[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
she smelled vaguely of fear. Concern twisted his gut.
Are you feeling any better? he asked.
Her smile was tight. Not especially. She sat in the chair closest to the door. What can you
tell me about shape shifters?
The world slipped from under his feet, but he refused to let it show. Shape shifters? You mean
like in horror stories?
No. I mean real shape shifters. People who morph from animal to human and presumably back
again. She pinned them each with a steady, distant stare. Lynxes, in particular.
What the fuck, man? Josiah s voice sounded in his head.
Daniel held her gaze. I don t understand
Hey, that makes two of us. Because I don t understand how two guys I know two guys that I
had sex with can be both animals and men. Oh and your brother, too. She paused to look at each of
them. I don t suppose either one of you wants to clue me in on that?
Ice water flooded his veins, but he forced himself to remain calm. Why would you even think
that?
Her mouth opened and closed several times as if that were the last question she d expected to
be asked. Because I saw you. All three of you.
Josiah laughed. Good one, Hollis.
She jumped to her feet. I m not joking.
Right, Daniel said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. But sometimes our eyes play
tricks on us. Especially when we re tired. He tried to tuck a flyaway lock of hair behind her ear, but
she jerked away from his touch. He continued, undaunted. And it s not like any of us have gotten a
lot of sleep lately.
Seriously? Incredulity made her voice shrill, and frustration rolled of her in waves. You re
going to try to pass this off as me being so tired from fucking you that I m seeing things? She looked
at Josiah. I can t believe you two.
Josiah simply shrugged. Do you want some wine or something?
She looked at him as if he were an idiot. No, I don t want any wine or something. What I want
is for you two to level with me and tell me what the hell is going on around here.
The color was high in Hollis cheeks, and her lips were pressed tightly together while she
waited for them to respond.
Worry twisted his gut. He didn t know which frightened him more the idea of having his
secret exposed or the possibility of losing her. The thought of never holding her again, of never seeing
her smile or hearing her cry out when she came, made his chest ache. He knew Josiah felt the same
way. Daniel could feel the other man s fear from across the room.
There s nothing going on here, Daniel finally said.
Bullshit. She dug through her purse. Sit down. I ve got something to show you.
Reluctantly, he joined Josiah on the couch while she crossed the room to the TV and slid a disc
into the DVD player. The screen crackled to life, and he saw the back porch of her cottage filmed
with a night vision camera. His stomach dropped to his feet as he realized what she was about to
show them.
Oh& fuck, Josiah said into his head.
Oh fuck was right.
So, the first night I was in the cabin, I was sitting on the back porch, she said in her best
teacher voice. As I was watching the sunset, I noticed two huge lynxes way bigger than average.
So I thought what a great project for me and the kids recording and studying data from habitat
cameras.
That s what was in the box you had delivered.
Give the boy a cookie.
All I can say is I m really glad I decided to review the material before showing it to any of my
students.
He watched in horrified fascination as the images on the screen shifted and morphed the
animal bodies stretching and reforming, becoming men. Their faces were unmistakable. This was it. If
she chose to share this, their lives as they knew them were over. He supposed they could go live in
the wilds of Canada or something. Maybe head to Alaska&
I don t even know where to start, she said. But let s skip over the part where shape shifters
exist for a sec and jump to what the hell were you doing? As near as I can figure, I was sleeping here,
and you two what? Took off for a middle of the night kitty run?
We needed to talk to Dylan, Josiah volunteered.
And what? He couldn t stop by and chat over a beer like a normal person?
I think you ve already established that you don t think we re particularly normal, Daniel said,
trying to stifle his bitterness.
You turn into cats. Giant cats, she sputtered. No. That doesn t fall under anyone s definition
of normal.
It falls under ours, Josiah said quietly.
That simple comment deflated her somewhat, and she sank onto the edge of the chair while the
DVD played on a continuous loop. I suppose it does.
So what are your plans, now? Daniel asked.
What do you mean?
I mean, he said carefully. What are you going to do with the recording?
Well, I m not going to sell it to the Weekly World News, if that s what you re worried about. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
she smelled vaguely of fear. Concern twisted his gut.
