"Lover At Last" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ward, J.R.)

He landed face-first into the windshield, his ass getting hit with the kind of breeze that turned him into a bug on all that glass. And then it was a case of oh-heeey-gurl-heeeey: Thanks to the glow from the dashboard, he caught the OMG! on the faces of the pair of guys in the front seatтАжand then his bright idea turned into goat fuck number two of the evening.

Instead of hitting the brakes, the driver wrenched the wheel, like he could maybe avoid what had already landed on the HummerтАЩs hood. The torque threw Qhuinn free, his body going weightless as he wrenched around in space to keep his eyes on his ride.

Turned out he was the lucky one.

As Hummers were designed and built for things other than aerodynamics and braking facility, the laws of physics grabbed onto all that top-heavy metal and rolled the shit. In the process, and in spite of the snow cover, metal met asphalt, and the high-pitched scream sopranoтАЩd out into nightтАФ

The thunderous impact of the SUV nailing some kind of solid object the size of a house cut off all that caterwauling. Qhuinn didnтАЩt pay much attention to the crash, however, because he landed as well, the paved road smacking him on the shoulder and hip, his body doing its own version of greased pig down the snow-packed pavementтАФ

CRACK!

His momentum was stopped short as well, something hard catching him in the headтАФ

Cue a spectacular light show, like someone had lit off a firecracker right in front of his face. Then it was Tweety Bird time, little stars going around his vision as pain in various places started to check in.

Pushing against whatever was closest to himтАФhe wasnтАЩt sure whether it was the ground or a tree or that red-suited fatty, Santa Claus, he eased himself over onto his back. As he flopped flat, the cold went to his head and helped to dull things.

He intended to get up. Check the Hummer. Beat the shit out of whoever had taken advantage of his blond moment. But that was just his brain playing with itself. His body had taken over the wheel and accelerator, and it had no intention of going anywhere the fuck.

Laying as still as he could, and breathing out uneven clouds of frost, time slowed down and then began to morph. For a second, he became confused as to what had put him in this at-the-side-of-the-road condition. The accident heтАЩd caused?

OrтАжthat Honor Guard from before the raids?

Was this back-flat on the asphalt thing a memory of his past or something that was actually happening?

The good news was that sorting out reality gave his brain something to do other than continue to hammer away at the get-moving stuff. The bad news was that the memories from the night his family had disavowed him were more painful than anything he currently felt in his body.

God, it was all so clear, the doggen bringing him the official papers and demanding some blood for a cleansing ritual. Him throwing that duffel bag over his shoulder and walking out of that house for the last time. The road stretching in front of him, empty and darkтАФ

This road, he realized. This actual road was the one heтАЩd gone down on. OrтАжwas down onтАжwhatever. When heтАЩd left his parentsтАЩ house, heтАЩd intended to head out west, where heтАЩd heard there was a clan of rogue assholes just like him. Instead, four males had shown up in hooded robes and beaten him to deathтАФliterally. He had gone to the door of the Fade, and on it, he had seen a future that he hadnтАЩt believedтАжuntil it happened. Was happeningтАФright now. With LaylaтАж

Oh, look, John was talking to him.

Right in front of his eyes, the guyтАЩs hands were going through the motions, so to speak, and Qhuinn intended reply with some kind of updateтАФ

тАЬIs this real?тАЭ he mumbled.

John looked momentarily confuzzled.

It had to be real, Qhuinn thought. Because the Honor Guard had come to him in the summer, and the air he was inhaling was cold.

Are you okay? John mouthed as he signed.

Shoving his hand into the snowy ground, Qhuinn pushed as hard as he could. When he didnтАЩt budge more than an inch or two, he let that speak for itselfтАжand passed the fuck out.