WzM 12 Black Dawn pierwsze próbne rozdziały ENGLISH
1922 Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
J.R.R. Tolkien WśÂadca PierśÂcieni 1 Druśźyna PierśÂcienia 2
Ortega, Annmarie The Diary of Annalise[NCP]
1025. McKay Emily Gorć ce popośÂudnie
Chmielewska, Joanna Skradziona kolekcja
Jack L. Chalker Priam's Lens
Bialolecka_Ewa_ _Kamien_na_szczycie .
Roberts Nora_Czekajć c na Nicka
Jami Alden Built Down And Dirty
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My cell seemed to be maybe seven by seven, and completely barren. Cold, damp stone
comprised the four walls, and cold, damp earth the floor. When I craned my neck
upward, I saw a circular opening about two stories up. Pale blue moonlight filtered
through the bars that blocked that opening, but it didn t reach even halfway down the
walls before it was swallowed by the dark.
Shivering, I crossed my arms over my chest. You bastard, I said, but I sounded as
scared as I felt. I didn t believe Lugh would leave me down here indefinitely. He was no
doubt pissed at me for not letting him in voluntarily, but he was a lot better at letting go
of his anger than I was. But even knowing my imprisonment was bound to be short-term,
dread pooled in my gut, and my nerves vibrated as if I d drunk about fifteen cups of
coffee.
Unable to hold still, I started pounding on one wall with the flat of my hand.
Lugh! Let me out of here! Even the sound of my hand hitting the walls seemed to be
swallowed by the darkness, and my voice sounded small and tinny. If this were a real
place rather than a waking nightmare, the sound would have echoed.
My hand started to hurt from the abuse, so I kicked the wall instead, my voice rising
and growing thinner as panic threatened to overwhelm me.
Lugh!
But there was no answer, and the walls stayed firm and solid. I flung myself across the
cell to a different wall, pounding with my fist even though I knew I was bruising the hell
out of my hand. The panic was taking on a life of its own, sucking the air from the depths
of the oubliette, making my lungs work doubly hard.
The stone wall was rough and craggy, so I tried to climb it. Maybe if I were a seasoned
rock climber, I would have been able to make it to the top. Probably not, though. And
even if I had, the opening was barred.
As it was, all I managed to do was break my fingernails to the quick and throw more
fuel onto the fire of my panic. Desperate to escape, I rammed my shoulder into the wall
as if it were a door I was intent on breaking down. Of course, it didn t budge, and the
force of my charge caused me to bang my head for good measure.
The blow stunned me, and I staggered. My head spun, my knees weakened, and I
collapsed to the cold, earthen floor.
I lay there on my back, staring up at the faint hint of light from above, wishing I would
pass out, knowing I wouldn t. Tears dripped from the corners of my eyes, sliding down
my face into my ears. My whole body was drenched with sweat, and yet I shivered
incessantly, my teeth chattering loudly in the otherwise oppressive silence.
How long would it take for me to go completely mad? Some hosts seemed to lose
themselves within hours of taking on demons, but surely Lugh wouldn t do that to me,
wouldn t destroy me so utterly in a fit of pique.
My heart seemed to stutter in my chest. What if Lugh had miscalculated? What if he
thought I could stand this for a short period of time, but he was wrong? What if he tried
to free me, but he couldn t get me out? I could spend the rest of my life down here, alone
in the dark.
Terror drove me to my feet once more, and, screaming like a maniac, I battered myself
against the walls, not caring how much it hurt or how little good it seemed to do. When
battering them didn t work, I scrabbled at them with my jagged, broken fingernails, as if I
could claw my way through solid stone.
Suddenly, my limbs went completely limp, and I crumpled to the ground once more.
Chapter 28
When I fell, I curled myself into fetal position, desperate to escape the reality of my
situation. If I d had a blanket to pull over my head, I d have done it.
The first hint that I was no longer in the oubliette was the distinctive crackling sound
of fire. Then I noticed the smell of smoke in the air.
I forced my eyes open and found myself looking up at an unmarked police car, its
bubble light streaking the scene with flashes of red. Adam moved into my line of vision,
standing beside me to peer at my face.
I ll give you a hand up when you re ready, he said, and I could have sworn that was
sympathy I saw on his face. Take it slow.
I closed my eyes again and sucked in a deep breath, but the smoke smell made me wish
I hadn t. From what I could tell, my real body was uninjured, despite all the damage I d
done to myself in the oubliette. I wasn t even sweating or shivering, though my stomach
wasn t feeling too happy, and I felt like I could lie here for a week and be perfectly
content not to move.
Letting out the deep breath, I opened my eyes and held out my hand. One corner of
Adam s mouth lifted in a lopsided grin.
Never one to take it slow, are you, love?
My only answer was a soft snort. He took my hand and hauled me to my feet,
steadying me when I swayed. In the distance, I heard the sound of sirens.
We were standing by the side of the road. A few yards from us, the guardrail was
twisted and broken, and at the bottom of the embankment, a burning car lay wrapped
around an old oak tree. A little past the gap in the guardrail sat my own car, its bumper
dragging on the ground amidst a smattering of broken glass and streaks of burned rubber.
Brian stood by the car, staring down at the fire below.
My stomach threatened to revolt, but I swallowed hard. I gather my dad was driving
that car? I said, jerking my chin toward the fire.
Adam nodded. He must have fallen asleep at the wheel. He was in the wrong lane,
and when Brian honked at him, he swerved and lost control of his car. He looked at me
out of the corner of his eye. You were asleep in the passenger seat when it happened, so
you didn t see a thing.
Uh-huh. The sirens were getting closer. The fire trucks will be too late to save
him?
Adam put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, and I was so desperate for comfort
that I didn t object.
I watched Brian watch the flames below. He didn t turn to look at me, though he must
have known I was myself again. I couldn t interpret the look on his face, though it most
definitely wasn t a happy one.
Had Lugh overpowered him and forced him to participate in my father s murder? Or
had Brian held me down with the sole purpose of letting Lugh win our battle and take
over? If it was the latter, I didn t know Brian as well as I thought I did.
The next hour or two passed in a blur. I could barely string two coherent thoughts
together, so when I heard Brian describe the accident to the cops, all I could manage was
to nod my agreement. When one of the cops started pushing me to tell him what I thought
had happened, I kept repeating that I d been asleep and hadn t seen anything until he was
finally convinced he wasn t going to get anything out of me.
Brian came to stand beside me as we waited for permission to get the hell out of there.
Neither of us looked at the other as he reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze.
I m sorry, he said in a voice soft enough not to carry.
I didn t ask him for what. I extricated my hand from his. You killed my father.
He didn t look at me. No, I didn t.
But you helped.
He let out a shuddering sigh and met my gaze. Horror and pain swam in his eyes, but
his voice was firm and sure. You would have gotten yourself killed if I hadn t. I had to
choose between you and your father. I chose you.
Who was this man who stood beside me? Was he the same man who d gone ape shit [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
