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good looks and more than his share of charisma. All of the other times I d seen him he d
been expensively dressed, impeccably well groomed, and surrounded by the extremely
big, threatening men who are the royal equivalent of the Secret Service. Tonight he was
incognito, wearing a pair of cheap jeans of such a rich indigo blue that they almost
glowed. Vertical and horizontal creases screamed fresh off the shelf. A bright red
Mickey Mouse Disneyland T-shirt, sneakers, and the sort of cheap sunglasses made
famous by ZZ Top made him look like a tourist who d lost his luggage. He also looked as
if he hadn t slept in far too long his face was pale and haggard. But the oddly cheerful
clothes and his poor physical condition couldn t hide the rage in his every move. At his
side was the retainer who d saved my butt a few weeks ago and who d been trying to
reach me ever since: Ivan. He was injured. I could tell because he was moving oddly from
pain and trying not to show it. Been there, done that.
Pain or no, he was all business. He scanned the room, looking for threats, keeping his
body between Dahlmar and the restaurant patrons until he was reasonably sure they
were safe. Creede did the same on the king s other side.
Looking at them, I knew that this was real, serious trouble: trouble I was probably not
equipped to handle. For all of ten seconds I thought about leaving, saying no and walking
away.
But King Dahlmar s intervention was probably the only thing that had kept me from
being locked away for the rest of my life. I owed him. And everything I d seen, everything
I d read about him, had told me he was a good man and a great king for his people.
Ms. Graves. Dahlmar slid into the booth across from me and finally took off his
sunglasses, revealing dark circles under his eyes that made him look like he d been
beaten.
Creede took the next table over, far enough away that I couldn t feel his magic but
close enough that I couldn t help but smell his cologne. The last thing I wanted to do was
enjoy the scent, but my nose wouldn t cooperate with my injured heart. He just flat
smelled good. It actually started to piss me off.
I shook my head to clear it and saw Ivan move to stand at the pay phone near the
bathrooms, where he could discreetly cover most of the room. It s exactly what I would
have done and it eased my anger, leaving my head sort of empty. Numb was a good
place. I decide to ride it for as long as I could.
Your Majesty. I forced myself to smile. May I recommend the egg drop soup or the
kung pao chicken? They re quite tasty. You look like you haven t eaten for a while.
He grimaced. No. I haven t.
Well, the food here is quite good. And you need to keep your strength up to deal with
whatever is going on. I m guessing it s your sons?
He sighed heavily, absently tapping his knuckles against the table. My son Kristoff
has staged a coup d état. I escaped with my life, thanks to a core group of my men.
Rezza did not. There was a pained pause. Rezza was . . . had been the crown prince.
Kristoff was the younger son. While Rezza had been more hard-core religious than his
father, they both shared a deep love of their people and truly believed they knew the best
way to lead the country into the future. Kristoff didn t have a deep love for anything except
himself. More to the point, he was stupid. Even his father admitted it. Stupid people
make bad rulers.
I opened my mouth to voice my condolences, but he waved me to silence. When he
spoke again, his voice was flat, inflectionless. Just the facts. Thus far, no word has
leaked out and Kristoff has been using demon spawn as impostors to maintain an
appearance of normalcy. As he is neither cunning nor strong enough to manage
something like this on his own, there must be someone else behind this.
I knew all about demon spawn. The products of humans breeding with demons, they
were born without souls and with the magical abilities of their demon parents. A spawn
could change into an exact replica of anyone, right down to the cellular level. My last job
the one that left me with fangs had been to guard Prince Rezza. Only it wasn t Rezza
but a demon spawn. I d been really angry when I d talked about this in group. I d guarded
a demon spawn . . . how laughable! Guarded it against what? An angel? That was about
the only thing that could hurt them.
