Page 16 (1/2)

THE VAMPIRE JODI WAS PRETTY FORMIDABLE SHE PUT me in mind of Jael, in the Bible Jael, a deterh the head of Sisera, an ene correctly Sisera had been asleep when Jael did the deed, just as Michael had been when Jodi broke off his fang Even though Jodi&039;s nath and resolve, and I was ies could see past the va about his da, though the session took place in the sauess you&039;d call the the audience There were three of them, all from different states: two(as always) caluy, a blond The fehtest back and longest rippling black hair I ever saw I heard Bill address her as "Dahlia" Her round little face whipped back and forth as she listened to the testi a tennis es was a stake, which I guess was the va vampires were not represented by lawyers They said their piece, and then the judges got to ask questions before they decided the verdict by a majority vote It was si a human wo an eye I glanced around I was the only human in the audience No wonder there was a certain si to dress it up for a war as they would if they were by the by those of my party who&039;d attended - Rasul, Gervaise, Cleo - and maybe their closeness masked my scent, or maybe one tame human didn&039;t count

"She&039;d offended me, and I enjoy sex that way, so I abducted her and had a little fun," Michael said "Then Jodi goes all ballistic on h to show the judges the fang&039;s stuone by the booth that was still set up out in the vendors&039; area, the one that had such ael, and he didn&039;t get that what he&039;d done rong He had wanted to do it, so he did it Not all people who&039;ve been brought over to be vampires are mentally stable to start with, and some of them are utterly conscienceless after decades, or even centuries, of disposing of humans as they damn well please And yet, they enjoy the openness of the new order, getting to stride around being theht not to be staked They don&039;t want to pay for that privilege by adhering to the rules of coht punish a case against anyone Apparently, neither did Jodi, as on her feet and going for hi This ay better than The Peoples&039; Court or Judge Judy

The blond judge tackled her He was er than Jodi, and she see to heave him off I noticed Bill had moved his chair back so he could leap up if further developments required quick action

The tiny Dahlia said, "Why did you take such exception to Michael&039;s actions, Jodi?"

"The woman was the sister of one of er "She was under my protection And stupid Michael will cause all of us to be hunted again if he continues his ways He can&039;t be corrected Nothing stops hi I warned hi woain on the street, and his pride was ence or discretion"

"Is this true?" the little vamp asked Michael

"She insulted me, Dahlia," he said smoothly "A human publicly insulted ree?" The blondJodi nodded, and so did Bill, as still perched on the edge of his chair to Dahlia&039;s right

"Michael, you will bring retribution on us by your unwise actions and your inability to control your inored the fact that the young woman was under the protection of another vampire"

"You can&039;tand on his feet

Two e They were both vaood-sized ht I was a little shocked by the noise and the violence, but in a minute they&039;d take Michael off to sos would continue

Toon Jodi, who got up and assisted her to rise Jodi, se in one leap, like a panther She grabbed up the stake lying on the judges&039; table, and with one powerful swing of her lean arm, she buried the stake in Michael&039;s chest

I was the only one as shocked, and I clapped both hands over

Michael looked at her with utter rage, and he even kept struggling, I suppose to free his arms so he could pull the stake out, but in a few seconds it was all over The two va the new corpse hauled it off, and Jodi stepped off the stage, still bea

"Next case," called Dahlia

The next was the one about the vampire kid, and there were humans involved in this one I felt less conspicuous when they ca parents with their vampire representative (was it possible that humans couldn&039;t testify before this court?) and the "er, sadder case, because the parents&039; suffering over the loss of their son - as still walking and talking, but not to them - was nearly palpable I wasn&039;t the only one who cried, "For sha her monthly payued for the parents ferociously, and it was clear she thought Cindy Lou was a trailer-trash vaes - different ones this time, and I didn&039;t know any of thened and refused to give the boy a new guardian However, they ruled, the contract had to be equally enforced on the parents&039; behalf, and the boy was required to spend ti as they chose to enforce the right

The head judge, a hawk-faced guy with dark, liquid eyes, called the boy up to stand before thened this contract, too," he said "You may be a minor in human law, but to us, you are as responsible asCindy Lou" Boy, it just killed hi to admit there was a vampire named Cindy Lou "If you try to terrorize your human parents, or coerce them, or drink their blood, ill arows back, we&039;ll aain"

The boy could hardly be whiter than he was, and his human mother fainted But he&039;d been so cocky, so sure of hiht the strong warning was necessary I caught

Oh, yeah, this was fair, to threaten a kid with having his hand areed And Cindy Lou was no prize; whoever had turned her must have been mentally and morally deficient

I hadn&039;t been needed after all I ondering about the rest of the evening when the queen caebert and Andre in close attendance She earing a sapphire blue silk pantsuit with a beautiful dias She looked classy, absolutely smooth, sleek, and perfect Andre made a beeline to me

"I know," he said, "that is, Sophie-Anne tellsto you I&039; for her Others don&039;t ret that I have not been able to refrain fro that distresses you"

If that was an apology, it was the most half-assed one I&039;d ever received into be desired All I could do was say, "I hear you" It was thein front ofthe next few hours," she said, and I said, "Sure" She glanced up and downI had dressed up a little ht marked off for Commerce meant fancy clothes were appropriate

Mr Cataliades steaold silk tie, and he said, "Good to see you, my dear Let me brief you on the next item on the schedule"

I spread my hands to shoas ready "Where&039;s Diantha?" I asked

"She is working so out with the hotel," Cataliades said He frowned "It&039;s most peculiar There was an extra coffin downstairs, apparently"

"How could that be?" Coffins belonged to so with a spare, like you had to have a dress coffin and an everyday coffin "Why did they call you?"

"It had one of our tags on it," he said

"But all of our vale of anxiety inthe crowd, and I saw one spot me and turn away Then he saw Barry, who&039;d coain

I actually started to call to a nearby vauy so I could have a look into his head, and then I realized I was acting as high-handed as the vampires themselves The waiter vanished, and I hadn&039;t had a close look at him, so I wasn&039;t sure I could even identify him in a crowd of other servers in the sa, but I held up a hand "Hold it for a sec," I murmured The waiter&039;s quick turn had re else that had seemed odd

"Please pay attention, Miss Stackhouse," the lawyer said, and I had to stow the thread of thought away "Here&039;s what you need to do The queen will be negotiating for a few favors she needs to help rebuild her state Just do what you do best to discover if everyone dealing with her is honorable"

This was not a very specific guideline "Do o find Diantha, Mr C I think there&039;s so about this extra coffin they&039;re talking about There was that extra suitcase, too," I said "I carried it up to the queen&039;s suite"

Mr Cataliades looked at me blankly I could see that he considered the s up in a hotel to be a small one and below his concern "Did Eric tell you about the murdered woman?" I asked, and his attention sharpened

"I haven&039;t seen Master Eric this evening," he said "I&039;ll be sure to track hi&039;s up; I just don&039;t knohat," I muttered more or less to myself, and then I turned away to catch up with Sophie-Anne

Commerce was conducted in a sort of bazaar style Sophie-Anne positioned herself by the table where Bill was sitting, back at work selling the coular clothes, and I was glad the hare a rest I wondered what the procedure was, but I adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and I found out soon enough The first to approach Sophie-Anne was the big blond vae earlier "Dearher hand "I am charmed to see you, as always, and devastated by the destruction of your beautiful city"

"A small portion of my beautiful city," Sophie-Anne said with the sweetest of sht of the straits you ister her correction "You, the ruler of such a profitable and prestigious kingdoht so low I hope to be able to assist you in my humble fashion"