Dessert

Ten minutes later, Mei stepped out of the mouth of Merchant’s Alley.

The rain had lightened to a drizzle. The street was empty.

She paused in front of the darkened window of an herbalist shop, checking her reflection in the glass.

She looked... radiant.

Her skin was flushed with a healthy, rosy glow. The hollowness in her cheeks was gone. Her eyes were dark and human again, sparkling with the satisfaction of a heavy meal.

There was a single speck of blood on her lower lip, right in the center.

Mei reached into her purse and pulled out a compact mirror and a tube of lipstick—Ruby Woo. She wiped the blood away with her thumb, savoring the metallic tang, and reapplied the color. Perfect.

She smoothed the skirt of her oxblood dress. Not a drop had spilled on the silk. She was getting better at this.

She opened her purse again and found Mr. Chen’s platinum wallet. She took out the cash—a thick wad of hundreds—and tossed the wallet into a trash can.

"Dinner and a bonus," she hummed to herself.

She opened her umbrella with a cheerful *snap*.

Mei began to walk down the street, her heels clicking rhythmically on the pavement. She felt full. Finally, wonderfully full.

Mr. Chen had been right about one thing. He had made the night eternal. Or at least, memorable.

She pulled out her phone and opened a dating app. She swiped left on a banker. Left on a lawyer. Then she paused on a profile for a man named Julian who enjoyed "hunting" and "taxidermy."

Mei smiled, her sharp teeth flashing for just a second in the streetlamp's glow.

She swiped right.

"Next course," she whispered, and disappeared into the city night.