Chapter 92

I tried a couple of sessions with the creepy and surreal Peter Westin that night in the jail at Santa Cruz. Kyle was attempting to get him transferred to the East Coast but I doubted he would be successful.  California wanted him. Westin wore a long-sleeved black velvet¹ shirt and black leather pants. He was as pale as paper. Thin blue veins² were visible under the translucent³ skin of his temples. His lips were full and the pigment⁴ appeared redder than most people’s. The Sire almost didn’t seem human, and I was pretty sure that was the effect he wanted to convey.
It was emotionally disturbing and draining to be in the same room with him. Jamilla and I had talked about it briefly⁵, and we both felt the same thing. Westin had none of the usual qualities that we associated with humans: conscience, sociability⁶, deep emotion, sympathy, and empathy. His entire persona was that of the Sire. He was a killer⁷, a ghoul, a real life bloodsucker.  T’m not going to try and scare you with interrogation room threats,’ I said, low-key.
Westin appeared not to be listening. Bored? Indifferent? Smart as hell? Actually, as the Sire, he was an extraordinary person to encounter: haughty⁸, superior, intense, physically⁹ striking. He had the most piercing eyes. He’d put on an act for me in Santa Barbara - the harmless scholar recommending books about vampires¹⁰.  He cocked his head and stared intently into my eyes. He was looking for something; I couldn’t tell what. I held his gaze and that seemed to irritate him. Tuck off,’he hissed¹¹.
‘What is it?’ I finally asked. ‘What’s on your mind, Peter? Is it that I’m not worthy¹² to question you now?’
He smiled - and there was even a hint of warmth in it. He could be charming, I knew. I’d found that out in the library in Santa Barbara.
‘If I talked to you, ;/1 told you everything that I feel and believe, you wouldn’t understand,’he said.’You would be even more lost and confused than you are now.’
Try me,’ I said.
He smiled again, but said nothing.
‘I know that you miss William and Michael. You don’t show it, but you loved them,’! said.’I know that much about you. I know you feel things deeply.’
Peter Westin nodded, almost imperceptibly. The gesture was regal.  He did miss William and Michael. I was right about that. He was sad that they were dead.
He finally spoke¹³ again. ‘Yes, Detective Cross, I feel more deeply than you can begin to imagine. You have no idea. You have no clue how someone like me thinks.’
Then he was quiet again. The Sire had nothing more to say. We mere¹⁴ mortals just wouldn’t understand. I left him like that.  It was over.

1 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

2 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 translucent   

adj.半透明的；透明的

参考例句：

• The building is roofed entirely with translucent corrugated plastic.这座建筑完全用半透明瓦楞塑料封顶。
• A small difference between them will render the composite translucent.微小的差别,也会使复合材料变成半透明。

4 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 sociability   

n.好交际，社交性，善于交际

参考例句：

• A fire of withered pine boughs added sociability to the gathering. 枯松枝生起的篝火给这次聚合增添了随和、友善的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• A certain sociability degree is a specific character of most plants. 特定的群集度是多数植物特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 haughty   

adj.傲慢的，高傲的

参考例句：

• He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
• They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

11 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

12 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。