He stepped through the doorway, displaying the wine bottle, label-side up, cradled over his left forearm. He picked up this action at the restaurant when showing patrons special bottles of wine to emphasize the quality, and it quickly became habit. Having walked over in the dark, his eyes were already adjusted to the dim light inside her apartment. Candlelight flickered around the room, creating shadows and soft illumination that added to Victoria’s intensity. Darkness was her preference. She could manipulate the energies much better in the absence of light. Her pupils were dilated, taking advantage of her cat-like ability to see in the dark. For Victoria, it was as good as daylight in the diffuse lighting. Over the centuries, she performed the bulk of her work at midnight, and so function
