"Mercedes Lackey - Tregarde 2 - Burning Water" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

enormous as Sherry's first impression had painted them, and so dark that they looked black. Sherry could
not look away from themтАФand found her suspicions ebbing away. WhyтАФof course all this made sense!
What a clever girl, to have thought of a practical way to make it into the States, instead of sneaking across
the border!
The girl smiled a little more broadly, and Sherry smiled back. There was no reason to distrust such
cooperation. There was no doubt that the girl would do everything in her power to help Robert.
"Senora," the girl spoke softly, still staring deeply into Sherry's eyes, "you are a lady who has
admiration for the old ways, yes, I can see it. I see that you long to examine the work of my people's
handsтАФ" She smoothed the front of her huiple with her free hand, a movement totally free of any hint of
coquettishness. "I should be gladdened to bring with me more such pieces tomorrow, if it would please
youтАФand I see that it would."
Somehow the girl had taken total control of the situation; in a way that left Sherry bewildered and
breathless. There was no doubting her, somehow. She had succeeded in hypnotizing both of them.
"So. I shall come to your hotel."
"The SheratonтАФ" Robert breathed.
"The Sheraton." She nodded, turned with a grace that would have called up raw envy in a prima
ballerina, and began to return along the same way she had come.
"WaitтАФ" Robert called, as Sherry sat, still bemused and unable to think. "Your nameтАФ"
She cast a glance over her shoulder, arch and full of amusement.
"Lupe, senor. Lupe."
***
Robert spent the remainder of the afternoon among the ruins, a man obsessed, talking to himself
and scribbling notes at every possible setting. Sherry knew better than to interrupt him. He'd been like this
only a handful of times beforeтАФbut those times had produced some of his best work. If the girl had
inspired him to a new height, then she was not going to argue about the result. For the first time she began
to really believe that he might pull off the hoped-for coup of attaining the pinnacle of a permanent position
with Travel World.
They ate in the hotel restaurant, Robert still scribbling away in his plan-book. He could have been
eating cardboard, or a plate of fried bugs, for all the notice he took of the food. And she just wasn't there
for him. Back in their room he checked over every piece of his equipment, then rechecked, then paced the
balcony, muttering to himself.
Sherry hardly felt like herself; found herself able to think of little more than the promise of having
her goal delivered on a platter. So while he paced, she charted patternsтАФthen, unable to concentrate on
anything else, dialed room service and turned on the television.
He was still wrapped in thought and never noticed the arrival of the waiter with the drinks she'd
ordered. She offered him his share, but he didn't even look at her.
She was too used to him in this mood to be piquedтАФand she'd done without for too long to let the
pitcher of margaritas go to waste. So she ignored him, and curled up to enjoy the margaritas and a
Mexican vampire movie. It was one of the worst flicks she'd ever seen, boasting a professional wrestler as
its star. MaybeтАФprobablyтАФshe was drinking too much. But to see Robert so enthused was such a relief
that she wasn't paying as much attention to her intake as she usually did. By the time one of the hero's
opponents in the ring turned into a werewolf, she'd drunk so much it seemed the height of hilarity.
When she crawled into bed, more than a few sheets to the wind, Robert was still pacing.
***
In the morning it seemed like a dream, especially with a tequila-head to conquer. She was more
than half afraid Lupe was a fraud; that she wouldn't show up at all, and Robert would crash down from his
creative height to spend the remainder of their stay in sullen apathy in the hotel.
But the strange, queenlike girl and her three sisters arrived with the dawn.
And they were incredible, all four of them, two shorter and one taller than Lupe herself, but
otherwise nearly identical. As they stood in the lobby, they looked like a quartet of ancient Aztec