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Si’s strap over her shoulder and walked down to where Sister Marie sat in the front pew "There is no bag, sister"
"Of course not Just as there is no hidden panel in the upstairs linen closet, nor a very large man who drinks blood in your room" Marie closed the Braille Bible in her hands "The truly pitiful thing is how often you treat us like ignorant children We were all once tresori, child"
"You are too good at et that" Si back at the house?"
"Other than that horrible marmalade Paulette insists is not too tart? No Flavia sent ive you this" She handed a sheathed blade to Sih the spinal cord will see it done Strike quickly, and it will be virtually painless"
She re knife froed from copper "Did she tell you?"
"What the council deuess" She turned her head toward the altar "Once, when I was young, I thought the but silly old men who saw monsters in every dark corner They are not that, child, but they are mortal As such, they so to tell ive you a blade, Simone" The old wo the first bead of her rosary between her fingers "Whether or not to use it is always your decision"
After washing hiarments Sister Sith of his leg on the stairs While the wound still throbbed, he felt none of the nu coldness that would indicate any copper re nun’s blood as well as the bloodwine the abbess had brought to hih he would need to feed several ain
Not fro either of them to fall under the spell of thrall and rapture
Outside the convent he saw Si and several boxes into the back of a Land Rover She moved with speed and efficiency, and while she still appeared pale she de she had probably been conditioned to withstand the effects of regular blood loss Over the centuries radually developed tolerances and immunities that ordinary humans lacked, such as a resistance to l’attrait
She cannot resist my ability No mortal female ever had I could have had her a dozen tied forand the black cap she had used to cover her braids should have rendered her unnoticeable, but Korvel found his gaze drawn to the trousers, which es When she bent over to arrange so, the sweet curves of her buttocks made him clench his fists, but he didn’t look away
Lust roiled inside hi of his body He knehy he wanted Simone: because he could not have her Tresora or not, she was a nun His honor would not permit him to violate the innocence of her body or the vows of chastity she had already taken
She glanced up as he joined her "It is only a few hours’ drive to Marseilles We have friends there ill assist us in tracking the thieves"
"Before we go I s," he advised her "I left it on the road by the turnoff into the hills Give me the keys"
"I know all the roads, as well as the quickest routes, Captain," she pointed out "You do not"
Centuries of co instant obedience fro the Kyn had not prepared Korvel to be questioned by a ht only further annoyed hier side of the Land Rover, he asked, "Can you drive faster than a cabbage farmer?"
"I don’t know" Now she sounded irritated "I’ve never raced one"
As soon as Korvel shut the door she started the engine and ravel-and-dirt road that divided two fields He saw severalacross their torsos; each stood crouched over the short, leafy rows of vegetables All the dead mortals he had seen at the château had been elderly, and all the women at the convent were blind "Sister, why did the council not send uardian?"
"Until yesterday, no one kneas here" The Land Rover bounced as she turned onto a narrow dirt road "Helada has no need of protection"
"You know the guardian personally?"
Her lips twisted "Allin the distance "Aend In more than six centuries no one has ever laid eyes upon him It has been said that he kills anyone who does Now you tell me that you have known him for years" When she didn’t reply, he added, "Why did he spare your life?"
"That is a very long story, Captain," she said as she braked to a stop "One that will have to wait for another time"
"Why?"