Page 55 of The Kiss Of Death
I chuckled, earning a disapproving glare from the librarian as she shuffled across the row. “I plan to study for hours and keep my mind occupied with…” I opened the first music book to a random page. “Composers from the twentieth century, starting with the letter D for Claude Debussy, and I’ve put together a playlist for your role inThe Misanthrope.”
Yasmine’s face lit up. “Oh, I can’t believe you thought of me. That’s something a book boyfriend would do.”
I handed her one of my AirPods. “Of course, you’re my best friend.” She didn’t react. Maybe it was too much?Oh god, what did I do?“Anyway, this playlist goes from dark ambient to classical.”
She inserted the AirPod. “Well, you’re my best friend, too, Dalia.”
I smiled. I’d never had a best friend before, aside from Grandma.
Shifting my focus to my studies, I delved into the world of classical composers, working my way through the alphabet until I reached the letter S for Alexander Scriabin. And then someone made me stop.
A chair slid across the floor, the scrape announcing an uninvited presence. I looked up, and there he was, Levi, appearing everywhere like my shadow. As if this wasn’t enough, the music switched to the albumStalkerby Robert Rich & B. Lustmord with a frightening low-frequency note.
His sudden appearance shifted the atmosphere, injecting a black energy. He settled into the chair facing me. It felt as though everyone else had vanished, the library’s labyrinthine layout leaving only the three of us alone.
“Where is everyone?” I squinted my eyes at him, stopping the music and nudging Yasmine, who had fallen asleep on her notes.
“Dismissed. I like my privacy,” Levi asserted, his voice cutting through the still air. “Plus, the old lady has a thing for me.”
I’d forgotten that Levi could be charming if he really intended to—which was never.
“I’m gonna go,” Yasmine said, gathering her belongings incredibly fast for someone dead asleep twenty seconds ago.
“No, don’t—”
“That would be great,” Levi interrupted before slamming the music score on the desk. “Time to work, and in case you’re wondering, I have all night long.”
“This is insane! Lucie had synesthesia, so the colors must mean something to her! But how to be sure? Is that all she left you?” I said to Levi the moment he went back to his seat, carrying a to-go cup.
For the past six hours, we had been working on it—or rather, I worked on it, while Levi, with his so-called genius brain, was less than helpful. His gaze was either dissecting me like I was Frankenstein’s creature, or he was making snarky comments about the meaninglessness of life while sauntering through the many shelves.
Levi jerked his head back, his feet propped casually on the table. “As I said hundreds of times, she only left me two music scores. That’s the first one.”
He slid the cup in my direction, and I analyzed the drink doubtfully.He brought it for me?Why didn’t he bring something for himself too? His gesture could have been misinterpreted as sweet. But Levi and sweet didn’t fit together, so it was probably only a decoy to keep me awake.
“Thank you. But the colors, it has to—”
“Well, you’re the one who’s supposed to help me.” He tossed his pen in the air before catching it. “And you’re not doing such a great job at it.”
“I’ll succeed!” Frustration tinged my voice, my fingers curving as if I wanted to squash something—preferably his face. “You’re distracting me and not helping.”
“Is it the first time you’re spending a full night with a man, Dalia?” he teased. “Did your incompetence allow me to take another of your firsts tonight?”
I readjusted my wild hair that probably took the form of a crazy scientist conducting experiments. “Shut up.”
He let out a thin, satisfied laugh. Plus, it wasn’t the whole night; it was only four o’clock. I finally tasted whatever was in this cup.Matcha with oat milk and honey. It was exactly the way I loved it. When his hard gaze settled on me with a satisfied sneer dangling on his lips, I cleared my throat.
“I made some progress.” I defended myself amid the chaos of papers strewn across the table. “I divided the measures based on the indications in her sketch, considering the tempo and her notes. But I still can’t place some measures; it could fit at least two parts out of four. And look at those notes inside this measure; it’s so long and messy it looks like a Brian Ferneyhough’s music score and—” I blinked, my mouth hanging open. I lifted a finger and started rearranging the scattered pieces.
“And what?” Levi complained.
“I’m so stupid!” I screamed in the middle of the deserted library. “It was right under my nose all this time! I wasted so much time!”
“My company is never a waste of time.”
Ignoring him, I retrieved Mr. Delgado’s book and returned to Scriabin’s biography, pointing at the page to show Levi.
“He invented theclavier à lumières. He had synesthesia too, and look, each color matches a note!”
