Page 60 of Thief of Night
Malhar:Oh?
Red:I don’t like her knowing things about me.
Malhar:You may have forgotten her, but she was a part of your life. You made her part of your life.
Red:Vince’s life.
Malhar:That’s you, though.Youcalled yourself Vince.
Red:Why, though? It’s a joke.
Malhar:A joke?
Red:There’s a motorcycle called theVincent Black Shadow. Remy’s middle name was Vincent. Ha. Ha.
Malhar:You don’t think it’s funny?
Red:Of course I do. It’s my joke.
Malhar:I’m not sure what this has to do with Charlie.
Red:Nothing. She’s reckless.
Malhar:And that makes you angry?
Red:There has to be something wrong with her, if she loved something like me. Now she knows and she still wants—
Malhar:[silence]
Red:I don’t like it. I don’t like her.
Malhar:I see.
21Nothing Good
Charlie woke, her head pounding and her mouth tasting like sandpaper. Her memories felt kaleidoscopic: shattered and strange. The sour taste of vomit seared her mouth. The bed she was lying in was a dark wooden four-poster in a room with plaster walls. Late-morning sunlight filtered through dupioni silk curtains. Through the windows, she could see the lawn she’d run through.
This was Salt’s house. Her heart pounded. Her worst nightmare, for many years, had been waking up here again, vomit on her tongue, back in his clutches. Panic made her dizzy. She scrambled out of the bed, only to discover that she was in a man’s satin pajamas.
Salt’s dead,she told herself, but the knowledge didn’t slow her heartbeat.
Jerking open a door, she found a closet with empty hangers and the strong scent of mothballs. No clothes, but in the back of a drawer, she found a stoppered white bottle markedLorazepam Intensol 2mg/mL oral concentrate. Only half-full and dusty, she wondered if this had been what Salt used to drug her. She tucked the pills into a pajama pocket.
The second door she tried opened onto an en-suite bathroom. At the sink, she splashed cold water on her face. Her hair was already damp and her skin carried the scent of expensive violet-and-rosemary soap. Someone had washed her, and thoroughly—hair too.
Glancing at the shower, she had a sudden flash of memory. Red standing behind her, one arm around her waist and the other at her shoulder, pressing her against his chest. She was stripped bare, burning water stinging her skin. Him, still in his clothes, wet and plastered to his body.
From outside, a woman’s voice.She’s got to get warm. She could have frostbite.
Charlie swished water in her mouth and scrubbed her teeth with a finger. Then she looked around for that stupid silver dress, but it was gone.
More of the night was coming back to her, each detail more embarrassing than the last. All of it, accompanied by the claustrophobic panic of beingin Salt’s mansion. A drumbeat began in her mind, urging her torunrunrun. She couldn’t be in the house a moment longer. Looking outside, she saw that the snow had melted in patches. All her instincts were screaming at her to move, but she’d need boots and a coat to traverse the muddy lawn.
She crept into the hall. Faint voices came from below. One of them was Red. How could he have brought herhere,of all places?
For a moment, she let herself think of the map she’d gotten off Balthazar, the one that showed her where the mask Cabal kept the piece of Red’s shadow that might contain his missing memories. The part that would fix him, would turn him back into the person who wouldn’t be conspiring against her with the shadow of Rose, wouldn’t have subjected her to Remy and Adeline’s prat friends, and definitely wouldn’t have done this.
Anger steadied her as she padded barefoot toward the voices.