Are you feeling any better? he asked.
Her smile was tight. Not especially. She sat in the chair closest to the door. What can you
tell me about shape shifters?
The world slipped from under his feet, but he refused to let it show. Shape shifters? You mean
like in horror stories?
No. I mean real shape shifters. People who morph from animal to human and presumably back
again. She pinned them each with a steady, distant stare. Lynxes, in particular.
What the fuck, man? Josiah s voice sounded in his head.
Daniel held her gaze. I don t understand
Hey, that makes two of us. Because I don t understand how two guys I know two guys that I
had sex with can be both animals and men. Oh and your brother, too. She paused to look at each of
them. I don t suppose either one of you wants to clue me in on that?
Ice water flooded his veins, but he forced himself to remain calm. Why would you even think
that?
Her mouth opened and closed several times as if that were the last question she d expected to
be asked. Because I saw you. All three of you.
Josiah laughed. Good one, Hollis.
She jumped to her feet. I m not joking.
Right, Daniel said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. But sometimes our eyes play
tricks on us. Especially when we re tired. He tried to tuck a flyaway lock of hair behind her ear, but
she jerked away from his touch. He continued, undaunted. And it s not like any of us have gotten a
lot of sleep lately.
Seriously? Incredulity made her voice shrill, and frustration rolled of her in waves. You re
going to try to pass this off as me being so tired from fucking you that I m seeing things? She looked
at Josiah. I can t believe you two.
Josiah simply shrugged. Do you want some wine or something?
She looked at him as if he were an idiot. No, I don t want any wine or something. What I want
is for you two to level with me and tell me what the hell is going on around here.
The color was high in Hollis cheeks, and her lips were pressed tightly together while she
waited for them to respond.
Worry twisted his gut. He didn t know which frightened him more the idea of having his
secret exposed or the possibility of losing her. The thought of never holding her again, of never seeing
her smile or hearing her cry out when she came, made his chest ache. He knew Josiah felt the same
way. Daniel could feel the other man s fear from across the room.
There s nothing going on here, Daniel finally said.
Bullshit. She dug through her purse. Sit down. I ve got something to show you.
Reluctantly, he joined Josiah on the couch while she crossed the room to the TV and slid a disc
into the DVD player. The screen crackled to life, and he saw the back porch of her cottage filmed
with a night vision camera. His stomach dropped to his feet as he realized what she was about to
show them.
Oh& fuck, Josiah said into his head.
Oh fuck was right.
So, the first night I was in the cabin, I was sitting on the back porch, she said in her best
teacher voice. As I was watching the sunset, I noticed two huge lynxes way bigger than average.
So I thought what a great project for me and the kids recording and studying data from habitat
cameras.
That s what was in the box you had delivered.
Give the boy a cookie.
All I can say is I m really glad I decided to review the material before showing it to any of my
students.
He watched in horrified fascination as the images on the screen shifted and morphed the
animal bodies stretching and reforming, becoming men. Their faces were unmistakable. This was it. If
she chose to share this, their lives as they knew them were over. He supposed they could go live in
the wilds of Canada or something. Maybe head to Alaska&
I don t even know where to start, she said. But let s skip over the part where shape shifters
exist for a sec and jump to what the hell were you doing? As near as I can figure, I was sleeping here,
and you two what? Took off for a middle of the night kitty run?
We needed to talk to Dylan, Josiah volunteered.
And what? He couldn t stop by and chat over a beer like a normal person?
I think you ve already established that you don t think we re particularly normal, Daniel said,
trying to stifle his bitterness.
You turn into cats. Giant cats, she sputtered. No. That doesn t fall under anyone s definition
of normal.
It falls under ours, Josiah said quietly.
That simple comment deflated her somewhat, and she sank onto the edge of the chair while the
DVD played on a continuous loop. I suppose it does.
So what are your plans, now? Daniel asked.
What do you mean?
I mean, he said carefully. What are you going to do with the recording?
Well, I m not going to sell it to the Weekly World News, if that s what you re worried about. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]