Sloanewho was the only person in the house I couldnt justify throwing out of my room, since it was her room, toohad pulled Cassie babysitting duty when Id tried to sneak away for some time alone.
Morticians? I repeated. I eyed her suspiciously. Did someone give you coffee?
Sloane very pointedly did not answer the coffee question. I thought you could use a distraction.
I plopped down on my bed. Dont you have any more cheerful statistics?
Sloane frowned in contemplation. Are balloon animals cheerful?
Oh dear lord .
Balloonists are more likely than other circus performers to suffer from subconjunctival hemorrhages.
Sloane, subconjunctival hemorrhages are not cheerful.
She shrugged. If you had a balloon, I could make you a dachshund.
Another few days of this and I might willingly serve myself up to the UNSUB. Who would have thought my fellow Naturals would take Briggss decree that I not be left alone so seriously? Dean and Michael could barely stand to be in the same room with each other, but the second I stepped out of my bedroom, one or both of them would be there waiting for me. The only thing that could have made this whole situation more awkward was if Lia hadnt magnanimously decided to stay out of the fray.
Knock, knock!
So much for Lias magnanimousness.
What do you want? I asked her, not bothering to sugarcoat my words.
My, but were cranky today.
If looks could kill, Lia would have been dead on the floor, and I would have been on trial for murder.
I suppose, Lia said, with the air of someone making a most generous concession, that the argument you had with Dean about his father wasnt entirely your fault, and since this whole hair-in-a-box thing seems to have given him a renewed purpose in life, Im not morally obligated to make you miserable anymore.
I wasnt sure how to reply to that. Thank you?
I thought you could use a distraction. Lia smiled. If theres one thing I excel at, its distractions.
The last time Id let Lia dictate our plans, Id ended up kissing Dean and Michael in a span of less than twenty-four hours, but after three days of house arrest and way too many statistics about dachshunds, I was desperate.
What kind of distraction did you have in mind?
Lia tossed a bag on my bed. I opened it.
Did you rob a cosmetics store?
Lia shrugged. I like makeupand nothing says distraction like a makeover. Besides She reached in the bag and pulled out a lipstick. Smiling wickedly, she uncapped it and twisted the bottom. This is definitely your color.
I eyed the lipstick. The color was darkhalfway between red and brown. Way too sexy for meand strangely familiar.
What do you say? Lia didnt actually wait for an answer. She pushed me into a sitting position on the bed. She leaned into my personal space and tilted my chin back. And then she dragged the lipstick across my lips.
Kleenex! Lia barked.
Sloane supplied the Kleenex, a goofy grin on her face.
Blot, Lia ordered.
I blotted.
I knew that would be a good color on you, Lia told me, her voice smug and self-satisfied. Without another word, she turned her attention to my eyes. When she was finally finished, I pushed her off me and walked over to the mirror.
Oh. I couldnt keep the sound from escaping my mouth. My blue eyes looked impossibly big. My lashes had been thoroughly mascara-ed, and the color on my lips was dark against my porcelain skin.
I looked like my mother. My features, the way they came together on my faceeverything.
Blue dress. Blood. Lipstick .
A series of images flashed through my mind, and I realized with sudden clarity why the color of this lipstick had seemed so familiar. I turned back to the bed and scavenged through the bag of makeup until I found it. I turned the tube upside down, looking for the colors name.
Rose Red , I read, swallowing after I said the words. I turned to Lia. Where did you get this?
What does it matter?
My knuckles went white around the tube. Where did you get this, Lia?
Why do you want to know? she countered, folding her arms over her chest and examining her nails.
I just do, okay? I couldnt tell her more than thatand I shouldnt have had to. Please?
Lia gathered the makeup off the bed and made her way to the door. She gave me one of those smiles that wasnt a smile. I bought it, Cassie. With money. As part of our fine system of capitalistic exchange. Happy?
The color I started to say.
Its a popular color, Lia cut in. If you bribe Sloane with some java, she could probably tell you exactly how many millions of tubes of it they sell every year. Seriously, Cassie. Dont ask why. Just say thank you.
Thanks, I said softly, but I couldnt help feeling that the universe was mocking me, and I couldnt keep from looking down at the tube in my hand and thinking, over and over again, that once upon a time, Id known someone else who was partial to Rose Red lipstick.
My mother.
YOU
Hold still.The girl whimpers, her eyes filling with tears, her hands pulling at the bindings. You backhand her, and she falls to the ground. Theres no pleasure to be had in this.