JК
Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 274 из 286He rolled on his side, but the vampire stayed on him, whispering, whispering.
"Did he manage to call your beast like this?" I asked Rafael.
"Yes."
I looked at him.
He stared at the show, not meeting my eyes. "He called my beast like water pouring over my skin, then drained it away. He did it over and over, until I passed out. I woke as you found me on the rack, being skinned." His voice was neutral as he told it all, as if it were a story about someone else.
"Help him," I said, turning to Jean-Claude.
"If I enter that circle, Padma will use it as an excuse to challenge me. If it is a duel, I will lose."
"He's baiting you, then," I said.
"He is also enjoying himself, ma petite . Breaking the strong is his greatest joy in this existence."
A scream poured from Richard's mouth. A scream that ended in a howl.
"I'm going to help him."
"How, ma petite ?"
"Padma can't challenge me to a duel, and he can't call my beast. Touch makes the marks stronger, right?"
" Oui ."
I smiled and started walking towards Richard. Jean-Claude didn't try to stop me. No one did. Richard had managed to get to his knees with the vampire still molded to his back. Richard's eyes were amber wolf eyes, and he was close to panicking. This near, I could feel his beast like a huge shape just below the surface of some dark lake. When it broke the surface, it would take him with it. Rafael seemed to have accepted his loss, but Richard wouldn't. Richard would take the defeat and beat himself with it.
"What are you doing, human?" Padma asked, staring up at me.
"I'm his lupa and his third. I'm doing my job." I held Richard's face in my hands, and that was enough. The physical touch was all it took to strengthen his control. I felt his heart slow, the pulsing of his body ease. I felt that great shape sink back into the depths. Richard drew on my mark like a drowning man with a rope, coiling it around himself.
"No," Padma said. "He is mine."
I smiled at him. "No, he's mine. Whether we like it or whether we don't, he's mine."
Richard's eyes bled back to their normal brown, and he mouthed the words, "Thank you."
Padma stood in a rush, so quick it was almost like magic. He grabbed my wrist, hard enough to bruise, and I said, "You can't challenge me, because I'm not a vampire. You can't feed off of me, because I can only play victim once tonight, and Asher was my once."
Richard lay on the floor, one arm braced so he wasn't actually lying down, but I had a flash of how bone-weary he was, so tired, so weak.
"Did he manage to call your beast like this?" I asked Rafael.
"Yes."
I looked at him.
He stared at the show, not meeting my eyes. "He called my beast like water pouring over my skin, then drained it away. He did it over and over, until I passed out. I woke as you found me on the rack, being skinned." His voice was neutral as he told it all, as if it were a story about someone else.
"Help him," I said, turning to Jean-Claude.
"If I enter that circle, Padma will use it as an excuse to challenge me. If it is a duel, I will lose."
"He's baiting you, then," I said.
"He is also enjoying himself, ma petite . Breaking the strong is his greatest joy in this existence."
A scream poured from Richard's mouth. A scream that ended in a howl.
"I'm going to help him."
"How, ma petite ?"
"Padma can't challenge me to a duel, and he can't call my beast. Touch makes the marks stronger, right?"
" Oui ."
I smiled and started walking towards Richard. Jean-Claude didn't try to stop me. No one did. Richard had managed to get to his knees with the vampire still molded to his back. Richard's eyes were amber wolf eyes, and he was close to panicking. This near, I could feel his beast like a huge shape just below the surface of some dark lake. When it broke the surface, it would take him with it. Rafael seemed to have accepted his loss, but Richard wouldn't. Richard would take the defeat and beat himself with it.
"What are you doing, human?" Padma asked, staring up at me.
"I'm his lupa and his third. I'm doing my job." I held Richard's face in my hands, and that was enough. The physical touch was all it took to strengthen his control. I felt his heart slow, the pulsing of his body ease. I felt that great shape sink back into the depths. Richard drew on my mark like a drowning man with a rope, coiling it around himself.
"No," Padma said. "He is mine."
I smiled at him. "No, he's mine. Whether we like it or whether we don't, he's mine."
Richard's eyes bled back to their normal brown, and he mouthed the words, "Thank you."
Padma stood in a rush, so quick it was almost like magic. He grabbed my wrist, hard enough to bruise, and I said, "You can't challenge me, because I'm not a vampire. You can't feed off of me, because I can only play victim once tonight, and Asher was my once."
Richard lay on the floor, one arm braced so he wasn't actually lying down, but I had a flash of how bone-weary he was, so tired, so weak.