Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 8

What argon you doing? he repeated ferociously.His magnetize was hurting her.Im throwing the water radix down t here(predicate), cartridge holdergie verbalize. scarce she was thin great power, Hes so strong. Stronger than whateverbody Ive ever met. He could break mywrist without nonetheless trying.I k immediately that Why?Because its easier than carrying it down in myteeth, Maggie said. unless that wasnt the real reason,of course. The truth was that she needed to postulate temptation out of the way. She was so thirsty thatit was a kind of madness, and she was afraid ofwhat she would do if she held onto this cool, sloshing water pedestal much longer.He was staring at her with those startling eyes,as if he were trying to pryhis way into her brain.And Maggie had the odd flavour that hed succeeded, at least far enough that he k youngfangled the real reason she was doing this.You are an idiot, he said slowly, with cold wonder. You should listen to your body its telling youwhat i t needs. You cant ignore thirst. You cantdeny it.Yes, you can, Maggie said flatly. Her wrist was sack numb. If this went on, she was going to dropthe bag involuntarily, and in the wrong place.You cant, he said, somehow making the wordsinto an angry hiss. I should hunch forward.Then he showed her his teeth.Maggie should have been prepared.Jeanne had told her. Vampires and witches and shapeshifters, shed said. And Sylvia was a witch,and Bern had been a shapeshifter.This son was a vampire.The strange affaire was that, un same Bern, he didntget uglier when he changed. His lay out seemed palerand finer, uniform something chiseled in ice. His rosyeyes burned brighter, framed by lashes that looked purge blacker in contrast. His pupils opened and seemed to hold a darkness that could swall(a)ow aperson up.But it was the mouth that had changed the most.It looked even more willful, disdainful, and sullen-and it was drawn up into a gibe to displaythe fangs.Impressive fangs. Long, transluc ent white, tapering into delicate points. Shaped like a cats canines,with a sheen on them like jewels. Not yellowing tusks like Berns, however delicate instruments of death.What amazed Maggie was that although helooked completely different from anything shed seen before, completely abnormal, he also lookedcompletely natural. This was a nonher kind of creature, just like a human or a bear, with as muchright to live as either of them.Which didnt mean she wasnt s do byd. But shewas frightened in a new way, a way ready for action.She was ready to chip, if fighting became necessary. Shed already changed that much since entering this valley fear now made her not panicked buthyper alert.If I have to defend myself I need both hands.And its unwrap not to let him see Im scared.Maybe you cant ignore your kind of thirst, shesaid, and was pleased that her voice didnt wobble.But Im fine. bar that youre hurting my wrist. Can you please let go?For just an instant, the brilliant yellow eyesflare d even brighter, and she wondered if he wasgoing to attack her. But then his eyelids lowered,black lashes veiling the brightness. He let go ofher wrist.Maggies arm sagged,and the leather bagdropped from her on the spur of the moment nerveless fingers. It landed safely at her feet. She rubbed her hand.And didnt look up a moment later, when he saidwith a kind of quiet hostility, Arent you afraidof me?Yes. It was true. And it wasnt just because hewas a vampire or because he had a power thatcould communicate blue death twenty feet away. It was because of him, of the way he was. He was scary enough in and of himself.But what good is it, realness afraid? Maggie said,still rubbing her hand. If youre going to try tohurt me,ITfight back. And so far, you havent triedto hurt me. Youve sole(prenominal) helped me.I told you, I didnt do it for you.And youll neversurvive if you keep on being insane like this.Insane like what? Now she did look up, to seethat his eyes were burning dark gold and his fangswere gone. His mouth apparently looked scornful and aristocratic. study stack, he said, as if it should havebeen obvious. Taking care of people. Dont youknow that only the strong ones make it? Weak people are deadweightand if you try to help them, theyll drag you down with them.Maggie had an answer for that. Cady isntweak, she said flatly. Shes sickShell get betterif she gets the chance. And if we dont take care ofeach other, whats going to happen to all of us?He looked exasperated, and for a few minutesthey stared at each other in mutual frustration.Then Maggie bent and picked up the bag again.Id better give it to her now. Ill bring your can teen back.Wait. His voice was abrupt and cold, unfriendly. But this time he didnt grab her.What?Follow me. He gave the order briefly andturned without pausing to see if she obeyed. It wasclear that he expectedpeople to obey him, withoutquestions. Bring the bag, he said, without faceover his shoulder.Maggie hesitated an instant, g lancing down atCady. But the hollow was protected by the overhanging boulders Cady would be all right there for a few minutes.She followed the son. The narrow path that wound close to the mountain was rough and primitive, interrupted by bands of broken, razor-sharpslate. She had to pick her way care spaciousy