She was a part-time student with full-time expenses. She was not a whore. She was an exotic dancer and struggling student. The blonde sighed loudly bu... didn’t make a move to leave."Three thousand. My final offer. I have to have this wrapped up by the end of the summer and then I have a paper to present." “Paper? What fucking paper? Look, this is…four thousand, ten days, and it’s a deal but I want guarantees and ground rules. The first of which is that I am not a whore. I’m an exotic dancer.” “I. They were shepherded quickly to the front by a suddenly deferential attendant, his job made easier as many people seemed reluctant to press them too closely."A reputation for sorcery can be useful in many ways," Ai Mei whispered from under her hood, and Shantar had to struggle to keep a bark of laughter locked behind his teeth. A blare of horns and crash of cymbals interrupted any reply he might have made, and he caught his first glimpse of the King!"The Royal Court of Justice is open!" There. Janet followed me to the door."So she called you?" she asked quietly. "The man who threatened violent acts upon her if he wasn't paid off?"Janet held my arm tightly."Mac," she said. "Be careful."I nodded and Janet surprised me by kissing me softly on the cheek."Call Marcus on the way," she insisted. "Please?"I nodded. I knew Marcus was unavailable until Sunday afternoon but I knew it would make Janet feel better.Like Janet, I worried about being set up. I had pushed the Federicis pretty hard. And not looking at him as he gets up, puts his robe back on, and goes back inside.Back and forth, back and forth she swims, easy, relaxed, dreamy strokes taking her buoyant body effortlessly from side to side.As, high up in the cloudless, azure sky, the blades of a helicopter beat faintly.Oh, no! she thinks, not again!But she knows differently, her limbs unable to respond as she struggles to fight off the numbing, dizzying descent into unconsciousness which has become, for the third night.