"Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake 06 - Killing Dance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

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Laurell K. Hamilton
The Killing Dance

1

The most beautiful corpse I'd ever seen was sitting behind my desk.
Jean-Claude's white shirt gleamed in the light from the desk lamp. A froth of
lace spilled down the front, peeking from inside his black velvet jacket. I
stood behind him, my back to the wall, arms crossed over my stomach, which put
my right hand comfortably close to the Browning Hi-Power in its shoulder
holster. I wasn't about to draw on Jean-Claude. It was the other vampire I was
worried about.
The desk lamp was the only light in the room. The vampire had requested the
overheads be turned out. His name was Sabin, and he stood against the far
wall, huddling in the dark. He was covered head to foot in a black, hooded
cape. He looked like something out of an old Vincent Price movie. I'd never
seen a real vampire dress like that.
The last member of our happy little group was Dominic Dumare. He sat in one
of the client chairs. He was tall, thin, but not weak. His hands were large
and strong, big enough to palm my face. He was dressed in a three-piece black
suit, like a chauffeur except for the diamond stickpin in his tie. A beard and
thin mustache lined the strong bones of his face.
When he'd entered my office, I'd felt him like a psychic wind tripping down
my spine. I'd only encountered two other people who had that taste to them.
One had been the most powerful voodoo priestess I'd ever met. The second had
been the second most powerful voodoo priest I'd ever met. The woman was dead.
The man worked for Animators, Inc., just like I did. But Dominic Dumare wasn't
here to apply for a job.
"Ms. Blake, please be seated," Dumare said. "Sabin finds it most offensive
to sit when a lady is standing."
I glanced behind him at Sabin. "I'll sit down if he sits down," I said.
Dumare looked at Jean-Claude. He gave a gentle, condescending smile. "Do
you have such poor control over your human servant?"
I didn't have to see Jean-Claude's smile to know it was there. "Oh, you are
on your own with ma petite. She is my human servant, so declared before the
council, but she answers to no one."
"You seem proud of that," Sabin said. His voice was British and very upper
crust.
"She is the Executioner and has more vampire kills than any other human.
She is a necromancer of such power that you have traveled halfway around the
world to consult her. She is my human servant without a mark to hold her to