The Red Queen by Meg Xuemei X Page B

the forest, the light, and the distant blur. She started hyperventilating , seeing that a slice of her insanity would hit in the next second. She wheeled around, stretching her hand to grab something solid, anything. But she was in a clearing.
    Then Vladimir was at her side, holding her, anchoring her, letting her head rest on his solid shoulder. “I’m here, miláček,” he whispered.
    And she calmed.
    “It’s okay you miss him,” he said. “Your feelings for him are part of you now. You don’t need to hide any part of you from me.”
    Her breath caught in her throat, she turned to cautiously peek into his eyes. The forest’s redness didn’t get into his eyes, which were a well of clear understanding.
    “I can’t deny I’m jealous,” he said, “but I’m not crushed by it. Not anymore. Even if you don’t need me, I’ll still hang round. I’m not going anywhere.”
    “I’m afraid one day I’ll finally drive you insane, like me,” she whispered.
    “You already drive me crazy.” He gave her a lazy, warm grin. “I’m crazy for you. But my love, for you, I’ll hold on to my sanity.”
    She rested her face against his chin, her arms wrapped around his waist. His solid frame enveloped her. He was no longer that hotshot she’d fallen for two years ago. He became a man for her.
     
     
    CHAPTER 6
    MAD DANCE
     
     
     
     
     
    Ziyi took a big bite of sausage before she could swallow a portion of bacon she half chewed, and inserted a spoonful of baked beans into her mouth.
    “When was the last time you had a good meal?” Lucienne asked her friend in the sun room.
    “Before you went to Polynesia .” Ziyi returned to her food.
    Sphinxes had won the war, but no one had felt like winners. Lucienne had come back poisoned.
    “Swallow your food before you speak,” Lucienne said.
    Ziyi grabbed a buttery rowie from a plate and pasted more butter on it with a knife. “But you asked me a question.” The sunshine painted her purple-streaked bangs a lighter hue. “I haven’t felt good for so long.”
    “Should I know the reason of your fabulous mood?” asked Lucienne. “Has it to do with men?”
    “I’m a postmodern girl. I don’t need a man to feel great,” she said, raising a finger. “First, you haven’t had a breakdown in ten days. I think the poison has expired. Even Dr. Wren is positive.”
    “Thanks.” Lucienne felt good too. “And Vlad hasn’t come back with black eyes and a split lip. The men have behaved. Vlad hasn’t picked a fight, either. Things are good between us.”
    Ziyi put down the bread and sighed. “Would you rather know the truth?”
    “I’m not blind. The men still hate him, but they won’t touch him, and that’s good enough, for now.”
    “They stopped fighting Blazek because Ash told them that the Czech enjoyed being beaten. The more he hurts, the better he feels. So the men won’t give him that. They won’t beat the misery out of him. They want his own conscience to torment him. He’s already in hell, and they want to keep him there. They take another path to avoid him and treat him like the plague.”
    Lucienne pressed her lips into a line, her fine mood gone. She could stop the men from hitting him, but she couldn’t stop them from making him an outcast. Her dark gaze fell on Ziyi’s face. “What about you?”
    “I’ve had a change of heart. I can be nicer, for your sake.”
    “Then we try it now,” Lucienne said. “Aida told Vlad that we need girl time this morning. He’s been giving me space. I’d like to have him join us, if you don’t mind. You and I will do a morning run together and then go shopping. We’ll have a lot of girl time.”
    Ziyi put down her black tea and coughed into her hand.
    “You all right, Ziyi?” Lucienne asked with concern. “Take it easy, will you? I won’t take your food.”
    Ziyi kept coughing and her face reddened. Lucienne went around the table to pat her friend’s back. When Ziyi calmed, she stared at Lucienne,