Quiet in Her Bones by Singh Nalini

Author:Singh, Nalini
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473229594
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2021-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

32

My eyes snapped open, my heart pounding as hard as the rain on tarmac.

Sweat pasted my shirt to my back.

Sitting up, I grabbed the bottle of water on my bedside table and chugged it down.

Fucking pills.

I almost dropped the water bottle as I went to put it back down, my hand was shaking so hard. Managing the act at last, I sat there and stared at the painting on the opposite wall. It was one of those abstract pieces with lots of angles and lines. My mother had given it to me as a birthday present.

“You can’t carry wealth in diamonds, so I’ll give it to you in art. This is worth ten thousand dollars.”

I hadn’t been impressed by the present, not when what I’d actually wanted was a top-­of-­the-­line computer system, but I’d put up the painting among the posters that had then adorned my walls. Later, I’d spent hours staring at it, trying to figure out why it was worth ten grand.

Grabbing my phone with the intention of calling Constable Neri, I saw the call I’d missed had been from my agent. Gigi was based in New York, a consummate Manhattanite, complete with the ­all-­black wardrobe and fast talk.

I checked what time it was in her home city. Far too late to call most people, but Gigi was a night owl.

“Aarav, how’re you doing?” Gigi asked in her throaty ­chain-­smoker’s ­voice—­except that she was a health freak and the voice was genetic. “The news just ­hit—­it’s all over not only the ­publishing-­related media, but general entertainment sites, too.”

“I figured.” Vivienne wouldn’t have held off on her exclusive. “How bad taste is it?” With Blood Sacrifice my marquee ­title—­my only ­title—­I could guess at some of the headlines blazing across the gossip sites.

“You don’t want to know, kiddo. Look, we need to talk about your next book.”

“Thanks for the sympathy, Gigi.”

A pause. “You want some?”

The tension snapped, a laugh breaking out of me. “No, it wouldn’t seem right coming from you.” Gigi was a shark; she dug in her heels and negotiated the hell out of contracts for her clients. But she wasn’t exactly a people person. We got along great.

“Where are you with the book?” she demanded. “Finch is calling me saying you’ve gone AWOL. Have you even checked your emails?”

“I had a car accident, Gigi. My fucking leg is in a moon boot.”

“Why the hell do you Kiwis call it a goddamn moon boot? Anyway, your brain still works, right? Your hands still work. And the remains weren’t found until a few days ago? What’ve you been doing since you got out of the hospital?”

Right. Gigi didn’t do sympathy. “I’ll email Finch the first few chapters.”

“When?” Gigi didn’t back down. “I know you got a shitty advance for that initial ­two-­book contract, but right now, you’re a golden pretty boy with talent who doesn’t mind ­publicity—­you couldn’t get any better. Just satisfy the terms of the contract by turning in another book that isn’t total bull crap and I’ll get you an ­eight-­figure deal for your next book.

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