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.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlas a werewolf.'I:You don't like werewolves?""They're great if you like double-digit IQs.""But you let them in the dubs.""Some dubs.Night People may not marry out of their own kind, but they allmix: lamia, made vampires, werewolves, both kinds of witches." Poppy, whohad been playing at intertwining their fingers in different ways, shiftedcuriously."What's both kinds of witches?""Oh.there's the kind that know about their heritage and have beentrained, and the kind that don't.That second kind are what humans callpsychics.Sometimes they just have latent powers, and some of them aren't evenpsychic enough to find the Night World, so they don't get in."Poppy nodded."Okay.Got it.But what if a human walks into one of thosedubs?""Nobody would let them.The dubs aren't what you'd call conspicuous, andthey're always guarded.""But if they did."James shrugged.His voice was suddenly bleak."They'd be killed.Unlesssomebody wanted to pick them up as a toy or pawn.That means a human who'sbasically brainwashed-who lives with vampires but doesn't know it because ofthe mind control.Sort of like a sleepwalker.I had a nanny once." Hisvoice trailed off, and Poppy could feel his distress."You can tell me about it later." She didn't want him ever to be hurt again."M'm." He sounded sleepy.Poppy settled herself more comfortably against him.It was amazing, considering her last experience going to sleep, that she couldeven shut her eyes.But she could.She was with her soulmate, so what could go wrong? Nothingcould hurt her here.Phil was having trouble shutting his eyes.Every time he did, he saw Poppy.Poppy asleep in the casket, Poppy watchinghim with a hungry cat's gaze.Poppy lifting her head from that guy's throat toshow a mouth stained as if she'd been eating berries.She wasn't human anymore.And just because he'd known all along that she wouldn't be didn't make it anyeasier to accept.He couldn't-he couldn't--condone jumping on people and tearing up theirthroats for dinner.And he wasn't sure that it was any better to charm peopleand bite them and then hypnotize them to forget it.The whole system was scaryon some deep level.Maybe James had been right humans just couldn't deal with the idea that therewas somebody higher on the food chain.They'd lost touch with their cavemanancestors, who knew what it was like to be hunted.They thought all thatprimal stuff was behind them.Could Phillip tell them a thing or two.The bottom line was that he couldn't accept, and Poppy couldn't change.Andthe only thing that made it bearable was that somehow he loved her anyway.Poppy woke in the dim, curtained bedroom the next day to find the other halfof the bed empty.She wasn't alarmed, though.Instinctively she reached outwith her mind, and.there.James was in the kitchenette.She felt.energetic.Like a puppy straining to be let loose in a field.Butas soon as she walked into the living room, she felt that her powers wereweaker.And her eyes hurt.She squinted toward the painful brightness of awindow."It's the sun," James said."Inhibits all vampire powers, remember?" He wentover to the window and dosed the curtains-they were the blackout type, likethe ones in the bedroom.The midafternoon sunshine was cut off."That shouldhelp a little-but you'd better stay inside today until it gets dark.Newvampires are more sensitive."Page 63ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlPoppy caught something behind his words."You're going out?""I have to." He grimaced."There's something I forgot my cousin Ash issupposed to show up this week.I've got to get my parents to head him off.""I didn't know you had a cousin."He winced again."I've got lots, actually.They're back East in a safe town-awhole town that's controlled by the Night World.Most of them are okay, butnot Ash.""What's wrong with him?""He's crazy.Also cold-blooded, ruthless-""You sound like Phil describing you.""No, Ash is the real thing.The ultimate vampire.He doesn't care aboutanybody but himself, and he loves to make trouble."Poppy was prepared to love all James's cousins for his sake, but shad to agreethat Ash sounded dangerous."I wouldn't trust anyone to know about you just now," James said, "and Ash isout of the question.I'm going to tell my parents he can't come here, that's all."And then what do we do? Poppy thought.She couldn't stay hidden forever.Shebelonged to the Night World-but the Night World wouldn't accept her.There had to be some solution-and she could only hope that she and James wouldfind it."Don't be gone too long," she said, and he kissed her on the forehead, whichwas nice.As if it was getting to be a habit.When he was gone, she took a shower and put on dean clothes.Good oldPhil-he'd slipped in her favorite jeans.Then she made herself putter aroundthe apartment, because she didn't want to sit and think.Nobody should have tothink on the day after their own funeral.The phone sat beside the square couch and mocked her.She found herselfresisting the impulse to pick it up so often that her arm ached.But who could she call? Nobody.Not even Phil, because what if somebodyoverheard him? What if her mother answered?No, no, don't think about Mom, you idiot.But it was too late.She was overwhelmed suddenly, by a desperate need to hearher mother's voice.Just to hear a "hello." She knew she couldn't say anythingherself.She just needed to establish that her mom still existed.She punched the phone number in without giving herself time to think.Shecounted rings.One, two, three."Hello?"It was her mother's voice.And it was already over, and it wasn't enough.Poppy sat trying to breathe, with tears running down her face.She hung there,wringing the phone cord, listening to the faint buzz on the other end.Like aprisoner in court waiting to hear her sentence."Hello? Hello." Her mother's voice was flat and tired.Not acerbic.Prankphone calls were no big deal when you'd just lost your daughter.Then a click signaled disconnection.Poppy clutched the earpiece to her chest and cried, rocking slightly.At lastshe put it back on the cradle.Well, she wouldn't do that again.It was worse than not being able to hear hermother at all.And it didn't help her with reality, either [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]