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.Barrons laughed, teeth flashing white in his dark face."Think of it as an insurance policy.I'll return itwhen we're through, Johnstone."The vampire's lips drew back, revealing long, sharp, pointed fangs.There was still blood on them.Anexpression of utter, mindless rage flashed over his icy face."The name's Mallucé, asshole," he hissed.Score one for Barrons, I thought.J.J.Jr.still hated his name.Losing control of an immense fortune didn'tseem to bother him nearly as much as merely being addressed by the name with which he'd beenchristened.Barrons flicked a contemptuous gaze over the vampire, from frothy, bloody jabot to pointy-toed,silk-trimmed leather slippers."Mallucé asshole," he repeated."And here I thought your last name was'fashion nightmare.' "Mallucé's inhuman yellow eyes narrowed."Do you have a death wish, human?" He'd recovered quickly,his face was blank again, his voice once more controlled, so light and melodic it was nearly a verbalcaress.Barrons laughed again."Might.Doubt you'll be helping me with it, though.What do you know about theSinsar Dubh , Jr.?"Mallucé flinched, almost imperceptibly, but it was there.If I hadn't been watching him so closely, Iwouldn't have caught it.Twice now he'd betrayed an emotion, a thing I was willing to bet he rarely did.With a glance at his guards, then to the door, he said, "Out.Except you." He pointed at Barrons.Barrons wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I instantly shivered, just as I had last night when he'dtouched me.The man packed a seriously weird physical punch."She stays with me," Barrons said.Mallucé gave me a deprecating once-over.Slowly, very slowly, his lips curved.The smile didn't workwith those chilling, dead, animal-eyes of his."Someone certainly took that passe Rolling Stones song toheart, didn't they?" he murmured.Everyone's a fashion critic.I knew which song he meant: "She's a Rainbow." Whenever I listened to it onmy iPod, I would close my eyes and spin around, pretending I was in a sun-dappled clearing, with myGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlarms spread wide and my head thrown back, while colors of every hue sprayed from my fingertips likebrilliant little airbrush guns, painting trees, birds, bees, and flowers, even the sun in the sky, gloriousshades.Iloved that song.When I didn't answer him Barrons and I might have reached an agreementabout how he would and wouldn't refer to me, but I was still under orders to keep my mouthshut Mallucé turned to his bodyguards, who hadn't moved an inch, and hissed, "I saidout."The two Unseelie looked at each other,then one spoke in a gravelly voice, "But O Great UndeadOne ""You've got to be kidding me, Jr.," Barrons muttered, shaking his head."Couldn't you come up withsomething a little more original?""Now."When Mallucé bared his fangs at them, the Rhino-boy bodyguards left.But they didn't look at allhappy about it.THIRTEEN"Well, that was a pure waste of time," Barrons growled as we picked our way back through the antiquefurnishings and all-too-modern morals of Mallucé's house.I didn't say anything.The Unseelie Rhino-boys were right behind us, making sure we left."The Master"was not at all happy with us.Once he'd dismissed his guards, Mallucé had simply pretended not to know what Barrons was talkingabout, acting as if he'd never heard of theSinsar Dubh before, even though a blind man could see thatnot only had he, but he knew something about it that disturbed him deeply.He and Barrons had gotteninto a pissing match, trading barbs and insults, and within moments, they'd completely forgotten aboutme.Ten minutes or so into their little testosterone war, one of Mallucé's guards one of the humanones had been stupid enough to interrupt and I'd seen something that had convinced me J.J.Jr.wasthe genuine article, or at leastsomething supernatural.The vampire had picked up the nearly seven-footbruiser with one pale hand around his throat, raised him in the air, and flung him backward across thechamber so hard he'd slammed into a wall, slumped to the floor, and lay there, his head lolling at animpossible angle on his chest, blood leaking from his nose and ears.Then he stood there, his yellow eyesblazing unnaturally, and for a moment, I'd been afraid he was going to fall slathering on the bloody bundleand feast.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlTime to go, I'd thought, on the verge of hysteria.But Barrons had said something nasty and he andMallucé had gotten right back into it, so I'd stood there hugging myself against the awfulest chill, tapping afoot nervously, and trying not to throw up.The Rhino-boys didn't leave us at the door but escorted us all the way to the Porsche, and waited whilewe got inside.They were still standing there with their valet-buddy as we sped away.I watched them inmy side-view mirror until they disappeared from sight,then heaved a huge sigh of relief.That had beensingularly the most nerve-wracking experience of my life, surpassing even my encounter with the hideousMany-Mouthed-Thing."Tell me we never have to go back there again," I said to Barrons, blottingclammy palms on my skirt."But we do, Ms.Lane.We didn't get the chance to cover the grounds.We'll have to return in a day ortwo for a thorough look around.""There's nothing on the grounds," I told him.He glanced at me."You can't know that.Mallucé's estate covers hundreds of acres."I sighed.I had no doubt, if Barrons had his way, he'd run me over every dratted inch of it, back andforth, his own indefatigable psychic lint brush."There's nothing on the grounds, Barrons," I repeated."Again, Ms.Lane, you can't know that.You didn't start sensing the photocopies of theSinsar Dubh untilI'd removed them from the vault three floors beneath the garage and brought them into the bookstore."I blinked
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