HARRY ADLER UmiejćÂtnośÂć realizowania marześÂ
Antologia SF StaśÂo sić jutro 23 Mistyfikacje
Milan Ryzl Parapsychologia praktyczna
Cartland_Barbara_ _PrzećąĂ˘ÂĹźladowana_KsiÄÂâÂËćąćËniczka
Emilia Anna Kaczmarek Smoczy Płomień FRAGMENT
Jeffrey Lord Blade 10 Ice Dragon
02 Nienacki Zbigniew Pan Samochodzik i Skarb Atanaryka
Lennox_Marion_ _Na_chwilÄÂâÂË_czy_na_zawsze
Miernicki Sebastian Pan Samochodzik i ... Pruska korona
Jordan Penny Francuski pocaśÂunek (Francuskie wakacje)
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wall and strained against the bent ends of the reinforcing rods. Her form rippled before my eyes, and suddenly
the demon struggled there. It looked vaguely like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, except more bony and
with better muscle tone. It was a mottled gray-green in color, with a pale yellow stomach and chest, and its
eyes were golden with red, vertically slit pupils.
A hurricanelike wind had picked up in the alley, and tossed broken glass, paper, wood, and other bits
of debris about in a frenzy. Lightning flashed overhead, though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
The demon croaked like a two-hundred-pound bullfrog and thrashed against the restraining bolts,
jolting them a couple of inches out from the wall. It shimmered again, and Alison struggled before me. Her
blonde, tousled locks whipped about her face as if alive, and she gnashed her teeth and screamed as she pulled
the rods out another few inches. I threw my arms about her and pushed her back up against the wall, and she
wailed in agony.
"Stay close!" Thomas shouted against the gale-force wind. "It might give them a fighting chance."
I hugged her to me as she bit and clawed at my neck and back, ignoring the pain and concentrating on
healing the damage she inflicted. Suddenly I held Leanne again, as determined to tear me to shreds as if she
were the demon. Charlie grabbed at her hands and held them out to her sides up against the wall to stop her
from flaying the skin from my back. As strong as he was, he struggled with the petite woman and she broke
his grip several times. I closed my eyes as I felt the hard, bony ridges of the demon against me. I pushed
against its forehead, trying to keep it from my neck or it would have torn my throat out. Debris struck me;
jagged shards of glass bit into my face, and broken splinters of wood impaled me from behind as if the demon
directed them. It struggled against me, but I could feel its efforts weakening. I opened my eyes again as it
morphed between the three souls inhabiting Leanne's body. It screamed once more, a final wail in demon
form, and suddenly I held Alison in my arms as the wind died down and the lightning storm subsided.
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DARKSIDE
She stared at me with those warm, brown eyes of hers, and suddenly her lips were on mine and she
kissed me hungrily. Charlie released her arms and she threw them about my neck, and then I was kissing
Leanne. I disentangled myself and stepped back a pace.
"What's wrong?" Leanne asked. She looked pale, but not the bone-white color of the vampire.
"I just don't want to end up kissing the demon," I said.
Leanne grinned, the mischievous grin I'd come to know and love. "He's still in here with us. I'm sure I
could call him forth if you'd like."
"No, that's quite all right," I assured her. Then, "What do you mean, with us?"
Alison smiled at me in Leanne's place now. "We're both in here. Well, actually, all three of us. Leanne
couldn't control the demon on her own, so I helped."
I frowned, getting lost in the complexity of it all. "Does that mean you're not a ghost anymore?"
She nodded. "That's right. Three souls, one body, though I don't think you'll have to worry about
seeing the demon again. We've got him on a pretty tight leash."
Thomas shook his head. I think for once he was as confused as I was. "It's kind of like a combination
possession/reincarnation. I can't say as I've ever heard of it before."
Leanne took control again. "Separately, both Alison and I were lost, but together..."
"I have two girlfriends for the price of one," I said.
Leanne scowled. "Maybe. If you get us down from here."
I heard Charlie chuckle behind me. "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for all the money in the world,"
he told Thomas.
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DARKSIDE
CHAPTER TWENTY
Leanne gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply as I straightened out the metal rods, then pulled her off of
them. She never screamed once. I had to hold her up to keep her from falling, though.
She winced as she rotated her shoulders. "Give it a day and we'll be as good as new."
By "we" I guessed she meant her and Alison. At least she didn't refer to herself in the third person like
all those jocks on TV, or that senator.
Leanne pulled away, then stepped around me and approached Charlie. She held a hand out to touch his
face, and he took it gently and pressed it to his cheek. She looked so utterly grief-stricken. I could tell that she
was crying, though of course there were no tears. Vampires can't cry.
"We should get out of here," I said, trying to break the awkward silence. "I'm surprised we didn't
attract a crowd with all the ruckus we caused."
Thomas dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. "I cast a small spell at the entrance to the alley
so that it looked like a solid wall. No one saw anything."
I was impressed. "I didn't know you could do that."
He shrugged it off. "I'm a man of many talents."
"And modest too." I turned back to Leanne, but she was Alison now. "You've got to quit doing that.
It's freaking me out."
Alison laughed. "Just wait till we get you in bed."
Charlie thought that was just hilarious, or maybe it was the fact that I blushed such a deep red. It
seemed to me that the only thing that ever really tickled the ogre's funny bone was my embarrassment.
"I'm not really standing here," Alison said. "It's still Leanne's body. This is just a glamor."
"But it's a good one," Thomas added. "Not even I can see through it."
Something caught my attention, and I shushed everyone and tried to focus. I spotted someone around
the corner, just a brief glimpse of white flesh and dark hair. I pressed myself flat up against the alley wall and
shuffled sideways along its length until I made the end, then reached quickly around and grabbed the vamp by
his shirt, dragging him into the alley. I threw him hard up against the far wall and he slumped to the ground,
unconscious.
"They don't make vampires like they used to," I said, surprised at how easily he'd gone down.
Alison had this bemused look on her face. "James, that was a mime."
I looked closely at the man crumpled against the alley wall. White face paint, black-and-white striped
shirt, black pants and suspenders. Oops. "A mime, eh? He should have said something."
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DARKSIDE
Thomas walked over and checked the poor guy out. "He'll be all right," the bard said. "He probably
never even saw what hit him. I suggest we get out of here before he comes to, though."
I was already way ahead of him. I stepped out of the alley with my arm around Alison. I can't begin to
tell you how strange that felt. How many people get a second chance like this? To lose someone they love to
something as final as death, only to find out that it may not be so final after all. And of course there was still
Leanne. After all this time alone, to finally find someone I could care for again. Now I had both of them, and
apparently they were going to share me. I felt like writing a letter to Penthouse.
Alison stopped and bought some cotton candy from a vendor. The look on her face was pure bliss as
the pink floss melted in her mouth. She finished about half the bag when suddenly Leanne made an
appearance.
"Sorry, but I just have to try some of this. I haven't eaten anything in several hundred years." She tore
off a wad, stuffed it in her mouth, and choked on it. "At least I can taste it when Alison eats," she said, but she
still sounded disappointed.
A shadow streaked by and snatched the cotton candy out of Leanne's hand. I shook my head and
grinned. Some dogs never learn.
"I hate to intrude," Thomas said to Leanne, "but you wouldn't happen to know what Aeshma was
planning, or where he was keeping Alex, would you?"
I didn't believe him for a minute; I think he was quite happy to intrude. I hadn't forgotten that he still
had feelings for Leanne.
Leanne bit her lower lip for a second. "Sorry, but I don't," she said finally. "He never let me in on his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
