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Swallowing Darkness :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 221 из 242"
Holly reached out,and Ash echoed him. They reached out for my hands as if they'd practiced the movement. Their fingers tingled power down my skin, and it must have felt the same for them, because Holly started to draw back.
Ash said, "Don't stop, Holly."
"This is a bad idea, brother," he repeated.
"This is power," Ash said, "and I want it."
Holly hesitated a heartbeat longer, then his hand moved with his brother's so that they took my hands in theirs in echoing moves. "I've followed you all my life," he said. "I won't stop now."
Then the field and the winter's cold were gone, and we stood in a circle of standing stones on a wide plain under a full moon and a summer's spill of stars.
Chapter Forty-Two
Ash swung me around so that i faced away from him, one hand on my throat, the other around my waist, pinning my sword to my body. Holly drew his own sword, and faced the outside of the circle. His sword gleamed like cold moonlight made solid.
"Take us back," Ash hissed in my ear.
"I didn't bring us here."
"Liar," he whispered, and his fingers tightened just a little around my neck. That one flex of fingers, the firmness of his palm against my throat, made my pulse speed.
I spoke carefully, not wanting to do anything to make his fingers tighten any more. "I cannot change winter to summer, or transport us to a different country."
His fingers squeezed just a little more, until swallowing was uncomfortable. "What do you mean, 'a different country'?"
I spoke even more carefully. "There are no standing stones in America, not like this."
His hand tightened until my breath wheezed under his grip.
"Then where are we?" he asked.
"A place between," a woman's voice answered.
Ash went very still beside me. His fingers didn't tighten, for which I was glad, but they didn't loosen either. My breath still wheezed out from between his fingers as he turned slowly toward that voice.
Holly said, "Who are you?"
The woman's voice said, "You know who I am."
Ash turned so that he saw her before I could, but I knew what we would see, or what I would see. She wore a hooded cloak that hid most of her face, but for an edge of chin or a glimpse of lips. She held a staff, and her hand would be pale one moment, dark the next; old and young; slender and not. She was the Goddess. She was all that was female, all that was woman, and all at once.
Holly reached out,and Ash echoed him. They reached out for my hands as if they'd practiced the movement. Their fingers tingled power down my skin, and it must have felt the same for them, because Holly started to draw back.
Ash said, "Don't stop, Holly."
"This is a bad idea, brother," he repeated.
"This is power," Ash said, "and I want it."
Holly hesitated a heartbeat longer, then his hand moved with his brother's so that they took my hands in theirs in echoing moves. "I've followed you all my life," he said. "I won't stop now."
Then the field and the winter's cold were gone, and we stood in a circle of standing stones on a wide plain under a full moon and a summer's spill of stars.
Chapter Forty-Two
Ash swung me around so that i faced away from him, one hand on my throat, the other around my waist, pinning my sword to my body. Holly drew his own sword, and faced the outside of the circle. His sword gleamed like cold moonlight made solid.
"Take us back," Ash hissed in my ear.
"I didn't bring us here."
"Liar," he whispered, and his fingers tightened just a little around my neck. That one flex of fingers, the firmness of his palm against my throat, made my pulse speed.
I spoke carefully, not wanting to do anything to make his fingers tighten any more. "I cannot change winter to summer, or transport us to a different country."
His fingers squeezed just a little more, until swallowing was uncomfortable. "What do you mean, 'a different country'?"
I spoke even more carefully. "There are no standing stones in America, not like this."
His hand tightened until my breath wheezed under his grip.
"Then where are we?" he asked.
"A place between," a woman's voice answered.
Ash went very still beside me. His fingers didn't tighten, for which I was glad, but they didn't loosen either. My breath still wheezed out from between his fingers as he turned slowly toward that voice.
Holly said, "Who are you?"
The woman's voice said, "You know who I am."
Ash turned so that he saw her before I could, but I knew what we would see, or what I would see. She wore a hooded cloak that hid most of her face, but for an edge of chin or a glimpse of lips. She held a staff, and her hand would be pale one moment, dark the next; old and young; slender and not. She was the Goddess. She was all that was female, all that was woman, and all at once.