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

place, that he should be the one to transport the Hunter to
shore . . . but they'd had that argument before, several times
already, and he'd lost each time. Rasya wanted it this way
and Tarrant had agreed, so who was he to interfere? What
was he afraid of, anyway - that she'd see his power in
action and instantly be corrupted? Give her more credit
than that.

He felt strangely out of control, with Tarrant leaving. A
curious feeling. As if he had ever really controlled the
Hunter. As if anyone ever could.

At last the two men who had helped lower the lifeboat
withdrew, leaving Damien and his dark ally alone on the
deck. For a moment Tarrant just watched the sea, moonlit
waves rippling like mercury beneath a haze of silver spray.
Waiting. At last the men's footsteps were distant enough
and faint enough that they could be certain of their privacy.

"You never asked why I came on this trip," the Hunter
said quietly.
 "I assumed you had your reasons."

"And never wondered what they were?"

Despite himself he smiled. "You're not an easy man to
pry information out of."

"That never stopped you from trying."

Damien shrugged.

Tarrant looked downward to where Rasya was waiting.
Damien knew better than to press him. At last he said, in a
voice hardly louder than the breeze, "He came to me, you
know. Our enemy's pet demon, the one she called Calesta.
He came to me in the Forest, when I was done healing. I
remembered him from her citadel . . ." Damien saw the
muscles along the line of his jaw tighten momentarily.
Remembering the eight days and nights of his captivity,
when he had been at the mercy of a being even more
sadistic than himself? "It was he who'd revealed that his
mistress had trapped me not with sunlight, as I'd perceived,
but with simple illusion. A sorcerer's trick! It was my own
fear that defeated me . . ." The pale eyes were narrowed in
hatred; Damien thought he saw him tremble. "He came to
make peace, as demons will do when their masters die. I
felt myself safe, being in my own domain at last, and made
the mistake of listening." He shook his head, remembering.
"He nearly caused me to betray myself. There in my own