"Thomas E. Sniegoski - Aerie" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sniegoski Thomas E)

knife sticking outfrom the center of his chest. His strength suddenly leaving him, he watched helplessly as
theax of fire fell from his grasp to evaporate in aflash before it could hit the floor.

"What... what have you done to me?"

The fearsome figure shrugged its shoulders of metal. "Pretty little symbols etched into the metal of the
blade," he said, drawing the same symbols in the air with his finger. "Symbols totake away strengthтАФto
make you easier to kill."

His legs no longer capable of supporting hisenormous mass, Alastor pitched forward atophis wings. The
aroma of their rot choked hissenses, and he was overcome with a crushingsense of loss.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to themthrough the plastic cover. He felt his body beingturned and gazed up
into the disturbing visage that straddled him.

"How?..."Alastor slurred, the magickscarved upon the knife blade affecting even hisability to speak.

His attacker reached down, taking hold ofthe knife that protruded from the center ofAlastor's body.

"How?" the attacker asked, gripping the hilt.

"How did ... how did you find me?" Alastor gasped.

The figure standing over him again began tolaugh, that horrible sound of a demented child. "Find you?" it
repeated, exerting pressure on theblade, cutting down through the flesh and boneof the fallen angel's
chest. He completed hisjagged incision, then extracted the blade andreplaced it somewhere beneath the
layers of hisarmor. "We did not need to find you," the Powers' servant said as it dug the fingers of both
hands into the wound. "We knew where you were all along."

Alastor closed his eyes to his inevitable fate,focusing all his attention on the rapid-fire beating of his heart.
It reminded him of the sound offlight, of his beautiful wings as they beat againstthe air.

And then what Alastor had sacrificed somuch to keep was stolen away as the visage of death clad in
scarlet tore his still-beating heartfrom his chest.

chapter one

"Can I take your order, sir?" asked the cute girl with the blond ponytail and a smile wideenough to split
her face in two.

Aaron Corbet shook himself from his reverieand tried to focus on the menu board behind her."Uh, yeah,
thanks." he said, attempting to generate interest in yet another fast-food order. Hiseyes were strained
from hours of driving, and the writing on the menu blurred as he tried toread it. "Give me a
Whopper-with-cheese value meal, and four large fries to go."

Aaron hoped the four orders of fries wouldbe enough to satisfy Camael's strange new craving for the
greasy fast food. Just a few days agothe angel had given him a song and dance about how creatures of
Heaven didn't need to eatтАФbutthat had been before he sampled some of the golden fried potatoes.
Angels addicted to Frenchfries,Aaron thought with a wry shake of hishead.Who'da thunk it?