Chapter 163

INT. - JULIAN BLACK'S MANSION - NIGHT

Simone smiled at the slip of paper Clarence handed her, holding it over a candle flame a moment later. It curled into a pile of ash in Julian's favorite crystal ashtray as she watched, the light warming her black eyes with pinpoint flares.

"Perfect," she said, turning to slide her polished nails over the surface of her helpless guest's arm, circling the woman where she stood-held frozen by drugs and power-slowly, patiently, tongue sliding over her ruby lips. "The experiment begun so many years ago with darling Jordan appears to have been successful. A merging of human and dervish DNA, with a touch of Nightshade for good measure, though it took far too long to mature into what I needed. Still, it appears I've found the right combination at last."

The woman groaned under her touch.