L J Smith Nightworld 05 The Chosen

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.They might hear the powerboats leavingover the steady pounding of the music.Maybe she should just.Something grabbed her from behind.This time she had no warning.And she wasn't surprised anymore.Her opinionof herself as a warrior had plummeted.She intended to fight, though.She went limp to loosen the grip, then reachedbetween her own legs to grab her attacker's ankle.A jerk up would throw himoff balance.Don't do it.I don't want to have to stun you, but I will.Page 82ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlQuinn.She recognized the mental voice, and the hand clamped across her mouth.Andboth the telepathy and the skin contact were having an effect on her.It wasn't like before; no lightning bolts, no explosions.But she wasoverwhelmed with a sense of Quinn.She seemed to feel his mind-and the feelingwas one of drowning in dark chaos.A storm that seemed just as likely to killQuinn as anyone else.He lifted her cleanly and backed out of the room with her, into the hall,then up a flight of stairs.Rashel didn't fight.She tried to clear her headand wait for an opportunity.By the time he'd pulled her into an upstairs room and shut the door, sherealized that there wasn't going to be an opportunity.He was just too strong, and he could stun her telepathically the instant shemoved to get away.The tables had turned.There was nothing to do now but hopethat she could face death as calmly as he had.At least, she thought, it wouldput a stop to her confusion.He let go of her and she slowly turned to look at him.What she saw sent chills between her shoulder blades.His eyes were as darkand chaotic as the clouds she'd sensed in his mind.It was scarier than thecold hunger she'd seen in the eyes of the seven guys downstairs.Then he smiled.A smile that shed rainbows.Rashel pressed her back against the wall andtried to brace herself."Give me the knife."She simply looked at him.He pulled it out of her waistband and tossed it onthe bed."I don't like being knocked out," he said."I don't know why, but somethingabout it really bothers me.""Quinn, just get it over with.""And it took me a while to get myself untied.Every time I meet you, I seem to end up hog-tied and unconscious.It'sgetting monotonous.""Quinn.you're a vampire.I'm a vampire hunter.Do what you have to.""We're also always threatening each other.Have you noticed that? Of course,everything we keep saying is true.It is kill or be killed.And you've killeda lot of my people, Rashel the Cat.""And you've killed a lot of mine, John Quinn."He glanced away, looking into a middle distance.His pupils were enormous."Less than you might think, actually.I don't usually kill to feed.But, yes,I've done enough.I said before, I know what you think of me."Page 83ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlRashel said nothing.She was frightened and confused and had been understrain for quite a long time.She felt that at any moment she could snap."We belong to two different races, races that hate each other.There's no wayto get around that." He turned his dark eyes back on her and gave her abrilliant smile."Unless, of course, we change it.""What are you talking about?""I'm going to make you a vampire."Something inside Rashel seemed to give way and fall.She felt as if her legsmight collapse.He couldn't mean it, he couldn't be serious.But he was.She could tell.There was a kind of surface serenity pasted over the dark roiling clouds inhis eyes.So this was how he'd solved an unsolvable problem.He had snapped.Rashel whispered, "You know you can't do that.""I know I can do that.It's very simple, actually- all we have to do isexchange blood.And it's the only way." He took hold of her arms just abovethe elbow."Don't you understand? As long as you're human, Night World lawsays you have to die if I love you."Rashel stood stricken.Quinn had stopped short, as if he were startled himself by what he'd said.Then he gave an odd laugh and shook his head."If I love you," he repeated."And that's the problem, of course.I do love you."Rashel leaned against the wall for support.She couldn't think anymore.Shecouldn't even breathe properly.And somewhere deep inside her there was atrembling that wouldn't stop."I've loved you from that first night, Rashel the Cat.I didn't want to admitit, but it was true." He was still gripping her tightly by the arms, leaningclose to her, but his eyes were distant, lost in the past."I'd never met a human like you," he said softly, as if remembering."Youwere strong, you weren't weak and pathetic.You weren't looking for your owndestruction.But you were going to let me go.Strength and compassion.And.honor.Of course I loved you." His dark eyes focused again.He looked at hersharply."I'd have been crazy not to."Falling into darkness.Rashel had a terrifying desire to simply collapsein his arms.Give in.He was so strangely beautiful, and the power of hispersonality was overwhelming.And of course she loved him, too.That was suddenly excruciatingly clear.Undeniable.From the beginning he hadstruck a chord in her that no one else had ever touched.He was so much likeher-a hunter, a fighter.But he had honor, too.However he might try to denyit or get around it, deep inside him there was still honor.And like her, he knew the dark side of life, the pain, the violence.They hadPage 84ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlboth seen-and done-things that normal people wouldn't understand.She was supposed to hate him.but from the beginning she'd seen herselfin him.She had felt the bond, the connection between them.Rashel shook her head."No!" She had to stop thinking these things.She wouldnot surrender to the darkness."You can't stop me, you know," Quinn said softly."That ought to make thingseasier for you.You don't even have to make a decision.It's all my fault.I'mvery, very bad, and I'm going to make you a vampire."Somehow that gave Rashel her voice back."How can you do that-to someone youlove?" she spat."Because I don't want you dead! Because as long as you're human, you're goingto get yourself killed!" He put his face close to hers, their foreheads almosttouching."I will not let you kill yourself," he said through his teeth [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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