"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 2 - When True Night Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

moment Damien thought he could feel the dark fae swirling
about him, a hungry, malevolent power that drew its
strength from darkness and isolation. Imagination, of
course. He couldn't See that power - or any other - without
first adjusting his senses.

"Come in," the Hunter bade him, and for the first time
since the chamber had been sealed months ago the priest
entered.

The hold of the Golden Glory was a stifling place, its
still air thick with the reek of animal droppings, stale
smoke, and oversalted fish. Damien knew that such a stink
was unavoidable - you can only shovel shit so often, the
captain had assured him - but he had often wondered how
Gerald Tarrant, normally so fastidious, endured it. Now, as
he passed over the Hunter's threshold, he stepped into
another world. Here, in this nightbound sanctuary, all was
sterile. Here the power of the dark fae had been used to
leach all the scents of life - and death - from the air. The
Hunter might not have access to power that would serve
him on the moonlit deck, but here in this carefully nurtured
darkness he was lord and master of his own.

On the bed lay Hesseth, and the light of the single
candle by her side was enough to illuminate a body rigid
with tension, fur drawn erect like a cat's. A thin membrane
had drawn across the interior corner of each eye, giving her
face a truly alien appearance. Long, tufted ears were
flattened tight against her skull, in terror. Or hostility. Or
both.

"You okay?" Damien asked softly. She nodded, and
even managed something that might have been intended as
a smile. Her sharp, carnivorous teeth made the expression
particularly feral.

Tarrant pulled over a stool to the side of the bed, and
motioned for the priest to sit. As he did so he noticed that
Hesseth's wrists had been tied to the sides of the bedframe.
He looked up sharply at Tarrant.

"She has claws," the adept reminded him. "I considered
such precautions . . . prudent."
 The slender furred hands were balled into fists, tightly
clenched. He could see the muscles inside her arms tense as
she tested the strength of the bonds. "You really think she'd
strike at you?"

"I prefer to be prepared. For everything." He glanced at