[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He found himself smiling in spite of everything as she walked up to him.Her eyes gleamed with happiness, and she tasted of plums when they kissed."I'm so glad you're okay." She handed him her helmet as she pulled on herjacket."Did you find the Pack? Did they tell you what you needed to know?"His heart fell with the reminder of what he needed to tell her.She caught iton his face and her brow creased slightly."What is it?""I found them, they told me.We need to talk.There was so much I didn'tknow about myself, stuff I found out, that you need to know."She nodded slowly."Let's go someplace private, then, and talk."She pulled on her helmet and straddled the seat behind him, wrapping herarms tightly around his waist.Private? His first thought was of his tree house.It was a long drive,though, and he wasn't sure how much time they had.She might only expect totake a long lunch.He settled then on the offices.Max was gone and the placewould be empty.***She tugged off her helmet as she followed him into the mansion.This timeshe paused to touch the rich chestnut burl paneling."This place is so beautiful."Ukiah nodded, disarming the security system, except for the outside doors."I didn't know it at first.I'd only been in a few houses when I was a kid, andyou've seen my moms'.I thought everyone had great big Victorian mansions.After a year or so of being in and out of people's homes, it suddenly struck me.Wow! This is big and it's elegant and it's beyond what most people could everhope to own."She laughed."Can I have a tour?"He had planned to tell her the moment the door was shut, but the chancefor delay was too tempting."Sure.This is the foyer.Max and his wife bought thegrandfather clock in England on their second honeymoon, a couple of days afterhis company was bought out.When they got back to the states, they bought thishouse for someplace to put it."He took her into the reception area, which still could pass as a living room,and showed her his office.He took her upstairs to peek into Max's masterbedroom suite, large enough almost to be an apartment.The guest room.TheaaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rsecond-floor laundry.The exercise room, which she shook her head at andcommented, "Too many rooms to be filled in any way possible," and he nodded.He opened the door to his bedroom."This is my room when I stay intown."She went in and he followed.She poked her nose into every corner,laughing at one point at the closet full of black T-shirts."I wear them constantly," Ukiah said, defending them."Look, they have'Private Investigator' written on the back, big and bold, so you can see it from ahundred feet.You don't know how many times it has kept me from being shot.People can recognize me from the back as one of the good guys.""I was laughing because they look like the FBI jackets I wear on busts.""Well, Max took the idea from those jackets.""I'm glad he takes such good care of you." She came and leaned her headagainst his chest."I love listening to your heart beat.It's so strong and steady."He held her tight, breathing in her scent.Her warm hands ran under hisshirt to touch his bare skin, and she kissed his neck, his chin, and then slippedher tongue into his mouth.He groaned softly, the gentle torture of loving her andbeing afraid of losing her.He returned her kisses with passion, lost in the heat,until she guided him to his bed.He hung back, shaking his head."Oh, Indigo,there are things we should talk about.There are things I need to tell you.Thingsthat after you hear, you might not want me.""I think I know, and I don't care.""You can't know.This is impossible, crazy stuff that I can barely believe.""They did the autopsy on Wil Trace.He died of a viral infection, andthroughout his body were exit wounds, where animals had eaten their way out ofhim without a trace of how they got into him.They tried to take blood samples ofthe Ontongard, but the samples all disappeared, and there were strange invasionsof mice and bugs.Janet Haze was a halfway point between the two.Her bodyshowed signs of infection, and all her blood samples vanished.Pack knows Pack.The Ontongard and Pack hate each other on sight."Ukiah looked at her, stunned."Yes.That's the beginning of it.""And Pack knew you in the park at night.The Ontongard knew you in aroom full of cops.All your blood samples at the hospital vanished, contaminatedmysteriously with bugs."He startled."They were?"She nodded."I checked last night, after you left.Whatever Pack andOntongard are, you are too.And that's not completely human, is it? That's whatyou suddenly realized yesterday.I saw you being taken away to be killed, and youweren't as rattled as you were last night.It hit me after I tried to figure out why.aaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rOnce you approach it with the right mindset, all the clues are there, waiting to beseen."He nodded."I thought I was different because I was raised by wolves.Then last night, I realized how blind I had been.The Pack had set it all up, spelledit all out, even underscored a few points, but I didn't get it.""I've had all night and all this morning to think about it, Ukiah.I don't carewhat you are.I love you.I want to be with you.It was agony to think I mightnever see you again.""Are you sure? Our children would be Pack too, and their children too.""If we have any." She looked pained."If you're not human, there's a chancethat we won't have any."She had considered more of this than he thought possible.He stroked hercheek."I was created to have children with a human.The problem will probablybe not having kids with you.""That is an age-old human problem I can cope with." Indigo murmuredand pulled him onto the bed.***While still sprawled on his bed, they ordered Chinese to be delivered.Itwas a small feast with pints of General Tso's Chicken, Mopo Tofu, Orange Beef,Stir-Fried Shrimp Rice, Won Ton Egg Drop Soup, and Crab Ragoon.WhileIndigo was in the shower, the bags of food were delivered.Ukiah carried it to theattic game room and unpacked them onto the coffee table.Indigo followed his calls up to the attic and laughed in surprise."This ispig heaven.I should have guessed." She walked out to stand under the basketballhoop."Is this regulation height?""Yeah." Ukiah served himself out of every container."Max put it in thisspring after one too many jokes about the ceiling at the Super Bowl party."She came to check out the wall of electronics."Max sure loves technotoys." She fingered the edge of the seventy-two inch flat screen TV."This must beamazing to watch.""Since Max put the system in, he has gotten kind of 'volunteered' to hostfootball parties." Ukiah sat back into the leather couch, balancing his plate as hewatched her explore the room.Indigo had only put on one of his black tracking T-shirts and her panties.She looked so sexy he considered forgetting about thefood.She stopped by the bookcase and eyed Max's collection of photo albums."Are any of these of you?""I'm in the last two albums, there on the bottom."aaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rIndigo pulled the last two and came to slide into his lap.She flipped thefirst open and Max's wife looked out at them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]