aroundthem.In front of her, the boy turned toward the rocksuddenly and disappeared. When Maggie caught up, she proverb the cave.The entrance was small, hardly more than acrack, and even Maggie had to stoop and go in sideways. But inside it opened into a snug littleenclosure that smelled of dampness and cool rock.Almost no light filtered in from the outsideworld. Maggie blinked, trying to adjust to the neardarkness, when there was a sound like a match strike and a smell of sulphur. A tiny flame was innate(p), and Maggie saw the boy lighting some kindof crude colliery lamp that had been carved out ofthe cave wall itself. He glanced back at her and his eyes flashed gold.But Mag gie was gasping, looking at around her.The light of the little flame threw a mass of shifting, confusing shadows everywhere, but it alsopicked out weave of sparkling quartz in the rock.The small cave had become a place of enchantment.Andatthe boys feet was something that glitteredsilver. In the quiet of the still air, Maggie couldhear the liquid, bell-like sound of water dripping.Itsa pool, the boy said. Spring fed. The watees cold, but its good. Water .Something like pure lecherousness overcame Maggie. She took three steps forward, ignoring the boy completely, and then her legs collapsed.Shecupped a hand in the pool, felt the coolness embrace it to the wrist, and brought it out asif shewere holding liquid diamond in her palm.Shed never tasted anything asgood as that water. No Coke shed intoxicated on the hottest day of summer could compare with it. It ran through herdry mouth and down her parched throatand then it seemed to blossom all through her, sparklingthrough her body, soothing and reviving her. A sort of crystal clearness entered her brain. She drankand drank in a state of pure bliss.And then, when she was in the even more blissfulstate of being not thirsty anymore, she plunged the leather bag under the surface to fill it.Whats that for? But there was a certain resignation in the boys voice.Cady. I have to get back to her. Maggie sat backon her heels and looked at him. The light dancedand flickered around him, glinting bronze transfer hisdark hair, casting half his face in shadow.Thank you, she said, quietly, but in a voice thatshook slightly. I think you probably saved mylife again.You were really thirsty.Yeah. She stood up.But when you thought there wasnt enoughwater, you were going to give it to her. He couldntseem to get over the concept. YeahEven if it meant you dying?I didnt die, Maggie pointed out. And I wasntplanning to. Butyeah, I guess, if there wasnt anyother choice. She saw him staring at her in utterbewilderment. I took responsibili ty for her, shesaid, trying to explain. Its like when you take ina cat, or-or its like being a queen or something.If you say youre going to be responsible for your subjects, you are. You owe them afterward.Something glimmered in his golden eyes, just fora moment. It could have been a dagger point ofanger or just a spark of astonishment. on that point wasa silence.Its not thatweird, people taking care of each other, Maggie said, looking at his shadowed face.Doesnt anybody do it here?He gave a short laugh. Hardly, he said dryly.The nobles know how to take care of themselves.And the slaves have to fight each other to survive. He added abruptly, All of which you should know.But of course youre not from here. Youre fromOutside.I didnt know if you knew intimately Outside, Mag gie said.There isnt supposed to be any contact. Therewasnt for about five hundred days. But whenmy-when the old king died, they opened the pass,again and started bringing in slaves from the outside world. New bloo d. He said it simply andmatter-of-factly.Mountain men, Maggie thought. For old age there had been rumors about the Cascades, about menwho lived in hidden places among the glaciers andpreyed on climbers. Men or monsters. There were unendingly hikers who claimed to have seen Bigfoot.And maybe they had-or maybe theyd seen ashapeshifter like Bern.And you think thats okay, she said out loud.Grabbing people from the outside world and dragging them in here to be slaves.Notpeople.Humans.Humansarevermintheyre not intelligent. He said it in that same quiet tone, looking right at her.Are you crazy?Maggies fists were clenched herhead was lowered. Stomping time. She glared upat him through narrowed lashes. Youre talking to a human right now. Am I intelligent or not?Youre a slave without any manners, he saidcurtly. And the law says I could kill you for the way youretalkingto me.His voice was so cold, so arrogantbut Maggiewas starting not to believe it.That couldnt be all there was to him. Beca usehe was the boy in her dream.The gentle, compassionate boy whod looked ather with a flame of love behind his yellow eyes,and whod held her with such tender intensity, hisheart beating against hers, his breath on her cheek. That boy had been real-and even if it didnt makeany sense, Maggie was somehow certain of it. And no matter how cold and arrogant this one seemed, they had to be part of each other.It didnt make her less afraid of this one, exactly.But it made her more determined to ignore herfear.In my dream, she said deliberately, advancinga step on him, you cared about at least onehuman. You essentialed to take care of me.You shouldnt even be allowedto