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of bloody brains. Enyo stayed just out of reach, leading the stumbling creature on a zigzag course through the tables, while her sister continued the impromptu lobotomy.

Marlowe appeared at my elbow, hair wild and pantaloons scorched, but otherwise unharmed. I grabbed his shirt with both hands. "Tell me you have a plan!”

“There's a trapdoor under the stage, we just have to make sure none of the mages see us go through it.”

I didn't think that would be an issue. The zombies were a little short on fighting technique, but they made up for it in resilience. As Marlowe spoke, a mage thrust his arm completely through our waiter's abdomen, but despite the fact that his fist came out the other side, it didn't even slow the zombie down. Elvis, on the other hand, had either tired out or lost enough cognitive ability to forget what he'd been doing, because he had simply stopped three or four tables away. Enyo and Pemphredo abandoned him for the mages, leaving the newly arrived security people to deal with the King.

Casanova ran over at the head of the squad. "What are you two waiting for?" he screeched in a very unsexy voice. "Go!”

"I'll check out the exit and make sure there are no surprises," Marlowe said, slipping into the crowd. I started to follow when I was stopped in my tracks by a very unwelcome sight. A livid-looking Pritkin was standing by the smoldering remains of the bar, scanning the room. Marlowe's vermilion pantaloons must have caught his eye, because he zeroed in on him and, a second later, on me.

Uh-oh.

Casanova followed the direction of my gaze and said something a little stronger. He gave me a panicked look. "Mircea ordered me to help you, but there are limits! Locking the mage in an office while he recovered was one thing, but I cannot inflict actual harm. Not even if I'm staked for it!”

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?" I didn't get an answer because several mages had crashed through the undead lineup and were headed our way. He motioned for his security people, half of whom were vampires, to intercept them and started to follow, but I grabbed his arm. "When did you talk to Mircea?”

"He called a few hours ago, after you pulled your little stunt at MAGIC. He asked if I'd spoken to you and what we'd discussed. I told him." He saw my expression and his own grew even more irritable. "Did you really expect me to lie? I may serve two masters, Cassie, but I try to do it well.”

With that cryptic remark, he was off, leaving me to handle Pritkin on my own. I judged the distance to the stage and knew I wouldn't make it. The tables that weren't on fire had overturned, and a few had begun to liquefy under the barrage of spells, sending rivers of melted glass everywhere. There was nothing else for it; Billy's warning notwithstanding, I was going to have to shift. I called for my power, but it was sluggish. I wasn't sure whether that had to do with the portal scrambling my brains or the sight of Pritkin's face as he fought his way through the chaos. Either way, I was screwed if I couldn't concentrate better than this.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and whirled around to find Deino looking pleased. Her sisters were busy fighting war mages with unabashed glee, but she had stuck to my side like a burr. She still had a grip on the sobbing, half-crazed fan girl, whom she thrust at me. "Birt' Day!" she said happily, apparently pleased to have found a substitute tor her ruined gift. I shook my head violently. A human sacrifice wasn't on my wish list.

"You know why mummies don't take vacations?" a muffled voice asked from under Marlowe's napkin. "They're afraid they'll relax and unwind.”

The girl, who had collapsed in a shaking heap, had the presence of mind to start crawling off. Deino watched her gift scurry away with an exasperated expression, and that momentary loss of concentration was all Pritkin needed to jump her and send her crashing headlong into the clump of speakers. For an instant he had a straight shot at me but was too busy sending a fireball into the towering heads to take it. They exploded in a hail of flaming wood and flying mechanical parts that scattered across the stage, marring the polished surface with ugly scorch marks.