Amy Lane Little Goddess 03 Bound

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end! she hollered, and the shield glowed brighter blue, then green, then
white, and when it turned white, I felt my own strength tapped. Suddenly Mario
and La Mark were human, one on each shoulder, bearing me up, and Cory hadn't
stopped swearing, but that was okay because we were winning, dammit, she was
winning, and the Hollow Man was glaring at us with unconcealed evil. The
terrible hole in his chest and his abdomen were both dripping orange viscera,
a stark testament to the obscenity of his existence.
And then the last crackle faded, and it was over, Cory's strength intact and
the blood destroyed, cooked, cauterized so cleanly off her shields that there
wasn't even vapor to testify to its existence.
"Stay away from our people," Cory ordered grimly, and I could feel her body
readying for yet another charge. She was building power to fire, I thought
with surprise. All of that, as exhausted as she was, and she was getting ready
to wipe this fucker out of existence. But she needed time, after the battle
with the poisoned blood, time to ready herself, time to charge, time to make
sure we were safe as she fired.
"Someday, you will be alone& " The Hollow Man spoke, but it was not the young
student's voice anymore. It wasn't a sepulchral wail but it had a grating
timber to it that worked its way up the soles of our feet and felt like
sandpaper in our joints, and Cory's charging became more purposeful. "Someday,
you will be alone, and I will be there& " And as she drew in a breath and
pulled back her power shoulder to throw, he was gone, destroyed body,
grotesque blood, hellish (and still small) voice and all; he had burst into
smoke so thin and acrid that only Cory's shield protected us, and not even the
belated power ball she threw at the place where Hollow Man had been could
destroy it.
I fell to my knees behind her, our hands still linked, and Mario and La Mark
with me. Together we sat, panting, on the floor of the afternoon-empty hall,
surveying the blackened space on the far wall of cinderblock where her last
burst of power had crashed, at less than full strength.
"Fuck," Cory whispered, "I must be slipping that wall should be toast.
"You were still charging, I said, although she knew that. She expected too
much from herself.
"Nice work with the whole blood thing& she said, still kneeling on the floor
in front of me, her hand wrapped around her back to clench mine. "I've never
seen you work as a weapon before.
"Definitely glad you're on our side," La Mark said from my left, and I grunted
a thanks.
"So& " I said, letting go of Cory's hand and standing with an effort, "Did
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anybody get a look at the bastard's face?
"Yeah& " Mario said, "He was an average college white boy& even when his chest
exploded and he got all Exorcist on us& you were looking right at him.
"More than average& " La Mark said regretfully, confirming my initial
impression of uncommonly pretty.
"I couldn't see him& he was& like his name& hollow, no substance, his eyes led
nowhere," I murmured, bending down to shoulder the packs, which had slid off
my shoulders when Cory had struggled out of my arms.
"Well, that makes sense& " La Mark murmured. "The vampires can smell him, the
weres can hear him, the fey can see him for what he is&
I cringed. The vampires could smell him, and Cory had been face to face with
him& the sound was unmistakable, and now I knew why she had kept her face
turned away and stayed on her knees while we spoke. So much for chicken soup.
"Goddess& " I swore, and dropped the packs with a thump. I was mortally tired
of hauling the fucking things around anyway. I reached down and yanked her
backwards, away from the mess that had spattered at her knees, then pulled out
a bottle of water and ripped off a part of my T-shirt from under my sweater
with a jerk, and began to clean her up.
"Do you have any idea how tired I am of barfing? she asked wearily. "Probably
almost as tired as you are of cleaning me up.
"The smell is that bad?" La Mark asked. Unbidden, he had run to the nearest
drinking fountain and filled up one of the empty bottles that had rolled from
her pack. She took it and drank gratefully.
"The smell is that bad," Cory affirmed, nodding and trying to stand up. She
wobbled for a moment, and then, looking purposeful, put her hand against the
wall. I sighed and went to pick up the packs again, but to my surprise I found
the two Avians had beat me to it.
"Even you are looking tired, oh mighty warrior," Mario said dryly, "Although I
think it would serve her right if we dumped the knitting out of Cory's pack
because it's hellaciously heavy.
Cory, who had been trying desperately to stand still and focus her eyes,
suddenly snapped a glare at Mario. "I can still singe your tail feathers, bird
boy," she threatened. "That sweater will be finished by the time my shift's
over tonight, and if you want to live you'll leave it where it is!
"We're not working tonight, I said firmly, scooping her up. On days like this
I was so used to her weight in my arms that I felt naked without her.
I watched her sort through several retorts to that the first, of course was
that she was fine and could work. The second would have been that Grace needed
us. But then her eyes fastened on my face, and her hand came out to pull my
shaggy bangs out of my eyes, and she smiled tiredly. "Of course. You're right.
Grace can find others to work I'll finish the sweater at home.
Mario just said I looked tired. Obviously, the only way to get her to take
care of herself was to let her take care of me.
"He knows who we are now," Cory murmured, still trying to reason things out in
my arms. "Thank you Chuck Granger. But we hurt him, I think. Maybe, while we
try to find a way to fight him, we'll be safe&
"As long as we stay together," I muttered.
"Oh good, she said brightly, "Couples counseling Hallow will love that!
"If it doesn't drive him nutsy-cuckoo, Mario said with a laugh.
"Serve him right if it does, I murmured, and together we emerged into the
thin, late sunlight, where Max and Renny were waiting, wondering what had kept
us.
NICKY
The Rules of the Road
"I love you, Nicky. Maybe not the way you dreamed as a little kid, but its
still love.
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The words haunted me. She haunted me. Every day, I lived with her, I talked to
her, I even made plans to touch her, to hold her, to be inside of her, and it
was still like living with a dream. And every time I see the way Bracken looks
at her, or the way Green smiles at her only, or hear the timbre of their
voices when they say the word 'beloved' it becomes obvious, so painfully [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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