[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"I won't."
Kady darted out the door, counting down the head start that custom granted
her. She raced downstairs and Rory opened the door into the street for her.
"Run, Kady! Run!"
She glanced back and saw Rory and Hamish moving small crates into the middle
of the floor, turning the shop into an obstacle course to slow Kynyr's pursuit
of her.
* * * *
Claw kneaded his left arm as he shed his clothing and climbed into bed with
Aisha. Everything that he had learned from Lokynen had left him troubled, and
Page 40
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
as he had done throughout their century of marriage, Claw sought comfort in
making love to his wife. He remembered how it had first been when he courted
her, and Aisha had been the fieriest young bitch in the valley. She had made
him chase her through the woodlands in wolf form for the right to mate with
her, and when he had caught her beneath the moonlight....
As always, they coupled in hybrid form so that he could feel her soft fur
beneath his hands. Stroking and licking each other, Claw finally began to
forget his worries, and completely
Kynyr's War [Lycan Blood Vol. IV]
by Janrae Frank
89
separated himself from them as he entered Aisha and heard her moaning beneath
him in response to his thrusting.
Claw stiffened as a fist of pain slammed him in the chest.
His eyes widened and he blinked, before toppling across her.
"My ... heart," he gasped, and then darkness claimed him.
"Claw?" Dread fluttering in her stomach like ugly moths around a candle, Aisha
pushed at him, and got no response.
"Claw?"
She touched his face. "Claw, please wake up."
Still no response.
Aisha turned him on his side, and slipped from beneath him. She grabbed a
robe, wrapped herself in it, and went to the suite next door to her own,
pounding on it to wake Isbeth and Kissie, the two nibari who were the
principal ones on call for her needs.
Isbeth answered the door, tying her robe closed.
"Mistress?"
"Wake Sheradyn, it's the master."
Isbeth's eyes rounded with concern and worry, as she ran off to fetch the
healer from his bed.
Kissie appeared and cradled Aisha's elbow, steadying the old lycan as they
returned to Aisha and Claw's suite. She brought Aisha to a chair in the
bedroom, and then tucked a blanket around Claw. "I'll fetch something for your
nerves."
Aisha sat rigidly in her chair, her knuckles whitening as she tried not to
appear like the frightened, worried bitch she was on the inside. Her sharp
hearing picked up the sounds of
Kissie waking more of the nibari. It was a sign of Claw's wealth that they
could afford so many of the docile and
Kynyr's War [Lycan Blood Vol. IV]
by Janrae Frank
90
devoted slaves. She had very few lycans among the household staff. Isbeth,
Kissie, and the others never failed her, and never complained.
By the sound of hurried footsteps, the entire household had begun to awaken.
Sheradyn and Gillivray arrived with their satchels and got
Claw shifted onto his back in the middle of the bed. Gillivray cleared off the
nightstand, while Sheradyn settled into a chair and gripped Claw's wrist,
Reading him.
Merissa entered the suite with Malthus at her side. She went to her mother and
squeezed her arm. "What happened?"
Merissa asked, in a hushed voice.
"I don't know," Aisha said. "We were ... talking. And your father fell over."
Kissie returned with toddy, and pressed it into Aisha's hands. "This will
steady you."
Aisha nodded without taking her eyes from Merissa.
Page 41
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Thank you, Kissie."
Sheradyn administered a bluish powder to Claw's nostrils and gums, and then
Read him again. "He's had a heart attack. Has Claw ever said anything at all
about chest pains?"
"No. Why?"
"Because there is a lot of old damage. It leads me to suspect that he might
have been having small heart attacks and angina for months."
"He's said nothing at all about it."
Malthus covered his reaction to that news by turning his head away.
I've been more successful than I knew. The old bastard has been keeping
secrets.
Kynyr's War [Lycan Blood Vol. IV]
by Janrae Frank
91
"Aisha, I want you to understand how serious this is. At the rate of
progression, judging from the past damage, Claw will probably not be with us
come spring. If I cannot get it under control, I would say his chances of
living until winter solstice are extremely poor."
Aisha sucked in a sharp breath and blinked back tears.
"Get some rest, Aisha. Gillivray and I will sit up with him tonight."
"Get some rest all of you," Gillivray said, making a shooing gesture.
Aisha went to Claw and kissed his forehead. "I'll sleep in another suite
tonight."
"Mother, you shouldn't be alone."
Aisha shook her head. "I won't be. I'll comfort nest with
Isbeth and Kissie."
Merissa kissed her father and walked back to their chambers in Malthus' arms.
Malthus worked hard at keeping a concerned expression.
He had decided to hasten Claw's death, using stronger spells.
He wished he could have been present to see the old bastard collapse. Claw
would have his next heart attack within a few weeks, maybe even a few days;
depending on how much
Claw wanted another drink of the Faery wine and how often he stressed his
failing heart.
Finally, Claw's attacks will come in quickening succession, one after another,
and another, and another, until.... I'll help Merissa pick out a nice black
dress to wear at her father's funeral.
Claw will be dead by early winter at the latest.
Kynyr's War [Lycan Blood Vol. IV]
by Janrae Frank
92
Drinking that first glass of wine with Malthus had insured that the old wolf
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]