"Karl Edward Wagner - Kane 03 - Bloodstone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

"You're not fool enough to gamble like that unless you maybe got some other ideas on that ring's worth,"
Hechon pointed out, now genuinely suspicious. "And like I say, I'm boss here, and I decide who gets
what. So pass that damn ring back, Kane, and we'll get on with business. You'll take what I decide on,
and right now I'm telling you that ring's going to be mine." The menace in his tone was a grating note.

Hechon glowered at Kane obstinately. Around them the other outlaws watched in nervous silence,
almost imperceptibly shuffling away from the two. Abelin, Hechon's lanky lieutenant, carefully wiped his
hands on his thighs and moved them out of Kane's sight, trying to read some signal in his leader's face.
They would back him, Hechon decided.

In the strained silence even the voices of the night creatures seemed hushed and distant. Kane's eyes
glowed with blue fire in the flickering light, cold death laughing derisively in their depths. Hechon had
always felt a chill when he looked into those eyes, the eyes of a born killer. Uneasily he remembered the
insane light that stirred in those eyes when Kane stood red with slaughter over those who fell before his
blade in battle. Held next to his cheek in his left hand, the evil gleam of the bloodstone seemed to match
Kane's uncanny stare. Even its scarlet veins seemed phosphorescent in the shadow of the firelight.

And Hechon knew Kane was not going to return the ring. Cold realization came that there was no
course left him now. If he relented, Kane would have outfaced him before his men, and his command
over them would soon change fists. Kane's challenge must be answered, now and forever.

Kane seemed immobile, but Hechon knew the deadly speed with which he could strike. His sword
stood before him in easy reach, impaled in a root. Narrowly Hechon watched Kane's left hand--his
sword arm--but Kane still stroked his cheek with the ring. The bandit leader shrugged. "Well, if you want
the damned ring that much I guess you can keep it as your share." He seemed to relax, and he grinned
about him at the others. As he did, Hechon caught Abelin's eye for a significant moment, and his fingers
spread in an evident gesture of helplessness. "After all, Kane," he continued, "it's worth more to me to
keep you..."

Abelin's hand suddenly flicked to his neck and flew back balancing a long-bladed knife from the sheath
that hung between his shoulders. The bandit lieutenant's long arm straightened in unbroken motion to hurl
the blade at Kane's chest.

But Kane had not fallen prey to Hechon's apparent acquiescence. Knowing the bandit chieftain's
cunning, Kane had followed the other's eyes and caught the silent death sentence he had signed Abelin to
carry out. And although Kane was left-handed, years of training had made his right arm almost as
proficient as the other.

In the fraction of a second that Abelin required to send his blade flashing for Kane's heart, Kane hurled
his powerful body to one side. As he leaped from his crouched position, the right hand that had strayed
toward his right boot lashed out with the knife it found hidden there. Striking like a coiled serpent, Kane
hurled his dagger across the fire like an arrow of light. Abelin's blade hissed past him as he twisted and
thudded against the base of a tree. Still bending forward with his cast, the outlaw coughed in startled pain
as Kane's knife drove its point through his heart.

Kane's lunge brought him to his feet even as he had thrown the knife. As the bandit lieutenant crumpled
to his knees to realize that death had claimed him, Kane caught up his sword in his left hand, dropping the
ring to the ground, and swung his boot into the fire. A blinding, searing wave of coals and burning embers
exploded over the stunned bandits, driving them back in pain and confusion.