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

He came up off his jumping foot and brought the same leg up before him in extensionЧa flying side kick he could tell was picture-perfect. It took the biggest man in the side and the impact jarred Harris from foot to gut.
The huge man felt as though he were made of skin stretched over Jell-O, but he still fell over backwards, hissing out a gasp of air. Harris hit the ground hard but scrambled up instantly. УGaby?Ф
The bag said, УHarris?Ф and her arm reached out of it.
The old man merely said, УMine.Ф He took a step toward Harris and reached under his coat.
Harris saw the glint of the gunТs slide in the moonlight. He threw a hard block, cracking his forearm into the older manТs wrist, and the pistol went flying into the darkness.
The old man stepped back, grabbing at his wrist and frowning. УPhipps, I need this young man removed. Adonis, get up.Ф
УGaby, get the hell out of here!Ф
The man with the football playerТs build stood his ground and pulled something out from under his armpit.
Harris felt fear clutching at him, but he charged and side-kicked just as Phipps got his revolver out into the open. His kick connected, driving the manТs arm hard into his chest, cracking something, knocking the man clean off his feet.
The gun dropped, but Phipps sat up and scrabbled around for it with his good arm. Harris stepped forward again and rotated through a spinning side kick, straight out of tournament demonstrations, and felt a satisfying crack as his foot connected. Phipps flopped back hard, his head banging on the ground.
Harris almost grinned. From the opening bell to the knockout, one point five seconds. Not bad for a drunk loser. He bent over, grabbed up PhippsТ revolver, and swung it around to aim.
The huge manТs gloved hand clamped on the barrel and yanked. The gun fired into nothingness and came out of HarrisТ grip, stinging his hand. The huge man flung it off into the darkness. With his free hand, he pulled his hat away from his head and looked down at Harris. Moonlight illuminated his face.
With his build, he couldnТt be old. But his skin, cinnamon brown, hung in packed layers of wrinkles like earthworms laid lengthwise. No mouth or ears were discernible, but there were eyes, animalТs eyes, deep in the mass of wrinkles. Harris took an involuntary step back, looking for the sign, the seam that proved this was a mask.
But the mouth opened. It was too large and wide to belong to any human. No man or woman possessed a forest of sharklike teeth like those. This was no mask. It twisted into a smile.
The Smile mocked him.

Chapter Three
Gaby shoved her way out of the bag and looked around frantically. No one was paying her any attention.
Just yards away was the broad back of Adonis. The big . . . thing . . . was moving away from her. Toward Harris.
He looked scared. No wonder. He was looking right into AdonisТ face. But he dropped into his tae kwon do stance and shouted, УGaby, run!Ф
Gaby scrambled to her feet and hesitated. She couldnТt just run out on Harris. But, no, if she could get over to the street, maybe she could flag down a cop. ThatТs what everybody needed just now. She turned and bolted.
Right into the old manТs arms.
He grabbed her almost tenderly, but he was a lot stronger than an elderly businessman should be. УYou canТt leave,Ф he said, calmly, persuasively. УItТs only half a minute untilЧФ
УYou bastard.Ф She kneed him in the balls.
His testicles seemed to have been in good working order; he bent over with a grunt of surprise and pain, but he didnТt let go. She kneed him again, then slammed the edge of her heel down across his ankle. This time he did let go, staggering to one side. She ran.
One last glance for Harris. He was still up, his body angling back as he directed a kick against AdonisТ knee. She heard the crack of the impact but wasnТt surprised when Adonis didnТt fall or react to the blow. Harris wobbled from the exertion but was still fast enough to elude AdonisТ quick return blow.
Then Gaby got up to speed and raced toward the concealment of the trees.

