"Doranna Durgin - The Right Bitch" - читать интересную книгу автора (Durgin Doranna)

But she would have gone. Even Sabre could see that. And he would have joined her. That's what they
did, the linehoundsтАФpatrolled the border between Ours and Theirs, sniffing out magic smugglers who
wanted to contaminate Ours with Theirs.



"Smart man," said the captive, derisive despite the newly applied restraints. "You be smarter, you'll give
up on those damn curs right now. They do you no good, soon enough."
Tallon silenced the man with an intense look; Taliya swapped her appraisal from Shiba to her lineman,
impressed. Sabre lifted his nose to the subtle scent of new magic, a strange, rich magicsmell he'd not
encountered before. He couldn't sort it out.



He looked at Shiba, but she'd rediscovered the whip and snatched it up to administer a kill-the-rat death
shake. The tolerant affection on Tallon's face gave Sabre a funny itchy feelingтАФexcept he couldn't quite
figure out where the itch was, only that it was subtle and as invasive as a tick creeping across belly flesh.



Whipped. Embarrassed. Itchy.



More than a good linehound could take. Sabre hid his aching head under Taliya's arm.

***

Rumors flew. Sabre heard them when Taliya brushed him downтАФcurried him, actually, massaging him
while bringing the dirt up on his short, slick coat.



"Something big going on," Taliya told him, knocking the brush clean against the side of their
well-appointed log cabin. The line cabins ran along the border between Theirs and Ours, all more or less
identical dwellingsтАФif you didn't count the personal touches the linemen added.



Taliya had added plenty. Nice curtainsтАФeven if there was no one in these woods to close them
againstтАФa special platform for Sabre's food bowl, a niche below the raised porch for his cool
summertime bed. He slept in the cabin with her, anyway.



Sabre applied a hind foot just behind his ear, still looking for that itch, not concerned with Taliya's gossip;
the sound of her voice was enough. He paused, examining his footтАФyep, still hisтАФnoted the continuing
presence of the itch, and tried again, this time on his cheek, careful not to poke himself in the eye.