Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Smiling, Hiro reached out and rubbed it away. "Okay."
I cleared my throat.
He pulled the sketchpad toward him. "Enough of this. We have a cocktail party to plan."
"We do."
He cracked his knuckles like a man preparing for battle. “Where do we begin?”
I picked up my pencil. “How does each Claw kill?”
Chapter eleven
Cocktails for the Claws
Nyomi
“Okay.” A lump formed in my throat, raw and aching, but I swallowed it down. I put my thoughts on Kaede and thought of last night. He was a goodlooking guy, although eerily calm, with his platinum-blond hair tied in a low knot at the nape of his neck. He’d also been wearing leather gloves that he kept adjusting when it seemed like he was annoyed.
I tapped the page with my pencil. "So, about Kaede."
Hiro nodded, apparently satisfied with our heart-to-heart. He leaned back in his chair. “Yes. Back to Kaede.”
I picked up my pencil. "Tell me how he kills."
"Like he's dancing."
I widened my eyes. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Like his body is hearing something the rest of us can't and he's just... moving to it. Smooth. Beautiful. Absolutely lethal."
"Graceful?"
"Elegant. Effortless. He makes death look like art."
"So his drink should be. . .something beautiful that could also kill you?"
“Is there a drink that would do that?”
I tapped my pencil against the sketchpad, thinking. "Maybe. . .I’m thinking. . .Japanese gin. That's the base.”
“He’ll like that.”
“You know what? Dry sake. It'll act like a silk vermouth—smoothing the edges, making everything flow together."
Hiro nodded. “This is sounding good.”
"Yuzu juice for brightness and honey syrup to soften it so it doesn't hit too sharp on the first sip."
"So it seduces you before it strikes."
"Exactly, but we need the dangerous part.”
He eyed me. “What do you think?”
"Absinthe.”
Hiro smiled.
"Just a rinse. I'll coat the glass with it. You won't taste it at first, it hides beneath everything else. But then. . .it rises. Kisses your mouth.” I touched my lips. “And suddenly you realize you've been cut."
"I’m liking this."
"Then, we add some performance."
“Like what?”
“Hold the peel over the glass and have a flash of flame”
Hiro actually rubbed his hands together. “Kaede will enjoy this a lot.”
“Good.”
“And what will be the name?”
“Ember Waltz.”
“That title came quick.”
“I’m a writer.” I began drawing the drink. “Now who’s next?”
"Daisuke."
I did my best to quickly finish Ember Waltz. Once I was done, I brought up the vision of Daisuke. It was a bit hard. All I could remember was that he had a stylish black mohawk and appeared highly loyal to Hiro and Kenji. "How does Daisuke kill?”
"Like smoke. The person never sees him coming. One second the room is empty, the next second he's behind you with a knife at your throat."
“Wow.” I flipped the page and worked on a crystal glass. “How does someone learn how to kill that way?”
"Daisuke’s mother sold him to a factory when he was five.”
I stopped drawing and looked up at him. “What kind of factory?”
“Illegal textile operation. Kids working sixteen-hour days and sleeping on the floor. He escaped when he was eight by learning to disappear. To move through spaces without being seen. To exist in the cracks where no one looked." Hiro paused for a second and then shook his head. "By the time I met him, he'd been surviving on the streets for years. A ghost. No one even knew he existed."
"That's. . ." I didn't have words. I just started drawing again and adding shadows to the new glass and putting darkness swirling in the liquid. “Alright. . .so. . .what if there's smoke? Like, actual smoke. A smoke bubble on top that releases when you break it?"
Hiro quirked his brows. “What?”
“Alright. Follow me on this one. First of all, what sort of liquor does Daisuke like?”
"Anything dark."
"Okay, so. . .maybe. . .a mezcal and bourbon base. That gives it smokiness. Honey-ginger syrup for warmth. And activated charcoal to make it dark—like, really dark. Almost black."
"With the smoke bubble on top?" Hiro added, looking so damned pleased I began to grin.
“Yes, the smoke bubble on top. You look at it and you think it's just a dark drink. Then you break the bubble and smoke pours out." I flexed my drawing hand because my fingers were already starting to cramp. "You don't see it coming until it hits."
“But, Nyomi, how do you put a smoke bubble in a drink?”
“Easy peasy. Once the cocktail is finished, then you use this little cocktail bubble gun. It blows a bubble that sits right on top.”
“A bubble gun?”
“Yeah. But the bubble isn’t air. It’s smoke. We’ll call the drink, Hinoki Veil.”
Hiro’s mouth twitched. “How do you get smoke inside a bubble?”
“You hook the bubble gun to a smoker. Hinoki wood if we want it Japanese-clean, or cedar if we want it darker. You fill the bubble with smoke, settle it over the rim like a glass lid, and it just. . .waits there.”