Shadow Pavilion Read Free Page A

came to Go’s mind.
    â€œI’ve been reading the script,” Lara said. “I thought we could revise quite a lot of it, actually.”
    â€œDid you?” There’s a surprise.
    â€œThere’s much more room for Ranee, you know. I thought she could appear in the scene with the terrorists.”
    â€œBut Lara—that takes place in Laos, and your character is supposed to be in Delhi in the nick at that point.”
    There was the faintest suggestion of thunder in Lara’s eyes, the hint of stormclouds gathering. “It could be a flashback. Or a dream.”
    â€œPerhaps a hallucination?” Go said quickly. “These guys are supposed to be drug dealers, after all.”
    Just give her what she wanted, he thought, as Lara’s smothering jasmine perfume once again enveloped him. It was easiest in the long run, no matter how much it took out of you at the time.
    Filming proceeded fairly swiftly once the revised script—hashed together over a long and liquid lunch by Beni, Go, and one of the freelance writers—had been submitted.
    â€œThere’s one good thing about having worked in porn,” Beni said to Go. “It gives you a good background in quick filmmaking. Quick and dirty.” He tried not to look smug at the joke.
    â€œThere’s lots of good things about porn,” Go replied, gloomily. “Apart from the obvious. Have you noticed how much nicer everyone is? No airs and graces, no tantrums.”
    Beni shrugged. “They know they’re whores.”
    Go snorted. “Yeah. But do we?”
    â€œWe do. Unfortunately, Lara doesn’t.”
    Go cast a nervous glance over his shoulder.
    â€œShe can’t hear us, man,” Beni said. “She’s back at the studio.”
    â€œLara seems to know all kinds of shit,” Go said. “Don’t underestimate her. Sometimes I think she bugs my clothes.”
    Beni looked at him. “Don’t get paranoid. She’s not a superhero.”
    â€œShe thinks she is. Look … ” Beni might be right but Go found himself lowering his voice all the same. “You and I were young when we found her, right? We were assholes.”
    â€œIt was only four years ago,” Beni objected.
    Go refrained from saying that he felt as though he’d aged several decades since then. “We were young,” he repeated. “We thought we knew what we were doing.”
    Beni was silent and Go knew he’d struck home. “We’ve got to consider the future,” he added. At Beni’s anguished expression, Go knew that he’d been understood.
    â€œShe’s a goldmine, man,” Beni said.
    â€œYeah. But the mine’s flooding up fast. We have to make money, and get out.”
    â€œWhat are you saying? We should send her back where she came from?” Once again, Beni spoke too loudly for Go’s liking and Go hushed him.
    â€œLet’s talk about it another time, Beni. Not right now. We’ll go out for a drink, how about that?” Preferably in a lead-lined room. On a different continent.

5
    I nari did not want to interrupt her husband. His head was bent over a mountain of paperwork that he’d brought home from the station and she knew, from the gentle perfume that rose from one of the piles of parchment, that some of the documentation had come from Heaven. The precinct was supposed to be working toward a paperless office, but they did not seem to be achieving their goal: perhaps it was this new development regarding the Celestials. Chen had not said very much about that, except to convey Mhara’s good wishes and to deliver an exquisite flower from the new Emperor. But Inari knew he was busy, and that was why she hesitated to interrupt him. She had to know, however.
    â€œChen Wei?” she said, standing in the doorway of the little cubbyhole that served as Chen’s office. “Badger hasn’t come back yet.”
    At once, Chen gave