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.They’d have just enough time to change and repack their travel bags.Peter stepped over the copies of The New York Times that had accumulated on his doorstep and turned the key in the lock.He pushed the door open and stepped inside.Instantly he felt a prickle of alarm go up the back of his neck.Octavian hissed and gestured for Keomany and Nikki to stay back as he peered into the darkness of his apartment.Something was there.He sensed it.Something inhuman.His right hand came up, enveloped in a blue light the color of a robin’s egg.The light splashed strange shapes and shadows upon the walls and he hesitated.This apartment and the things inside it—the books and the art he had collected, not to mention the art he himself had made—were all he had of a normal life.But Nikki was with him, and Keomany as well, and whatever his hesitation about destroying his belongings, he would not risk their lives for simple things.Blue light flickered around his hand.Something shifted in the shadows at the back of his apartment, in the little corridor that led to the bedroom.“Show your face,” he snarled.“And slowly.You don’t want to piss me off right now.”A susurrus of laughter issued from that back hallway, a rolling sound that seemed to curl like mist along the floor.The shadows resolved themselves into a figure.For a moment he could not make out what it was, but then he realized that it was human.Female.Allison Vigeant stepped into the blue light, chuckling to herself.“Ooh,” she said.“Tough guy.”Peter felt a rush of relief go through him.The blue glow around his hand winked out and he reached for the light switch.When he flicked it, floor lamps on either end of his living room blinked into brilliant illumination.Allison stretched a little and yawned.“Sorry,” she said.“I took a nap while I was waiting for you.It’s been a while since I’ve had any decent sleep.”With a lopsided grin Peter went to her and pulled her into his arms.He hugged her for several long seconds, during which their crisis seemed to retreat.Then he stepped back and gazed at her, studying her; the black denim jeans and spaghetti-strap tank top, the scuffed black lace-up boots.“You look great,” he told her, smiling.“Your hair’s different.” He had been in touch with her since New Orleans—since Cody died and she had gone off with the U.N.to become their hound dog—but had not really seen her in a long time.“Variety,” she replied, pushing a hand through her red hair.“Spice of life.You, on the other hand, have gotten older.”“It happens to the best of us,” Peter replied automatically.Allison’s face shut down then, her eyes narrowing and all traces of a smile fading from her lips.“Not to all of us, though,” she said.Regretfully, Peter nodded.He said nothing, however.Anything that needed to be said on that subject had been covered long ago.Allison had never wanted to become a vampire, a shadow.The decision had been taken from her.She had been forced to enter this life and considered it her curse.Allison was haunted by it.For a long moment he just stared at her.Then he was shaken from his reverie by motion behind him as Nikki and Keomany moved farther into the apartment and closed the door.Allison’s gaze went past Peter and she smiled.“Nikki.Hey.”Peter moved out of the way, and he and Keomany watched as Nikki and Allison met in the middle of the living room.The two women were smiling but they greeted each other awkwardly; a perfunctory embrace and then two steps back to regard one another.Though both had been in New Orleans, they had not had time to grow close, yet they had shared a purpose at one time that had almost killed them both, and so had that much at least in common.“I didn’t realize you two were back together,” Allison said, her hazel eyes widening with curiosity.She put her hands on her slim hips and glanced back and forth between Peter and Nikki.In that moment she looked for all the world like nothing more than a normal woman.Attractive, yes, but still ordinary [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.They’d have just enough time to change and repack their travel bags.Peter stepped over the copies of The New York Times that had accumulated on his doorstep and turned the key in the lock.He pushed the door open and stepped inside.Instantly he felt a prickle of alarm go up the back of his neck.Octavian hissed and gestured for Keomany and Nikki to stay back as he peered into the darkness of his apartment.Something was there.He sensed it.Something inhuman.His right hand came up, enveloped in a blue light the color of a robin’s egg.The light splashed strange shapes and shadows upon the walls and he hesitated.This apartment and the things inside it—the books and the art he had collected, not to mention the art he himself had made—were all he had of a normal life.But Nikki was with him, and Keomany as well, and whatever his hesitation about destroying his belongings, he would not risk their lives for simple things.Blue light flickered around his hand.Something shifted in the shadows at the back of his apartment, in the little corridor that led to the bedroom.“Show your face,” he snarled.“And slowly.You don’t want to piss me off right now.”A susurrus of laughter issued from that back hallway, a rolling sound that seemed to curl like mist along the floor.The shadows resolved themselves into a figure.For a moment he could not make out what it was, but then he realized that it was human.Female.Allison Vigeant stepped into the blue light, chuckling to herself.“Ooh,” she said.“Tough guy.”Peter felt a rush of relief go through him.The blue glow around his hand winked out and he reached for the light switch.When he flicked it, floor lamps on either end of his living room blinked into brilliant illumination.Allison stretched a little and yawned.“Sorry,” she said.“I took a nap while I was waiting for you.It’s been a while since I’ve had any decent sleep.”With a lopsided grin Peter went to her and pulled her into his arms.He hugged her for several long seconds, during which their crisis seemed to retreat.Then he stepped back and gazed at her, studying her; the black denim jeans and spaghetti-strap tank top, the scuffed black lace-up boots.“You look great,” he told her, smiling.“Your hair’s different.” He had been in touch with her since New Orleans—since Cody died and she had gone off with the U.N.to become their hound dog—but had not really seen her in a long time.“Variety,” she replied, pushing a hand through her red hair.“Spice of life.You, on the other hand, have gotten older.”“It happens to the best of us,” Peter replied automatically.Allison’s face shut down then, her eyes narrowing and all traces of a smile fading from her lips.“Not to all of us, though,” she said.Regretfully, Peter nodded.He said nothing, however.Anything that needed to be said on that subject had been covered long ago.Allison had never wanted to become a vampire, a shadow.The decision had been taken from her.She had been forced to enter this life and considered it her curse.Allison was haunted by it.For a long moment he just stared at her.Then he was shaken from his reverie by motion behind him as Nikki and Keomany moved farther into the apartment and closed the door.Allison’s gaze went past Peter and she smiled.“Nikki.Hey.”Peter moved out of the way, and he and Keomany watched as Nikki and Allison met in the middle of the living room.The two women were smiling but they greeted each other awkwardly; a perfunctory embrace and then two steps back to regard one another.Though both had been in New Orleans, they had not had time to grow close, yet they had shared a purpose at one time that had almost killed them both, and so had that much at least in common.“I didn’t realize you two were back together,” Allison said, her hazel eyes widening with curiosity.She put her hands on her slim hips and glanced back and forth between Peter and Nikki.In that moment she looked for all the world like nothing more than a normal woman.Attractive, yes, but still ordinary [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]