The Empress of Tempera by Alex Dolan

Author:Alex Dolan [Dolan, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781682302965
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2016-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Abel Kasson marched into the Fern Gallery. “I enjoyed the bit at the museum. I especially liked how Derek Rosewood chose not to mock his benefactor this time.” He cast his eyes down at her legs. “You look healthy, like you’ve been getting some exercise.”

“I’ve been rock climbing,” Paire said.

Kasson patted his stomach fat. “You’d never know it, but I was a handsome man when I was younger. An Olympian body. I may have packed on some insulation, but I’m still strong all over.” He winked at Paire, and she broke eye contact. Unable to control herself, she shivered. “See? That’s what I mean. I can’t spark any magic in you. But the day you walked into the gallery, I saw how you changed when you saw Her. You were bewitched by that painting. You still are. I can see it in you.”

“You’re the one who wants to buy it.” Normally, this would have been Mayer’s sort of response, but his impatience with Kasson had rubbed off on her. Her tone had changed since she’d last spoken to Kasson and was rougher, more defiant.

Paire suspected Kasson had chosen this time because he knew Mayer wouldn’t be there.

“Of course I want to buy it. The empress bewitches me, same as you.” He stole a lingering glance at the portrait behind her. “This is why I want to talk to you. Because you understand as I do the—well, unnatural allure of this work. And because you have Mayer’s ear.”

“So you’re hoping I’ll pass a note to Mayer for you?”

“He will listen to you. She will too. The fact that she was willing to talk to you and not Mayer is telling. She’s comfortable with you, or at least, more comfortable with you than the rest of us. She might listen to reason.”

In truth, Paire hadn’t spoken directly to Melinda Qi since that awkward kiss.

She thought, If you really wanted Mayer’s ear, you’d talk to Lucia. She wondered if Kasson knew that Mayer and Lucia were a couple, but she would never hint at it aloud. “I think you’d be better off making your own arguments.”

“There’s something in it for you,” he said.

“A bribe?”

“In your profession, they would probably call it a commission. But I’m not talking about money.” He leered at her. “I’m saying that it’s in your interest to get rid of that painting.”

“How’s that?”

“You see what happens to people around it. Mayer’s been able to shut himself off from it, but you haven’t. You’re never going to own it—you must realize that—and if you don’t own it, all you’re left with is a constant temptation eating away at you. It will slowly poison you, like living next to a power plant.”

“Do I seem like I need help?” She sounded as tough as she could.

Kasson shook his head in mocking amusement. “You’re going to wake up with six toes and a prehensile tail, and you won’t even understand how they got there.”

“If you know it’s so dangerous, why do you want it?”

“I have two things in my favor.

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