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Adrian gathered her in his arms. Isis had vanished, and the shadows were lengthening on Ravenscroft's
beach, but this was a place outside reality, and time moved differently here. He pressed a kiss to her hair,
reveling in the silkiness and the warmth that meant her life.
"I missed you too, baby," he whispered.
In the dark of early morning of the first of May, Amber looked around her kitchen table at her friends.
Kelly had transported Manny from her house to Seattle, and the Italian banged pans while he made fluffy
pancakes, omelets, and breakfast bread.
Amber had come to herself in Adrian's arms as he knelt in the mud beside the ambulance. She'd
reached up and touched his face, bloody and rough with beard, but his smile and his eyes so warm.
She remembered a dream of the Goddess, her welcoming embrace, and her own regret that she'd left
Adrian behind. The regret had turned into acute longing, and then she'd seen him in the dream as he
leaned to press a kiss to her hair. Then she was back in the clearing and saw the ambulance and
Detective Simon mad as hell and Kelly crying.
She was touched they were all so worried about her. But I'm fine, really, she'd protested. Adrian had
cradled her and kissed her, and despite the failure of the spell, she felt happy and even blessed.
The paramedics insisted on taking her to the hospital. Valerian rode in the same ambulance, grumbling
all the way. Sabina admonished him to keep still and let the EMTs do their job. He'd ended up with
nothing more serious than a broken arm. The emergency-room doctors had pronounced Amber fine,
seeming surprised at her radiant good health, and sent her home.
Now she poured herself more tea to wash down Manny's heavenly bread, and surveyed her friends.
Even Septimus had stayed, sitting comfortably in the kitchen, unworried that the sun would rise in an hour
or so.
"So," Valerian said. "The Calling failed, the demon-what did Amber call him? Kehksut?-and Thin are
still running around loose, and we have no clue where the other Immortals are."
"We have to find them anyway," Amber said. "We need to bring them together, by conventional
methods if nothing else.
She expected Adrian to join in with ideas on where to start, but he remained strangely quiet. He
reached for her hand and closed his fingers around it, but offered nothing to the discussion.
"I suppose this will involve flying around," Valerian grumbled, lifting his splinted arm to the side. "My
wing is broken."
"That's all right, sweetie," Sabina said. "They might let you on a plane."
Valerian grimaced. "I hate airplanes. The last two were full of vampires."
"You seemed happy enough to get into them at the time," Septimus pointed out.
"Flying Vamp Air was marginally better than dying on an ice floe," he growled. "Marginally. The second
time, I was anxious to get up here and save Adrian's butt."
Septimus gave him a smooth shrug, and Amber waved for attention.
"We have no way of knowing what the spell did," she said. "We don't know whether it brought the
Immortals together, or tossed them around the world, or didn't do anything at all. It will be a long time
before I'm ready to attempt something like the Calling spell again, and who says Kehksut won't shatter it
the same way next time? We have to search for the brothers without using big magic.
"Sounds tedious," Valerian grumbled.
"But we have a good team " Amber looked around the table. "A dragon, a werewolf, a powerful
vampire, a movie star, a police detective if he wants in, not to mention another Immortal." She squeezed
Adrian's hand, wondering at his quietness. No, he more than quiet. Resigned. That worried her.
She went on. "And the best resource of all, the Coven of Light. They live around the world, and the
Immortals could be anywhere. I already posted a message explaining that the spell failed. They're
standing by, asking what I want to do next."
"And what do you want to do next?" Septimus asked quietly. He flicked his gaze to Adrian, as though
he too wondered why Adrian wasn't taking over the conversation.
"Sleep for a week." She laughed a little. "I'll tell the Coven of Light to search for the Immortals using
any means necessary. I'm asking everyone here to help them, even if it means flying to Nepal to search
the top of Everest. We can use this house as a base, now that Adrian has strengthened the warding.
Bring the Immortals here, and then we can figure out how to find Tain and stop him."
Septimus put in smoothly, "From what I understand about the Immortals, Adrian might be the only one
able to drag them back here by the hair. They don't necessarily listen to anyone else."
Valerian nodded in agreement. "What does Adrian the Magnificent say?"
Adrian's eyes darkened as they did in his most inscrutable moods. He sat back in his chair, releasing
Amber's hand to cradle his coffee mug. "I won't be joining in the search."
They stared at him in stunned silence. Valerian's expression turned amazed, Sabina's mouth opened,
and Septimus raised dark brows. Only Kelly watched him speculatively.
"What do you mean, not joining in?" Valerian demanded. "Why should we be doing all the
ass-bustingwork? Tain is your brother."
"I will be here to help Amber coordinate efforts," he said. "I'll find a way to kill Kehksut and free Tain.
But finding him and the other Immortals is up to you."
Valerian's expression grew more incredulous. "So not only do we not know where to start looking, but
now you're bowing out?"
"Not bowing out," Adrian corrected him. "Lying low. Let my brothers take care of problems for a
change."
"I see you want four crazy Immortals running around loose instead of just one."
