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Hethe twisting, narrow streets He detested the fact that he was here, walking a them Some passed so near he could have touched the a i hand He felt the heat of their bodies, saw the steaht air He felt the blood i pulsing beneath their skin, and heard the rapid, healthy i: patter of their hearts He felt like a wolf slinking silently i ath he : could kill any of thehtened hi just that, if I pushed
For an instant, es of the distant past clouded I his vision Air heavy with dust and the scents of sweat ii and blood Fallen men, like autu as the riderless horses fled in a hundred directions OneThe lowly squire in ill-fitting arnificent, sooty destrier The horse pawed the ground with a forefoot and blew, eager for more Only silence came in answer The silence of death, for it surrounded the Roland saw the blood-coated broadsword, the cri slowly froan to fade, he let the weapon fall froed the steel helmet froround Aghast, he stared at the carnage, too sickened just then to be thankful their faces were hidden by helmets, their wounds covered by their armor
The boy felt no elation at what he&039;d done No, not even later, when he was personally knighted by King Louis VII, for herois new self-knowledge
For he had enjoyed the killing
Roland shook hirets
He re of them to rabbits, some humans were capable of ultiht him that And if the report he&039;d just had from the States were true, one of those huht even be a few yards from him
It was that possibility that had drawn Roland into the village tonight, in spite of his self-imposed solitude
His plan was sih the medieval-style streets of L&039;Ombre, and into the inn called Le Requin
He would listen, and he would watch He&039;d scan their thinly veiled minds and he&039;d find the interloper, if, indeed, there was one to be found And then he&039;d deal with it
The night wind stiffened, bringing with it the scents of late-bloorass and of the liquor and smoke just beyond the door he now approached He paused as the door side, and the odor sharpened A cluster of inebriated tourists stu his face, but it was an unnecessary precaution They paid him no mind
Roland squared his shoulders He did not fear humans, nor did many of his kind More that he feared for them, should he be forced into an unwanted encounter Besides that, it ood sense to avoid contact Should humans ever learn that the existence of vaends and folklore, the dae done would be irreversible
There would be no peace It was best to re ht it and slipped quickly through
He stepped to one side and took a s Low, round tables were scattered without order People clustered around the in particular
The s his eyes and causing his nostrils to burn The voices were a drone, punctuated often by the splashing of liquor and the clinking sounds of ice against glass
Her laughter rose then, above all else Low, husky and completely without reserve, it rode the saze shot toward the source of the sound, but he saw only a huddle of uess she h the throng of admirers was out of the question
Roland had no desire to araw undue attention No, nor indeed, any desire to renew his timeless acquaintance with her To resuer he felt at the idea that any of the huh to touch her He would not wish to witness the clus of soht break the fool&039;s neck for such an offense, but there was no need pressing his te, and he did so now, attuning hiswhat she was calling herself these days
For although he sought confirmation, he had no doubt about the identity of that seductive laugh&039;s owner No doubt at all
"Do another one, Rhiannon!"
"Oui, cher id "Ow about zome rock and roll?"
A chorus of pleas followed, as the y, dark form extricated herself fro in that way she had She race that she seemed to float over the hardwood rather than walk on it The slightly flared he a fraction of an inch above the floor added to the illusion Roland had no clue how she th skirt clung to theht as well have paraded naked before her gaping adarment hid The velvet see as her hips did, nipping inward at the waist, cupping her s, slender ar theer-sharp nails of blood red
Roland&039;s gaze continued upward as she moved across the room, apparently unaware of his presence The neckline of the ridiculous dress consisted only of two strips of velvet for a halter around her throat Between the swatches, the pale expanse of her skin gloith ethereal sentle swell of her breasts, to the delicate outline of her collarbone at the base of her throat Around her neck she wore an onyx pendant in the shape of a cradle moon It rested flat on the surface of her chest, its lowest point just touching the uppermost curve of her breasts
That swan&039;s neck, crea and narroas partially covered by her hair It hung as straight and perfectly jet as the velvet dress, yet glossy, more satin than velvet, in truth
She&039;d pulled it all to one side, and it hung down covering the right side of her neck, and th only ended ata cluster of dia they touched her shoulder He couldn&039;t tell whether the earring had a ht ear, due to her abundance of hair
She paused, and bent over thein his ear, her narrow hand resting on his shoulder Roland felt himself stiffen as the beast buried deep within him stirred for the first time in decades He willed it away Thethe crowd, one forear upon the top of the piano With the first rich, flawless note she sung, the entire rooiven for everything and everyone within Her expression gave the lyricsas if her heart were breaking with each note, yet her voice never wavered or weakened in in tensity
She held theevery ht to turn and leave her to make a spectacle of herself in this insaneon, of heartache and unbearable loneliness, she looked toward hio In spite of hih he&039;d had no intention of doing so, he let his eyes take in every aspect of her face
A perfect oval, with bone structure as exquisite and flawless as if she were a sculpture done by a , defined jawline
The slight hollows beneath her cheeks and the high, wide-set cheekbones
Her eyes were alhtly upward at the outer corners
The kohl that lined them only accentuated that exotic slant, and her lashes were as iainst&039; his will he focused on her full, always pouting lips as they for Their color was deep, dark red, like that of wine
How ered for those lips?
