“Caviar is pretentious and doesn’t taste that good,” I admitted.
“Simple girl, simple tastes.” She strode to the desk and leaned against it. “You need to branch out and try new things even if it’s not what you’re accustomed to. I didn’t always have money.”
“You mentioned that.”
“From rags to riches,” she said, her thoughts seeming to drift off as she looked toward the photographs on the wall. “Would you like to go into the drawing room? There’s a smaller crowd there. Less intimidating.”
I folded my arms. “I’m not easily intimidated.”
“Yet here you are. What can I do to help you acclimate to high society? It’s something we all must do, even if it’s not to our liking. I have these parties because I love them, but more importantly, it’s about making the right connections.”
I leaned against the wall. “Viktor’s always saying the same thing.”
She chuckled, her black eyes glimmering. “Did he ever explain what it means? Making connections isn’t just taking names and numbers. It’s finding one individual that you share a common bond with. Think of it as links in a chain, and the longer your chain is, the farther you can go and the more favors you can ask.”
I gestured to the photographs. “Are all those people links in your chain?”
“You have an inquisitive mind. Each of them played an important role in my life. Aside from that, I like remembering how life used to be. I suppose someday I’ll be nostalgic about the decades I’m living now, but you never appreciate the time you’re in until it’s gone.” She laughed softly as if the memories compelled her. “We always miss the past and hope for a better future. But we never give much thought to the way things are, do we?”
“Who are they?” I asked, mostly curious about Houdini but reluctant to single him out. I didn’t want Lenore growing suspicious.
“I suppose you recognized Christian. Wasn’t he dashing back then?” Leaning back on her hands, she tilted her head to the side. “The rest are old acquaintances. A few I’ve lost contact with, and one or two are no longer with us. Breed take for granted that immortality isn’t guaranteed. Let me give you some advice: irreverence will never get you far in our world. In fact, it could easily put you in a coffin.” She lifted an ink bottle and set it next to a quill. “You’re young, and the new ones always want to stand up to their elders and make big waves. But the elders are intimately familiar with the impulsive nature of youth. They were once young, but they’ve learned the consequences. Be careful who you step on to get where you’re going. Our memories are as long as our patience.” She began walking and reached for my hand. “Come. If you can’t have fun, at least make one new friend. Let’s try that cider. I’ve been standing in that doorway all evening, and I’m eager to enjoy myself.”
I reluctantly took her hand as she walked two steps ahead and escorted me back to the party. Ihadbeen isolating myself. Lenore made a valid point about getting out of my comfort zone and doing what was best for my success. I wasn’t naive enough to believe I’d work for Keystone forever. Viktor might retire the business, or I might decide one day that it wasn’t enough. Then what? Socializing and schmoozing with these people might help Keystone, but not as much as it could help me in the long run. Christian didn’t like these parties either, but he knew the game and played it well. I thought about that picture of him on the wall. There was a part of him I’d never seen—one that only Lenore knew. And that person he once was still existed, maybe just enough that he could navigate through these social situations better than most. I needed to be more than just a killer, even if that meant pretending I was someone delightful to be around.
She gave me a cursory glance while gliding down the hall. “You should wear your hair up.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what Christian likes. In fact, if you want to know a secret, he loves braided hair.”
I let go of her hand.
“Didn’t he tell you?” She stopped and frowned. “I’ve overstepped my boundaries with you, haven’t I? But to be fair, I assumed you already knew his preferences. No hard feelings?” Lenore took my arm and leaned in close as she led me to the open room. “You remind me of myself in my younger years. You should have seen me. Just a barefooted girl, taking on a pack of wolves.”
“Wolves? Does Viktor know?”
She squeezed my arm. “I’m sure that Viktor has done his fair share of indiscriminate killing. We do what we must to survive.”
As we cut through the room, guests smiled at Lenore and complimented her splendid party. She retrieved her white hand muff from a table and tucked her hands in it.
“Christian never did find me a suitable guard,” she said reproachfully. “I must speak to him about that. I’ve interviewed five men, and none of them were qualified. I thought a man with his connections would know the best of the best, so I can’t figure out why he’s sending me incompetent fools.” Lenore slowed down and cocked her head. I’d seen that same look on Christian when he was ciphering through different sounds in a crowded club. “I should have known,” she muttered.
The crowd parted as we cut through another room, and I barely had time to admire the gold chandeliers before we joined a humble gathering in a small study.
My jaw slackened when I spotted Christian. With his back to me, he jerked his arm in a motion that could only be compared to masturbating.
“Watch this,” Lenore said, planting her feet in the doorway. “It’s his favorite party trick.”
After two quick scraping sounds, I heard a pop. The neck of a wine bottle flew away from him and landed on a circular carpet. The men applauded as Christian half turned, a severed bottle in his hand.
“And that’s how you saber champagne, fellas.” Christian held out the bottle. “Drink up.”
I quietly cleared my throat, enough to catch his attention. Christian gave me a wolfish smile over his shoulder as he topped off everyone’s glass. Then he set the empty bottle down and approached with a large knife in his hand.
With a glint in his eye, he pointed the blade at Lenore. Christian’s smile was as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa’s as he flipped the blade around and offered her the handle.
“You know the rule about weapons,” she said, accepting the knife.
