[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

you re a were-kitty now. That s going to be a very long time.
 Take me home, Whim, Charlie murmured.  You
promised. Take me home.
 I ll die before I break that promise, Whim muttered,
and then looked at Lambent as though begging for
something. Lambent, for all he seemed arrogant and
demanding, gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and pressed
a small silver knife into Whim s hand.
 It can t be me, Lambent said gently.
 You re a healer, Lambent, and I m not that strong& .
 You ve got the love, brother. All the love in the world.
You ll do fine. Now it s near midnight, and that s when you ll
be strongest. He s not going to be strong enough to change
into his other form and get this shite out of his blood unless
you heal him first. Now his wound is still open from the
bite hurry.
95
Amy Lane
With that Lambent grabbed Daniel s arm and hauled
him back. Together, he and Daniel stood with the big brown
cat and the cop who kept petting her and watched the
tableau of Whim and Charlie, in the center of their magic
place on Whim s most powerful day of the year.
None of it made sense to Daniel. Whim used the silver
knife to make a small cut on his finger and then took
Charlie s hand in his own, opening the wound and rubbing
the blood together. The wounds began to glow, and then
Whim began to sing.
From where Daniel was standing, it sounded like  The
Little Drummer Boy .
Even the stoic cop s eyes grew wide.  Interesting choice,
he murmured, and Lambent shussshhed him even as he
nodded a rather befuddled agreement.
And then none of them had words. The glow increased,
grew brighter, intense, a blinding mixture of blue, red, and
gold light, culminating in a cornea-blasting silver that
engulfed the two lovers in the clearing.
Whim kept singing, though he fell to his knees still
cradling Charlie s wasted body against his chest, and the
light swirled and blurred around them. Still, it didn t seem to
be enough, not to cure Charlie, not to help Whim, until
Whim s voice, ragged and cracked and bleeding, tore across
the clearing. Please, oh Goddess, please& . And then the glow
exploded around them until the little gathering of watchers
had to cover their eyes.
96
Litha s Constant Whim
When the glow faded and Daniel could see past the
spots playing in his vision, he blinked and saw a miracle.
Charlie was sitting up in Whim s arms, and his hair had
grown back. He was still thin and looked as though he had
been ill, but even in the moonlight, Daniel could see that his
face was flushing and his cheeks had color and his breathing
was even and healthy.
That was it. His miracle. Charlie was going to live.
He took one excited step across the clearing when a
hand on his arm stopped him. He looked in surprise to see
the girl there instead of the cat. She was naked and
apparently didn t give a shit, and she was glaring up at him
with unfriendly, amber eyes.
 You don t think he s yours again, do you? she asked in
a feline growl, and some of Daniel s glee faded.
 I& I thought he was here to say goodbye. I& now that
he s going to live, I mean& he s got a life now, right?
 Not with you, the girl said, her voice flat.
 Renny, Max-the-cop warned, and Renny gave him the
equivalent of a cat flipping its tail. Max rolled his eyes,
muttered something that sounded like,  No sex for you, and
then let her finish.
 They re bonded, Daniel, she hissed.  Whim just
pledged his life to Charlie s, as long as they re faithful. That
means if he goes back to you, Whim just gave up his life so
you can have a security blanket.
97
Amy Lane
Daniel sucked in a breath and looked back to the two of
them, murmuring in the middle of the clearing as though
nothing had happened, telling each other the important
things in their lives. He didn t bother asking how this tiny
girl-cat would know what his relationship with Charlie was
like. That was the least of his worries. She spoke the truth.
He d been prepared to give Charlie up to death; he d even
reconciled himself to it. He d spoken promises about caring
for himself, living up to his potential, becoming the man he d
promised to be instead of the clinging, careless boy he d been
when Charlie had taken him into his life. Did Charlie s life
really make those promises less valid?
He swallowed hard and nodded, soberly, at Renny. He
understood, he thought painfully. He got it. He walked
thoughtfully to where the two lovers were, and this time
Renny let him.
 You will like the hill, Whim was saying softly.
 Especially as a cat. There are lots of things to play with. The
sprites love to play with the were-creatures. One of them will
adopt you immediately, I m sure.
Charlie s hand, whole now, not withered for all his
thinness, was splayed over Whim s chest.  I want to play
with you instead, he said, and his voice was Charlie s
voice playful, demanding, irrepressible.
 Later, Whim muttered.  After I ve held you for about a
thousand hours.
 Oh yeah. Suddenly, Charlie became aware of Daniel,
and a moment of conflict crossed his face, a reluctance to
98
Litha s Constant Whim
shoulder a burden he knew he must, and that moment was
enough for Daniel.  I& I can t& . Whim, I need to make sure
Daniel is okay& . And before Whim could even be hurt by
the moment of duty, Daniel made his decision.
 I m fine, Daniel said through a tight throat.  I m fine.
You go be happy, Charlie. You ve earned it.
Charlie looked at Whim.  Can we make sure he s taken
care of, Whim? There s legal stuff and 
 I m on it, said the cop, coming up behind Daniel.  In
fact, I ll even give him a ride home. Ouch! Dammit, Renny,
I m helping!
Daniel looked down and saw Renny was a cat again,
and she d just shoved her claws into Max s leg. Giving the
cat equivalent of a chuckle, she turned her fuzzy butt toward
Max and Daniel and led the way to the car.
Daniel knelt for a moment and gave Charlie a kiss on
the cheek.  Bye, Charlie, he said gruffly. This was better
than seeing him die, he told himself. He could be happy, just
knowing that Charlie was happy out in the world.
 Bye, Daniel, Charlie said back, but he could barely
look at Daniel long enough to say it. His eyes were all on the
clean, beautiful profile of the elf who had just saved his life
for love and love alone.
When Daniel got to the graffiti wall, he turned around
for one last look. Whim had sunk to the ground completely, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]