He shook himself The fruit of those lips was one he ain Still, they focused solely upon hi were meant for his ears alone Gradually he realized the patrons were growing curious Heads turned toward hiht the attention of the elusive Rhiannon He&039;d fallen under her spell as surely as any of these si hurowing risk of discovery Let her behave recklessly, if it pleased her to do so He wouldn&039;t risk his existence to warn her More likely than not, his re here would result in trouble Her nearness never failed to stir the beast to life, to bring out his baser instincts
That she did so deliberately ithout doubt Though if she knew the whole of it, she ripped the door, his eyes still on her, and jerked it open He ht even as she held the hauntingly low, final note, drawing it out so long it ought to be obvious she was no ordinary wo her He only heard thunderous applause
Rhiannon felt the sting of the slap she&039;d just been issued Her anger rose quickly, but not quite quickly enough to prevent her feeling the hurt that cahly and sinore the dress she&039;d chosen simply to entice him He could pretend not to hear the e she&039;d chosen Well, she supposed she&039;d need et his attention
She stepped away fro that she had a headache and needed to slip aithout her is, tilted his head toward a door in the back, and Rhiannon rip the upper ar in her wake, out the door
She could only just ure, farther along the narrow street She didn&039;t call out to hi so simple as a hello, after decades of separation She had a better idea
She pulled the drunken man with her a few yards farther, then turned hi his shirt front She shoved his back against a building
For a , really Red hair, and freckles, but a rather nice face, except for the crooked, inebriated grin
She hooked a finger beneath his chin, and stared into his green, liquor-clouded eyes for a long aining his utter cooperation By the tiladly given her everything he owned, had she asked it She sensed no evil in him In fact, he see She supposed everyone was entitled to one vice, though She was about to indulge in hers
She parted her lips and settled her ular pulsed beneath the skin She wished the et a rise out of Roland Her willing victim moaned softly, and let his head fall to the side She nearly choked on her laughter
She was glad one of the some pleasure out of this The act had lost its luster for her long ago
"Dao!"
Roland&039;s hand closed on her shoulder, and he jerked her roughly away froround, barely conscious, but from her entrancement of him, not from blood loss
"You could have killed him,"Roland whispered harshly
Rhiannon allowed the corners of her lips to pull ever so slightly upward
"Always so eager to think the worst of ? And it&039;s Rhiannon, now Rhianikki is too"-- she waved a hand "--Egyptian"She gave the ht, Paul You o now"With her mind, she released him, and he rose unsteadily His puzzled expression ain"What happened?"
"You&039;ve had a little too much Chablis, , he stumbled back into the tavern, and Rhiannon turned to Roland
"You see?"
"Why are you here?"
She lifted her hands, pallad to see you&039;re still drawing a breath? Nothing? How rude you&039;ve become, Roland"
"Why are you here?"His voice reed
"Well, if you ent, rather nasty one, too, who&039;d traced you here They say he&039;s already in the village I orried about you, Roland I caround and slowly shook his head"So, knowing an agent of the Division of Paranore, you naturally flaunt your own presence here to the utree"
"What better way to flush him out? You kno keen they are on vaht&039;ve been killed, Rhiannon"
"Then you&039;d have been rid ofher face
"I would find no joy in that, reckless one"
From beneath her lashes, she looked up at hi it"
He placed a hand on her shoulder She slipped one around his waist, and theyroad, toward his castle
"You need to take more care,"he went on, his tone itherlyand utterly "You&039;ve no idea what DPI is capable of They&039;ve developed a tranquilizer that renders us helpless"
"I know And I know about your scrape with the, Tamara"&039; Roland&039;s brows shot upward
"And how do you know all of that?"
"I keep track of you, darling"She smiled
"And for years I kept track of that scientist, St Claire He held me for a time in that laboratory of his, you know"
He sucked in a sharp breath, gripped her shoulders and turned her to face hihed aloud At last, some emotion!