"07 - Burnt Offerings 4.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

let him see it, because he was a shapeshifter, and he'd understand what I was
showing him. Most people wouldn't. Most sane people anyway.
I said, "You are going to leave Nathaniel alone. When the police arrive, you are
going to do everything they tell you to do. No arguments, no fighting, or I will
kill you. Do you understand me, Zane?"
"Yes," he said, and more blood flowed in a heavy line from his mouth. He started
to cry. Tears welled down his bloodstained face.
Crying? The bad guys aren't supposed to cry.
"I'm so glad you've come," he said. "I tried to take care of them, but I
couldn't. I tried to be Gabriel, but I couldn't be him." His shoulder had healed
enough that he covered his eyes with his hand so we couldn't see him cry, but
his voice was thick with tears, as well as blood.
"I'm so glad you've come to us, Anita. I'm so glad we're not alone anymore."
I didn't know what to say. Denying that I was going to be their leader seemed a
bad idea with bodies littering the area. If I refused his offer, he might get
nasty again and I'd have to kill him. I realized suddenly with something like a
physical jolt that I didn't want to kill him. Was it the tears? Maybe. But it
was more than that. It was the fact that I'd killed their alpha, their
protector, and never given a thought what that might do to the rest of the
wereleopards. It had never occurred to me that there was no second in command,
no one to fill Gabriel's place. I certainly couldn't be their alpha. I didn't
turn furry once a month. But if it would keep Zane from tearing up any more
doctors, I could play along for a while.
By the time the cops arrived, Zane was healed. He'd curled around Nathaniel's
unconscious body like it was a teddy bear, still crying. He stroked Nathaniel's
hair and muttered over and over, "She'll keep us safe. She'll keep us safe.
She'll keep us safe."
I think the "she" was me, and I was in way over my head.




Chapter 5



Stephen lay in the narrow hospital bed. His curly blond hair was longer than
mine, sweeping across the white pillow. Angry red and pink scars crisscrossed
his delicate face. He looked like he'd been shoved through a window, which is
exactly what had happened. Stephen, who didn't outweigh me by twenty pounds, had
stood his ground. Zane had finally shoved him through a wire-mesh safety window.
Like shoving someone through a wire cheese grater. If it had been a human being,
they'd be dead. Even Stephen was hurt, badly hurt. But he was healing. I
couldn't literally see the scars fading. It was like trying to watch a flower
bloom. You knew it happened, but you never got to see it. I'd glance back at
him, and there'd be one less scar. It was unnerving as hell.
Nathaniel was in the other bed. His hair was longer than Stephen's. Waist
length, I was betting. Hard to judge since I'd only seen him prone. It was the
darkest of auburns, almost brown but not. It was a rich, deep mahogany. The hair
lay on the white sheets like the pelt of an animal, thick and shining.