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The Harlequin :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 319 из 330«Either help me walk overto Wicked and Truth, or go somewhere else.»
«Can I at least see how badly you're hurt first?»
«No!»
«Do you want Remus to have died for nothing, is that what you want?»
Micah was on my other side. «Let us see, Anita, then we'll take you to Wicked and Truth.»
Nathaniel was there, too. «Please, Anita.»
I nodded and let them wipe away some of the blood with a cloth that someone gave them. The scratches weren't that deep, deep enough that if I'd been a little more human I might have needed stitches, and seeing that they were across the mound of one breast I should have been more worried about that whole cosmetic thing, but strangely, I wasn't.
«Take me to them,» I said.
Richard took one arm and Nathaniel the other. They lifted me to my feet and helped me walk where I wanted to go. Micah followed us, carrying bandages. Maybe I'd even let him use them on me eventually. Remus was dead, and I wanted to know why. Or maybe, how? The thing that had come out of the darkness had been a vampire that smelled like a wolf and had claws like a powerful shapeshifter. Impossible. But Remus was dead, so it had to be possible.
«Who are you?» I asked.
«I am Harlequin.»
«One of, or the?» I asked. My voice sounded strangely distant inside my own head, as if the distance was greater than it should have been.
«I am Pantalone, once Pantaleon. I was one of the first children of the dark.»
«You didn't send us a black mask, Pantalone, but you tried to kill us. That's against council law. Hell, that's against the Mother of All Darkness's law.»
«You know nothing of our mother, human. You are not vampire, or succubus. You are a necromancer, and our laws say you can be killed on sight.»
I smelled jasmine. Nathaniel said, «Flowers.»
Richard said, «What is that?»
I felt the rain on the edge of a wind that hadn't existed for a million years. I tasted jasmine on my tongue, sweet and cloying. I wasn't afraid this time. I welcomed it. Because I knew I wasn't the one she was pissed at. Though pissed was too strong for the feeling I got as she breathed closer. Pissed was too human an emotion, and as she'd said herself, she'd lost the knack of being human.
«Marmee Noir,» Nathaniel answered Richard. I'd forgotten he'd asked a question.
«Anita,» Richard said, «fight it, fight her.»
«If you aren't going to help me do this, then get away from me.
«Can I at least see how badly you're hurt first?»
«No!»
«Do you want Remus to have died for nothing, is that what you want?»
Micah was on my other side. «Let us see, Anita, then we'll take you to Wicked and Truth.»
Nathaniel was there, too. «Please, Anita.»
I nodded and let them wipe away some of the blood with a cloth that someone gave them. The scratches weren't that deep, deep enough that if I'd been a little more human I might have needed stitches, and seeing that they were across the mound of one breast I should have been more worried about that whole cosmetic thing, but strangely, I wasn't.
«Take me to them,» I said.
Richard took one arm and Nathaniel the other. They lifted me to my feet and helped me walk where I wanted to go. Micah followed us, carrying bandages. Maybe I'd even let him use them on me eventually. Remus was dead, and I wanted to know why. Or maybe, how? The thing that had come out of the darkness had been a vampire that smelled like a wolf and had claws like a powerful shapeshifter. Impossible. But Remus was dead, so it had to be possible.
«Who are you?» I asked.
«I am Harlequin.»
«One of, or the?» I asked. My voice sounded strangely distant inside my own head, as if the distance was greater than it should have been.
«I am Pantalone, once Pantaleon. I was one of the first children of the dark.»
«You didn't send us a black mask, Pantalone, but you tried to kill us. That's against council law. Hell, that's against the Mother of All Darkness's law.»
«You know nothing of our mother, human. You are not vampire, or succubus. You are a necromancer, and our laws say you can be killed on sight.»
I smelled jasmine. Nathaniel said, «Flowers.»
Richard said, «What is that?»
I felt the rain on the edge of a wind that hadn't existed for a million years. I tasted jasmine on my tongue, sweet and cloying. I wasn't afraid this time. I welcomed it. Because I knew I wasn't the one she was pissed at. Though pissed was too strong for the feeling I got as she breathed closer. Pissed was too human an emotion, and as she'd said herself, she'd lost the knack of being human.
«Marmee Noir,» Nathaniel answered Richard. I'd forgotten he'd asked a question.
«Anita,» Richard said, «fight it, fight her.»
«If you aren't going to help me do this, then get away from me.