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Eli said, "No falcon would have been hunting a doe"
It was the same dispute I’d had about the creation myth of the moon-touched, the weres "I think the bird was hed "A storht off, but I have to get dressed and weaponed up I have to talk to Big Bird"
"Big Bir--?"
A knock sounded at the side door and Eli was instantly out of his chair, weapons drawn, his body bladed and protected behind the kitchen wall I was on the floor, yanking the Kid out of his chair by his shoulder, and rolling our bodies across the floor until ere safe He cussed softly the whole ti of fear and shock I wasn’t weaponed up, which was stupid I’d left the thigh rig on the table to roll Alex Stupid, stupid, stupid
Eli bent and slid a nine- sound loud in the suddenly quiet house I grabbed it as I rolled off of Alex, taking a prone position, my lower body flat on the floor, upper chest raised, balanced on rip I checked it fast and triangulated our shooting positions If Elimyself over, which left more of me exposed, but decreased the chance that I’d hurtthe knob and throwing the door open all at once Soul stood on the other side, a bag at her feet She was holding a 45 aih my partner and blasted the wall opposite Soul looked from Eli to me and smiled "Am I in time for dinner?"
• • •
Soul had taken one end of the couch, her legs curled and feet tucked beneath her, pretty plu there, she looked a tiny thing, all voluptuous curves and gauzy purple fabrics Her silver-platinum hair was up in a loose bun with tendrils that looked as if they had worked their way free hanging down around her face and to her shoulders She appeared delicate and well-bred and weary and sensual all at once, as she held a salad bowl in one hand and ate with the other "Peanuts and cola on the flight down, and a two-hour layover at Atlanta I detest airport food This is delicious," she said, and placed a neat bite into her mouth
I envied her ability to eat salad with such tidy little bites I usually just shoveled lettuce in and wiped the dressing off my mouth later I also envied the way Soul looked, so feirl noith the dressy wardrobe to prove it, but I’d never be effortlessly sexy Of course, Soul had looked anything but frail with the huge gun in her hands Looks could be deceiving
For now the gun and her luggage were all upstairs in the guest bedroo them more andinvaded so regularly
When Soul was done with the meal, she leaned over and placed the bowl on the floor, picked up her tea , and sipped "Thank you, Jane This is heavenly" It was the tea Bruiser had brought, the So Far Too Good for Ordinary People tea Soul was not ordinary people, and I nodded She said, "Do you want to debriefplace here?"
Soul was PsyLED, so not everything could be told, but there were a lot of things that affected the huht affect the populace As succinctly as I could, I told her about the attack on ht-dragon at va And the torture of Reach It was disjointed because I had learned info about Reach--which had likely precipitated a lot of the things happening in New Orleans--later than the trouble started Soul listened, and I finished with, "So what can you tellathered up her salad bowl and utensils, and carried them to the kitchen Water ran and I saze and he gave"How much can she tell us?" he asked
"I don’t know"
Minutes later Soul ca She bent and picked up her shoes, walking barefoot through the house At the entrance to the foyer she said, "Consider that it isn’t attacking you at all Then ask questions of me Thank you for your hospitality I’ cat, Soul disappeared up the stairs
"Well, that was no help at all," I said to Eli "I’ to vamp HQ and ask a few people questions Maybe they’ll bethan Soul was I’ll be back as soon as I can"
"I’ll catch some zees" As it had been a while since he’d slept, I nodded and weaponed up, leaving the house by the side door
• • •
I let ed my weapons in with security as per Protocol Aardvark When I satisfied security, a headset hanging around my neck but not activated, I found out where Gee DiMercy was, and took the stairs up one level, to one of the libraries I had been to the elegant roo a vamp head in a carton It wasn’telse, a joke I hoped would go over with the Mercy Blade, the Anzû I was hoping to charot me the info I needed
He looked up as I entered the library No reaction showed on his face as he closed the book he was reading and pushed it across the desk As if he’d been expectingfrom the corners of my eyes the deep piles of Oriental carpets, the leather sofas with silk velvet throws, the unlit fireplace, and the dark wood shelves filled with books By the scent, and as far as I could see, Gee was alone I reached the table and tossed the plastic bag across the uncluttered top where it landed and slid toward Gee He caught the bag in one hand and laughed, a quick croak better suited to a crow than athat odd, iridescent blue, he held up the bag and said, "I never ate birdseed I eatit? Anzû?" I accused
"I have been calledStorm God Do you not kneel inthe bag back and forth from hand to hand I sat across from him, as if I deserved to sit in his presence "Nope"