"Jane Lindskold - Lord Demon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

its door as I departed. I ought to make funeral arrangements. He was nominally Christian and might appreciate one of thei
rites. Perhaps I should try to get something in that area arranged tomorrow, before the duel. Yes, probably.
I located a Christian temple called Holy Cross the next day. I entered there and wandered until I found the man in charg
"I want to give my friend a Christian burial," I said.
"Well, you've come to the right place. What funeral home is he in?"
"None. I laid him out in his bedroom."
"I see. Traditional. Would you like him buried in our cemetery?''
I nodded.
"Yes. Let's do that."
"As I see it, the only thing that you need is a death certificate."
"What's that?"
"A piece of paper going from the Coroner's Office to the Office of Vital Statistics saying that this man is indeed dead."
"Well, of course he's dead. I wouldn't be here if he weren't dead. How do I get this paper?"
"Go to see the coroner."
"Who is he?"
"I'll draw you aтАФ Never mind. I'll drive you over. Uh, about the funeral itself, what were you planning to spend on it?"
"What is customary?"
"Uh, a few thousand."
I had about twenty thousand in large bills in my pocket. I withdrew them and placed them on his desk.
He counted. He seemed for a moment to be choking, before he swept it all away and conveyed it to a wall safe.
"Yes. I'll be glad to help you. We shouldn't have any problems. Your friend will have the best funeral I ever gave."
A bit of very minor hypnosis left the coroner with a much smaller bill on his desk and me with a death certificate in my h
I'd had him alter a few dates from what I knew them to be.
I passed the certificate to the minister, who asked whether I needed any help with the body. I told him no, I'd bring it ove
myself later.

The following evening, I arrived at the proper time and place bearing Tuvoon's spirit sword. To have a spirit sword creat
you is something of a backhanded compliment. It means that demonkind views you as dangerous enough to have one of th
special weapons forged against you. I bet that TuvoonтАФlike meтАФcould have lived without the compliment, but I wasn't thi
about the pain a spirit sword causes. I was engulfed in fury.
Tuvoon and his motherтАФViss of the Terrible TongueтАФ were waiting in the park. Viss wore the appearance of a plump
Chinese woman of middle years, but her skin was brick red and her eyes were unreadable.
Tuvoon the Smoke Ghost was a more spectacular sight. Like some others of our kind, he is only partially substantial, no
upon which plane he dwells. Today he was solid from the waist up, to all appearances a handsome Oriental youth of pleasi
mien. From the waist down, he seemed to be made of gray-and-white smoke. Where his bare feet should have been, there
nothing.
I laid my burden on the ground at the feet of Viss (for she had been my teacher), stepped back three paces, and kowtow
She stooped, raised Tuvoon's bane. From above, I heard her say, "Seven Fingers's blades have not lost their cunning."
"True."
"Excuse me for staring, but it is not often one holds one's son's life."
Seven Fingers had been our master swordmaker, but even he feared Viss, who had been teacher to many of our kind. It
rumored that Viss had tutored a god or two along the way. She'd been my teacher; also, Tuvoon's.
"You know, of course," she said, "that if you kill my son, you will die in the next instant."
"Unfortunately, yes," I said.
I heard a sound near my left hand. I moved quite slowly to regard its source. The blade had been driven into the ground
between my first and second fingers, leaving the webbing intact by about one sixteenth of an inch.
I heard a small chittering as Tuvoon came to stand beside his mother.
"Your friends?" he asked.
I looked toward the source of the chittering. Ba Wa's companion, the stupid demon, was selling tickets and seating peopl
"Excuse me," I said to Tuvoon and Viss.