I shook my head with both weariness and frustration. Kristoff didn t realize what kind of
dynamite he was playing with. He might think he was in control, but it was an illusion. A [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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good looks and more than his share of charisma. All of the other times I d seen him he d
been expensively dressed, impeccably well groomed, and surrounded by the extremely
big, threatening men who are the royal equivalent of the Secret Service. Tonight he was
incognito, wearing a pair of cheap jeans of such a rich indigo blue that they almost
glowed. Vertical and horizontal creases screamed fresh off the shelf. A bright red
Mickey Mouse Disneyland T-shirt, sneakers, and the sort of cheap sunglasses made
famous by ZZ Top made him look like a tourist who d lost his luggage. He also looked as
if he hadn t slept in far too long his face was pale and haggard. But the oddly cheerful
clothes and his poor physical condition couldn t hide the rage in his every move. At his
side was the retainer who d saved my butt a few weeks ago and who d been trying to
reach me ever since: Ivan. He was injured. I could tell because he was moving oddly from
pain and trying not to show it. Been there, done that.
Pain or no, he was all business. He scanned the room, looking for threats, keeping his
body between Dahlmar and the restaurant patrons until he was reasonably sure they
were safe. Creede did the same on the king s other side.
Looking at them, I knew that this was real, serious trouble: trouble I was probably not
equipped to handle. For all of ten seconds I thought about leaving, saying no and walking
away.
But King Dahlmar s intervention was probably the only thing that had kept me from
being locked away for the rest of my life. I owed him. And everything I d seen, everything
I d read about him, had told me he was a good man and a great king for his people.
Ms. Graves. Dahlmar slid into the booth across from me and finally took off his
sunglasses, revealing dark circles under his eyes that made him look like he d been
beaten.
Creede took the next table over, far enough away that I couldn t feel his magic but
close enough that I couldn t help but smell his cologne. The last thing I wanted to do was
enjoy the scent, but my nose wouldn t cooperate with my injured heart. He just flat
smelled good. It actually started to piss me off.
I shook my head to clear it and saw Ivan move to stand at the pay phone near the
bathrooms, where he could discreetly cover most of the room. It s exactly what I would
have done and it eased my anger, leaving my head sort of empty. Numb was a good
place. I decide to ride it for as long as I could.
Your Majesty. I forced myself to smile. May I recommend the egg drop soup or the
kung pao chicken? They re quite tasty. You look like you haven t eaten for a while.
He grimaced. No. I haven t.
Well, the food here is quite good. And you need to keep your strength up to deal with
whatever is going on. I m guessing it s your sons?
He sighed heavily, absently tapping his knuckles against the table. My son Kristoff
has staged a coup d état. I escaped with my life, thanks to a core group of my men.
Rezza did not. There was a pained pause. Rezza was . . . had been the crown prince.
Kristoff was the younger son. While Rezza had been more hard-core religious than his
father, they both shared a deep love of their people and truly believed they knew the best
way to lead the country into the future. Kristoff didn t have a deep love for anything except
himself. More to the point, he was stupid. Even his father admitted it. Stupid people
make bad rulers.
I opened my mouth to voice my condolences, but he waved me to silence. When he
spoke again, his voice was flat, inflectionless. Just the facts. Thus far, no word has
leaked out and Kristoff has been using demon spawn as impostors to maintain an
appearance of normalcy. As he is neither cunning nor strong enough to manage
something like this on his own, there must be someone else behind this.
I knew all about demon spawn. The products of humans breeding with demons, they
were born without souls and with the magical abilities of their demon parents. A spawn
could change into an exact replica of anyone, right down to the cellular level. My last job
the one that left me with fangs had been to guard Prince Rezza. Only it wasn t Rezza
but a demon spawn. I d been really angry when I d talked about this in group. I d guarded
a demon spawn . . . how laughable! Guarded it against what? An angel? That was about
the only thing that could hurt them.
I shook my head with both weariness and frustration. Kristoff didn t realize what kind of
dynamite he was playing with. He might think he was in control, but it was an illusion. A [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]