"Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake 01 - Guilty Pleasures" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Laurell K. Hamilton
Guilty Pleasures

Chapter 1

Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died. His being dead didn’t change
that. He sat across from me, wearing a loud plaid sport jacket. The polyester
pants were primary Crayola green. His short, black hair was slicked back from
a thin, triangular face. He had always reminded me of a bit player in a
gangster movie. The kind that sells information, runs errands, and is
expendable.
Of course now that Willie was a vampire, the expendable part didn’t count
anymore. But he was still selling information and running errands. No, death
hadn’t changed him much. But just in case, I avoided looking directly into his
eyes. It was standard policy for dealing with vampires. He was a slime bucket,
but now he was an undead slime bucket. It was a new category for me.
We sat in the quiet air-conditioned hush of my office. The powder blue
walls, which Bert, my boss, thought would be soothing, made the room feel
cold.
“Mind if I smoke?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, “I do.”
“Damn, you aren’t gonna make this easy, are you?”
I looked directly at him for a moment. His eyes were still brown. He caught
me looking, and I looked down at my desk.
Willie laughed, a wheezing snicker of a sound. The laugh hadn’t changed.
“Geez, I love it. You’re afraid of me.”
“Not afraid, just cautious.”
“You don’t have to admit it. I can smell the fear on you, almost like
somethin’ touching my face, my brain. You’re afraid of me, ‘cause I’m a
vampire.”
I shrugged; what could I say? How do you lie to someone who can smell your
fear? “Why are you here, Willie?”
“Geez, I wish I had a smoke.” The skin began to jump at the corner of his
mouth.
“I didn’t think vampires had nervous twitches.”
His hand went up, almost touched it. He smiled, flashing fangs. “Some
things don’t change.”
I wanted to ask him, what does change? How does it feel to be dead? I knew
other vampires, but Willie was the first I had known before and after death.
It was a peculiar feeling. “What do you want?”