"Allston, Aaron - Doc Sidhe 01 - Doc Sidhe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Allston Aaron)

It was too late for the rest.

Chapter Seven
The shriek rang in GabyТs ears and she sat up, disoriented. In the dimness, nothing looked familiar, not the nightstand beside the bed, not the curtains on the windows; where were her bookshelves? And who screamed?
The door into the bedroom opened, spilling light over her, and Elaine hurried in, clutching her robe close. Blond, frowzy, busy Elaine; Gaby sighed her relief as she remembered where she was. ElaineТs guest room, miles and state lines between her and all that craziness in the city.
Elaine sat on the bed beside her and brushed GabyТs bangs out of her eyes. УYou okay, honey?Ф
УYeah.Ф Gaby shivered and tried to pull the blanket up around her shoulders. УI heard a noise. Like someone shouted.Ф
УThat was you, poor thing. You must have been dreaming. You were shouting something about theyТre coming, get out of there. You must have been remembering, you know, them. This evening.Ф
УI suppose.Ф Gaby frowned. The last faint tendrils of her dream were slipping away from her, but she didnТt remember being fearful for herself. It was others she had worried about, others she couldnТt remember now.
It must have been Harris. Concern for him ate at her again. УHas there been any wordЧФ
УNo, nothing. Still no answer at his apartment.Ф
УDamn.Ф
УDid you get anything figured out? Like why some old guy and his two creeps would . . . Ф
УKidnap me? No. It doesnТt make any sense.Ф She lay back to stare up at ElaineТs sympathetic, weary face. УI donТt think they wanted to rape me. I think they wanted to find something out from me. God knows what. I donТt know anything. Anything a program manager knows, they could hire a consultant to find out, right?Ф
УWell, youТre safe here. We have a security system, Jim has his gunsЧФ
УI want to learn to shoot.Ф
Elaine looked startled. УYou always hated guns.Ф
УStill do. Guess what I hate more.Ф
УYeah. Okay, IТll tell Jim. HeТll be glad to take you out to the range he uses.Ф
УThanks, Lainie.Ф
Elaine hugged her, then rose and patted her hand. УYou try to get some sleep. But if you canТt, and you want to talk, knock on our door. Anytime. ItТs okay.Ф
УIТll do that.Ф
УаТNight, hon.Ф Elaine left, shutting the door and closing out the hallway light, but Gaby was glad to see the faint glow around the edges of the door. Nice to know that light was only a few steps away, Elaine only a few steps beyond that.
But if she didnТt get good news from the police soon, sheТd have to leave all of it. Deep inside, she knew the old man and his two thugs, including the one sheТd described as wearing a Halloween mask when she knew that wasnТt the truth, would come looking for her again.
She knew because of the way the old manТs face lit up when they caught her. Because of how happy heТd been to have her. HeТd be back. She couldnТt let Lainie and Jim get caught up in the old manТs craziness. And she had to find Harris, make sure he was safe.
The thought kept her awake as she lay alone in the dark.
* * *
Twelve men had appeared to attack them. Three surrendered unhurt. Four, including HarrisТ attackers, were alive but seriously injured. Five more were dead.
Alastair set his submachine gun aside, clucked over the dead and did what he could to bandage the wounded; Jean-Pierre bound the hands of the living and took their weapons away.
Doc gestured at the writhing flame atop the burner as if communicating with it; he frowned, clearly displeased, and closed his fist, a dramatic gesture. The fire snuffed out; the burner beneath continued to hiss until Doc walked up to twist the knob at its base.
Harris dully looked over the scene of carnage.
HeТd never seen dead men before. Four of them lay in strange poses, blood slowly spreading from chests, heads, limbs. One of them was burned black in places. The last of them, whose head lay four yards from the rest of him, was worst. Harris felt his stomach lurch. He returned to the safe haven of the television corner, restored the sofa to its wall position, and sprawled on it.
Noriko sat on the sofa opposite, serenely cleaning her blade with a cloth. Her expression was as calm as if she were a statue made of jade. Her weaponЧshe must have gone straight for it after GabrielaТs warningЧwas a little like the Japanese swords heТd once seen, but much straighter; the sheath lay beside her on the sofa. The sword went from blood-smeared to silvery clean in a couple of minutes, and Harris could see the care Noriko took not to touch its blade. Then she returned it to its sheath and gave him a calm stare. He looked away.
УYou did very well,Ф she said.
УI want to throw up.Ф
УReasonable.Ф She gestured at a small door in the corner. УThat is the water closet.Ф
But he didnТt really feel the need, not quite yet.
* * *
Doc and Alastair came clattering in from the hallway. The doctor walked over to Harris and Noriko: УThe room just downstairs, where they launched that device, is all clear. Smoke all over the room from the rocket. They sapped Leith in the elevator, but heТll recover.Ф
УThe thing that came through the floor was a rocket?Ф Harris asked.
УI fear so.Ф Alastair looked disturbed. УNot an explosive one. But then, these floors have wards to protect us against explosive attacks from outside. They must have known that.Ф
Doc knelt beside the spike in the floor, studying it without touching it, then moved off a few feet to examine what looked like streaks of black paint on the floor. He gave a whistle that sounded appreciative to Harris. УVery clever,Ф he said. УAlastair, look at this.Ф
The moon-faced doctor wandered over. Doc continued, УThis projectile shoots paint out in all directions, very precisely. The paint is so carefully oriented that it forms a continuous circle.Ф
Alastair looked up at him, startled. УA conjuring circle.Ф
УYes. See here, a few shunts sprayed other patches of paint in recognizable patterns. The required symbols of transference.Ф
Alastair looked at the symbols, and Harris did, too. They appeared to be smeared blobs on the wood, meaningless paint-squiggles. Alastair said, УTheyТre very sloppy, but correct in form. But you have all four floors warded against devisements of transference like that . . . Ф
Doc nodded, smiling, encouraging him to continue, and Alastair got it. УBut they fired the projectile through the wards, got past them physically. I understand. Damned clever.Ф
DocТs smile turned grim. УWhich means all my wards are effectively useless. I wonder if they can adapt this device for longer-range attacks. Get through any set of wards. IТll have to prepare some new types. All of this means that whoever they areЧI assume the ChangelingЧhave a deviser working with them.Ф
УHey,Ф said Harris. They all looked at him. УDonТt you think itТs about time you called the police?Ф
УThe . . . police,Ф Alastair echoed.