Shadowfever
Page 63
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Barrons took my arm and turned me toward the staircase, but I shook him off and turned back to Lor. I was getting way too much bad press. I wasnt a stone. I hadnt been created by the Unseelie King. And I wasnt a traitor.
One of those things I could have a satisfying fight about.
Why am I a bitch? I demanded. Because you think I slept with Darroc?
Shut her up before I kill her, Lor told Barrons.
Dont talk to him about me. Talk to me about me. Or do you think Im not worthy of your regard because, when I believed Barrons was dead, I hooked up with the enemy to accomplish my goals? How terrible of me, I mocked. I guess I should have just laid down and died with a whimper. Would that have impressed you, Lor?
Get the bitch out of my face.
I guess taking up with Darroc makes me pretty wellI knew what word Barrons hated, and I was in the mood to try it out on Lormercenary, doesnt it? You can blame me for that if you want to. Or you can pull your head out of your ass and respect me for it.
Lor turned his head and looked at me then, as if Id begun to speak his language. Unlike Barrons, the word didnt seem to bother him. In fact, it seemed he understood, even appreciated it. Something flickered in his cold eyes. Id interested him.
Some people wouldnt see a traitor when they looked at me. Some people would see a survivor. Call me anything you likeI sleep fine at night. But you will look at me when you say it. Or Ill get so far in your face youll be seeing me with your eyes closed. Youll be seeing me in your nightmares. Ill scorch myself on the backs of your eyelids. Get off my back and stay off it. Im not the woman I used to be. If you want a war with me, youll get one. Just try me. Give me an excuse to go play in that dark place inside my head.
Dark place? Barrons murmured.
As if you dont have one, I snapped. Your cave makes mine look like a white beach on a sunny day. Shouldering past them, I pushed up the stairs. I thought I heard a rumble of laughter behind me and glanced over my shoulder. Three men stared at me with the dead, emotionless gazes of executioners.
But, heythey were all looking.
Behind a chrome balustrade, the upper floor stretched: acres of smooth dark-glass walls without doors or handles.
I had no idea how many rooms were up here. From the size of the downstairs, there could be fifty or more.
We walked along the glass walls until some tiny detail I couldnt discern signified an entrance. Barrons pressed his palm to a dark-glass panel, which slid to the side, then he pushed me into the room. He didnt step in with me but continued moving down the hall to some otherdestination.
The panel slid closed behind me, leaving me alone with Ryodan in the room that was the guts of Chesters. It was made entirely of glasswalls, floor, and ceiling. I could see out, but no one could see in.
The perimeter of the ceiling was lined with dozens of small LED screens fed by cameras that panned every room in the club, as if you couldnt see enough of what was going on merely by looking down past your feet. I stayed where I was. Every step you take on a glass floor feels like a leap of faith when the only solid floor you can see is forty feet below.
Mac, said Ryodan.
He stood behind a desk, couched in shadow, a big man, dark in a white shirt. The only light in the room came from the monitors above our heads. I wanted to launch myself across the room and attack him, claw his eyes out, bite him, punch him, stab him with my spear. I was astonished by the depth of hostility I felt.
Hed made me kill Barrons.
High on that cliff, the two of us had beaten, cut, and stabbed the man whod been keeping me alive almost since the day I arrived in Dublin. And Id wondered for days that had felt like years if Ryodan had wanted Barrons dead.
I thought you tricked me into killing him. I thought youd betrayed him.
I kept telling you to leave. You didnt. You were never supposed to see what he was.
You mean what you all are, I corrected. All nine of you.
Careful, Mac. Some things dont get talked about. Ever.
I reached for my spear. He could have told me the truth on the cliff, but, like Barrons, hed let me suffer. The more I thought about how both of them had withheld a truth from me that would have spared me so much agony, the angrier I got. I was just making sure that when I stab and kill you, youll come back so I can do it again.
The spear was in my hand, but suddenly my hand was in a huge fist, and the tip was pointed at my own throat.
Ryodan could move like Dani, Barrons, and the others. So fast I couldnt defend myself. He stood behind me, arm snaked around my waist.
Never make that threat. Put it away, Mac. Or Ill take it for good. He jabbed me with the tip of the spear in warning. Barrons wouldnt let you do that.
You might be surprised what Barrons would let me do.
Because he thinks Im a traitor.
I saw you with Darroc myself. I heard you in the alley last night. When deeds and words align, the truth is plain.
