[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.It pulled her lips back from hernice, white teeth.It should have looked comical, but somehow, it didn t. That s what one of them keptsaying, over and over, when anyone suggested bringing in a guy.We re weak-minded, more easilyinfluenced.I ll show them weak, if I ever get out of here! Why can t you? The bars were steel, but with Were strength, that shouldn t have been a problem. Because the damn cage is warded! She slammed her hands into the side, and it didn t even make thebars rattle. Shield charm.Pretty standard. For a mage! Too bad we don t have one. Page 148 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html I m a war mage, I informed her, right before I flopped onto my face.After a moment, I got my handsunder me and pushed.Nothing happened.Come on; you re tougher than this, I told myself sternly.War mage tough.Two-hundred-push-ups-before-breakfast tough.Full metal jacket, can t handlethe truth tough.Shot a man in Reno just to watch him Really? Daniela sounded doubtful. Really.Got the certificate and everything. I somehow got to my knees. Do you ride? What? Bikes.Motorcycles.Because my piece of shit Honda is around the corner.To the left, after you go outthe front.Get it and get out of here. And what are you going to do? I fumbled around in my jacket and found the keys.They d taken my weapons, but left those.Guess noone had thought I d be using them again. Crash a party, I said grimly.The corridor outside the basement wavered alarmingly.I tried shaking my head, but that only made itworse.I finally found the stairs by stumbling into them.I gave up looking cool and climbed up on my hands and knees.Daniela had left the door open at the topand the guard dead, his neck slashed, the imprint of paw prints in the blood.Good girl.I took his gun andpotion-belt, but didn t bother strapping either on.I didn t have enough coordination, and anyway, I wasprobably going to need them soon.The telltale signature of the tag I d left on Cyrus started licking at the back of my neck.It was louder atthe end of the corridor, and alarm-like by the time I made it into a well-appointed living room filled withdecorations, presents, and a lot of freaked-out party guests.The last probably had something to do withthe man waving a gun around.He had his back to me, but I d recognize that butt anywhere. The experiment was a failure, Gil was saying, his hands in the air.He was wearing a green Christmassweater with brown reindeer on it, I noticed irrelevantly. But that doesn t mean we can t come to anarrangement.I ve heard about you.You fought your brother for the title and lost.They kicked you out ofthe clan, removed their protection, made you an outcast.Wouldn t you like to get a little of your ownback? Give me Lia and I ll think about it. I thought Were hearing was supposed to be sharp, Gil said disdainfully. The bitch is dead.Like you reshortly going to be if you don t I blinked, and in the space of time it took to get my eyes back open, Cyrus was gone and a huge blackand tan wolf was tearing apart the living room.A moment later, five guards who must have snuck up onthe outside of the house decided to hell with discretion and burst through the bow window.Gil dovebehind the sofa, Cyrus followed him, and everyone else ran screaming for the door.Within seconds, the Christmas tree went flying, the presents got mushed, and someone crashed into thecheerfully burning fireplace.It was a mage with his shields up, because he didn t get so much as singed,but he managed to fling firewood across the floor while climbing out.It turns out that wrapping paper ispretty good kindling, because the scattered presents were soon burning merrily.A few guys managed to keep enough of their wits about them to try a spell or two, but I emptied theguard s clip into them.I couldn t see straight so my aim was off and most of them had shields up anyway,but at least it provided a distraction.Only one of the people it distracted was Cyrus, who glanced at meand then did a swift double take, which looked really strange in wolf form.It wasn t much of a slip, but it allowed a couple of mages to get a net spell on him.Only that spell usuallytakes a minimum of three people, which might explain why, when Cyrus reared back, they both wentsailing over the couch.The unraveling strands of the spell trapped them and a pissed-off werewolf in asnarling, flailing ball.Instead of trying to help his beleaguered men, Gil took one look and ran for the back door, taking himstraight in my direction.I smiled and he put on the brakes. Lia.You re. Alive, yeah. Page 149 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlSweat broke out on his bald head. In the nick of time, I was about to say.What took you so long? Helpme contain that thing! Nice try.But spells have a flavor of the caster, Gil.And I broke through yours on the cage downstairs. Not to mention that, judging by the portraits on the mantel, the idiot had been running his scheme out ofhis own basement.He changed tactics without so much as a pause.It was actually kind of impressive. Don t be a fool.You re in as much trouble as I am.Help me and I ll return the favor.Otherwise, it will be my wordagainst yours.And who do you think the clans are going to believe? The one who doesn t smell like a liar, I almost said. Out of curiosity, what is the point to all this? I knowyou hate Weres, but I could give a shit about them.But the deaths of their leaders will cause chaos in the clan system, andmake them look like the unreliable allies they are.It will also discredit my brother, who talked us into thisalliance in the first place. And you would want to do that because? Because the position should have been mine! Gil snarled. The coalition decided his youth and goodlooks would appeal to more voters, and ran him instead of me
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]