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.Luckily, she also left a hint of magic in the air that made it possible to track her.Surefooted in thelight of the moon, the Sidhe followed her across yards, jumping hedges and colorful objects thatappeared to be children's toys.Llyr found himself splashing through a wading pool made of somekind of fabric, grimacing as he soaked his breeches to the knee.He didn't break step, though heallowed himself a moment's smile at the splashing and growled curses as his men hit the sameobstacle behind him.But none of them stopped."You see?" Adsulata gestured at the scrying mirror she'd conjured.Its silvered surface showedLlyr's back as he ran through the night, pursuing the Direkind woman."It's as I said.That werewolfhas Egan and the king chasing vampires on Mortal Earth."Ansgar Galatyn sat back against the headboard of his bed, watching the mirror with narrow-eyedinterest.His little spy was right, Llyr was trying to cement his alliance with Arthur by aiding theMagekind on this latest idiotic quest of theirs.He was just going to have to do something about that.Silently, Ansgar counted his brother's bodyguards.Four.Nowhere near enough, but then, Llyr hadalways been convinced he could handle any assassin Ansgar sent.Unfortunately, he'd been right Ansgar's men had succeeded in killing Llyr's wives and children,but never the bastard himself.It was as if Cachamwri himself protected him.Tits of the Goddess, it was frustrating.Ansgar would have much preferred to simply challengethe lackwit and kill him, but he didn't dare.Dearg had seen to that, interfering old bastard.Ansgarwished he'd known that before he'd betrayed his father into that demon ambush.He'd haveeliminated Llyr first and saved himself the trouble.As it was, he had to make sure Llyr died in away that was not immediately traceable to him.Ansgar stroked his spy's bare breast and considered the image she'd created for him.This questof Llyr's had real potential as something he could use.Particularly this murderous vampire.How convenient it would be if she killed Llyr.Nobodywould be able to trace the assassination back to Ansgar.All he had to do was find the vampire first.Llyr caught up to Diana when she stopped between two houses, her wolf ears pricked as shestared at whatever lay beyond them.Odd patterns of blue light struck the building and disappeared.He threw up a fist as he stopped, and his men skidded to a halt behind him, going silent and alert.Cautiously, Llyr moved up beside Diana.A cluster of mortal vehicles lined the street, some ofthem parked at haphazard angles that seemed odd compared to what he'd noticed earlier in the day.The vehicles were topped with long electric lights that produced the blue flashes he'd noticed.Some of the cars were marked with VERDAVILLE POLICE, others with GRAYSON COUNTYSHERIFF.All terms for their officers of the law.The home must be the location of the murder.Magic shimmered, and suddenly Diana was standing next to him in human form, once more in herblue uniform."Oh, hell.""What?" He glanced over at her.Her expression was so grim, he tensed."We've got media.This isn't good.And what the hell are they doing out here at four in themorning, anyway?" She glanced at him."Hey, that glamor thing of yours does it fool televisioncameras?""That depends.What is a television camera?""Mechanical device.Collects digital images, which that live truck" she nodded at a large, boxyvehicle parked down the street "beams back to a television station, which broadcasts it to ahundred thousand people or so.At least in this market.""What market?" Llyr frowned; he hadn't seen any sort of bazaar.Then he dismissed the questionas yet another overcomplicated mortal reference."The answer is no, in any case.A glamor is aspell that only affects people in my immediate vicinity."She rolled her eyes."Which means the entire television audience will wonder how my policechief mistook members of a rock band for the FBI.""You do realize I understood perhaps two words in that entire sentence?"Diana indicated the men behind him."Let me break it down for you the butt-length pastel hair isa problem.I don't suppose y'all could cut it?"Llyr winced."No.""Tie it up and stuff it under a hat?""What kind of hat?""A fedora, maybe.""A what?""Haven't you ever seen a Bogart movie? Oh, forget it.We don't have time.Maybe we can takeyou in the back way, avoid the cameras.""Or perhaps I will tell the mortals not to use their devices on us." He started across the grasstoward the truck.He'd never understand why mortals had to make simple things so complicated.CHAPTER SEVENThe young man sat slumped in the wooden chair, his throat and groin ripped to bloody shreds.His intestines had been torn from his abdominal cavity and draped over his body like tinsel arounda Christmas tree.Chief William Gist crouched in front of the corpse, smoking a cigarette and contemplating hisown guilt.It was brutally obvious this case was related to the one two nights before.He couldn'tunderstand why he'd dropped it the minute that FBI asshole told him to.Regardless of what they thought, the Feebees were not God's gift to law enforcement.Besides,the people of Verdaville were his responsibility.It was his duty to protect them from this kind ofshit, and he hadn't.With a sigh, he rose to his feet and glanced at his watch.Where the hell was Diana? He neededher nose for this.They had to find this prick and put him away.Preferably tonight.Light flashed behind him.Must be the crime scene photog.Gist turned." 'Bout time you got here.I want a " He broke off and stared.The guy was built like a running back for the Carolina Panthers, but he had black hair down pasthis ass.He wore some kind of poofy shirt with a velvet vest, tights, knee boots, and a cape thatdraped over one shoulder and under the opposite arm.Gist barked out a laugh."What the fuck areyou supposed to be? And how did you get in here, anyway? Hey, Jones! Get in here.I need you to ""Silence," the fruit growled.And suddenly Gist couldn't say a word.Looking into the man's cruel black eyes, the chiefsuddenly felt a raw, cold terror greater than anything he'd ever known before.Mentally cursing, Diana hurried in Llyr's wake.He might have the world's most luscious ass,but he was a loose cannon.She could already tell she was going to have her hands full keeping himfrom making a bad situation worse.She'd been tempted to tell him she didn't need his help, but she suspected he wouldn't listen.Besides, the galling fact was, she did need him.Diana's quick and dirty circuit of the area had revealed not so much as a whiff of vampire.Shewas going to have to spend quality time with her nose on the pavement to trail the little psychopath.Assuming, of course, the vampire hadn't created one of those magical gates and zapped herselfwherever.All of which meant Llyr's magic hands might prove useful in more than just the carnal sense.Diana was just going to have to grit her teeth and keep an eye on him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]