Donita K Paul [DragonKeeper Chronicles 03] DragonKnight (pdf)
Amber Kell [Hellbourne] Hellbourne [TEB MM] (pdf)
Ian Morson [William Falconer Mystery 05] Falconer and the Great Beast (pdf)
Denise A Agnew [Daryk World 03] Daryk Craving (pdf)
Ian Morson [William Falconer Mystery 04] A Psalm for Falconer (pdf)
Dead Saare J.A. Undead, or Somewhere In Between
Clarin, Leopoldo Alas La Regenta I
James Axler Outlander 02 Destiny Run
Sandemo Margit Saga o Królestwie śÂwiatśÂa 01 Wielkie Wrota
Broadrick Annette TydzieśÂ na Hawajach
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
overcoats and boots. Presumably Gabriel kept his own clothes in the
master bedroom, which featured a locked wardrobe cabinet beside the
king-sized, black-sheeted bed. She found nothing she could identify
as belonging to Caine, either. Perhaps he stashed his personal
possessions in whatever secret chamber he or they had retired to
for the day.
At the end of the hall on the first floor, a locked metal door
presumably led to an underground basement or storage area. Was this
where they retreated to keep up their charade of avoiding sunlight?
For their sake, she just hoped it wasn t infested with mold, rats, or
other unpleasant features. The image made her shudder.
70 Cassandra Pierce
In a smaller room located just off the staircase, she found just the
sort of workspace she d dreamed of. Full bookcases lined three of the
four walls, while the fourth consisted of a huge stone fireplace. Caine
had kept his word a steady blaze crackled in the grate, no doubt
accounting for the house s more comfortable atmosphere this
morning. An assortment of small logs lay to the right of the hearth.
Lindsay cautiously fed one into the fire and stepped back to watch it
flash and hiss as jagged tongues of flame consumed it.
The heat in the room grew thicker, wrapping her in a warm
blanket of relaxed contentment. An old sofa in one corner yielded a
few cushions that she artfully arranged in front of the fire, and the
bookcases around her bulged with intellectual treats. She had all
day what was the rush in getting down to serious work?
She spent the next few hours reading old books, of which Gabriel
owned an impressive number. Art history seemed a particular passion
of his, and his collection featured several huge tomes with exquisite
color plates depicting masterworks from the early 19th century. Most
of the novels and volumes of poetry dated from the same era,
including more than a few she suspected were rare collectibles. Many
bore matching leather covers and bookplates featuring the name
Blackstone, suggesting that Gabriel had inherited them.
Conscious of their value, she handled the books gingerly before
placing them back on the shelves. Though the arrangement seemed to
follow no particular order, she was careful not to jumble them up.
Still not ready to start her own work, she turned her attention to a
closet set into one corner of the room. Unlike the others, this one
remained unlocked, so full of odds and ends that the door wouldn t
shut.
In the closet, she found stacks of paintings in antique frames,
many of them featuring landscapes and still life. Though her
experience in art was somewhat limited, she knew enough to
recognize that these were not prints, but originals. The swipes of the
artist s brush still showed in certain areas of the canvas, preserved in
Loving Two Vampires 71
textured oils. Some featured the same name, Blackstone. More
relics of Gabriel s ancestors, she assumed, though she had only his
word that he even owned the house. It might be a place the two men
rented when they wanted to assume their vampire personas, or maybe
it belonged to a friend, a relative, or someone else involved in the
same lifestyle.
The largest painting leaned against the wall at the rear of the
closet, its dust-smeared back to her. Since a virtual obstacle course of
other odds and ends lay between her and it, she decided to forgo
further exploration until later.
After tossing another log on the fire, she wandered back to the
pantry and consumed her second ration of crackers and tea. If she
stayed here, she would have to find a grocery store, though the
prospect of a crash diet wasn t entirely unwelcome. No wonder Caine
and Gabriel both looked so trim. Regular meals obviously weren t
high on their priority list while they played their game. They were
content to fast and sip from those ornate goblets in Purgatory.
As she munched, her thoughts returned to her research project.
The details that had emerged about her target subculture both startled
and intrigued her. When she d put her initial plan together, she d
pegged the whole thing as an elaborate sexual fetish, not unlike the
underground bondage clubs or swingers societies some of her
psychologist colleagues had written about. Now she realized there
were dimensions she hadn t considered.
A trip back to the guest room yielded her notebook and a pen. On
a whim, she grabbed the bedspread, too, and carried everything
downstairs. Soon she was stretched out in front of the fire, lying on
her stomach with the open notebook on the floor.
Once again, the words wouldn t flow, so she contented herself
with drawing a few doodles, which became steadily more ornate until [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
