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I reached down and patted her on the head. "I'll arrange for some handouts to
be distributed at a later date. Now, everyone out. Shoo. I want to shower and
get dressed."
Carmella smiled and sat up. She was working extra hard on her projecting.
"Wash your back?"
"Security protocols would require that one of us be present at all times,"
Deirdre answered.
Carmella's smile grew. "That could be fun . . ."
"No, it wouldn't," Suki said.
* * *
Kurt, himself, came to chauffeur me through the tunnels to the demesne's lab
facilities. As he steered the tram through a bewildering maze of tunnels, I
asked what we knew tonight that we didn't know this morning.
"Not enough," he grumped, driving with his shoulders hunched. "There's nothing
on the security video of your appointment with the woman who put us all to
sleep."
"Does that, in itself, tell us anything?"
"No. It's not really so unusual. Many of us exert a peculiar effect upon
electromagnetic media."
"Do we know where she is now?"
He shook his head. "It is as if she came and went like the wind, itself."
"Everyone knows it's 'Wendy.'"
He looked at me blankly.
"And Wendy has stormy eyes," I tried, "that flash at the sound of lies . . ."
The look intensified.
"Never mind. How about the toy soldiers?"
"Also gone." He held up his hand. "And please do not quote meaningless poetry
to me; I have a headache."
"Maybe you shouldn't be driving, then. They say most accidents occur within
twenty-five miles of the crypt."
He grunted. "You sound awfully chipper for a man who was nearly assassinated
last night."
"What? Yuler? He was just the warm-up act. Carmella Le Fanu made a run at me
this evening."
"What?" The tram screeched to a halt. "She tried to kill you?"
"Worse. She was trying to sleep with me."
"Oh." He started to smile. "This is maybe a good thing. If you take Carmella
as one of your consorts "
"Yuler's less intimidating. Did you finish your examination of the boxes?"
He started the tram again. "Yes."
"What did you find?"
"Nothing."
"There was nothing inside?"
"No evidence of explosives or booby traps were found. The chests have not been
opened, yet."
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"Why not?"
"You are the Doman. We require your permission to open your personal
gifts even if we do suspect they are potentially dangerous."
"You could have awakened me."
His shoulders hunched a little higher. "Security spent hours examining the
chests. I was not about to have you awakened in the middle of the day to open
some presents. I need you sharp, tonight."
Deirdre, who was sitting in the back with Suki, cleared her throat and spoke
for the first time. "Um, a moment ago you said 'are' potentially dangerous."
"What?"
"You said the gifts are potentially dangerous. Don't you mean were
?"
"The absence of evidence denoting danger," Suki observed, "does not guarantee
that danger does not exist."
Deidre bristled a bit. "Well, big duh
!"
"Sorry. I wasn't sure that you understood the context "
"I understand a lot more than you think."
"What does that mean?"
"Yes," said Kurt, "what does that mean?"
"I think it means somebody is cranky and needs a nap," I said, rubbing my
temple where a migraine was starting to wake up.
"If anyone needs a nap, it's Miss Pussy Gabor. She's the one who was
apparently up all night."
Kurt glanced at me for a translation.
"Guard duty," I said.
"I'm not the one who's cranky," Suki replied.
"Speaking of cranky," I said, speaking a little louder than necessary, "I'm
sensing a diminishment of enthusiasm on your part, as well, Kurt. Are you
sorry I made the trip?"
"You cannot remain as Doman you will not even survive unless you deal
decisively with your enemies." His first words were hesitant but the rest
turned into a verbal stampede. "So far, you have reinforced your reputation
for being soft and indecisive. You cannot rule the clans unless your enemies
fear you and your allies believe you to be strong!"
I stared ahead, half-expecting another disparate body part to creep into the
headlights of the tram.
"So, what do you suggest? Round up some enemies and make an example of them?
Do you have a list, Kurt? Whom do you want me to kill?"
He scowled as we turned a corner and coasted to a stop beside a steel door. "A
great deal of difficulty could be avoided if you eliminated this Cairn."
"Yeah? Well, who is he? What does he look like? Where does he live? How do I
find him?"
His hunched shoulders drooped. "I don't know."
Great. If I wanted to keep my job as top monster in the fang factory, I had to
do battle with an invisible man.
And I wasn't all that crazy about my job to begin with.
Maybe just crazy . . .
* * *
The laboratory facilities in New York were far beyond the resources that the
Seattle demesne boasted. Perhaps I should have sent Theresa's head here, when
I had the chance. But I trusted Doctors
Mooncloud and Burton while I was less sure of the East Coast's cast of
characters.
The hand scuttled around the inside of a Plexiglas tank like a pink,
hyperactive lizard. Its single eye cast wildly about until it fixed on me.
Then it moved toward me as far as the clear walls would permit. It began
scratching at the barrier with a single-minded patience that was more
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