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rehearsed things, I reached the kitchen table, sitting down just as Osamu arrived with a full plate and a steaming mug of Brazilian dark roast for me.  In addition to the bacon and potatoes I’d smelled earlier, eggs and toast had joined the party.
I dug in, studying the pattern of sunlight slicing through the window blinds, striping table and floor.  On the far side of the table from me, a swirl of black mist formed from nothing, solidifying.  A moment later, I was matching stares with Leona.  The black leopard looked all snarly, like she wanted to bite off the head of a chicken.  I knew she didn’t want what was on my plate though.  As a proud spirit beast, she refrained from taking human form, or usually eating human food.  For nourishment, she only drank blood—though she loved the smell of coffee.
Osamu hurried to put a cup on the table near her so she could indulge her sensitive nose.
“That’s better,” she said, “Clears out the stench of fey.”
I remembered Haziar: massive, brooding, surly, and possessive of Kimberley, but he hadn’t reeked.  Then I remembered the stench of the fey I’d killed in Dallas.  My hands stilled, suspending coffee and a forkful of eggs over my plate.  My brain leaped into gear.  Autumn Court fey!  Had they tracked me across the country already?    I had the feeling time was running out faster than I’d thought.  I needed to hurry things along.  I needed to get Vivian aboard for the mission.  I’d once accidentally saved her from a homicidal warlock.  She owed me.
I left my plate, heading across the kitchen for the garage door.  Osamu pulled the door open for me.  I went through.  He followed.  I paused and held up a hand.  “Stay here.  Protect our guests while I’m gone.  Something dangerous may be lurking about, biding its time.  Don’t drop your guard.”
He bowed.  “Yes, Caine-sama, you may depend on me.”
I got inside my ‘96 black Mustang, and put my finger on the scanner to start the engine.  I pulled out into the street, surveying the area.  Haziar stood out front like an oversized lawn ornament, scenting the wind, watching for an enemy horde to descend upon us.  I knew the subtlety of evil.  When the attack came, it would be swift and crushing, springing from nowhere.
That’s how I’d do it.
I stopped halfway down the drive and called to him.  “Hey, anybody asks what you’re doing standing around in that get-up, just say ‘cosplay.’”  It was better they thought him a die-hard anime fan than a freaking elf.
Mouthing the new word, a questioning look on his face, he watched me drive off. 
I passed Izumi’s house.  Her lights were on.  A lace curtain moved.  An ice-pale face stared out.  Her breath frosted the window, blurring her nakedness.  Damn tease .  She was Winter Court fey, but used a glamour that gave her an Asian appearance.  She’d always been intrigued by the similarity of winter fey to the yuki - onna , the snow women of Japanese legends.  This was her way of having a foot in two worlds.
I smiled as I drove on, knowing who I’d be doing tonight .
Driving in from Malibu with the top down, I cranked the radio, sharing my wonderful taste in Goth metal porn-rock with everyone in range.  Forty-five minutes later, I’d penetrated L.A., reaching the parking lot of the Velvet Door.  Claude the doorman saw me coming, a big man with all the beauty of a troll.  He leaped to open the door for me.  He’d once made the mistake of trying to keep me out, fishing for a bribe.  There were several dents in the alley dumpster the same size as his head.  You get good service when you show someone you can kill them any time you want.
Inside the bar, black tables and chairs added contrast to the red carpeting that washed up against matching walls, where assorted clan symbols hung, showing this was neutral territory, a no-kill zone.  Twenty-five hundred years old and holding, Gloria owned the bar and made sure