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Years before, his allowance frolish schoolboy was often all that kept therave;un," said Felice, whose face today was thea defining moment" She hip thin and dressed in black

Her mouth appeared to curve even further down Her eye sockets seemed hollow It hispered in the fashion trade that in moments of emotional stress she cried tears of blood

Katya yawned and said, "Nothing like the designer suicide followed by the show of his work at the Met last year"

"Brilliant tih the intricate hop-the-fence trick, "but significant because it was one of a kind If so similar happened noould anyone be interested?"

Katya said, "We’re being rude to our guest Lilia, darling, understand that we all change over tiar Daddy decided it was easier to becouest and share Paulo’s youth at first hand Felice got tired of trying to suppress her feelings and allowed thea use for them Perhaps you never wanted to reach that kind of resolution"

She put her feet with the sling-backs like no others up on the table "Everyone talks as if we had dark powers But Savage Design is quite a sihtforward business Paulo handles the finances, Felice does the promotion, and I’m the scout"

Then she asked, "How’s Larry?"

Lilia’s ansas careful "Still hooked up with the rich laho financed that Gallery he has in Chelsea They adopted an Asian child, and were talking about getting al"

She left out the fact Larry and she were talking again and that he’d provided money to keep Reliquary open Lilia wondered how much they knew about her business or if this was just idle curiosity mixed with bitchiness

Paulo said, "I understand he’s breaking up with that lawyer"

Lilia hadn’t heard that

"I brought Lilia here," Katya told the others, "because her shop is still in business and showing signs of life I’ve seen a glihtwalker revival," she said

Paulo’s ancient eyes closed Felice looked away

"Round and round we go," Paulo said, "Re a vampire was utterly hip? Recall the Bust a few years later? Nobody became Dracula and immortal Everyone was a blood junkie and went into therapy or jail"

"Yes," Katya said, "we’ve all been there and back But in one afternoon in Tribeca and Soho I saw a couple of dozen people under twenty-five wearing Blood Sucker artifacts"

"Cyclical but inevitable," ht line

"Before a look can be revived it htfully, "Or at least be presumed dead!"

"Then there’s the boutique itself," said Katya as if Lilia wasn’t present "Reliquary is so passé it’s al And it’s on a block that’s this kind of time bubble from the old, bad Manhattan of thirty years back The sort of place people eren’t actually there get nostalgic about--all grit, grunge, and decay!"

At the word grunge, Paulo’s reptile eyes lit up with old memories and he used both hands to e"

"Delicious decay," Felice murmured The others looked away before her face slipped into the mask of comedy pose It was said, with reason, that none who saw the laughing mask lived to tell about it