Chapter 45 Vicious Green Monster

No stars tonight to pierce through the darkness of the sky, much less that which lingers in my mind. A solid mass of dark depressing water vapor obscures the azure, diamond-studded blanket that envelopes the earth at night. I sit beneath it on the roof of the Berkeley mansion regardless. My need for solitude and peace is far greater than my desire for perfect weather. Dmitri will probably disturb me at some point, but that s just as well, I suppose. We need to talk. For now, though, I am ensconced in a corner of the garden, plucking a petal from a daisy for each unpleasant thought I have of Yekaterina or Dmitri. The petals, with but a murmur from me, turn into all manner of insects that can be found around water, mostly mosquitoes and dragonflies. The mosquitoes wisely do not bite the one who made them but fly away in search of other people to annoy. I hope they find a certain irritating blonde Russian. At least her behaviour has improved throughout the day, at least to some degr