JК
Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 82 из 286It would be just my luck that Padma was one of them.
Padma called the leopards to him. The yellow one rolled around his ankles like a big kitty-cat. Elizabeth sat like a well-trained dog.
Willie and Hannah were oblivious to the room. He touched her gently, as if she were glass. They kissed, and that one chaste touch of lips said it all, tenderness, love. Willie and Hannah were just plain gone on each other. It was beautiful.
"You see why I gave her to my son. Such anguish her abuse would have caused them both. But the Traveler needed their bodies."
I stared at him. It was bad enough when I thought the choice was just because Hannah was blond and lovely, but to know it was deliberate cruelty and not just lust—that made it worse.
"You son of a bitch," I said.
"Are you trying to make me angry?" Padma said.
Jean-Claude touched me again. "Anita, please."
He rarely used my real name. When he did, it was either very serious or something I wouldn't like. This time it was both.
I don't know what I was about to say, because suddenly the Traveler lifted his shield. Padma's power crashed over us. It thundered over me, filling my head, scrambling every thought I had. I fell to my knees like I'd been hit by a hammer between the eyes.
Jean-Claude stayed standing, but I felt him sway beside me.
Padma laughed. "He cannot re-enter another host and maintain his shield."
A voice came like a wind easing through the room. I wasn't sure if I heard the voice out loud or if it was just in my head. "He will need his powers in the hallway. I chose to lift the shield. Enough games, Padma. Let him see what lies beyond." There was a scent with the words; fresh turned earth, the smell of roots pulled from the ground. I could almost feel the crumble of rich black soil between my hands. I squeezed my hands around the Browning until they shook, and I still couldn't shake the sense of earth between my hands on the gun. Even staring at the gun, seeing it was clean, didn't make it go away.
"What's happening?" I asked. Surprised and pleased that I could form a coherent sentence.
"They are council," Jean-Claude said. "They have taken off, how would you say, the gloves?"
"Shit," I said.
Padma laughed. He stared at me, and I knew he was concentrating just for little ol' me. His power slammed over me, into me. It was halfway between putting your hand on a live electric wire and shoving the same hand into fire. The electric heat ate through my body. The heat gathered in the center of me. It flexed like a fist growing larger, larger.
Padma called the leopards to him. The yellow one rolled around his ankles like a big kitty-cat. Elizabeth sat like a well-trained dog.
Willie and Hannah were oblivious to the room. He touched her gently, as if she were glass. They kissed, and that one chaste touch of lips said it all, tenderness, love. Willie and Hannah were just plain gone on each other. It was beautiful.
"You see why I gave her to my son. Such anguish her abuse would have caused them both. But the Traveler needed their bodies."
I stared at him. It was bad enough when I thought the choice was just because Hannah was blond and lovely, but to know it was deliberate cruelty and not just lust—that made it worse.
"You son of a bitch," I said.
"Are you trying to make me angry?" Padma said.
Jean-Claude touched me again. "Anita, please."
He rarely used my real name. When he did, it was either very serious or something I wouldn't like. This time it was both.
I don't know what I was about to say, because suddenly the Traveler lifted his shield. Padma's power crashed over us. It thundered over me, filling my head, scrambling every thought I had. I fell to my knees like I'd been hit by a hammer between the eyes.
Jean-Claude stayed standing, but I felt him sway beside me.
Padma laughed. "He cannot re-enter another host and maintain his shield."
A voice came like a wind easing through the room. I wasn't sure if I heard the voice out loud or if it was just in my head. "He will need his powers in the hallway. I chose to lift the shield. Enough games, Padma. Let him see what lies beyond." There was a scent with the words; fresh turned earth, the smell of roots pulled from the ground. I could almost feel the crumble of rich black soil between my hands. I squeezed my hands around the Browning until they shook, and I still couldn't shake the sense of earth between my hands on the gun. Even staring at the gun, seeing it was clean, didn't make it go away.
"What's happening?" I asked. Surprised and pleased that I could form a coherent sentence.
"They are council," Jean-Claude said. "They have taken off, how would you say, the gloves?"
"Shit," I said.
Padma laughed. He stared at me, and I knew he was concentrating just for little ol' me. His power slammed over me, into me. It was halfway between putting your hand on a live electric wire and shoving the same hand into fire. The electric heat ate through my body. The heat gathered in the center of me. It flexed like a fist growing larger, larger.