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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] "It depends," Arturo murmured. "What do they get to do when they wake up? Green laughed then. "Decorate the house, shop for presents, start the baking, do the same for the businesses& " He trailed off when Arturo dissolved into what sounded like a macho version of the giggles. "You're joking& " he gasped between laughs. "Not at all& Green said, humor engaging his smile it was moments like these that the ever so hetero Arturo could almost fall in love. "Adrian and I," And his voice grew sober here, but not too much, "We used to start all this shit during Thanksgiving& and it took us both the whole six weeks to get it done& we're behind schedule here, mate we need the help. "You know," Arturo said kindly, "No one would think less of you if we had a quiet Christmas this year. Green plucked a clover from the grass a miracle of the temperate climate that existed on this hill and nowhere else in the area and blew on it, watched it grow, even with the shattered stem in his hand. "I would, he said after a moment. "Cory has known us less than a year. In that time she's lost her first lover, been forced to take on others for various reasons, rearranged her entire future, and remade herself in our image. I've lost track of how many times she's almost died for us." He peered into the night, watched a large falcon flirt with his vampire shadow, saw the vampire wheel and dive, a darkness of death against the living starlight. "I want to give her something beautiful. A Faerie-tale kind Christmas, if you will. I want her to see us as we can be full of joy and light and lovely shadows& " He looked down at the Page 111 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html flower in his hand, placed it back with its smaller brethren and willed it to grow roots and prosper. It obliged him by immediately blossoming, spreading the scent of sweetness and summer through the air. "I want to give her a good memory to make up for all the bad, he said at last. "You want to give her something Bracken can't," Arturo replied, seeing all too clearly what his leader would not say. "Well," Green murmured in self-deprecation, "I am her Ou'e'hm after all. "Of course you are," Arturo murmured, all of the compassion in three thousand years of living weighting his voice. "You know she'd probably love you if you were a human flipping burgers on the Mcjob. "Yes, of course," Green brooded, "But then she wouldn't be a target of three quarters of the preternatural community, now would she? And then, she'd get my total attention I'd fucking worship her, wouldn't I? I'd be with her right now, helping her heal, instead of here, helping everybody else. "But we need you here," Arturo retorted, helplessly. He knew. They all knew. They knew that Green loved Cory, and Cory would throw herself in traffic for Green. They knew that Cory needed almost physically demanded a full time lover, and that Green had things he needed to do and couldn't, couldn't be there for her. And they knew that Bracken could. In fact, although Green wouldn't admit to it, Bracken was the perfect choice, because he loved his leader, and would step aside if necessary for the Ou'e'hm of his due'ane. "So Arthur needs to lead, and Gwenyfar gets to have Launcelot, and that's all well and good," Green replied, pulling himself out of his funk. "But that doesn't mean that Arthur doesn't get to have moments when it's good to be King." Briskly, he stood up and offered his hand to Arturo. "I'm going to go call Cory before she falls asleep for good tonight keep an eye on things here for a few, right mate? "Always do," replied Arturo, his voice mild. "I never forget it," Green returned sincerely, and then turned back into his hill. CORY You can't jail sunshine It was Monday evening, and Green wasn't back yet. I was now up for six hours at a stretch without a nap, Grace had taught me how to knit, Bracken had bought every DVD under the sun for my viewing pleasure, Andres had me hooked on classical music, Renny and I had perfected Scrabble, Chess, and Monopoly, and I was going out of my mind with boredom. I sat in bed, dressed in sweats and one of Bracken's well laundered, purple Kings T-shirts, knitting a scarf for Green in, well, brown and green, and nagging Bracken senseless. "Please, I said hopefully. "No. "Please? "No. "Pleeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeee!!!! "Yes. Wait& No. I smacked him upside the head with the hand not maintaining a tenuous and deadly grip on the knitting yarn. "Don't be an asshole," I snapped. "You know, I can play the 'please' game until you're ready to strangle me why not give in? Bracken looked up from the historical romance novel I'd begged him to go out and buy and then finished in an hour and a half. There were stacks of them in the apartment, and to our amusement, Andres and Brack were always on the list to read the next one after Renny, Grace and I. "Because I can play the 'no' game for just as long, and I'm right and you're not. So there. "You are not right!" I squeaked. "C'mon, Bracken it's 4:30 in the afternoon in Page 112 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html December the birds are in, the vampires are out, and I can't think of a safer time for us to go outside! Andres will come with us we can go shopping somewhere really touristy and fun like Ghirardelli or the San Francisco Mall I don't have any of my Christmas shopping done, how am I supposed to get you something? "You could make me a scarf, he said mildly, and I stuck my tongue out at him. "How do you know this isn't for you?" I asked, and he merely rolled his eyes. I had, in fact, ordered (with Grace's help) some really snazzy dark purple yarn, with sparkles, and white yarn to match, and was hoping to make him a really awesome scarf in the color of his beloved basketball team, but I wouldn't tell him that, not even to soothe what appeared to be ruffled feelings. "Cooommmmmeee oooooonnnnn!!!" I wailed, and, in spite of his gimlet eye, I put down my knitting and got up and paced around the room. Renny wandered in and noted with slitted-eyes that Bracken was reading the book that it was her turn to read. She smacked him on the back of the head and snagged the book, and before they could have a showdown I appealed to her sense of reason. "Renny, we've got to get out of here!" I said, desperate. "You and Bracken are fighting over The Cowboys Bride, Andres has me humming March Slav and if Grace gets another crack at me, I'm going to figure out the difference between intarsia knitting and Fair Isle, and I'm not ready to be that good! Let's go shopping! Let's go to Ghirardelli Square and ooh at the lights and drive across the bridge and see the city all sparkled out& let's shop at the Embarcadero for shit we're not sophisticated enough to buy& c'mon, Renny you're a were-cat for sweet Goddess' sake let's get out of this rat-hole!!! "I do go out," Renny replied smugly. "You may have been playing Sleeping Beauty, but I've got all my Christmas shopping done, and Andres has taken me to dinner and a play. I'm pretty sure my eyes bulged out of my head. "You bitch!" I squealed, and she laughed easily and dodged me as I lunged in what was sure to be the most violent tickle tackle of all time when Bracken caught me about the waist. "You're not supposed to be out of bed, he said quietly, and my eyes narrowed. "I'm feeling much better, I said, as though suitably chastened, and turned in his arms with a sweet smile. "That's because you sleep most of the day," he replied, seriously. So serious. Bracken had become quiet and reserved and sober, since I'd woken up from my six-day nap, and now I was the one worrying. "I'm not sleeping now!" I answered tartly, and then brought my hands up to his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |