course, so off he ith the little vampire as one-fifth of all that was left of the Arkansas undead

I had so much to think about thated and the doors swept open to allow Bill to leap out He didn&039;t arrive as dramatically as Henrik, but he made a definite entrance He stopped dead and assessed the situation Seeing ere all standing there calathered his composure around him and said, "I hear there has been trouble?" He addressed this to the air in between us, so anyone could answer hi to think of hiht hate every molecule in his body, but he was undeniably there I wondered if the Weres really ed to keep the abjured off their radar, and how they dealt with it I wasn&039;tvery well

"There is trouble," the queen said "Though I don&039;t understand what your presence will achieve"

I&039;d never seen Bill looking abashed, but he did now "I apologize, , I&039;ll have returned to my booth in the convention hall"

In icy silence, the elevator doors slid shut, blocking out my first lover&039;s face and for to show he cared aboutup with such haste when he was supposed to be doing business for the queen elsewhere If this demonstration was supposed to softento help you in your investigation?" Andre asked Donati, though his words were really aial heir of Arkansas, we stand ready to assist"

"I would expect nothing less of such a beautiful queen, one also well-known for her business acumen and tenacity" Baruch bowed to the queen

Even Andre blinked at the convoluted coave Baruch a narrow-eyed look I kept aze fixed on the potted plant, and I keptThis was brownnosing on a scale I&039;d never encountered

There really didn&039;t seeot on the elevator with the vampires and Mr Cataliades, who had remained most remarkably quiet

Once the doors shut, he said, "My queen, you ain immediately"

Let me tell you, Sophie-Anne and Andre had quite a reaction to this bombshell; their eyes widened for all of a second

"Marry anyone: Kentucky, Florida, I would add even Mississippi, if he were not negotiating with Indiana But you need an alliance, someone lethal to back you up Otherwise jackals like this Baruch will circle around, yipping for your attention"

"Mississippi&039;s out of the running, thankfully I don&039;t think I could stand all the men Once in a while, of course, but not day in, day out, scores of theuarded thing I&039;d ever heard her say She almost sounded human Andre reached out and punched the button to stop the elevator between floors "I wouldn&039;t advise Kentucky," he said "Anyone who needs Britlingens is in enough trouble of his own"

"Alabas in bed that I object to"

I was tired of being in the elevator and also of being regarded as part of the scenery "May I ask a question?" I said

After a et to keep your children with you, and you&039;ve gone to bed with them, and most vampires aren&039;t able to do that? Isn&039;t it supposed to be a short-term relationship, sire and child?"

"Most vampire children don&039;t stay with their reed "And there are very few cases of children staying with their ebert have been with ift, ift: some can fly, some have special skills with the sword I can keep my children with me We can talk to each other, as you and Barry can We can love each other physically"

"If all that&039;s so, why don&039;t you just na of Arkansas and , total silence Sophie-Anne&039;s lips parted a couple of times as if she was about to explain to me why that was iain Andre stared at me with such intensity that I expected to see two spots onMr Cataliades just looked shocked, as if a un to speak to him in iambic pentameter