By Any Other Name by Kate King EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Kate King
- Language: English
- Genre: Gothic Romances
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
PRESENT
I’ve always thought of roses as funeral flowers.
It’s funny how an image can stick in your mind; how you can make an
association once, and never be able to banish it. Like, how the scent of
tequila can still make you sick, years after the first—and last—time you
drank it, or how a particular song will always make you think of your first
kiss.
To me, red roses aren’t romantic. They’re ornaments of the afterlife, with
petals like drops of blood on icy February snow. Apparently, whoever chose
the flowers for this year’s arcane auction doesn’t agree.
I scowl down at the macabre arrangement on the cocktail table before
reaching out to touch the nearest bloom. Bone-deep pain lances through my
middle finger and I hiss, pulling my hand back from the stem as blood wells
where the thorn pierced me. Gods. I should have known better. Pretty and
vicious. Just like this event. Just like this entire town.
I suck on my finger for a moment before inspecting it. “I guess I’ve just
paid my blood debt for the year.”
“Is that what you’re trying to do? I thought you were just stealing the
decorations.”
I look up to find my best friend, Catalina Minola, striding toward me across
the crowded castle ballroom, the heels of her Mary Jane pumps clicking
against the white marble floor.
Behind her, half the town stands around, chatting and drinking. A string
quartet plays in one corner and there’s an open bar in the other. Towering,
floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room look out over the
twinkling lights of the harbor, and on the other, over the tops of the Elsinore
University buildings. Blood-red flower arrangements, which only so
recently maimed me, cascade from every surface, contrasting with the
bright white marble.
“Something like that,” I say as Cat reaches me. “What are you doing here?”
“I bowed out early, I thought you might need some back-up.” She rolls her
eyes and leans back on her heels. “I would have been here sooner, but they
stopped me at the door. It’s an auction. What do they think I’m trying to
do?”
I hide a smile. I’m guessing her trouble was less about security and more
about her outfit, since she’s wearing a brown plaid vest over a ribbed
turtleneck with a calf-length pleated skirt. It’s a great outfit, but not for a
black-tie event. Not that I’m doing much better on the opposite end of the
spectrum.
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