Harris heard her go but kept his eye on his opponent. The thing called Adonis was big and fast, and the sharp bits on the ends of its wrinkled fingers looked suspiciously like claws . . . and Harris was still drunk. He had to stay focused, now more than in any match heТd ever fought.
Harris backed away, staying just outside the thingТs easy range, and circled around his opponent. Adonis came at him again, swinging a paw as big as a tennis racquet; Harris danced backward, saw how his opponentТs too-energetic swings were pulling him off balance. Another missed slash with those claws, and Harris darted in, planting a hard side kick into AdonisТ gut. He scrambled back before Adonis could recover. AdonisТ mockery of a face twisted in something like pain. So it could be hurt.
Movement in his peripheral vision: the old man was up, his face a mask of anger; he limped in the direction Gaby had fled. But he was moving so slowly there was little chance heТd catch her. At least he wasnТt groping for his pistol.
Adonis slashed again, swinging wide. Harris stepped in, launching the same kick heТd succeeded with a second ago, and saw too late that the AdonisТ maneuver was a feint; as HarrisТ heel connected hard with AdonisТ gut, the big thingТs left paw sliced across his kicking leg.
Harris felt fire flash across the back of his thigh, felt claws rip through his flesh as if through cloth. Almost blinded by the sudden pain, he staggered back, away from his opponent. He regained his balance and touched the injury with his hand.
His palm came away covered with blood. The gash was long, maybe deep as well, and probably fatal if he stood around bleeding while he fought the thing that had made it.
As his vision cleared, he saw that heТd backed onto the circle of stones, and that his kick had actually taken Adonis off its feet again.
Then the world started to change.
Impossibly, the high-rise buildings on the far side of Central Park West began to grow, stretching taller but growing no thinner, curving like bowed legs. Harris gaped at the optical illusion, momentarily forgetting the clawed thing on the ground in front of him. The buildings rose as tall as the Empire State Building, and taller. The trees in the middle distance were growing, too, tall as redwoods.
Adonis stood up in front of himЧand oh, God, the thing with the inhuman face was now twice the height of a man, now three times, still growing, and striding closer and closer to the circle of stones, looming over Harris, leering down at him.
Vertigo seized him. He swayed back from Adonis, struggling to keep his balance, tasting bile in his mouthЧ
Then the world popped.

It was as if heТd been in a giant soap-bubble that magnified the appearance of everything outside it, and suddenly the bubble burst. HarrisТ ears popped, his vision swam as everything in it swayed and changed, and he fell over backwards on sharp white rocks. They ground into his spine and shoulder blades.
Then he could see, swimming out of the blur, the tops of trees surrounding him. Normal-sized trees. But the nearest trees were only twenty feet from him, scores of yards too closeЧand they were now evergreens.
The trees were illuminated by old-fashioned oil lamps hung from their lower branches. And overhead, though a few thickening clouds promised rain to come, the sky was full of stars like a velvet carpet sewn with diamonds, when moments ago it had been hazy.
He didnТt have time to wonder. A figure moved into his line of sight and stood over him.
This was a man, the most beautiful man Harris had ever seen. He was lean, with short, curly hair that was golden rather than blond. His eyes were the bright blue of the daytime sky. His face was a Greek ideal of sensitivity and youthful, masculine beauty, and shone as though lit by internal fires. He wore a dark suit, nearly black in the dim light, that looked years out of date, with its high waistline and too-broad lapels and tie, and yet didnТt manage to detract from the startling impact of his physical presence. Harris thought, When IТm a soap opera hunk, this guy can be my blond rival.
He stood by HarrisТ knee, leaned over and asked, in a rich, controlled voice, УWhere is Adonis?Ф
Harris grimaced, letting his confusion show. УWhere the hell am I?Ф
The golden manТs expression changed, losing its serenity, growing angry. УWhen I ask, you answer. ItТs time for your first lesson. I think IТll take your thumb.Ф He reached the long, delicate fingers of his right hand into the sleeve of his left arm and extracted a knifeЧa long, thin, two-edged blade on a slim golden hilt. УGive me your hand, you bug.Ф
Harris just looked up at him, amazed. Another maniac. He kicked out with his good leg, slamming his heel into the beautiful manТs kneecap.