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

remembrances long suppressed played outupon his dreamscape. Her name wasTaylor , andthe memory
of her was as painful as anythinghe'd been forced to endure since his capture byVerchiel and his
followers.

He saw her as he had that very first time: abeautiful, human woman who emanated lifeand vitality, with
rich, dark eyes the color of polished mahogany, and jet-black hair that curledseductively around her
shoulders. She waswearing a flowing yellow sundress, leather sandals upon her delicate feet, and she was
playingwith a dogтАФa golden retriever named Brandy.There was something about her that drew himin,
something that made him believe he mightnot be the monster his own kind had brandedhim to be.

In the brief time that he had been with her, Lucifer had almost been able to convince himself that he was
just a man, not the leader of arebellion against God. How beautifully mundane his life had become, the
urge to wanderthe planet, as he had done for thousands ofyears, suddenly stifled by the love of an earthly
woman. It was as if she had been touched by theArchons themselves; there was an inherentmagick in her
that seemed to calm his restless spirit and numb the pain of the curse he wouldforever carry as the inciter
of Heaven's war.

Lucifer fought toward consciousness, but thecurrent of the past was too strong, and he wasdrowned in
further memories, pulled deeper. Itwas in fact the dreams that had been harbingers to the end of his
happiness with the woman. Hehad begun to experience dreams of the turmoil for which he was
responsible, of the blood and deathтАФthe faces of those who had died for hiscause haunting his attempts
at peace. Thedreams were relentless. They reawakened in himthe enormity of his sins, and he knew that
he must move on. He had not yet earned the rightto peace and happiness. How stupid he hadbeen to
think that his penance might be at anend. Though it pained him, he left herтАФthe beautiful, magickalTaylor
тАФand began his wanderings anew.

And in his fevered mind he saw her as hehad that very last time, asleep in the bed they'dshared as man
and woman. How beautiful shewas. He had left her during the night, sneakingsilently out into the darkness
and out of her life.It was for the best, he had told himself, for hecould bring her nothing but misery.

But this time the memory was different andhe did not leave. InsteadTaylor stirred upon thebed, as if
feeling his gaze upon her, and sherolled over to look at him, a seductive smilespreading across her
features, clad in the shadows of the early hour.

"Hello, Lucifer," she said in a voice filled with the huskiness of interrupted sleep, and hefelt his love for
the woman swell within him.

It was as if he had never left her.

chapter two

Lorelei sighed as the commotion continued toescalate. She placed her hands flat atop the table,took a
deep breath, and forced herself not toutter an incantation that would have calleddown lightning from the
sky and permanentlysilenced the agitated citizens gathered in themeeting room of Aerie's community
center.

"People, please," she said, raising her voice to be heard above their frenetic din. "We'll getabsolutely
nothing accomplished here if we'reall talking at once."

The citizens ignored her and continued theirexcited chatter, the volume within the low-ceilinged room