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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 260 из 293A beloved underwing moth just like the wings that were tearing their way out of Royal’s back. It was only when Ivi moved to touch it that I realized it wasn’t on me, but in me. The moth was embedded in my skin.
I didn’t have time to be afraid, or horrified, or anything. The world went away in a swirl of dimming vision, and finally darkness. There were no visions, no manifestations. There was nothing but blessed oblivion.
CHAPTER 36
I WOKE, BLINKING UP INTO A CANOPY AS BLACK AS THE DARKNESS that had sucked me under. Black material was held in graceful folds on dyed black wood. I thought, almost idly, that it looked like the queen’s bed. Fear speared through me in a fine, breath-stealing rush. It was never good to wake up here.
I must have moved my hand more than I thought because I brushed someone’s arm. It made me jump and look to the center of the bed.
Galen lay, eyes still closed, face peaceful. He was still nude, as were we all. For Nicca lay on the other side of Galen. That the three of us were naked in her bed did not make me feel one bit better.
I looked out at her room, and it was completely black except for a fire in a large metal brassier in the center of the room. Why were the walls without light? Where was the light of the sithen?
Something moved in that blackness, and I tensed, expecting it to be the queen, but there was no flash of her white skin. I knew who it was before he stepped into the amber glow of the firelight. Doyle in a cloak as black as the rest of him passed in the outer glow of the fire’s light to glide toward the bed.
“Doyle.” I didn’t even try to keep the relief from my voice.
“How do you feel?” His deep voice rumbled and the very sound of it lessened the panic that still fluttered in my pulse.
“Fine. Why are we here?”
“Because the queen willed it,” he said.
I did not like that answer. It sped my pulse again. Someone laughed in the dark. I choked on the panic of my own heartbeat. I felt Galen tense beside me, and knew he was awake, but he did not move. He very carefully did not let anyone else know he had woken. I did not give him away, but I knew that feigning sleep would not help him.
The laugh came again, and I knew it wasn’t the queen. My pulse slowed enough that I could breathe around it. “Who else is here?”
There was movement in the farthest corner of the room. I caught a glimpse of pale hair, pale skin, a white cloak.
I didn’t have time to be afraid, or horrified, or anything. The world went away in a swirl of dimming vision, and finally darkness. There were no visions, no manifestations. There was nothing but blessed oblivion.
CHAPTER 36
I WOKE, BLINKING UP INTO A CANOPY AS BLACK AS THE DARKNESS that had sucked me under. Black material was held in graceful folds on dyed black wood. I thought, almost idly, that it looked like the queen’s bed. Fear speared through me in a fine, breath-stealing rush. It was never good to wake up here.
I must have moved my hand more than I thought because I brushed someone’s arm. It made me jump and look to the center of the bed.
Galen lay, eyes still closed, face peaceful. He was still nude, as were we all. For Nicca lay on the other side of Galen. That the three of us were naked in her bed did not make me feel one bit better.
I looked out at her room, and it was completely black except for a fire in a large metal brassier in the center of the room. Why were the walls without light? Where was the light of the sithen?
Something moved in that blackness, and I tensed, expecting it to be the queen, but there was no flash of her white skin. I knew who it was before he stepped into the amber glow of the firelight. Doyle in a cloak as black as the rest of him passed in the outer glow of the fire’s light to glide toward the bed.
“Doyle.” I didn’t even try to keep the relief from my voice.
“How do you feel?” His deep voice rumbled and the very sound of it lessened the panic that still fluttered in my pulse.
“Fine. Why are we here?”
“Because the queen willed it,” he said.
I did not like that answer. It sped my pulse again. Someone laughed in the dark. I choked on the panic of my own heartbeat. I felt Galen tense beside me, and knew he was awake, but he did not move. He very carefully did not let anyone else know he had woken. I did not give him away, but I knew that feigning sleep would not help him.
The laugh came again, and I knew it wasn’t the queen. My pulse slowed enough that I could breathe around it. “Who else is here?”
There was movement in the farthest corner of the room. I caught a glimpse of pale hair, pale skin, a white cloak.