"Holly Lisle - World Gates 02 - Wreck of Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

тАЬNooooo,тАЭ he said. The back of the foyer terrified him. The giant mirror that hung on the wall there
terrified him. She could get him into the kitchen if she picked him up and carried him, and the only time
she got a show of spirit from him anymore was when she tried to carry him down the hall. Then he
turned into a hellcat, if only briefly, and she felt like she had her little boy back.

She had too many groceries to put away to voluntarily engage in a fight, though. тАЬI have to, kiddo. IтАЩll
be fine. And so will you.тАЭ

тАЬNOOOOO!тАЭ

Lauren took a deep breath, preparatory to just picking up the bags and heading down the hall and letting
him scream. Behind her, someone knocked on the front door. She turned. Pete Stark stood there, still in
his deputyтАЩs uniform.

Pete was second-in-command of the two-man Cat Creek SheriffтАЩs Department. He was, as well, a
newcomer to the Sentinels, which had beenтАФuntil Lauren returned to Cat CreekтАФa closed and secretive
cell of a hereditary group of guardians, whose family associations had reached back for generations.
LaurenтАЩs own family had been Sentinels longer than theyтАЩd been AmericansтАФand theyтАЩd been
Americans well over a hundred years.

The Sentinels stood at the world gates and fought to preventтАФand if necessary, repairтАФdamage from
magic that rebounded from other worlds in the worldchain back to Earth. They lived dangerous lives,
and frequently died young. Hidden away in small towns, spending their days as florists and insurance
salesmen and bank clerks and housewives, they kept the ancient secrets of the world gates and the magic
that lay on the other side of themтАФbecause anyone could be taught to use the gates, and those who
traveled down the worldchain gained the power of gods, if not the wisdom.

And magic used downworld rebounded upworld, often with horrific results.

The Cat Creek Sentinels had suffered major losses recently. Nine of fourteen SentinelsтАФincluding the
traitors who caused a magic-borne plague that had killed over three hundred people in Cat Creek alone,
and millions worldwideтАФhad died in the past month. The survivors had sworn Lauren in as their
replacement gateweaver, and had taken Pete mostly because he was a friend of Eric MacAveryтАФCat
CreekтАЩs sheriff and the head of the Cat Creek SentinelsтАФbut partly because he knew too much about the
Sentinels and world gates to be permitted to walk away.

In spite of the somewhat shotgun-marriage manner in which heтАЩd joined, Pete had taken to the duties
and responsibilities of a Sentinel with an enthusiasm and a dedication that surprised everybody.

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Only Lauren seemed to wonder at his competence in tight spots. Only she seemed to notice layers to him
that lay below the surface, or to suspect that he was more than he seemed. She thought he was
trustworthy, for what it was worth. Actions spoke truth where words liedтАФand heтАЩd saved EricтАЩs life,
and had risked his own many times in many ways.