Vampire LA by Phil Tucker

Author:Phil Tucker [Tucker, Phil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TransientMe LLC
Published: 2013-02-24T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Selah took a deep breath and stepped into the French living room. It was almost exactly as before—a score of men and women with impossible grace and liquid-black eyes lounged around its perimeter while Louis himself reclined on a chaise longue, ankles crossed, stockings visible up to his knees where his antique-styled pants began. He wore a brocade jacket of powder blue, a white wig elegant on his head, trading his own caramel hair for an ostentatious display of ivory curls.

“Selah!” His exclamation was one of delight, cutting through the murmurs. “Finally. Come, join me here.” He patted a narrow space by his side, a seat that would force them into a position of unwelcome intimacy. Selah crossed the living room, leaving Cloud to stand by himself once more at the door.

“Selah, cherie, it is good to see you. And your eyes? Ah, as dark and fraught with sin as my own. Which means you still wish to exchange your services for my knowledge? Good.”

Selah stood before him. She felt immune to his tone, to the light playing in his eyes. Louis was only a source of information, and nothing more. There was no point in dealing with him as one would a true person.

“Well, I see you are not in a mood to ‘chitchat’, as they say. A pity. One must pass the endless nights with conversation, lest the hours drive you mad. Conversation, or blood, to be honest—nothing dispels boredom as much as the hunt, the sweet tang of fresh human blood on the tongue, the manner that it slides down your throat to pool and coagulate in your gut, so that you feel as if you carry gold in your core, a molten puddle of it, from which you draw energy and life and joy and—” He stopped. Selah was staring past him, at the wall. “No matter. To business! You will not sit? No?”

Selah waited. Arms crossed, jaw set.

“As you will. Let us proceed. I shall tell you the means to cure yourself of your affliction, if you engage to accomplish the task I shall set before you tonight. A simple transaction, witnessed here by all. Have no fear of my reneging; my word is my bond.”

“I have no fear of that,” said Selah. “I have Sawiskera’s blood in me. His power. If you break your promise, or if your cure doesn’t work, I will find you.” She looked down at him. “And kill you. Don’t doubt it.”

“What etiquette! What courtly manners. Still, I understand your point, and have no doubt as to your ability to effect it. Even if you are but a pale shadow—apologies, a dusky shadow—of Sawiskera, we all understand what might you yet wield. And are so intent on giving up! What a waste. What a tragic waste, to see such power so quickly tossed aside, as a child might discard—”

“Louis. Enough. What do you want me to do?”

Louis shut his mouth and drew back, his pale face growing pinched with displeasure.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.