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“See the future, young sir?” the old woman croaked theatrically Merris Croh drop
The tightly interwoven blues and greens darkened The i over a lake, a silhouette that grewfrom a shadow into the lines of a face
It was just his own face, his darkly reflected eyes staring out of the crystal
Nick picked up the crystal in one hand and hurled it with vicious force at the nearest tree The crash ht theirat the glittering shards
“I think I’ve seen enough,” he said
They dropped Mae and Ja strict instructions for Mae to be put to bed and kept there Jaht with the air of an anxious nanny
“You don’t need to worry,” he said, leaning into Alan’s open“And, er, Alan?” he added “Thanks”
He gave Alan a quick kiss on the cheek, and then disappeared through the gate with a struggling Mae in tow It was rather a fancy gate, loops and swirls wrought in iron creating a picture Nick couldn’t quite li in the still-dark sky like a big expensive iceberg The s in the upper floors cast yellow light on the big garden and the tennis court
These two had everything They could have left Nick’s brother alone
Nick crossed his arht you’re having”
Alan said, “I’ to you while you still have the fever fruit in your system”
Not talking was fine by Nick He stared out theas Alan drove
Usually the journeys back fro they were It was not like ; it was just the two of them without Mues about whatever his latest craze was, fro to Nick, but he didn’tNick drive most of the way home
This time there was silence Nick did not offer to drive at all He measured exactly where the halfway point was and when it came, he did not speak Let Alan tell hilanced over at Alan and saw his jaw set He was not going to ask Nick for help; he was too proud to ask for anything that was not offered willingly
Nick was viciously glad It was Alan’s own fault Let him suffer
They continued to drive in silence, except for the tiny hitches of breath that began to rise helplessly in Alan’s throat Nick listened to every stifled sound of pain
Alan would never have let Nick hurt hiht have been Nick knew that, but that was the difference between them Nick was a jerk, and Alan was a suicidal fool
The car drove into a lurid yellowpale, sickly sunlight There was a fine, continuous rain falling Nick stared out at the wash of water down the glass and wondered if other people got as angry as he did He’d seen Alan angry, but he’d never discovered in Alan’s eyes any savage urge for blood He wished he wanted to yell at Alan or sla but lash out with extreme violence He sat, fists clenched, too aware of the neord at his belt and the knife against the small of his back
When they pulled up outside their house and the purr of the car engine stilled, Alan let his leg relax and breathed out a sigh of pure relief For a moment there was complete quiet
Then Alan said, “While you were gone, I talked to Merris She said she wouldn’t be able to help us with Black Arthur, but — I don’t know I’ve heard stories about the experiments she does in her house She won’t talk about theet into Merris’s house”
That was just like Nick’s stupid brother, still worrying about Muet both marks off Alan, and that would be almost impossible
“We need to kill a ician,” Nick snarled
Dad had been killed by thefroicians, and now they had to seek them out
“We’ve killed icians before,” said Alan
“When they caicians’ Circles If we try to deliberately find one, we’ll find a nest of theic, and they outnumber us”
These were the facts Alan knew them, and it maddened Nick to have to enumerate them He did not add the next fact, which was that Alan was probably going to die
“It’s a chance,” Alan said “Jamie didn’t have a chance before Noe both do”
“Why should he expect you to die for him?” Nick demanded “What would I do with Mum if you were dead?”
“I didn’t realize,” Alan said slowly, looking a little pale, “that your concern was so entirely practical”
Nick stared at the dashboard Alan was choosing now, of all times, to talk nonsense Nick was in no mood for it
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“See the future, young sir?” the old woman croaked theatrically Merris Croh drop
The tightly interwoven blues and greens darkened The i over a lake, a silhouette that grewfrom a shadow into the lines of a face
It was just his own face, his darkly reflected eyes staring out of the crystal
Nick picked up the crystal in one hand and hurled it with vicious force at the nearest tree The crash ht theirat the glittering shards
“I think I’ve seen enough,” he said
They dropped Mae and Ja strict instructions for Mae to be put to bed and kept there Jaht with the air of an anxious nanny
“You don’t need to worry,” he said, leaning into Alan’s open“And, er, Alan?” he added “Thanks”
He gave Alan a quick kiss on the cheek, and then disappeared through the gate with a struggling Mae in tow It was rather a fancy gate, loops and swirls wrought in iron creating a picture Nick couldn’t quite li in the still-dark sky like a big expensive iceberg The s in the upper floors cast yellow light on the big garden and the tennis court
These two had everything They could have left Nick’s brother alone
Nick crossed his arht you’re having”
Alan said, “I’ to you while you still have the fever fruit in your system”
Not talking was fine by Nick He stared out theas Alan drove
Usually the journeys back fro they were It was not like ; it was just the two of them without Mues about whatever his latest craze was, fro to Nick, but he didn’tNick drive most of the way home
This time there was silence Nick did not offer to drive at all He measured exactly where the halfway point was and when it came, he did not speak Let Alan tell hilanced over at Alan and saw his jaw set He was not going to ask Nick for help; he was too proud to ask for anything that was not offered willingly
Nick was viciously glad It was Alan’s own fault Let him suffer
They continued to drive in silence, except for the tiny hitches of breath that began to rise helplessly in Alan’s throat Nick listened to every stifled sound of pain