"I can't tame them," Adrian said. "But if they realizethe danger is great enough, they'll help. The problem
isn't convincing them to find Tain, it's convincing them not to hurt him when they do. That's what I need
you for." His gaze included everyone at the table. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Adrian gathered her in his arms. Isis had vanished, and the shadows were lengthening on Ravenscroft's
beach, but this was a place outside reality, and time moved differently here. He pressed a kiss to her hair,
reveling in the silkiness and the warmth that meant her life.
"I missed you too, baby," he whispered.
In the dark of early morning of the first of May, Amber looked around her kitchen table at her friends.
Kelly had transported Manny from her house to Seattle, and the Italian banged pans while he made fluffy
pancakes, omelets, and breakfast bread.
Amber had come to herself in Adrian's arms as he knelt in the mud beside the ambulance. She'd
reached up and touched his face, bloody and rough with beard, but his smile and his eyes so warm.
She remembered a dream of the Goddess, her welcoming embrace, and her own regret that she'd left
Adrian behind. The regret had turned into acute longing, and then she'd seen him in the dream as he
leaned to press a kiss to her hair. Then she was back in the clearing and saw the ambulance and
Detective Simon mad as hell and Kelly crying.
She was touched they were all so worried about her. But I'm fine, really, she'd protested. Adrian had
cradled her and kissed her, and despite the failure of the spell, she felt happy and even blessed.
The paramedics insisted on taking her to the hospital. Valerian rode in the same ambulance, grumbling
all the way. Sabina admonished him to keep still and let the EMTs do their job. He'd ended up with
nothing more serious than a broken arm. The emergency-room doctors had pronounced Amber fine,
seeming surprised at her radiant good health, and sent her home.
Now she poured herself more tea to wash down Manny's heavenly bread, and surveyed her friends.
Even Septimus had stayed, sitting comfortably in the kitchen, unworried that the sun would rise in an hour
or so.
"So," Valerian said. "The Calling failed, the demon-what did Amber call him? Kehksut?-and Thin are
still running around loose, and we have no clue where the other Immortals are."
"We have to find them anyway," Amber said. "We need to bring them together, by conventional
methods if nothing else.
She expected Adrian to join in with ideas on where to start, but he remained strangely quiet. He
reached for her hand and closed his fingers around it, but offered nothing to the discussion.
"I suppose this will involve flying around," Valerian grumbled, lifting his splinted arm to the side. "My
wing is broken."
"That's all right, sweetie," Sabina said. "They might let you on a plane."
Valerian grimaced. "I hate airplanes. The last two were full of vampires."
"You seemed happy enough to get into them at the time," Septimus pointed out.
"Flying Vamp Air was marginally better than dying on an ice floe," he growled. "Marginally. The second
time, I was anxious to get up here and save Adrian's butt."
Septimus gave him a smooth shrug, and Amber waved for attention.
"We have no way of knowing what the spell did," she said. "We don't know whether it brought the
Immortals together, or tossed them around the world, or didn't do anything at all. It will be a long time
before I'm ready to attempt something like the Calling spell again, and who says Kehksut won't shatter it
the same way next time? We have to search for the brothers without using big magic.
"Sounds tedious," Valerian grumbled.
"But we have a good team " Amber looked around the table. "A dragon, a werewolf, a powerful
vampire, a movie star, a police detective if he wants in, not to mention another Immortal." She squeezed
Adrian's hand, wondering at his quietness. No, he more than quiet. Resigned. That worried her.
She went on. "And the best resource of all, the Coven of Light. They live around the world, and the
Immortals could be anywhere. I already posted a message explaining that the spell failed. They're
standing by, asking what I want to do next."
"And what do you want to do next?" Septimus asked quietly. He flicked his gaze to Adrian, as though
he too wondered why Adrian wasn't taking over the conversation.
"Sleep for a week." She laughed a little. "I'll tell the Coven of Light to search for the Immortals using
any means necessary. I'm asking everyone here to help them, even if it means flying to Nepal to search
the top of Everest. We can use this house as a base, now that Adrian has strengthened the warding.
Bring the Immortals here, and then we can figure out how to find Tain and stop him."
Septimus put in smoothly, "From what I understand about the Immortals, Adrian might be the only one
able to drag them back here by the hair. They don't necessarily listen to anyone else."
Valerian nodded in agreement. "What does Adrian the Magnificent say?"
Adrian's eyes darkened as they did in his most inscrutable moods. He sat back in his chair, releasing
Amber's hand to cradle his coffee mug. "I won't be joining in the search."
They stared at him in stunned silence. Valerian's expression turned amazed, Sabina's mouth opened,
and Septimus raised dark brows. Only Kelly watched him speculatively.
"What do you mean, not joining in?" Valerian demanded. "Why should we be doing all the
ass-bustingwork? Tain is your brother."
"I will be here to help Amber coordinate efforts," he said. "I'll find a way to kill Kehksut and free Tain.
But finding him and the other Immortals is up to you."
Valerian's expression grew more incredulous. "So not only do we not know where to start looking, but
now you're bowing out?"
"Not bowing out," Adrian corrected him. "Lying low. Let my brothers take care of problems for a
change."
"I see you want four crazy Immortals running around loose instead of just one."
"I can't tame them," Adrian said. "But if they realizethe danger is great enough, they'll help. The problem
isn't convincing them to find Tain, it's convincing them not to hurt him when they do. That's what I need
you for." His gaze included everyone at the table. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]