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The Harlequin :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 326 из 330Then I'd gone and spoiled it by killing Nivia. I didn't tell her that I wasn't even certain why Nivia had died, or what I'd done to cause it. Maybe Jean-Claude could help me figure it out later. Columbine was going to be the beard, the stalking horse, for Pantalone. Once he ruled here, even the Mother of All Darkness couldn't force him to abandon his territory. All of them, Pantalone, Nivia, Soledad, and Giovanni had all taken assassination jobs. The only question she hesitated on, even for a second, was, «Which council members did you work for?»
«They'll kill me.»
«You don't have to be afraid of them anymore, Columbine.»
«You'll protect me?»
«In a way. You don't have to be afraid of the council killing you later, because we're going to kill you tonight, remember? All we're negotiating on is whether you die easy, or hard. Your choice.»
She shook her head.
«Olaf.»
«Yes.»
«We have to cut her heart out anyway. Want to do it first?»
He stared at me as if wondering if I was kidding. I remembered Remus's body in my arms. I knew now that I'd felt his body jerk as Pantalone had forced his arm through his chest, through his heart, dug his way through, and killed him. I could still hear his last whispered «I'm sorry.» Not «help me,» or «God, it hurts,» but «I'm sorry.»
«Do it,» I said.
They held her down, and they held Giovanni down, and Olaf ripped her costume open, bared her breasts to the room, and began very slowly to carve out her heart. He didn't get very far before she gave up the names. Master of Beasts and the Lover of Death.
Olaf didn't stop when she gave up the names. He'd gone to his happy place. It was like trying to argue with an autistic child; he just didn't hear us.
Columbine screamed, «I answered your questions. In the name of the dark, kill me.»
I told Wicked to behead her. He did, one clean blow that scarred the wood underneath her. I could never get a head to come off in one blow. Olaf looked up as the blood poured out of the neck in a crimson fountain. «I wasn't finished.»
«She gave the information up a while ago. I promised her a quick death if she told me what I needed to know.»
He gave me a look that wasn't friendly at all.
«You can still cut out her heart,» I said.
«It's not the same,» he said, and the look on his face was nothing I understood, or wanted to understand.
I started to apologize for not letting him cut out her heart while she was still alive, then I caught myself.
«They'll kill me.»
«You don't have to be afraid of them anymore, Columbine.»
«You'll protect me?»
«In a way. You don't have to be afraid of the council killing you later, because we're going to kill you tonight, remember? All we're negotiating on is whether you die easy, or hard. Your choice.»
She shook her head.
«Olaf.»
«Yes.»
«We have to cut her heart out anyway. Want to do it first?»
He stared at me as if wondering if I was kidding. I remembered Remus's body in my arms. I knew now that I'd felt his body jerk as Pantalone had forced his arm through his chest, through his heart, dug his way through, and killed him. I could still hear his last whispered «I'm sorry.» Not «help me,» or «God, it hurts,» but «I'm sorry.»
«Do it,» I said.
They held her down, and they held Giovanni down, and Olaf ripped her costume open, bared her breasts to the room, and began very slowly to carve out her heart. He didn't get very far before she gave up the names. Master of Beasts and the Lover of Death.
Olaf didn't stop when she gave up the names. He'd gone to his happy place. It was like trying to argue with an autistic child; he just didn't hear us.
Columbine screamed, «I answered your questions. In the name of the dark, kill me.»
I told Wicked to behead her. He did, one clean blow that scarred the wood underneath her. I could never get a head to come off in one blow. Olaf looked up as the blood poured out of the neck in a crimson fountain. «I wasn't finished.»
«She gave the information up a while ago. I promised her a quick death if she told me what I needed to know.»
He gave me a look that wasn't friendly at all.
«You can still cut out her heart,» I said.
«It's not the same,» he said, and the look on his face was nothing I understood, or wanted to understand.
I started to apologize for not letting him cut out her heart while she was still alive, then I caught myself.