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out to him, shouting for him to go back, go back. He knocked men aside to reach
her, and a spiked mace rose above his head, poised there for a breathless second,
then dropped straight down.
Her lips formed one word, a breathy rustle. "Kane& " She wasn't truly aware of
what her body did next, but it levered itself to its feet, fingers closing over the
leather-bound grip of a sword on the floor, stumbling forward in a clumsy half
fall.
"The falcon on his strong wings hunts the wild swans, but the Avenging Lama is
swifter than the strongest falcon."
She felt a resistance travel up her arm, then saw the jade face turn slightly
toward her. The song ended, replaced by a wet, burbling laugh. Brigid staggered,
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pitched against him and fell atop Kane, her body draping his limply.
The Tushe Gun's laugh clogged in his throat. He stood, saber still hovering
overhead, and looked down at the slash in his tunic from which his heart's blood
was pumping. He cast his eyes down to the naked woman at his feet, saw the
short sword in her hand and how the blade glittered redly in the light flaring
from the armaglass chamber.
He sucked in a long, wet breath, braced his legs and swung the saber down at the
soft exposed nape of the woman's neck. Then the cracked jade mask flew apart
in spinning green shards.
Grant caught only a vague impression of the distorted face underneath, and then
the face flew apart, too the jawbone dissolving in a red-rimmed furrow as
splinters of teeth erupted from the gaping mouth amid a liquid column of
crimson.
The echoes of the Sin Eater's fusillade rolled and rang as Grant marched
forward, stiff kneed, arm extended straight out, the blaster at the end of it
continuing to spit fire and lead.
The Tushe Gun careened away from the 9 mm barrage, body jerking and
twitching under the multiple impacts. His boots slid and rasped on the floor as
the bullets drove him into the open door of the chamber. Heels catching on the
edge of the raised floor, he fell unceremoniously onto his back, legs kicking
furiously.
A tendril of arcing energy brushed the saber in his hand. A sharp report shook
the chamber, and the Tushe Gun writhed within a cocoon of blinding flame. A
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halo of smoke surrounded his body, but his crisped gauntlet still gripped his
sword hilt. The blade was gone, melted and nearly vaporized by the plasma.
Little blobs of semi-liquid steel clung to his blackened sleeve. The dragon ring
was a splatter of molten droplets gleaming on the fingers of his right hand.
Grant shoved the door shut with a shoulder and leaned his weight against it,
content for a long moment to see nothing, hear nothing and do nothing. Then he
sleepwalked over to the motionless bodies of Kane and Brigid.
Kneeling down, he pulled her up and over, cradling her in his arms. Kane's eyes
were open, glassy with pain and fatigue. Brigid's lips formed words over and
over, repeating the same tiny, faint whisper. He ducked his head so he could
understand.
She said, "You were trying to save me, but I wasn't going to watch you die. I
wasn't going to watch you die."
"What's she saying?" Kane croaked.
Grant didn't answer and he wasn't sure why. He smacked her face quickly. "Pull
yourself together," he whispered urgently into her ear. "We're okay for now, but
only for now. Pull yourself together."
Her emerald eyes looked up at his face, and sudden joy shone in them. Then
terror engulfed them, and she opened her mouth as if to scream.
Grant shook her. "You're all right, Brigid. You're all right. All of us are all right."
"Grant," she murmured hoarsely. "Where's Kane?"
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"He's right here. All of us are here."
"So tired& hurt so much."
"We all do, but we've got to suck it up. We're not out of this yet."
Kane shifted slowly and carefully on the floor, making several attempts to prop
himself up on his elbows. "When we get back," he said in a husky whisper, "I'm
going to take your advice and do it."
"Do what?"
"Find myself a remote little spot and live in a tent with a stickie slut."
Grant rolled his eyes, then swiveled his head to survey the smoke-wreathed
carnage, littered with corpses, empty shell casings and widening pools of blood.
He glanced toward the bloodied face of Kane and looked down at Brigid. There
was some color back in her face, and the defeated, drained look had gone. She
smiled up at him wanly. Her smile was infectious, and almost miraculously he
felt his exhaustion and pain ebbing away. He tightened his arms around her and
said pridefully, "What a team."
Chapter 29
It took them longer than expected to pull themselves together. Brigid was in the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]