JК
The Lunatic Cafe :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 149 из 234There was a line of white feathers down the middle of hischest. Soft and downy as an Easter duck.
I shook my head and kept going for the door. I did not run. I did not walk faster than normal. It was the bravest thing I'd done all night.
27
I took a taxi home. Stephen stayed behind to strip or just to lick Jean-Claude's boots, I wasn't sure which and I wasn't sure I cared. I'd made sure Stephen wasn't in trouble. It was the best I could do. He was Jean-Claude's creature, and I'd had about enough of the Master of the City for one night.
Killing Gretchen was one thing, tormenting her was another. I kept flashing on the sound of her frantically beating hands. I'd like to believe that Jean-Claude would keep her asleep, but I knew better. He was a master vampire. They ruled, in part, through fear. Gretchen seemed like a real good threat. Displease me and I'll do that to you. Worked for me.
I was standing outside my apartment when I realized I didn't have a key to it. I'd given Richard my car keys, which had my house keys on the ring.
It felt silly standing out in the hallway about to knock on my own front door. The door opened without me touching it. Richard stood in the doorway. He smiled. "Hi," he said.
I found myself smiling back. "Hi, yourself."
He stepped back to one side, giving me room. He hadn't tried to kiss me in the door like Ozzie meeting Harriet after work. I was glad. It was too intimate a ritual. If we ever did this for real, he could molest me at the door, but not tonight.
He closed the door behind me, and I half expected him to take my coat. Wisely, he did not.
I took off my own coat and laid it across the couch, where all good coats go. The warm smell of cooking food filled the apartment. "You've been cooking," I said, not entirely pleased.
"I thought you might be hungry. Besides, all I had to do was wait. I cooked. It filled the time."
I could understand that. Though cooking would never have occurred to me unless forced.
The only lights were in the kitchen. It looked like a lighted cave from the darkened living room. If I wasn't mistaken, there were candles on the table.
"Are those candles?"
He laughed. It had an embarrassed edge to it. "Too hokey?"
"It's a two-seater breakfast table. You can't possibly serve a fancy dinner on it."
"I thought we'd use the divider as a buffet and just have plates on the table. There's room if we're careful where we put our elbows." He walked past me into the light. He started puttering with a saucepan, sloshing something around in it.
I shook my head and kept going for the door. I did not run. I did not walk faster than normal. It was the bravest thing I'd done all night.
27
I took a taxi home. Stephen stayed behind to strip or just to lick Jean-Claude's boots, I wasn't sure which and I wasn't sure I cared. I'd made sure Stephen wasn't in trouble. It was the best I could do. He was Jean-Claude's creature, and I'd had about enough of the Master of the City for one night.
Killing Gretchen was one thing, tormenting her was another. I kept flashing on the sound of her frantically beating hands. I'd like to believe that Jean-Claude would keep her asleep, but I knew better. He was a master vampire. They ruled, in part, through fear. Gretchen seemed like a real good threat. Displease me and I'll do that to you. Worked for me.
I was standing outside my apartment when I realized I didn't have a key to it. I'd given Richard my car keys, which had my house keys on the ring.
It felt silly standing out in the hallway about to knock on my own front door. The door opened without me touching it. Richard stood in the doorway. He smiled. "Hi," he said.
I found myself smiling back. "Hi, yourself."
He stepped back to one side, giving me room. He hadn't tried to kiss me in the door like Ozzie meeting Harriet after work. I was glad. It was too intimate a ritual. If we ever did this for real, he could molest me at the door, but not tonight.
He closed the door behind me, and I half expected him to take my coat. Wisely, he did not.
I took off my own coat and laid it across the couch, where all good coats go. The warm smell of cooking food filled the apartment. "You've been cooking," I said, not entirely pleased.
"I thought you might be hungry. Besides, all I had to do was wait. I cooked. It filled the time."
I could understand that. Though cooking would never have occurred to me unless forced.
The only lights were in the kitchen. It looked like a lighted cave from the darkened living room. If I wasn't mistaken, there were candles on the table.
"Are those candles?"
He laughed. It had an embarrassed edge to it. "Too hokey?"
"It's a two-seater breakfast table. You can't possibly serve a fancy dinner on it."
"I thought we'd use the divider as a buffet and just have plates on the table. There's room if we're careful where we put our elbows." He walked past me into the light. He started puttering with a saucepan, sloshing something around in it.