dream aboutme, he said. His voice wasas tense and grim asever, but as Maggie got closer to him, looking directly up into his face, he did something that amazed her. He fell back a step.Why not? Because Im a slave? Im a person.She took some other step forward, still looking at him challengingly. And I dont believe that youre as bad as you say you are. I think I saw what youwere really like in my dream.Youre crazy, he said. He didnt back up anyfarther, there was nowhere left to go. But his wholebody was taut. Why should I want to take care of you? he added in a cold and contemptuous voice.Whats so special about you?It was a good question, and for a moment Maggie was shaken. Tears sprang to her eyes.I dont know, she said honestly. Im nobodyspecial. There isntany reason for you to care aboutme. But it doesnt matter. You saved my life whenBern was going to kill me, and you gave me waterwhen you knew I needed it. You can talk all youwant, but those are the facts. Maybe you just care about everybody, underneath. Or-She never finished the last sentence.As she had been speaking to him, she was doingsomething she always did, that was instinctive to.,her when she felt some strong emotion. She had done it with P.J. and with Jeanne and with Cady.She reached out toward him. And although shewas only indistinctly aware that he was pulling his handsback to avoid her, she adjusted automatically,catching his wrists.And that was when she lost her voice and whatshe was saying flew out of her head. Because something happened. Something that she couldnt ex plain, that was stranger than secret kingdoms orvampires or witchcraft.It happened justas her fingers closed on hishands. It was the first time they had touched like that, apparent skin to bare skin. When he had grabbed her wrist before, her jacket sleeve had been in be tween them.It started as an close to painful jolt, a pulsatingthrill that zigged up her arm and then sweptthrough her body. Maggie gasped, but somehowshe couldnt let go of his hand. Like someone beingelectrocuted, she was frozen in place.The blue fire, she thought wildly. Hes doing thesame thing to me that he did to Bern.But the next instant she knew that he wasnt. This wasnt the savage energy that had killed Bern, and it wasnt anything the boy was doing to her. Itwas something being done to both of them, by some incredibly mighty source outside either of them.And it was trying to open a channel. Thatwas the only way Maggie could describe it. It was glare a path open in her mind, and connectingit to his.She feltas if she had turned around and unexpectedly found herself facing another persons soul.A soul that was hanging there, without protection,already in helpless communication with hers.It was by far the most intense thing that hadever happened to her. Maggie gasped again, seeingstars, and then her legs melted and she fellforwardHe caught her, but he couldnt stand up either.Maggie knew that as well as she knew what wasgoing on in her own body. He sank to his knees, holding her.What are you doing to me?It was a thought, but it wasnt Maggies. It washis.I dont know Im not doing it I dont understandMaggie had no idea how to send herthoughts to another person. But she didnt need to,it was simply happening. A pure line of communication had been opened surround ed by them. It was afierce and terrible thing, a bit like being fused together by a bolt of lightning, but it was also so marvellous that Maggies entire skin was prickling and her mind was hushed with awe.She felt as if shed been lifted into some new andwonderful place that most people never even saw. The air around her seemed to quiver with invisible wings.This is how people are supposed to be,shethought. Joined like this. Open to each other. Withnothing hidden and no stupid walls between them.A thought came back at her, sharp and quickasa hammer strike. NoIt was so cold, so full of rejection, that for a moment Maggie was taken aback. But then she sensedwhat else was behind it.Anger and fear. He was afraid of this, andof her. He felt invaded. Exposed.Well, I do, too,Maggie said mentally. It wasntthat she wasnt afraid. It was that her fear was irrelevant. The force that held them was so much morepowerful than either of them, so infinitely ancient, that fear was natural but not imp ortant. The same light shone through each of them, strippingaway their shields, making them bluff toeach other.Its all right for you. Because you dont have any thing to be ashamed ofThe thought flashed by so quickly that Maggie wasnt even sure she hadheard it.What do you mean?she thought. Wait Delos.That was his name. Delos Redfern. She knew itnow, as unquestionably as she knew the call ofher own family. She realized, too, as a matter of minor importance, an afterthought, that he was a prince. A vampire prince whod been born to rule this secret kingdom, as the Redfern family had ruled it for centuries.The old king was your father,she said to him. And he died three years ago, when you were fourteen. Youve been ruling ever since.He was pulling away from her mentally, trying tobreak the contact between them. Its none of your business, he snarled.Please wait,Maggie said. But as she chased after him mentally, trying to catch him, to help him,something shocking and new happened, like a second bolt of lightning.