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Jodi said, softer, "Jimsonweed is especially bad for witches Itspells"

"So ould they use it on ht I was a witch Not" I’d have to think about this awhile "Beers when you’re done with the case?" I asked

Jodi studied ers," she aand back home in the SUV

CHAPTER 10

Le Petit Chaton Avec Les Griffes

My orders came in the form of a call from Bruiser, which woke me from my nap I flipped open my cell, shoved my hair back from my face, pulled it around, overposition on my bed "Bruiser"

Instead of his usually flirty hello, or his pleasant British-style greeting, he siht The master wants to spar"

"Uhhh"

"Nine p to the silent room Bruiser had disconnected I had never sparred with Leo before Our only physical altercation hen Leo attackedprocess that va Loss of a close loved one who had been with them for hundreds of years could make theical beings that helped vamps maintain mental and emotional control At the time I killed his son, Leo didn’t have one, and he had nearly killed me I closed the cell "I don’t want to spar with Leo Stake him, maybe But not spar," I said to my room

I remembered the last time Leo had put his hands onIt wasn’t the only time I’d been attacked and fed upon by a vamp--most vamp-hunters have been bitten once or twice--I had even been healed fro injuries by way of a va had been done to bind y And about fighting hiht be a lot easier if I had the MOC under the heel of my boot

I checked the cell and saw that I had hours before I would have to fight the Master of the City of New Orleans Tiet dressed, and plenty of ti, the s under my bedroom door

• • •

After a meal of BBQ ribs and salad, I pulled up the dossier on Jack Shoffru that Jodi had sent me The file was dense with material: pdfs of scanned, handwritten notes from decades in the past, more recent reports from Interpol and the FBI, and still ency The info ell structured, however, evidence of Jodi’s handwork and organizational skills But the older, handwritten notes were theIt was historical documentation that Jack Shoffru had been contemporaries with Jean Lafitte, which meant he had been conte sure, cross-referencing dates, even downloading the file to er screen than the tablets

I created a new file titled What-If, and typed in my notes, questions, and worries in bullet points Mostly I had a lot of conjecture, and not a lot of facts Okay--none I had a lot of guesses But they seemed to hint at a picture, or maybe several pictures, even if there was no mass to the smoke and mirrors at this point I neededthat the past was knotted and woven into the present in layers, sometimes in layers of blood Like the blood diamond and the vamps and witches who had used it over the centuries My breath caught What if Molly’s kidnapper knew about the blood dias and I shouldn’t be getting paranoid

Too late I had thought about the diamond and now it had me in its claws

I checked the tih I was licensed to carry in most of the Southern states, it so the attention frorabbed ht or nine banks in the French Quarter/Central Business District area, and I’d picked the closest one forneeds and the safe-deposit boxes I rented I didn’t think about them much, butI had a fair number of evil toys in my possession Well, in the bank vault, but it was prettyI parked and walked into the bank just before closing

Minutes later, I was standing in a private room, no security ca in front ofthem to let me open all three boxes, but when I told the teller that she’d have to open theave in