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A Kiss Of Shadows :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 259 из 338Ittook me a few seconds to figure out that Frost was raising up, but not moving his body from the pile. "This is singular," he said.
Galen's arm vanished from my sight. "What is it doing?" he asked.
I couldn't hear anyone walking around, but I could see Galen to one side, kneeling. I parted Rhys's hair from my face like two edges of a curtain. Frost was kneeling beside Galen. Doyle was the only one standing alone on the other side of us. I could see his black cloak.
Rhys raised upward, bracing with his arms like half a push-up. "Strange," he said.
That was it. I had to see. "Get off of me, Rhys. I want to see."
He lowered his head over my face so he was looking at me upside down, still supporting his upper body with his arms, but pinning my lower body with his. Under other circumstances I'd have said he was doing it on purpose. But the material of my dress was thin enough and his clothing light enough that I could tell he wasn't happy to see me. Staring into his tri-blue eye from inches away but upside down was almost dizzying, and somehow strangely intimate.
"I'm the last body between you and the great bad thing," he said. "I'll move when Doyle tells me to move."
Watching his small round mouth move upside down made my head hurt. I closed my eyes. "Don't talk upside down," I said.
"Of course," Rhys said, "you could just look up." He drew his face back, pulling back until he was on all fours above me like a mare shielding her foal.
I stayed flat on the ground but craned my neck backward. All I could see was the snaking tendrils of the roses. They hung above us like thin, fuzzy, brown ropes waving gently back and forth almost as if there was wind, but there was no wind, and the fuzziness was thorns.
"Other than the fact that the roses are alive again, what am I supposed to be seeing?"
Doyle answered, "It is only the small thorns that are reaching for you, Merry."
"And?" I said.
His black cloak came closer as he stood above us. "It means I don't believe the roses mean you harm."
"What else could they want?" I asked. It should have felt silly talking from the ground with Rhys perched over me on all fours. But it didn't. I wanted something, someone, between me and the rustling of the thorns.
"I believe, I think, it may want a drink of royal blood," Doyle said.
"What do you mean a drink?" Galen asked it before I could. He sat back on the floor, moving so I could see most of his upper body.
Galen's arm vanished from my sight. "What is it doing?" he asked.
I couldn't hear anyone walking around, but I could see Galen to one side, kneeling. I parted Rhys's hair from my face like two edges of a curtain. Frost was kneeling beside Galen. Doyle was the only one standing alone on the other side of us. I could see his black cloak.
Rhys raised upward, bracing with his arms like half a push-up. "Strange," he said.
That was it. I had to see. "Get off of me, Rhys. I want to see."
He lowered his head over my face so he was looking at me upside down, still supporting his upper body with his arms, but pinning my lower body with his. Under other circumstances I'd have said he was doing it on purpose. But the material of my dress was thin enough and his clothing light enough that I could tell he wasn't happy to see me. Staring into his tri-blue eye from inches away but upside down was almost dizzying, and somehow strangely intimate.
"I'm the last body between you and the great bad thing," he said. "I'll move when Doyle tells me to move."
Watching his small round mouth move upside down made my head hurt. I closed my eyes. "Don't talk upside down," I said.
"Of course," Rhys said, "you could just look up." He drew his face back, pulling back until he was on all fours above me like a mare shielding her foal.
I stayed flat on the ground but craned my neck backward. All I could see was the snaking tendrils of the roses. They hung above us like thin, fuzzy, brown ropes waving gently back and forth almost as if there was wind, but there was no wind, and the fuzziness was thorns.
"Other than the fact that the roses are alive again, what am I supposed to be seeing?"
Doyle answered, "It is only the small thorns that are reaching for you, Merry."
"And?" I said.
His black cloak came closer as he stood above us. "It means I don't believe the roses mean you harm."
"What else could they want?" I asked. It should have felt silly talking from the ground with Rhys perched over me on all fours. But it didn't. I wanted something, someone, between me and the rustling of the thorns.
"I believe, I think, it may want a drink of royal blood," Doyle said.
"What do you mean a drink?" Galen asked it before I could. He sat back on the floor, moving so I could see most of his upper body.