"Anne Bishop - Black Jewels 00 - The Invisible Ring" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bishop Anne)

pen, so silent and so still, looking at him. Fear swelled inside him until
it overwhelmed all the rest of the day's torments. Tied to the iron posts,
he couldn't turn away, couldn't even look down since the wide, tight leather
collar kept him from moving his head. Isolated, he couldn't blend in with
the other slaves who clustered on the other side of the pen. He was pinned,
alone, physically and emotionally naked beneath that gray stare. She
terrified him. The only advantage he'd ever had was that the Queens who had
owned him hadn't worn Jewels that could threaten his inner web. But the Gray
Jewels were darker than the Red, and a Queen who could tear apart his inner
barriers and shatter his inner web as easily as she could tear apart his
body wasn't a woman he wanted to get close to. In any way. But the wild
stranger, that beast that had been so angry and so eager to kill, now wanted
to crawl to her and expose its belly in an act of complete submission. That
terrified him even more.
"Lady, there's nothing here of interest. These males are unmanageable, unfit
for anything but hard labor."
Hearing the undercurrent of worry in the man's voice, Jared focused on the
guard escort standing next to Grizelle. The man had reason to worry. A hired
escort who failed to protect the Lady in his charge would probably find
himself on the auction block the next morning. Ignoring the escort, Grizelle
withdrew one hand from her robe's wide sleeves and pointed at Jared. "That
one."
Jared's chest clenched so hard he couldn't draw a breath. Hell's fire! Even
her voice was gray! And she wanted him.
No no no no no!
"That one?" The escort sounded shocked. "Lady, that one killed the last
Queen who owned him and attacked a guard last night, trying to escape. He's
going to the salt mines unless someone buys him for a killing sport."
Listen to him, Jared thought fiercely, trying to make her feel the words
without risking a direct link. I'm tainted, twisted, past any hope. I'll
fight you with everything I am for as long as I can, and I'll hate you long
after that. The finger didn't waver. The gray eyes didn't blink.
As he focused on the finger pointing at him, nine years of pain and fear
began to crystallize into deadly, chilling hatred. He'd once believed in
service and honor. Now all he believed in was cold hatred and rage. He was a
Red-Jeweled Warlord from Shalador. He was Blood. He'd fight her, and die in
the fighting. That was better than cringing and cowering while she tore him
apart piece by piece. The wild stranger howled in distress and desire,
fighting against the very rage it should have embraced, shattering it almost
before it formed.
"That one," the Gray Lady said again. You will not have me, Jared thought as
he watched the reluctant approach of the auction steward who had been
summoned. I will not yield to you. Even if I can't do anything else, I can
still do that much. Will do that much. When a price was finally agreed upon,
the steward bowed to Grizelle, then gestured to two of the guards inside the
pen. "We'll clean him up for you, Lady," he said. His pompous smile died
beneath that steely stare. "I'll have him and the papers ready in ... an
hour?"
"Thirty minutes."
The steward paled. "Of course, Lady. I'll see to it personally."