"Huff, Tanya - Keeper 3 - Long Hot Summoning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

Dark brows rose and dark eyes tried to meet his, but he stared at the drop of sweat running down her throat to pool against her collarbone and refused to be drawn in.
УOkay, fine. WeТll just have to do this the hard way.Ф
УThe mall is closed. It will reopen tomorrow at nine a.m.Ф
УYeah, gramps, I got it the first time.Ф His eyes burned and he blinked, only a single blink, but when his vision cleared, the girl was gone.
Good. It was good that she was gone. Gone with her shorts and her breasts and all her infinite possibilities.
Diana stopped just the other side of BozoТs School Bus, set her backpack down on the yellow plastic kiddie ride, and waited while Sam climbed out.
УThat was creepy,Ф he muttered, licking at a bit of ruffled fur.
УVery. And arenТt people that old supposed to be retired or something?Ф
УOr something,Ф the cat agreed. УHey.Ф Front paws on the Plexiglas window, Sam peered into the bus. УThis thing has seat belts. They donТt take it out of the building, do they?Ф
УUh, no.Ф
УThen why seat belts?Ф
УI have no idea. But you know whatТs really whacked? My busЧthe one I rode down potholed dirt roads at a hundred and twenty klicks every morning and afternoon with a whole lot of very small bouncy childrenЧno belts.Ф Swinging her pack back onto her shoulders, she headed for the main concourse. УStay close and no one will see you.Ф
Sam fell into step by her right ankle. УConsidering what that thing smelled like, I can think of one reason for seat belts. This place is huge. How are we going to find the Erlking Emporium?Ф
УEasy. We find the you-are-here sign. ItТs probably at the end of this side hall.Ф
It wasnТt.
Although the side hall and one of the huge anchor stores spilled out into the main concourse at the same place, there was nothing to help mall patrons find their way through the two-story maze of stores they now faced.
УMaybe someone from the Otherside took it,Ф Sam offered when it became clear they were directionally on their own.
УItТs possible.Ф Motioning for Sam to be quiet, Diana froze as a final shopper slipped through the partially barricaded Kitchen Shop storefront, clutching a cheap manual can opener and trailing the ill wishes of the teenage clerk like black smoke behind her as she hurried down the side hall. УShe feels like the last one in here. WeТd better get moving before that creepy old security guard heads this way.Ф
Sam butted his head reassuringly against her leg. УYou can take him.Ф
УWell, yeah. But IТd rather not. Come on. Blonde Ponytail said . . .Ф
УWho?Ф
УThe jock with the bracelet. I never got her name. She said the store was on the lower level, so letТs find some stairs.Ф
Behind reinforced glass or steel bars, the stores themselves were places of shadow.
Unless the bracelet was the only piece of the Other-side they were selling, Diana should have been able to sense the Emporium, her Summons directing her like a childТs game of Warm and Cool where the parts of УWarmФ and УCoolФ were played by УI Can Live With the Headache if I Have toФ and УShoot Me Now.Ф Unfortunately, the Summons was unable to poke through the interference from the back rooms where a hundred part-time teenagers counted up a hundred cash drawers and ninety-seven of them came up short. By the time the cash had to be counted for the third time, the emanation of frustrated pissiness was so strong Diana couldnТt have sensed a trio of bears if they were sneaking up beside her.
УHey, Rodney River has orange polyester bell-bottoms on sale for $29.99.Ф
УIs that good?Ф Sam wondered.
Diana shuddered. УI canТt see how.Ф Pleased to see that the escalators had already been turned offЧcat on escalator equalled accident waiting to happenЧ she led the way to the stairs.
Only the emergency lights were lit on the lower level, and the footprint of the mall seemed to have subtly changed.
УThereТs too many corners down here. And if I can smell the food court, why canТt we find it?Ф
УI donТt . . . SomeoneТs coming.Ф Scooping up the cat, Diana backed into a triangular shadow and wrapped the possibilities around them both half a heartbeat before a flashlight beam swept by.
УI know youТre here.Ф One shoe dragging shunk kree against the fake slate tiles, the elderly security guard emerged from a side hall. Massive black flashlight held out in front of him, he walked bent forward, his head moving constantly from side to side on a neck accordion-pleated with wrinkles.
Diana would have said the motion looked snake-like except that she rather liked snakes.
Shunk kree. Shunk kree. УI will find you; never doubt it. I know youТve hidden your lithe bodies away in the shadows.Ф
Sam twisted in DianaТs arms until he could stare up at her. His expression saying as clearly as if heТd spoken, УLithe?Ф She shrugged.
УLong, loose limbs stacked unseen against the wall.Ф Shunk kree.
Who was he looking for? It couldnТt be her and SamЧhe thought they were gone.
The flashlight beam flicked up, caught the pale face of a store mannequin, and stopped moving.
УCanТt run now, can you?Ф He shuffled past so close to her hiding place that Diana could almost count the dark gray hairs growing from his ear. УCanТt run with your muscles moving inside the soft skin.Ф
Diana gave him a count of twenty, then prepared to slip out and away. She had a foot actually in the air when cool fingers wrapped around her upper arm and held her in place.
Shunk. The security guard pivoted on one heel, turning suddenly to face back the way heТd come, flashlight beam exposing circles of the lower concourse. УNot too smart for me with your young brains,Ф he muttered, turning again and shunk kreeing his way toward the mannequin.
The cool fingers were gone as though theyТd never existed. Since Diana was certain she and Sam had been alone in their sanctuary, the logical response seemed to be that they never had. That theyТd been a construct of self-preservation. Her own highly developed subconscious holding her back from discovery. On the other hand, logic had very little to do with possibility, so Diana murmured a quiet thanks to the fingers as she left the shadow.
Cat in her arms, staying close to the storefronts, she raced down the concourse toward a side hall they hadnТt tried, at least half her attention listening for the shunk kree following behind her. After weaving through a locked-down display of hot tubs, she sagged against a pillar, adding its bulk to the space sheТd already put between them and the old man.
УOkay,Ф she whispered into the top of SamТs head. УI am officially squicked out. Where did they find that guy? HeТs like every creepy, clichщd old man rolled into one wrinkly package and wrapped in a security guardТs uniform. I mean, I know heТs just a Bystanderа andа Iа handledа himа atа theа door,а but,
УStill what?Ф
УYou know, still.Ф
УIf I knew, I wouldnТt have asked,Ф Sam pointed out, squirming to be let down. УAnd by the way, weТve found the food court.Ф
Only six of the seven food kiosks were currently occupied. Directly across from them, a poster on plywood announced the future site of a DarbyТs Deli. At some point, a local artist had used a black marker to make a few additions to the posterТs picture of Darby Dill, creating a remarkably well hung condiment. Tearing her gaze away from the anatomically correct pickle, Diana spotted yet another hall on the far side of the food court, the rectangular opening tucked into the corner between ConsumerТs Drug Mart and a sporting goods store.
УItТs got to be down there.Ф
УWhy?Ф
УBecause it isnТt anywhere . . . What are you eating?Ф