"Richard Kadrey - Blind Shrike" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kadrey Richard)

Blind Shrike

Richard Kadrey

First published in the Infinite Matrix, www.infinitematrix.net, April 2005

┬й2005 by Richard Kadrey | design ┬й2005 by John D. Berry.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. To
view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ or send a letter to
Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

"This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top."

-- Barry Gifford, Wild at Heart

One

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"They say that when your head gets chopped off, it can still see and hear for a few seconds, so I'll have
to go with beheading," said Spyder Lee to Lulu Garou.

Spyder Lee was drinking shots of Patron A├▒jo tequila with Lulu, his business partner, at the Bardo
Lounge just off Market Street in San Francisco.

Lulu looked into her empty glass and thought for some time, took a drag of her Marlboro Light and
winked at the woman tending bar. "Being beaten to death," said Lulu. "Badly. I don't mean like with a
baseball bat or rebar so you're out cold, but something small." She crushed out her Marlboro in the
ashtray the bartender slid in front of her. "An eight ball in a sweat sock. That'd give your killer a good
workout."

"Not if the guy hit you in the head right off," said -Spyder.

"My mama was pretty free with her hands. I'm a faster ducker," Lulu replied. She grinned. Spyder could
tell she was unimpressed with his argument.

"Burning at the stake," he said.

"Drawn and quartered," Lulu countered.

Rubi, the bartender, took their empty glasses away. "Exactly what are you two rattling about?"

"Worst ways to die," said Spyder. "Being covered in honey and staked out on a red ant hill."

"Dying of thirst. Like right now," said Lulu.

Rubi slid her hand across the bar and took hold of Lulu's left pinkie. "You parched, baby?"

"I'm drier than Candy Darling's cunt."