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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 118 из 293“What did you people do to Jeanine?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing, I swear it.”
“Some humans are more affected by faerie than others,” Rhys said, “but it’s usually not police, or anyone that’s seen too much of the harsher side of things. If you’re too jaded, you just don’t believe in faeries anymore.” He said it with a smile, but he was having trouble not showing how worried he was. I could tell, or maybe I was simply projecting.
“Carmichael is new,” Polaski said. “She’s good, but she’s mostly a lab monkey.” A look of anguish and guilt came over her face. “I didn’t know not to bring her.”
“We didn’t know either,” I said. “It’s not your fault. It just never occurred to any of us that anyone would be this affected by just coming through our door.”
“Is this permanent?” Walters asked.
I looked at the men. “I’ve only heard stories of this kind of thing. So, honestly, I don’t know.” I looked at the men. “Gentlemen, can you answer Major Walters’s question, truthfully?”
“Absolutely truthfully?” Ivi asked.
I nodded.
He answered with a mocking smile, but I knew that the mockery was more for himself than anyone else. “Then I am not certain.”
“What is so damned funny?”
“Nothing,” Ivi said, “absolutely nothing. I admit to enjoying the lady’s fascination because I never thought to see such instant obsession on an woman’s face again.” The humor leaked away to show some of the sadness that underlay most of Ivi’s humor—a sorrow like some deep wound that cut through whatever he had once been, so that all that was left of Ivi was that biting humor and that sorrow.
“That is sick,” Polaski said.
His face showed that he had one other emotion left to him, arrogance. “And how would you feel, doctor, if once upon a time you were so beautiful that men wept as you walked down a summer’s lane, and then, one day, they no longer seemed to see you at all? A flower may be beautiful all on its own, but a person is never truly beautiful unless someone else’s eyes show him that he is beautiful.”
Walters called over one of his uniformed officers. “Take her back to the lab, get her away from the beautiful people.”
“Miller, go with them. Take Jeanine home,” Polaski said, “but don’t leave her alone. Stay with her all night. When the sun comes up, she may be okay.”
I raised eyebrows at Polaski.
“I read up on some of the things that can go wrong when dealing with your people.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing, I swear it.”
“Some humans are more affected by faerie than others,” Rhys said, “but it’s usually not police, or anyone that’s seen too much of the harsher side of things. If you’re too jaded, you just don’t believe in faeries anymore.” He said it with a smile, but he was having trouble not showing how worried he was. I could tell, or maybe I was simply projecting.
“Carmichael is new,” Polaski said. “She’s good, but she’s mostly a lab monkey.” A look of anguish and guilt came over her face. “I didn’t know not to bring her.”
“We didn’t know either,” I said. “It’s not your fault. It just never occurred to any of us that anyone would be this affected by just coming through our door.”
“Is this permanent?” Walters asked.
I looked at the men. “I’ve only heard stories of this kind of thing. So, honestly, I don’t know.” I looked at the men. “Gentlemen, can you answer Major Walters’s question, truthfully?”
“Absolutely truthfully?” Ivi asked.
I nodded.
He answered with a mocking smile, but I knew that the mockery was more for himself than anyone else. “Then I am not certain.”
“What is so damned funny?”
“Nothing,” Ivi said, “absolutely nothing. I admit to enjoying the lady’s fascination because I never thought to see such instant obsession on an woman’s face again.” The humor leaked away to show some of the sadness that underlay most of Ivi’s humor—a sorrow like some deep wound that cut through whatever he had once been, so that all that was left of Ivi was that biting humor and that sorrow.
“That is sick,” Polaski said.
His face showed that he had one other emotion left to him, arrogance. “And how would you feel, doctor, if once upon a time you were so beautiful that men wept as you walked down a summer’s lane, and then, one day, they no longer seemed to see you at all? A flower may be beautiful all on its own, but a person is never truly beautiful unless someone else’s eyes show him that he is beautiful.”
Walters called over one of his uniformed officers. “Take her back to the lab, get her away from the beautiful people.”
“Miller, go with them. Take Jeanine home,” Polaski said, “but don’t leave her alone. Stay with her all night. When the sun comes up, she may be okay.”
I raised eyebrows at Polaski.
“I read up on some of the things that can go wrong when dealing with your people.