"Aphrodite's_Flame_030" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kenner _Julie_-_[Protector_04]_-_Aphrodite's_Flame_(V1.0)_[lit](multi-file html))

Chapter Twenty-seven

The man was impossible!
Even after seeing Hieronymous unselfishly help mortals—twice now!—Mordichai was still unconvinced of his father’s sincerity, and Izzy was at her wits’ end.
She wanted to tell him to take his knee-jerk reaction and go jump in a lake. Except she couldn’t. Because a teeny-tiny little part of her wondered if the reaction wasn’t really knee-jerk after all. Or if the knee-jerk instinct was wrong.
Images of inkblots danced through her head, but she shook them away. He’d passed. Maybe he’d been a little off, a little hesitant, but ultimately he’d passed. Just as he’d passed every test she’d thrown his way.
Maybe it would be convenient for her if Hieronymous was re-assimilated, but her personal concerns were not running the show. She was behaving honestly. She was being completely unbiased and professional.
And her completely unbiased and professional judgment was that Hieronymous was passing his tests.
And all of Mordi’s bitching and moaning couldn’t change that one fact.
And Mordi knew Hieronymous was passing those tests, yet he was bitching and moaning. And she didn’t know why. Yes, he and his father had a long and complicated history, but was it just bad blood? Or did Mordi know something?
Granted, she didn’t know Mordi well (though she wanted to know him better), but he didn’t strike her as the type to hang onto an issue simply out of pride. Even more, no matter how much she resented his being added to her team, she knew that Zephron must have had his reasons. Plus, she had her own opinions of Mordi, and while she didn’t understand his reaction to his father, she did trust his instincts elsewhere. As far as she could tell, he was completely competent. More than competent, really.
Which left her questioning her own conclusions. Hieronymous might be passing all his tests—he might, empirically at least, be doing well—but even so, tiny little doubts as to his goodness were creeping into her head. She didn’t know if those doubts stemmed from her own observations or from Mordi’s loud and consistent arguments. She’d backed away from certainty and into a shadowy new area.
And that terrified her even more than her growing feelings for Mordichai.

Chapter Twenty-seven

The man was impossible!
Even after seeing Hieronymous unselfishly help mortals—twice now!—Mordichai was still unconvinced of his father’s sincerity, and Izzy was at her wits’ end.
She wanted to tell him to take his knee-jerk reaction and go jump in a lake. Except she couldn’t. Because a teeny-tiny little part of her wondered if the reaction wasn’t really knee-jerk after all. Or if the knee-jerk instinct was wrong.
Images of inkblots danced through her head, but she shook them away. He’d passed. Maybe he’d been a little off, a little hesitant, but ultimately he’d passed. Just as he’d passed every test she’d thrown his way.
Maybe it would be convenient for her if Hieronymous was re-assimilated, but her personal concerns were not running the show. She was behaving honestly. She was being completely unbiased and professional.
And her completely unbiased and professional judgment was that Hieronymous was passing his tests.
And all of Mordi’s bitching and moaning couldn’t change that one fact.
And Mordi knew Hieronymous was passing those tests, yet he was bitching and moaning. And she didn’t know why. Yes, he and his father had a long and complicated history, but was it just bad blood? Or did Mordi know something?
Granted, she didn’t know Mordi well (though she wanted to know him better), but he didn’t strike her as the type to hang onto an issue simply out of pride. Even more, no matter how much she resented his being added to her team, she knew that Zephron must have had his reasons. Plus, she had her own opinions of Mordi, and while she didn’t understand his reaction to his father, she did trust his instincts elsewhere. As far as she could tell, he was completely competent. More than competent, really.
Which left her questioning her own conclusions. Hieronymous might be passing all his tests—he might, empirically at least, be doing well—but even so, tiny little doubts as to his goodness were creeping into her head. She didn’t know if those doubts stemmed from her own observations or from Mordi’s loud and consistent arguments. She’d backed away from certainty and into a shadowy new area.
And that terrified her even more than her growing feelings for Mordichai.