Iron Cast Read Online Free PDF Page B

was bright under the stage lights, and there was no trace of their argument in his features. Maybe tomorrow they would have to revisit it, but tonight the Cast Iron was effervescent with laughter and gleaming dresses and clinking glasses. Tomorrow was so far away.
    Ada smiled and took Charlie’s hand, pulling him onto the dance floor.
    After a couple of hours of dancing, Corinne abandoned the floor in search of some quiet. She made her way through the gauntlet of admiration and introductions and pleas for another set. She went through the storage room, waved at Gordon, then took the back door into the alley. If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t entirely surprised to find Gabriel there, leaning against the wall. She had noticed him leaving before the performance had ended. Corinne saw the red glint of cigarette embers and heard him exhale.
    â€œYou smoke?” he asked. His voice sounded husky and strange.
    In the darkness, Corinne couldn’t quite make out his features— just the lines of his profile, gray against the shadows. She shook her head but leaned against the wall beside him. Even though she wore heels, he was much taller than her, and she had to crane her neck to see his face.
    â€œYou didn’t like the set?” she asked. The flush from her dancing was starting to wear off, and the cold was creeping along her arms.
    He took another pull from the cigarette, held it for a second, then exhaled through his nose.
    â€œIt was incredible,” he said.
    â€œYou left during Ada’s solo.”
    â€œI’ve never— The way she was making me feel, it wasn’t—” He hung his head.
    â€œI understand,” Corinne said.
    â€œI don’t think you do.” There was a thread of anger in his voice that caught Corinne off guard. “You go into people’s heads, and you root around in there and tug on strings for entertainment or profit. How can you realize what it’s like for the rest of us?”
    â€œExcuse me?” Corinne straightened and turned to confront him. “You knew what we did here when you signed on, and now you want to take me to task about it?”
    Despite the chill on her arms, her cheeks flushed with heat as she glared at him. To her surprise, he didn’t rise to her challenge. He didn’t even move. In the shadows, his pale features were like cut glass: all sharp, unforgiving edges.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to fight.”
    Corinne considered him for a few seconds. She didn’t know anything about him. He was just another hired gun who would soon tire of the low pay and bizarre company and move on. It made more sense to go back inside, to rejoin the party. Instead she leaned back against the wall.
    â€œAda’s music affects some people more than others,” she said in what she hoped was a conciliatory tone. “When she plays loss and longing, she can send people into fits of weeping.”
    â€œIt wasn’t the loss,” he said. “It was the happiness.”
    Corinne tilted her head, trying to read his expression in the gloom.
    He still didn’t meet her gaze. He exhaled a puff of smoke like a sigh. “It reminded me of things I . . . hadn’t thought about in a long time.”
    They were both quiet for a few minutes after that. Corinne could see puffs of her own breath in the air, mingling with the cigarette smoke. Finally Gabriel dropped the butt and ground it out with his heel.
    â€œI have to make my rounds,” he said. “They’re probably missing you at the party.”
    â€œProbably,” Corinne agreed.
    His lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile, and Corinne couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit triumphant. They walked back to the door, but before Corinne could open it, there was a sound farther down the alley. Some garbage cans fell over and a shape rose up, lumbering toward them. Gabriel grabbed Corinne’s arm