AMELIE "Ihave a surprise for you," Oliver said. I-not without reason-expected him to perhaps present a velvet box cradling rare jewels, or even a new pet...but instead he held out a piece of expensive, heavy paper marked with the Morganville seal in the corner in thick, still -warm wax. "Read it." He col apsed into one of my brocaded armchairs across from my desk, crossed one leg over the other, and gave me a long, slow smile that made me shiver. Not in dread-oh, no. In something far more complex, and far more terrifying. We had been enemies a long time, uncomfortable al ies for the past few years, and now...now, I hesitated to put a name on what we were. In more-ancient days, the word would have been intimates, which meant everything or nothing, as the situation required. I lowered my gaze from that knowing expression and read the words inscribed in gorgeous, flowing script-the hand of a trained clerk, obviously, who'd been given proper education in a time when that truly mattered. WHEREAS the Elders' Council of Morganville, concerned for the safety and security of all within its borders of influence, has resolved to enact a law requiring the identification of all persons, whether mortal or immortal. Such identification shall further be carried upon the persons of residents at all times. Whereas such proof of