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"Obsessive, chattering cats," Roger agreed, because I guess I’d spoken that last out loud

"But Jonas--the head of the Silver Circle--toldthe Circle’s everyme that wasn’t true, either?"

"Of course it wasn’t true I don’t like the Silver Circle, but the Black’s even worse I wasn’t about to help theotten the idea that I had several hundred ghosts lying about, which I suppose they thought was a waste since they were feeding them! So I made sure that rumors reached the Silver Circle to ivemuch"

I stared at hi to the two"And your ar, they tend to give it respect Ask Tony"

"You lied to him, too" It wasn’t a question

"Well, we couldn’t stay at the house," he said peevishly, looking a bit annoyed Like he’d expected me to ooh and aah over his accoht--that he’d lasted as long as he had I was also coood possibility Daddy was nuts

"Why couldn’t you stay at the house?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know

"Your ht refused I told you, she prefers the woods, and anyway, she didn’t like Tony"

Ihosts they have over there kept trying to savage Saet us out"

"So you faked the dee," I said, because of course he had

"Fire spell You kno vamps are"

"--and then you booby-trapped the forest--"

"Well, we had to grow it first"

"--and built those things so nobody would co than the dying," he said dryly "If the da better than Tony’s lot to buy us tiod won’t expect And I still had the specs for the homunculi froed

I sat there I had about a thousand questions I wanted--needed--to ask, and this nes, she wasn’t going to be happy to see me I knew that, knew I needed to seize the opportunity while it was here, but I was having a hard ti," I said, trying to wrap uy sones, a master vampire, everyone--that he was a force to be reckoned with When all he had were sohosts

"I prefer to think of it as creative probleot aith it," I said wonderingly Because that was probably the most difficult part to accept

"You sound surprised"

"I’asted," I told hio"

The s the baby over to the other shoulder, since that one had been sufficiently drooled on "But ullible Often they’ll just believe what you tell the they like They want to believe, so they do half the work for you"

"Butbut the Black Circle," I said, trying to i with, since apparently he still didn’t get it

"The maxim holds true for crooks as et so used to everyone being too scared to try to con the the truth"

I just sat there and looked at hi? Wouldn’t they expect to see it, sooner or later?"

"Well, yes," he said, more quietly, because the baby had fallen back asleep "That’s e had the falling out They de as I could, pointing out that ghost recruitment is a little more difficult than the usual kind And then I had to build the prototype, and then work out the kinks, and then demonstrate it--they were happy that day, at least But eventually they demanded to see more, and of course tas all I had"

"But why rily, because none of thisthere?"

He frowned at ed to wake the baby up, and stood to rock her "I was there for the power, of course I told thehosts without it, or support an army on my own If they wanted results, they had to pony up And they did" He grinned "Oh yes, they did For years, I all but drained the at least one true thing in this house of lies he’d built "Why risk your life for power you didn’t even need?"