"Katherine Kurtz & Scott MacMillan - Knights of the Blood 2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

Knights of the Blood Book 2

AT SWORD'S POINT
Katherine Kurtz & Scott MacMillan

CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
 The hissing camp lantern made the dome-shaped tent in the small
clearing glow with an amber incandescence. The young couple inside
were locked in the heaving passions of their embrace, unaware of the
erotic shadows their entwined bodies cast on the wall of the tent.
Outside, a light mist softened the shadows and stood like beads of
perspiration on Wilhelm Kluge's well-muscled shoulders, forming small
rivulets as they ran down his back and across his buttocks. The moonlight
glinted on a small silver quaich that hung from a golden chain around his
neck. Naked, his hands resting on the pommel of his sword, Kluge didn't
feel the damp chill of the late summer rain as he waited patiently for his
victims to finish their last earthly pleasures.
Finally, the shadows stopped thrusting on the inside of the tent and the
sounds of heavy breathing were lost in the hiss of the lantern. Slowly the
young man pushed himself away from the girl, rising first to his knees and
then to his feet. As he threw back the flap of the tent, a slice of yellow
light fell across the clearing.
The rain had stopped, and the mossy ground felt damp through the
soles of his thick wool hiking socks as he stepped outside, drawn now by
another, more pressing call of nature. Still naked, shivering, he cupped his
hands and blew on them to keep them warm as he moved into the pale
chill of the moonlight, away from the tent, to relieve himself.
Kluge stepped silently from the shadows and made his way around the
tent, avoiding the pale sliver of lantern-light that spilled from the open
flap. Stopping just behind the oblivious victim, his sword at the ready,
Kluge paused for a single moment. Steam was rising from the moss-
covered rocks at the young man's feet; and over the sounds of the
spattering urine and hissing camp lantern Kluge could hear the pumping
surge of the red tide that rose with each beat of the young man's heart. For
a moment Kluge savored the sound, as other men savor a lover's caress.
Then Kluge's sword flashed through the moonlight, the flat arc of its
bright blue blade severing the head, sending it bouncing into the darkness.
The steaming trickle of urine was lost in a frothing geyser of blood as the
headless body crumpled silently forward onto its knees before finally
sprawling chest down on the ground.
Turning, Kluge walked slowly over to the tent. He could see her
shadow on the tent wall, the lantern showing him where the sacrifice
waited. Standing quietly outside, he raised his sword and, with a
downward thrust, slit open the thin wall of the tent.
The girl was helpless in Kluge's grasp, paralyzed with fear. Yanking
her up by the hair, he dragged her out into the chill moonlit night and,
before she could cry out, drew the titanium blade of his sword across the
side of her throat.
Her body arched as searing pain exploded through her, but Kluge's