Am I supposed to say anything?" I don't remember," the man said quietly. "I should remember." OK, I won't speak. After I'm finished hitting you, the...n what?" Then you leave the room." There was something about the man'stone of voice that made Rachael think she was already supposed toknow this. She swallowed hard, hoping the saliva would take someof the bite from the acid in her stomach."All right, Samantha." She pulled back a fist. "Whatever youwant." The first blow caught the man on the. ” Erandur said. “I can see that the priesthood is going to have a lot of learning to do in the future, dealing with ex-vampires.”Serana laughed. “Yes, that’s what happens when our Martina gets involved. Although I think it’s more appropriate to say that Sybille and I are former vampires.”Erandur looked like he wanted to say something more, but didn’t. With Valerica seated and in deep discussion with Serana, I nodded to Rikke that we could proceed.We made it to Rorikstead without further stops.. There was, however, a private message sent to me from a man who spoke politely, professionally, and respectfully. He introduced himself as Michael and explained that he was a self employed something or other who operated an office in a shared floor. His job sounded like it was invented by someone to fill a need that no body knew existed simply because it was a need that no body had. He explained that he was looking for someone to be a personal assistant for him and that if I was interested I. Sarah and I both could see that, and we took a step back. Tad, bless him, went to Peg, hugged her, and said, “It’s okay, Mama. I promise Marty will come back to us.”Peg gave him a little laugh. “You promise?”Serious and undiscouraged, Tad just gave her a calm “Yes.”We had all calmed down now -- Peg included. It was a Thursday. Peg had to tend bar that night. She’d leave home just after six.Nothing more was said that afternoon about my excursion to New Mexico.After Peg left and Tad was in bed,.