"Death Row 03 - The Avenger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Black Jaid)

Kerick’s hatred of Abdul Kan would be extreme, she realized. How could it not be? Her father might not be a Hierarchy leader in title, but he was in truth. Not only was he powerful, he was a decision-maker. Not even Kalif Henders would dare piss without Abdul’s permission. Which meant her father was at least indirectly responsible for Tara Riley’s death, if not directly responsible.

But why? Nellie asked herself for the hundredth time. What secrets did her sire and Henders share? She knew they were in some way to blame for the creation of the sub-human race, but she couldn’t begin to fathom how. If Nellie were to inform Kerick of her parentage, such questions would be the first he put to her. Would he believe her when she said she didn’t know the answers? She sighed, doubting it.

Nellie vacuum-sealed the diary back up in its container, preparing to hide it again behind the wall sconce. (A Kong of a good hiding place, she decided, since even she’d had trouble finding it.) She would show her husband his mother’s journal later—

She frowned. Preferably after a few chalices of spirits when she was feeling less the coward.

The stone and earthen door came crashing open, taking Nellie by surprise and causing her to yelp. She whirled around on her heel, careful to conceal the diary behind her back as she did so. When her wide green eyes met very intense gray ones, she realized she hadn’t been fast enough. Kerick’s gaze flicked from the arms she held pinioned behind her back up to her face.

His jaw tightened. She wet her lips.

“What are You doing here?” Nellie breathed out. “I—uh—I thought You were not scheduled to return until nightfall.” She forced a weak smile to her lips.

Silence. He said nothing, only stared at her.

Nellie held his intense gaze for as long as she could. Her eyelashes shuttered when the need to look away came upon her. “Please speak to me,” she whispered.

He knew. Sweet Cyrus, he knew. She had no idea how, but there was no mistaking the look of anger and betrayal permeating his typically stoic if a bit grim features. She felt as though she was going to be sick. Why hadn’t she told him before he found out? Why? Her heart began thumping like crazy in her chest.

“You lied to Me, Nellie Kan Riley,” Kerick murmured.

Her head shot up. Her eyes widened. “I…” Her first reaction had been to deny it, but what was the point? She had lied. Some might try to argue that withholding information is not a lie, and technically speaking they might be correct. It still boiled down to the same thing—a lie. “Kerick…”

His nostrils flared as he thrust a holo-card into her line of vision. She blinked a few times in rapid succession as she stared at it, her brain slowly assimilating what it was she was looking at.

She sighed. He really did know. “Fuck,” she whispered.

An unladylike response no doubt, but a Kong of an apropos one.

His eyes narrowed. “Talk,” he bit out. “Now.”



Chapter 36


He wanted to kill her with his bare hands. He wanted to beat her within an inch of her life. But sweet Kalast, he wanted to cry with happiness more than anything else.

Elijah’s jaw clenched unforgivingly as he guided Tara Riley through the catacombs by the back of her neck. She was alive—alive! He had been grieving her death for years and all the while she had been living and breathing mere miles from Kong. He had never been so angry, so relieved, so elated or so hurt.

“Will you not speak to me?” she whispered as they meandered down a rocky path in the Underground.

His nostrils flared. “No!” he barked.

He steered her into a secluded cavern that they might rest long enough to eat. Once there he let go of her neck and removed his satchel to find the provisions within it. He busied himself with that chore, refusing to look upon her.

Tara sighed. “Surely you must understand why I permitted you and my sons to believe me dead? It was safer for all of you!”