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.Matthias leaned back on the bed, grinning, remembering their laughter.He looked up through the skylights, where he could see a thin crescent of moon and a few bright stars.He could also see the lights of a nearby office building and a flashing red beacon that he thought was meant to warn airplanes and helicopters of a radio tower.He could see something else, too, something that he did not immediately recognize.It seemed to be getting closer, however, and in a moment more Matthias realized that he was looking at a human form, plummeting down from a great height and angled directly at the glass windows above him.Matthias leapt from his bed as the body fell through the skylight, and even as he was thinking that this must be some sort of suicide attempt, he realized that the body was not crashing to the floor in a jumble but rather landing on its feet, absorbing the impact with its knees, and springing forward.He saw long blonde hair streaming out behind it and there was a bright flash of metal.Matthias heard a woman’s snarling cry as the figure grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall, pressing the tip of a blade to the soft spot below his chin.“Move an inch and I will cut your head from your body,” the woman told him, and Matthias looked at her in surprised awe.He knew few people who could have performed that landing and the follow-up leap forward, and all of those were vampires.This woman was not a vampire, though he did not know if she was exactly human, either.She was certainly a trained professional of some sort, dressed head to toe in black combat gear.How very remarkable, he thought to himself, but he said nothing, afraid that if he moved then the blade she held to his throat would pierce into him and let his blood out all over the exquisite Oriental rug upon which he stood.There were crashing noises now from the living room and a woman’s screaming that was cut short by a loud thud.Someone – Matthias thought it was the human male – voiced a protest at this, but his cry was choked off midway through.In another few moments, there was a knock at the door.“Enter,” said the woman who was holding him against the wall, and Matthias watched with a kind of horrified curiosity as the door opened and a young, dark-skinned woman stepped in.She too was clothed in black.Rather than blades, she carried in her hand a silenced pistol and at her side, hanging like fruit, were two oblong, textured objects that Matthias thought were hand grenades.“We’ve got the other two bats contained, and the humans have learned to shut up and mind their manners,” the black girl said, and the blonde nodded.“Good.”“You want us to bring them in here?”“No.I’ll take him out.Go make sure they don’t get any stupid ideas.”The black girl turned on her heel without another word and strode back into the living room.The blonde turned to Matthias, and he saw that her eyes were a clear and brilliant blue.“We’re going to walk into the living room,” she told him.“You first, me behind you.If you try to run, or attack, or do anything else that upsets me, I will put this blade right between your shoulders.It will come out just above your collarbone, it will leave you alive, and it will be excruciatingly painful, especially when I start twisting it.Are we clear on this?”“Yes,” Matthias said, still mindful of the metal point pressed into the flesh under his chin.“You’re an old Eresh, so you must be fairly fast.Do I need to tell you that I’m faster?”“No.” Matthias had seen her move after she came crashing through the skylight.He knew very well how fast she was.“Good,” the woman said.She took the blade away from his skin and held it unsheathed at her side.“Go.”“Are you going to kill me?” Matthias asked her.“If you don’t start walking, yes.If you do exactly what you’re told and stop asking stupid questions, you might get through this.”“Please,” he said.“I don’t … kill me if you must, but leave my children.They’ve hurt no one.”The woman gave him a disgusted, mocking laugh, and she pointed toward the bedroom door.“Get moving.”Matthias did as he was told, moving slowly and deliberately so that this woman holding him hostage would know that he did not intend to fight.Matthias had never been much for fighting; that sort of thing was best left to the Ay’Araf.He was Eresh and not a warrior, though he thought he might soon be put in a place where there would be no other alternative.His fledglings were sitting on the living room’s large sofa, flanked by two black-clothed human men.Adrianus, the younger of the two vampires, looked disgusted and angry.Mikel, older by twenty years and more even-tempered than his brother, seemed to be in control of his emotions.He was looking at one of the human women.She was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood running from her nose to the carpet.She wasn’t wearing a shirt, and her bare breasts were not rising and falling in the way that they should have been – they were still, and Matthias knew she was dead.The other two humans were each being held with their hands behind their backs by a member of whatever strike force this might be.Both were still fully clothed, though the man’s shirt was unbuttoned.He had a black eye and livid red marks around his neck, just below the edges of his long, dark hair.The girl next to him, a tall woman with a large mass of tightly curled red hair pulled back in a ponytail, was weeping quietly but seemed unharmed.The black girl who had come into the bedroom was standing at the far end of the apartment, looking out at the city.She glanced over her shoulder as they came into the room, watching Matthias’s slow progression forward, and then resumed looking out the window [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Matthias leaned back on the bed, grinning, remembering their laughter.He looked up through the skylights, where he could see a thin crescent of moon and a few bright stars.He could also see the lights of a nearby office building and a flashing red beacon that he thought was meant to warn airplanes and helicopters of a radio tower.He could see something else, too, something that he did not immediately recognize.It seemed to be getting closer, however, and in a moment more Matthias realized that he was looking at a human form, plummeting down from a great height and angled directly at the glass windows above him.Matthias leapt from his bed as the body fell through the skylight, and even as he was thinking that this must be some sort of suicide attempt, he realized that the body was not crashing to the floor in a jumble but rather landing on its feet, absorbing the impact with its knees, and springing forward.He saw long blonde hair streaming out behind it and there was a bright flash of metal.Matthias heard a woman’s snarling cry as the figure grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall, pressing the tip of a blade to the soft spot below his chin.“Move an inch and I will cut your head from your body,” the woman told him, and Matthias looked at her in surprised awe.He knew few people who could have performed that landing and the follow-up leap forward, and all of those were vampires.This woman was not a vampire, though he did not know if she was exactly human, either.She was certainly a trained professional of some sort, dressed head to toe in black combat gear.How very remarkable, he thought to himself, but he said nothing, afraid that if he moved then the blade she held to his throat would pierce into him and let his blood out all over the exquisite Oriental rug upon which he stood.There were crashing noises now from the living room and a woman’s screaming that was cut short by a loud thud.Someone – Matthias thought it was the human male – voiced a protest at this, but his cry was choked off midway through.In another few moments, there was a knock at the door.“Enter,” said the woman who was holding him against the wall, and Matthias watched with a kind of horrified curiosity as the door opened and a young, dark-skinned woman stepped in.She too was clothed in black.Rather than blades, she carried in her hand a silenced pistol and at her side, hanging like fruit, were two oblong, textured objects that Matthias thought were hand grenades.“We’ve got the other two bats contained, and the humans have learned to shut up and mind their manners,” the black girl said, and the blonde nodded.“Good.”“You want us to bring them in here?”“No.I’ll take him out.Go make sure they don’t get any stupid ideas.”The black girl turned on her heel without another word and strode back into the living room.The blonde turned to Matthias, and he saw that her eyes were a clear and brilliant blue.“We’re going to walk into the living room,” she told him.“You first, me behind you.If you try to run, or attack, or do anything else that upsets me, I will put this blade right between your shoulders.It will come out just above your collarbone, it will leave you alive, and it will be excruciatingly painful, especially when I start twisting it.Are we clear on this?”“Yes,” Matthias said, still mindful of the metal point pressed into the flesh under his chin.“You’re an old Eresh, so you must be fairly fast.Do I need to tell you that I’m faster?”“No.” Matthias had seen her move after she came crashing through the skylight.He knew very well how fast she was.“Good,” the woman said.She took the blade away from his skin and held it unsheathed at her side.“Go.”“Are you going to kill me?” Matthias asked her.“If you don’t start walking, yes.If you do exactly what you’re told and stop asking stupid questions, you might get through this.”“Please,” he said.“I don’t … kill me if you must, but leave my children.They’ve hurt no one.”The woman gave him a disgusted, mocking laugh, and she pointed toward the bedroom door.“Get moving.”Matthias did as he was told, moving slowly and deliberately so that this woman holding him hostage would know that he did not intend to fight.Matthias had never been much for fighting; that sort of thing was best left to the Ay’Araf.He was Eresh and not a warrior, though he thought he might soon be put in a place where there would be no other alternative.His fledglings were sitting on the living room’s large sofa, flanked by two black-clothed human men.Adrianus, the younger of the two vampires, looked disgusted and angry.Mikel, older by twenty years and more even-tempered than his brother, seemed to be in control of his emotions.He was looking at one of the human women.She was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood running from her nose to the carpet.She wasn’t wearing a shirt, and her bare breasts were not rising and falling in the way that they should have been – they were still, and Matthias knew she was dead.The other two humans were each being held with their hands behind their backs by a member of whatever strike force this might be.Both were still fully clothed, though the man’s shirt was unbuttoned.He had a black eye and livid red marks around his neck, just below the edges of his long, dark hair.The girl next to him, a tall woman with a large mass of tightly curled red hair pulled back in a ponytail, was weeping quietly but seemed unharmed.The black girl who had come into the bedroom was standing at the far end of the apartment, looking out at the city.She glanced over her shoulder as they came into the room, watching Matthias’s slow progression forward, and then resumed looking out the window [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]