I believed both of you were dead. What did you expect? The same survival instinct you admire in each other offends you in me. I think it worries you. Makes me more unpredictable than youd like.
One of those things I could have a satisfying fight about.
Why am I a bitch? I demanded. Because you think I slept with Darroc?
Shut her up before I kill her, Lor told Barrons.
Dont talk to him about me. Talk to me about me. Or do you think Im not worthy of your regard because, when I believed Barrons was dead, I hooked up with the enemy to accomplish my goals? How terrible of me, I mocked. I guess I should have just laid down and died with a whimper. Would that have impressed you, Lor?
Get the bitch out of my face.
I guess taking up with Darroc makes me pretty wellI knew what word Barrons hated, and I was in the mood to try it out on Lormercenary, doesnt it? You can blame me for that if you want to. Or you can pull your head out of your ass and respect me for it.
Lor turned his head and looked at me then, as if Id begun to speak his language. Unlike Barrons, the word didnt seem to bother him. In fact, it seemed he understood, even appreciated it. Something flickered in his cold eyes. Id interested him.
Some people wouldnt see a traitor when they looked at me. Some people would see a survivor. Call me anything you likeI sleep fine at night. But you will look at me when you say it. Or Ill get so far in your face youll be seeing me with your eyes closed. Youll be seeing me in your nightmares. Ill scorch myself on the backs of your eyelids. Get off my back and stay off it. Im not the woman I used to be. If you want a war with me, youll get one. Just try me. Give me an excuse to go play in that dark place inside my head.
Dark place? Barrons murmured.
As if you dont have one, I snapped. Your cave makes mine look like a white beach on a sunny day. Shouldering past them, I pushed up the stairs. I thought I heard a rumble of laughter behind me and glanced over my shoulder. Three men stared at me with the dead, emotionless gazes of executioners.
But, heythey were all looking.
Behind a chrome balustrade, the upper floor stretched: acres of smooth dark-glass walls without doors or handles.
I had no idea how many rooms were up here. From the size of the downstairs, there could be fifty or more.
We walked along the glass walls until some tiny detail I couldnt discern signified an entrance. Barrons pressed his palm to a dark-glass panel, which slid to the side, then he pushed me into the room. He didnt step in with me but continued moving down the hall to some otherdestination.
The panel slid closed behind me, leaving me alone with Ryodan in the room that was the guts of Chesters. It was made entirely of glasswalls, floor, and ceiling. I could see out, but no one could see in.
The perimeter of the ceiling was lined with dozens of small LED screens fed by cameras that panned every room in the club, as if you couldnt see enough of what was going on merely by looking down past your feet. I stayed where I was. Every step you take on a glass floor feels like a leap of faith when the only solid floor you can see is forty feet below.
Mac, said Ryodan.
He stood behind a desk, couched in shadow, a big man, dark in a white shirt. The only light in the room came from the monitors above our heads. I wanted to launch myself across the room and attack him, claw his eyes out, bite him, punch him, stab him with my spear. I was astonished by the depth of hostility I felt.
Hed made me kill Barrons.
High on that cliff, the two of us had beaten, cut, and stabbed the man whod been keeping me alive almost since the day I arrived in Dublin. And Id wondered for days that had felt like years if Ryodan had wanted Barrons dead.
I thought you tricked me into killing him. I thought youd betrayed him.
I kept telling you to leave. You didnt. You were never supposed to see what he was.
You mean what you all are, I corrected. All nine of you.
Careful, Mac. Some things dont get talked about. Ever.
I reached for my spear. He could have told me the truth on the cliff, but, like Barrons, hed let me suffer. The more I thought about how both of them had withheld a truth from me that would have spared me so much agony, the angrier I got. I was just making sure that when I stab and kill you, youll come back so I can do it again.
The spear was in my hand, but suddenly my hand was in a huge fist, and the tip was pointed at my own throat.
Ryodan could move like Dani, Barrons, and the others. So fast I couldnt defend myself. He stood behind me, arm snaked around my waist.
Never make that threat. Put it away, Mac. Or Ill take it for good. He jabbed me with the tip of the spear in warning. Barrons wouldnt let you do that.
You might be surprised what Barrons would let me do.
Because he thinks Im a traitor.
I saw you with Darroc myself. I heard you in the alley last night. When deeds and words align, the truth is plain.
I believed both of you were dead. What did you expect? The same survival instinct you admire in each other offends you in me. I think it worries you. Makes me more unpredictable than youd like.
