Cameo and the Vampire Read Online Free PDF

I'll need another bottle of wine."
    "You need a bottle of wine to get through it?"
    She smiled as she exited the room, "Just to soothe my parched throat. I'll be right back."
    As she wound her way down the narrow hallway, she crossed the path of the redhead, who was standing in her doorway and retreated into shadow the moment that she saw Cameo pass by. Thinking nothing of it, Cameo bounded down the steps and up to the bar, which was bustling with activity.
    "Bottle of wine," she muttered to the barkeep, who was quick to get to her. As she waited, she glanced down the length of the bar at the people gathered there, an eclectic group of gentlemen and sailors ... and then the one nearest her, clad in black: Jules.
    He lifted his face to acknowledge her standing there. He seemed tired, and unimpressed, and world-weary.
    "Lady," the barkeep set the bottle down in front of her.
    "Hmm?" was all she said, then she saw the wine and dropped some coin on the notched surface and walked away, mounting the stairs to the room she shared with Opal.
    Jules watched her go.
    "That's Cameo," someone behind him said. "She's wanted for murder."
    "Part of the Association."
    He rested his head on his fist, covering the scar burned into his cheek.
     
    * * * * *
    "Jules is downstairs," she announced as she reentered the room.
    "What?" Opal was groggy.
    Cameo worked at the cork for a moment before it popped out of the bottle. "He's here, at Hattie's, sitting at the bar."
    The dandy didn't respond, or move; for a moment she thought he'd dozed off again, so she sat back down at the edge of the bed and took a sip directly from the bottle.
    "Maybe he's just here to keep an eye on you."
    "Maybe." She knelt down to rummage through the papers in a pile on the floor until she found Bellamy's poems.
    "You think he's here to kill me?" he asked quietly.
    "He's probably here to keep an eye on me and to kill you if possible."
    "Probably."
    "You don't seem to distressed about it, regardless."
    "No."
    She set the paperwork on the bed and moved to light the candles in the room. As the flame came to life, she got a better look at his expression, which was extremely calm, perhaps melancholy. That would explain the longing to hear Bel's voice again. "All of this sitting in the dark is enough to put anyone in a sour mood," she uttered. "I used to do it all the time in Edel's" her voice broke a little, "apartment."
    His eye rediscovered the curve of her lips in the flickering light. She really was once so striking, but now her face was so marred with the scars Edel had left her with, and her eyes were dead eyes. It seemed to him that she was detached from life.
    "Well," she lifted the book. "Here's one:
    'Round and 'round
    the maypole
    delusions of my past
    shades
    and mirrored memories
    silhouettes and shadows
    cast
    'Round and 'round
    the maypole
    the journey never ends
    twist and turn
    a fable
    another face 'round another bend. "
     
     
    Opal laughed out loud. "It's so bad."
    She held a hand to her mouth. "Ah, good old Bel. No wonder he never wanted to share any of it with me."
    "Consider yourself blessed. I was subjected to that every night when, uh, we first met."
    "Hmm ..." she said, turning the page.
    "Yes, he wanted critiques. It was late, and I wanted to go to sleep. What he really wanted was me to tell him how fantastic every word was," he chuckled. "Ah ... those were good times."
    "Do you want something to drink?"
    Opal glanced down at the large splints that ran from his forearms up to the tips of his fingers and sort of caged his hands in a box, to keep them safe and unmoving. "Yes, please."
    She poured it into a ceramic cup that one of the girl's had left in the room. She wanted him to feel normal. Opal would have his own cup and she would drink from the bottle, as if he were able to hold the vessel himself. And then, she tipped the cup up to his lips for him to drink.
    He smiled at her. "Our whole lives are ahead of us now. Where are we going to go?"
    She