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Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 88 из 286I thinkif I hadn't been touching him, I wouldn't have felt a thing. The faintest shimmer of energy, as if this was a small thing to do.
He blinked and looked at Padma. "Damian."
Damian was one of Jean-Claude's lieutenants. Like Liv, he was over five hundred, but would never be a master.
In Damian's case it was over a thousand years, but would never be a master. It was a frightening amount of time to have acquired so little power. Don't get me wrong, Damian was powerful. For a five-hundred-year-old he was scary. For a thousand years he was a baby. A dangerous, carnivorous baby, but still Damian had acquired all the power he might ever have. He could live until the sun expanded and swallowed the earth, and he'd be no more powerful than he had been at dusk today.
He was one of the few vamps to ever fool me completely about his age. I'd underestimated his age by over half. I'd judged by power and was just beginning to learn that power was not the only thing to judge by.
Jean-Claude had bargained with Damian's old master for his freedom to come here and play second banana.
"What have you done to Damian?" Jean-Claude asked.
"I, nothing, but is he dead?" Padma smiled and took Vivian's hand. "That is a question only his master may answer." He walked down the hallway, leading the wereleopard by the hand. Vivian looked back at me, watching me with wide, frightened eyes until they were lost to sight. The black leopard lingered, watching me.
I spoke before I thought, instinct almost. "How could you have given them over to that thing?"
She snarled at me, tail twitching.
"You are weak, Elizabeth. Gabriel knew that and despised you for it."
She let out a coughing roar. Padma's voice cut across the sound like a knife blade. "Elizabeth, come to me now or I shall be very angry."
The leopard gave me a last snarl and padded out of sight.
"Did Gabriel tell you she was weak, ma petite ?"
I shook my head. "She wouldn't have brought them here if she were stronger. He called and she came, but she should have come alone."
"Perhaps she did her best, ma petite ."
"Then her best isn't good enough." I looked at Jean-Claude's careful, unreadable face. His body was still, calm. I laid my hand above his heart underneath his shirt. His heart was pounding.
"You think Damian's dead," I said.
"I know he is dead." He stared down at me. "Whether it is permanent, that is the question."
"Dead is dead," I said.
He laughed then and hugged me to him.
He blinked and looked at Padma. "Damian."
Damian was one of Jean-Claude's lieutenants. Like Liv, he was over five hundred, but would never be a master.
In Damian's case it was over a thousand years, but would never be a master. It was a frightening amount of time to have acquired so little power. Don't get me wrong, Damian was powerful. For a five-hundred-year-old he was scary. For a thousand years he was a baby. A dangerous, carnivorous baby, but still Damian had acquired all the power he might ever have. He could live until the sun expanded and swallowed the earth, and he'd be no more powerful than he had been at dusk today.
He was one of the few vamps to ever fool me completely about his age. I'd underestimated his age by over half. I'd judged by power and was just beginning to learn that power was not the only thing to judge by.
Jean-Claude had bargained with Damian's old master for his freedom to come here and play second banana.
"What have you done to Damian?" Jean-Claude asked.
"I, nothing, but is he dead?" Padma smiled and took Vivian's hand. "That is a question only his master may answer." He walked down the hallway, leading the wereleopard by the hand. Vivian looked back at me, watching me with wide, frightened eyes until they were lost to sight. The black leopard lingered, watching me.
I spoke before I thought, instinct almost. "How could you have given them over to that thing?"
She snarled at me, tail twitching.
"You are weak, Elizabeth. Gabriel knew that and despised you for it."
She let out a coughing roar. Padma's voice cut across the sound like a knife blade. "Elizabeth, come to me now or I shall be very angry."
The leopard gave me a last snarl and padded out of sight.
"Did Gabriel tell you she was weak, ma petite ?"
I shook my head. "She wouldn't have brought them here if she were stronger. He called and she came, but she should have come alone."
"Perhaps she did her best, ma petite ."
"Then her best isn't good enough." I looked at Jean-Claude's careful, unreadable face. His body was still, calm. I laid my hand above his heart underneath his shirt. His heart was pounding.
"You think Damian's dead," I said.
"I know he is dead." He stared down at me. "Whether it is permanent, that is the question."
"Dead is dead," I said.
He laughed then and hugged me to him.