[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

I'll be angry. You don't want me angry, Jason."
He looked at me for a heartbeat or two. Something slid behind his eyes, his beast stirring to life, just a
touch. Jason had a small streak of what Gabriel had a big streak of. A fascination with danger, pain, and
simply being an all round pain in the ass. Jason was tolerable, not a bad guy, all in all; Gabriel was
perverted; but it was still the same personality flaw done small. After what I'd seen last night, I wondered
what Jason would have thought of the entertainment. I was almost sure he'd have disapproved, but not a
hundred percent sure, which told you something about Jason.
"Did you really draw a machine gun on Raina and Gabriel last night?"
"Yeah, I did."
A woman stepped out of Richard's bedroom with an armful of towels. She was about five foot six, with
short brown hair so curly it had to be natural. She wore navy slacks and a short-sleeved sweater.
Open-toed sandals completed the outfit. She looked me up and down, sort of disapproving or maybe
disappointed. "You must be Anita Blake."
"And you are?"
"Sylvie Barker." She offered a hand and I took it. The moment I touched her skin, I knew what she was.
"Are you with the pack?" I asked.
She took her hand back and blinked at me. "How could you tell?"
"If you're trying to pass for human, don't touch someone who knows what they're looking for. Your
power prickles down my skin."
"I won't waste time trying to pass then." Her power flooded over me, pouring like a blast of heat when
you open an oven door.
"Impressive," I said, glad my voice was steady.
She gave a small smile. "That's quite a compliment, coming from you. Now, I've got to get these towels
to the kitchen."
"What's happening?" I asked.
Sylvie and Jason exchanged glances. She shook her head. "You knew Richard was hurt?" She made it a
question.
Page 61
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
My stomach clenched tight. "He said he'd be all right."
"He will be," she said.
I felt my skin go pale. "Where is he?"
"Kitchen," Jason said.
I didn't run, it wasn't that far, but I wanted to. Richard sat at the kitchen table, shirtless, his back to me.
His back was a mass of fresh claw marks. There was a bite mark in his left shoulder where a piece of
flesh was missing.
Dr. Lillian was blotting blood off his back with a kitchen towel. She was a small woman in her mid-fifties
with salt-and-pepper hair cut in a short, no-nonsense style. She'd treated my own wounds twice before,
once when she was furry and looked like a giant man-rat.
"If you had called for medical attention last night, I wouldn't be having to do this, Richard. I do not enjoy
causing my patients pain."
"Marcus was on call last night," Richard said. "Under the circumstances, I thought it best to go without."
"You could have let someone clean and bandage the wounds."
"Yes, Richard, you could have let me help you," I said.
He glanced back over his shoulder, his hair spilling around his face. There was a bandage on his
forehead. "I'd had enough help for one night."
"Why? Because I'm a woman, or because you know I'm right?"
Lillian took a small silver knife to the lower half of a claw mark. She sliced the blade down the wound,
reopening it. Richard took in a deep breath and let it out.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Lycanthropes heal, but sometimes without medical attention, we can scar. Most of the wounds will heal,
but a few of them are deep enough that he really needs some stitching before the skin starts to close, so
I'm having to reopen some of the wounds and add a few stitches."
Sylvie handed Dr. Lillian the towels.
"Thank you, Sylvie."
"What are you two lovebirds fighting about?" Sylvie asked.
"Let Richard tell you, if he wants to."
"Anita agrees with you," Richard said. "She thinks I should start killing people."
I walked over to where he could see me without straining. I leaned against the cabinet island and tried to
Page 62
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
watch his face rather than Lillian's slicing knife. "I don't want you to start killing people indiscriminately,
Richard. Just back your threat up. Kill one person and the rest will back down."
He glared up at me, outraged. "You mean make an example of one of them?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]