Page 64 (2/2)
Holding the blood-diaelina’s blood, I stabbed upward Into the belly of the deic was cold It swar and icy The deelina’s Coating the blood-diaain My wrist burned where the chain touched old chain aroundEvan invoked the name, "Hayyel, take Kalona Ayeliski, the Raven Mocker" He spoke the Irish Gaelic of the binding, syllables I couldn’t reproduce if I tried "Bíodh sé daor, le us le mo chumhacht"
The explosion sent me back, over the witch dead on the front seat, over the windshield and hood To the ground where I hit, sla pain I rolled, bounced, scraped over the driveway, leaving layers of ht I saw olden, black and shadowed, beat at the world
It was all over when I finally rerief Molly wailed, clutching her sister to her A reporter raced up to thrust a rowled Leo sht a gli helped into the hotel, the stink of burned vamp on the air Derek handedht, so bright it had been blinding, went out In ht hand was an elk-horn hilt and a melted blade The chain of the blood-diamond was seared into ht?" I croaked
"Fro and sent it out live" He pointed to a TV discreetly on the check-in desk It was a close-up of Leo, looking urbane and elegant, even with the smear of blood on his cheek And beside hi shell-shocked and lost, staring at a body on the pavement Chen Naked Dead With runes cut into his flesh I reelina had sacrificed hiround, soem--the blood-diamond--into my pocket I knehat it was now A portal into hell Guarded by an angel
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
A Marriage Ceremony with a Death Sentence at the End
Two days later, I stood beside the hospital bed, aardly patting Itty Bitty’s hand The tiny wo with no trace of were-taint found in her blood Gertruda, the Mercy Blade sworn to the service of Charles Dufresnee, the Master of the Raleigh-Durha far s than I felt
Gertruda still wanted nothing to do with me She hadn’t looked at ive the injured witch her final healing Still silent, she left the roo I stood for without saying a word I didn’t knohat I’d done to the wo off supernats
And cops I was real good at ticking theeneral, even better Itty Bitty’s boyfriend sat in the corner of the roolowered at me as if the wolf attack had been e well-deserved blauilt when I think about all the people hurt because I hadn’t thought about tolves in jail and how they ht about the un cabinet in New Orleans And hadn’t thought about Evangelina and hoeird she had acted while visiting ht at all
I patted Itty Bitty’s hand again "Like I said The Party of African Weres will pick up any outstanding medical bills The leader assured ," she said "You didn’t have to"
I ood one "Yeah I did" Okay Enough social-shting the urge to run I’d rather face a pack of wolves than try to coainst a wall in the hallway, his legs crossed at the ankles, looking long and lean in black jeans and jacket, and not trying very hard to discourage the two young wohtly patterned scrub suits and one had a chest that Rick clearly found i was a better word "Come on, Ricky Bo," I said, "before your eyeballs fall out"
He grinned atinto his collar "Sandra is Sam Orson’s nurse" He nodded to the busty one "She says the deputy’s going to be fine He just took a ricochet off the h" I hadn’t realized I carried the weight of the cop’s injury until it fell away "You can quit worrying," he added ently