JК
The Harlequin :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 298 из 330It was as bland and empty as his voice got, but somehow it filled the room. «We bargained that you would duel the first to use magic. Ma petite , my servant, did not know these rules.»
«We also promised not to use our servants to bolster our powers,» she said.
«So I was not allowed to contact her mind-to-mind.»
«You might have plotted behind my back.»
«But you did not attack ma petite , you struck at the congregation. That seems as if you have broken the bargain first.» His voice held a shiver at the end, and the entire congregation reacted to it, shuddering. They began to gaze at him, some reluctantly, but they heard him now, felt him now. In that moment I understood that Malcolm had been right in one thing. Blood-oathing to me was blood-oathing to Jean-Claude. Blood of my blood and all that.
«Your servant was using her leopards and her vampire. I could have reached out to my servant, Giovanni, but I kept to our bargain. But if she was allowed to gain power from others, then it seemed fair that I could do the same.»
«You can feed off the combined power of all the vampires.» Jean-Claude made it a statement.
«Yes,» she said, and sounded pleased with herself.
Edward and Olaf were standing on either side of us like good bodyguards. It was Micah who knelt and asked, «Are you safe to touch?»
I knew what he meant: Will whatever metaphysical crap is happening spread by touch? «I think I'm safe to touch.»
He grabbed my elbow and lifted, effortlessly. Graham offered Nathaniel a hand. We both swayed a little, but we were upright. Yea.
Columbine had meant to own the congregation and use them like a battery to make her own powers greater. Great enough to win a fight with Jean-Claude, maybe. But now they were mine, and through me, Jean-Claude's.
«You are too late,» Malcolm said. «I have given them to my master.»
«Oh, such bonds, when fresh, are not so firm,» she said.
«Bold words, Columbine,» Jean-Claude said, and his voice slid over my skin. Nathaniel shivered beside me. I felt two hundred vampires, or more, react to that voice. One vampire cried out, «Malcolm, save us from this lecher and his whore.»
I turned and found the man who had spoken. He was staring at Malcolm, his hand out, beseeching. I started to be angry, but then sensed a thought, and I could feel his fear. Jean-Claude's voice had made this heterosexual man's body react. Just the voice, ordinary words; Jean-Claude wasn't even trying, not yet.
«We also promised not to use our servants to bolster our powers,» she said.
«So I was not allowed to contact her mind-to-mind.»
«You might have plotted behind my back.»
«But you did not attack ma petite , you struck at the congregation. That seems as if you have broken the bargain first.» His voice held a shiver at the end, and the entire congregation reacted to it, shuddering. They began to gaze at him, some reluctantly, but they heard him now, felt him now. In that moment I understood that Malcolm had been right in one thing. Blood-oathing to me was blood-oathing to Jean-Claude. Blood of my blood and all that.
«Your servant was using her leopards and her vampire. I could have reached out to my servant, Giovanni, but I kept to our bargain. But if she was allowed to gain power from others, then it seemed fair that I could do the same.»
«You can feed off the combined power of all the vampires.» Jean-Claude made it a statement.
«Yes,» she said, and sounded pleased with herself.
Edward and Olaf were standing on either side of us like good bodyguards. It was Micah who knelt and asked, «Are you safe to touch?»
I knew what he meant: Will whatever metaphysical crap is happening spread by touch? «I think I'm safe to touch.»
He grabbed my elbow and lifted, effortlessly. Graham offered Nathaniel a hand. We both swayed a little, but we were upright. Yea.
Columbine had meant to own the congregation and use them like a battery to make her own powers greater. Great enough to win a fight with Jean-Claude, maybe. But now they were mine, and through me, Jean-Claude's.
«You are too late,» Malcolm said. «I have given them to my master.»
«Oh, such bonds, when fresh, are not so firm,» she said.
«Bold words, Columbine,» Jean-Claude said, and his voice slid over my skin. Nathaniel shivered beside me. I felt two hundred vampires, or more, react to that voice. One vampire cried out, «Malcolm, save us from this lecher and his whore.»
I turned and found the man who had spoken. He was staring at Malcolm, his hand out, beseeching. I started to be angry, but then sensed a thought, and I could feel his fear. Jean-Claude's voice had made this heterosexual man's body react. Just the voice, ordinary words; Jean-Claude wasn't even trying, not yet.