Page 45 (1/2)

Upstairs, I changed quickly and relaxed into ray and oppressive outside, the sun danced in prettily through the , the ic snow upon my arms, where the tiny hairs stood up in ripples A narrow crystal flute appeared in

"This is not the usual drink," Ia sip and then a deeper one

"Blood and chane, my dear They call it the Tsarina’s kiss It’s too early for absinthe" He s the sweet fizz tickling my nose In ue bit of foa how satisfying and refreshing carbonated drinks could be As a little girl, I had often awoken in the ht I would die, and nothing felt as ht froe Before I could ed my flute for another, which I sipped ht up toin the sunbealittered in hter, sweeter,sister of the dark red wine laced with blood and absinthe he usually gave s With every sip, I told myself it was only a prelude to the bliss yet to co focus for the fuzzy, drea until Lenoir looked around the canvas at me, his eyes the opaque dark blue of blackberries and threatening to seep in and fill me completely

"Close your ht pink gloss I would have worn in ," I said "For all that I’m merely an object in your still life, I still have free will And I’ll sigh if I goddamn want to"

"You’re harder to paint than a horse At least they express their annoyance through twitching tails and ears"

The cha to me, for the answer fell from my lips like ripe fruit fro"

One eyebrow shot up, and I knew et Finally, the stark, austere n of passion outside of his paint "I have no ti, mademoiselle And my interests lie outside the acceptable" His words were clipped as he disappeared behind the canvas, his twitching brush belying the break in his usual coolness

I took another sip, rolling the cha else there, so and syrupy Not absinthe, not even a hint of ood and anise, and I didn’t know if that was disappointing or co But whatever the unknown addition was, it ht as well have been absinthe, for still it es of my vision But what had he said about his interests?

"Do you know, my dear, that I have traveled?"

My ers, which seerown another joint "I would assue and tastes would wish to experience the world"

His night-blue eyes peeked around the canvas like a child cheating at hide-and-seek "I’ve been to every corner of the globe Which has no corners, as I suspect you are aware I’ve saine his spade beard twitching as he chose between the oa, every grand hotel"

"And?"

I was surprised to hear footsteps and looked up to find Lenoir staring down at o of caverns cleaved in rock where things are buried forever, hidden until they crumble away to shadowy loam He looked cold and re older had ossified his heart and caused his veins to shrivel into sharp things, claws that forever grasped He leaned over, and I foundhim not to snatch out my heart in his twisted talons

"And I have found that everything in this world has a price" He leaned closer, close enough that I could smell the blood on his breath "Except, perhaps, yourself And do you knohat that tells ht, and I tried to ser checkbook, h I’d considered every save now chilled me to the bone "It tells ht lock"

I took a shuddering breath and sat up,into rage and defiance "There’s no cage," I said distinctly, "that can hold ainst the bars of the next one, too Right until it fucking breaks"

I was so scared that my knees trembled under my skirt, but his eyes were pinned onabout the way his nostrils flared, like a dog scenting a mailman, told me that he knew And he liked it

Lenoir raised his chin, spun, and returned to his palette and canvas slowly, his boots silent on the thick carpet, as if he walked on the es, Madeht"--he winked atbehind his canvas--"the creature within need never know it’s been trapped"