JК
Circus of the Damned :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 185 из 210I need something that's mine andnot his. You invasive bastard."
"Find her some clothes and take her home, Richard. She needs time to adjust to this new change."
I stared at Jean-Claude still huddled on the corner of the bed. He looked adorable, and if I'd had a gun, I'd have shot him on the spot. Fear was a hard, cold lump in my gut. He meant to make me his servant, whether I liked it or not. I could scream and protest, and he'd ignore it.
"Come near me again, Jean-Claude, for any reason, and I'll kill you."
"Three marks bind us now. It would harm you, too."
I laughed, and it was bitter. "Do you really think I give a damn?"
He stared at me, face calm, unreadable, lovely. "No." He turned his back on us both and said, "Take her home, Richard. Though I do not envy you the ride there." He glanced back with a smile. "She can be quite vocal when she's angry."
I wanted to spit at him, but that wouldn't have been enough. I couldn't kill him, not right then and there, so I let it go. Grace under pressure. I followed Richard out the door and didn't look back. I didn't want to see his perfect profile in the vanity mirror.
Vampires weren't supposed to have reflections, or souls. He had one. Did he have the other? Did it matter? No, I decided, it didn't matter at all. I was going to give Jean-Claude to Oliver. I was going to give the city to Mr. Oliver. I was going to set the Master of the City up for assassination. One more mark and I'd be his forever. No way. I'd see him dead first, even if it meant I died with him. No one forced me into anything, not even eternity.
43
I ended up wearing one of those dresses with the waist that hit you about at the hips. The fact that the dress was about three sizes too big didn't help matters. The shoes fit even if they were high heels. It was better than going barefoot. Richard turned up the heat in the car because I'd refused his coat.
We were fighting, and we hadn't even had one date. That was a record even for me.
"You're alive," he said for the seventieth time.
"But at what price?"
"I believe that all life is precious. Don't you?"
"Don't go all philosophical on me, Richard. You handed me over to the monsters, and they used me. Don't you understand that Jean-Claude has been looking for an excuse to do this to me?"
"He saved your life."
That seemed to be the extent of his argument. "But he didn't do it to save my life. He did it because he wants me as his slave."
"A human servant isn't a slave. It's almost the opposite.
"Find her some clothes and take her home, Richard. She needs time to adjust to this new change."
I stared at Jean-Claude still huddled on the corner of the bed. He looked adorable, and if I'd had a gun, I'd have shot him on the spot. Fear was a hard, cold lump in my gut. He meant to make me his servant, whether I liked it or not. I could scream and protest, and he'd ignore it.
"Come near me again, Jean-Claude, for any reason, and I'll kill you."
"Three marks bind us now. It would harm you, too."
I laughed, and it was bitter. "Do you really think I give a damn?"
He stared at me, face calm, unreadable, lovely. "No." He turned his back on us both and said, "Take her home, Richard. Though I do not envy you the ride there." He glanced back with a smile. "She can be quite vocal when she's angry."
I wanted to spit at him, but that wouldn't have been enough. I couldn't kill him, not right then and there, so I let it go. Grace under pressure. I followed Richard out the door and didn't look back. I didn't want to see his perfect profile in the vanity mirror.
Vampires weren't supposed to have reflections, or souls. He had one. Did he have the other? Did it matter? No, I decided, it didn't matter at all. I was going to give Jean-Claude to Oliver. I was going to give the city to Mr. Oliver. I was going to set the Master of the City up for assassination. One more mark and I'd be his forever. No way. I'd see him dead first, even if it meant I died with him. No one forced me into anything, not even eternity.
43
I ended up wearing one of those dresses with the waist that hit you about at the hips. The fact that the dress was about three sizes too big didn't help matters. The shoes fit even if they were high heels. It was better than going barefoot. Richard turned up the heat in the car because I'd refused his coat.
We were fighting, and we hadn't even had one date. That was a record even for me.
"You're alive," he said for the seventieth time.
"But at what price?"
"I believe that all life is precious. Don't you?"
"Don't go all philosophical on me, Richard. You handed me over to the monsters, and they used me. Don't you understand that Jean-Claude has been looking for an excuse to do this to me?"
"He saved your life."
That seemed to be the extent of his argument. "But he didn't do it to save my life. He did it because he wants me as his slave."
"A human servant isn't a slave. It's almost the opposite.