"Esther M. Friesner - At These Prices" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

Selina said hotly. “The son-of-a-kobold was way ahead, and we all want the chance
to win some of our own back.”
“Ahead by how much?” Bella asked.
“Coupla thou’.”
“Mmmm, big money.” Bella was impressed.
“Not money. Starbucks gift cards.”
“Our co-workers know we play honestly, no magic-enhanced cheating
allowed, and they don’t trust one another enough to start up games of their own,”
Berry said. “They all want in, so we maintain a waiting list, in case one of us should
drop out some day, for whatever reason. Lyndon’s name tops that list. One more
week without Bixby and we’ll have to let him join the game.” Berry clasped his
sturdy hands around the coffee beans in a gesture of supplication so tight that a third
of the bag was rendered into a fine espresso grind. “Ma’am, for the sake of
friendship, for the sake of compassion, for the sake of poker, I implore you, let our
brownie go!”
“Ask me after my party,” said Bella, and burst into cackles of victorious
laughter.
****
Bixby stood beneath the familiar green and gold awning that sheltered the main
entrance to the Hotel Tiernan, a sheaf of papers in his hands. The doorman on duty
was a gnome named Hork. A huge smile broke across his face as he recognized the
errant brownie.
“By the blesséd Mill, lad, you don’t mean to say you’re free again?” he cried,
holding the door wide in welcome. “Mel told me of your sorry trials. Ah, dreadful
doings, that, just dreadful, but here you are, home again, so all’s well that—”
 “Shut the door, Hork,” Bixby said, glum. “I’m not free, I’m only here to
deliver milady’s list of demands for the party she’s won on a wager. I fear that if I
went through those beloved doors, knowing I’ll be forced to leave once more, it
would break my heart. Be a good bogle and summon one of my poker chums to
take this.” He rattled the bunch of papers.
Hork set two fingers to his lips and blew a whistle so shrill and commanding
that taxis came flocking from blocks away, like seagulls to a garbage barge. The
piercing sound also fetched Melusine, lovely in her plumber’s uniform. Bixby
handed over Bella’s list wordlessly and turned to leave.
“Oh, Bixby, I wish there were something we could do to save you!” she
called after him.
He paused and looked back. “And what might that be?” he replied. The
expression of total defeat on his face brought seaweed-steeped tears to the ondine’s
eyes. “I’m caught fast in the grasp of a greedy mortal with fingers stickier than
spiderweb strands. She fancies herself the victim of harsh times, but never once has
she shown a wisp of the compassion she demands from the world. She feels no
hurts but her own. I’ll die in her service, Melusine.”
“Bixby, you mustn’t talk about such things!”
“What, death? At this point it would, as Clint Eastwood says, make my day.”
He trudged off.
Mel wiped her eyes, then looked down at the list Bixby had given her. Berry
had told Bella Franklin to be specific in her desires for the party, implying that she’d
get exactly what she asked for, no more and no less. It wasn’t typical behavior for
the otherwise generous-souled dwarf, but the mortal creature had gotten his dander
up to stratospheric levels. Bella in turn had set her shrewd mind to beating him at his