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."I just don't have thebandwidth for this kind of thinking.I'm more up on basic humanduplicity."Roman laughed."Well, it was kind of him to think of us for the job,thanks but no, thanks.He can find his sword of retribution elsewhere.Idon't like the idea of getting between those two he-bastards when theystart beating on one another.""I hear you.Still, keep your eye out for bright shiny swords.I suspectthat we're going to need one.A silver sword covered in magic runes wouldbe best.""Silver?" Roman looked at her."I thought vampires could only be killedwith wood.""Not for Quede.For the hobgoblin.""The hobgoblin?""Lobineau probably sent a troll cross to fetch us this time, and itdidn't work.What do you think he'll send next time?" she asked softly,unhappily."And the hobgoblin won't give up like he did that first night.""The first night?" Roman looked confused."Oh, you mean the creaturethat attacked you in the alley.You think the other guy was Lobineau?"Then he nodded."Of course it was.He was muffled up to hide his scars.You know, I seem to spend a lot of my time thinking one step behind you.It's kind of annoying.""You've been busy fighting the minions of evil," Lyris pointed out.Shesmiled grimly."And I've been thinking about Lobineau and thehobgoblin.""A hobgoblin.Well, hell and damnation.""I hope not." Lyris attempted a better smile."We can cope with ahobgoblin.Maybe.But not the devil."Roman looked surprised."Is that a possibility, do you suppose?"Lyris shrugged again and spread her hands."If Lobineau knows how toraise a demon, I wouldn't be surprised if he does it eventually.The goodnews is, very few people know how." She paused."Of course, he did raisean undead hobgoblin."Roman stared at her for a long moment; then he again took upswearing in old Gaelic."I know," Lyris interrupted."But we better get going.I don't want toround out the night by meeting up with Quede or any of his servants.It'sscary to think, but Quede is probably a lot more dangerous than anythingLobineau can raise.Lobineau can hurt us physically, but there is no tellingwhat Quede can do to our minds.""I'm really wishing that wizards guild hadn't packed up and left town.""They have?""Oh, yeah.About a month ago.They suddenly decided to spend thewinter in Florida.They were pretty smart."Quede poled his raft through the sluggish stream, feeling the ever-growingpangs of frustration.He worked relentlessly at looking unthreateningwhen he dealt with the human world.It was second nature for him to keepthe robes of glamour pulled over his features.He had known from the startthat the constant effort was draining but necessary.Old goblins looked ashideous as spawning salmon and vampirism hadn't stopped thistransformation wreaked by age.It was by will and magic alone that heappeared youthful, handsome& human.It had been years since he had allowed anyone to photograph him.Filmwas not susceptible to glamours the way the human mind was, andphotographs showed his true nature celluloid and digital portraits ofDorian Gray.This wasn't acceptable.Humans, for all their talk of equality,preferred to deal with beautiful people.And Quede had lived among themlong enough that he had come to adopt their standards of attractivenesseven while despising them.Being thought handsome by his enemies hadbecome something vital to him like a heart or kidney.Though, that wasperhaps an inexact analogy because he wasn't sure that he actually neededeither of those organs anymore.He&Quede lifted his head and inhaled.Sylph, pooka, troll and a hobgoblin! All four had been in his mansion again.Damn them! How dare theyinvade his home! Was it a conspiracy?Anger flared, and Quede's vision went red.His leniency had made themthink that he was something with which they could toy.Well, he wouldn'ttolerate it not anymore! He should have killed the priest the moment hesuspected him of trafficking with magic!Galvanic rage filled his head, putting pressure on the bony plate thatencased his brain and making Quede almost certain that this time hisskull would split in two.He sent his message out into the air.He told people that he didn't likegetting angry but he knew it was a lie.Sometimes he enjoyed it.Sometimes he loved anger and its consequences more than anything, evenlife.Chapter Twelve"Danger makes one clear-headed, stiffens the sinews, gets one's musclesprimed and ready to work, puts the senses on high alert ""And sometimes causes unwanted bowel movements," Roman joked.Then his head jerked up."Damn it!"Lyris felt it, too.It was electricity, like a billion ants boiling over herbody."It's lightning.Run!" she cried.A vicious flash followed by a vociferous roar drowned out her words.And, after that first explosion, the storm was an unbroken threnody ofdazzling light and deafening thunder that chased their fleeing heels.Itdidn't require a great deal of imagination to guess that Quede's temperwas behind the phenomenon."I guess he found the body," Roman shouted.Lyris nodded as they ran.She saved her breath.Her muscles wereburning oxygen at a terrific pace, and there didn't seem to be enough airto replace it.Roman asked, "You think maybe the troll wasn't Lobineau's after all?Maybe Quede's pissed because we broke his toy.""I can't think with all this noise!" she gasped.A sense of inescapabledanger had broken over her like a sonic boom.It tore through theatmosphere, more dangerous than the lightning around them.The rain fell on them like a shower of gravel, hard in a way that nonormal water could be.Sudden cold clamped a vise around her temples."Ow! What's in this stuff?" Lyris's breath was white as she spoke.Lightning, growing closer, answered before Roman could."I don't know," he said when the thunder quieted, "but it isn't normal.And the sooner we're out of it the better.""I wish we hadn't been cautious and left the car so far away," Lyriscomplained, picking up speed, trying to match Roman's long, elasticstride.He didn't answer.They had already discussed this.Ancient redJags were not ubiquitous and therefore not the sort of anonymous vehiclethey needed.Probably he was grateful that his treasure was safely awayfrom the punishing rain and hail."We won't make it to the car.Head into the woods.It's the only shelter!"As they pushed through the narrow woodland, the mixed autumn trees'few remaining leaves fluttered overhead like frantic birds attempting ahopeless flight from danger.They would be shredded if they didn't soonescape the force of Quede's wrathful wind.Not trying to speak anymore, they simply ran, leaping over barricadesas they came to them, not slowing or detouring for streams, snares, orboggy ground.Still the lightning chased them, and all around the worldturned white with frost."Here!" Roman gasped, grabbing her arm.The night was in its last few fearful minutes, and Lyris on her last legs,when they finally stumbled into a stone ruin that might have once been asmokehouse but now housed a still."H-h-hallelujah!" Lyris muttered, stuttering with cold and a lack of air.In spite of their exertions, she was trembling with frostbite, and dizzinessfloated through her head, veiling it with mental cobwebs."Amen," Roman added, slipping off his backpack.He was alsobreathing hard, every exhalation a large white puff of frozen pant."Hangon, honey, and catch your breath.Let me start a fire.""Do we dare stop? It's still dark.He might come after us," she said.Avicious bolt of lighting struck outside, splitting a sapling in two.Thethunder's reverberation seemed to shake the very foundations of the tinybuilding.Golf-ball-sized hailstones began to fall."I don't think we have a choice.We can't outrun the lightning anymore.Somehow Quede seems to be able to send it after us no matter which waywe turn.And this storm is much bigger than last time." Roman's voicewas hoarse [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]