s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

wanderings brought him back home, didn t they?
The woman walking gingerly along the dark laneway had red-gold hair reaching
halfway down her back. She stopped suddenly, looking at a man sleeping by a
shopping cart. Then she moved cautiously toward him, her gaze on the
disreputable running shoes he wore on his feet. The woman was me, I knew. The
sleeping man was Crazy Joe.
And Joe was David Crosse.
Joe bore no resemblance to the photographs I had showing the vital, handsome
man my father had been before his wholeworld was smashed beyond repair. But in
the past moments I d seen that vital man change, first into a grief-torn
husband and father who d violated the code he d lived by; then aging further
into a man shunned even by his enemies and finally hitting rock bottom as the
homeless derelict Brook had nicknamed Joe, for his coffee-drinking habit.
I knew now why Jasmine chose him as her first target. She had no interest in
killing a homeless derelict but she had every interest in killing my father
while I watched.
 So that is why you were not fullyBound to me! she exclaimed in a very
different tone than the silky one she d been affecting up until now.  The
wretch used the final dregs of his power to taint you!
I looked again at the scene. Not only did I know what I would see, I thought,
I finally understood what had happened to me two nights ago in the alleyway.
 He didn t taint me, he partially Healed me, I said hoarsely, my vision
blurring as I watched an unconscious Joe convulsively gripping my ankle as I
expelled the poison that eventually would have led me to embrace the dark side
forever.  David Crosse saved his daughter s soul, even if he didn t know what
he was doing. But that wasn t his lastHeal, that was his power stirring back
to life in him again.
Love you, Mata Hari.& I d stared at what remained of Brook s body long enough
to burn the sight into my brain. Yet I d missed the most jolting revelation of
all: torn and mutilated as it was, it had been a body, not dust and ash. Brook
hadn t died a vamp, she d died human.
And moments before she d died, the homeless man she d befriended had laid a
healing hand on her.
I turned and looked Jasmine straight in the eye.  You got screwed over by a
homeless guy and a punk-girl. Do you know what that means? I said, almost
conversationally.  It means we re going to beat you, bitch. Some of us won t
be there to see it happen, but that s okay. Wherever Brookie is, she ll know,
and so will Ramon and the rest who fall before you do. Heath knew, I added
huskily.  He said you were the past, and he was right.
For a long second Jasmine stared at me, her bright blue eyes hard with
disbelief and the dimples at the side of her mouth replaced by two lines. With
an almost visible effort, she forced a cold smile.  You have just signed a
mass death warrant, madam, she said in a whisper that shook with fury.  Now I
shall begin executing it.
This time there was no wavering transition between realities. Jasmine and I
were face-to-face, each still gripping the other, when a body crashed into me,
shouts and screams assailed my ears, and I realized we were back in the thick
of battle again.
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 Tash! Megan s appalled shout came from directly beside me and I jerked my
attention away from Jasmine for a split second to see my sister leap to her
feet. She d been the one who d crashed into me, I realized. From the horror on
her face it was obvious she saw Jasmine s grip on me and feared the worst.
 Stay out of this, Meg! I yelled, but it was too late.
 Mikhail, get Tash out of the way so I have a clear target! Stake in hand,
Megan came at us in a crouching run, the massive black wolf at her side
speeding up and springing toward me. A moment later he smashed into me like a
battering ram, breaking my hold on Jasmine and knocking me to the ground.
 La, chit, I have been killing Daughters before your great-grandmama was
born. If you think yours is the stake that will find its way into my heart,
you are as deluded as your poor father is.
I staggered to my feet. Jasmine held a barely conscious David Crosse as a
barrier between her and Megan s weapon. My sister s expression hardened.  What
are you talking about? What do you know about David Crosse?
 Why do you not ask your sister what she knows about him? suggested Jasmine
with a small smile.
 What does she mean, Tash? Megan s voice was strained.  Was the report
Dmitri received wrong? Is our father still alive?
Her glance, bright with fearful hope, flicked to me, and in that moment
Jasmine acted, thrusting David Crosse into a leaping Mikhail and smashing
Megan s stake from her grip. She grabbed Megan by the throat, lifting her off [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]