"Esther M. Friesner - Elf Defense" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

extraordinary blue eyes fixed on her in the rearview mirror.
"Please start the car, Cass. I'll tell Jeff what he's got to do."

"He's done enough already," Cass mumbled under his
breath. They didn't hear him. He turned off the overhead light.
The engine rumbled to life and the car rolled back onto the
road. The storm continued unchecked. There was even more
force behind the lashing wind now. The raindrops sounded like
hail against the windshield, but the car roared on as fast and
surely guided as if it had been full daylight and fair driving.

When they reached the small town of Jeff's memories, it

ELF DEFENSE 3

was bedded down and boarded up. It wasn't hurricane season
yet, but the Gulf of Mexico was capable of spawning some
mighty nasty surprises. Wise Ploridians knew it. Here and there,
Cass glimpsed slivers of light from the buildings, shining cracks
beneath incompletely closed metal shutters. Mostly, though, he
saw the street lamps' fuzzy balls of brightness, silly little fire-
puffs hanging against the fearsome brilliance of the lightning.

"Now where?" he asked.

"Three more blocks—no, four—and hang a left. The
clinic's the pink house at the end of the street."

"All the way at the end?"

"Pass it, and you're in the bay."

"Are you sure it's still there? How long has it been since
you were in this town?"

"Five years; maybe six. Listen, I sent them a nice check
every Christmas, and none of 'em came back. It'll still be
there. The only thing that's changed might be the paint. Just
drive, Cass."

"Please, dear," Amanda put in gently.

Cass followed directions. He took the left turn a little
harder than necessary, but Amanda was making those strange,
terrifying sounds again. This time there was a note of imminent
panic in her voice. They were running out of time. The sharp-
ness of the turn made everything in the car shift left. Amanda
cried out as Jeff pitched up against her, sliding helplessly on
the plastic seatcover. In the front, the small furry shape sharing
space with Cass tumbled into his thigh. He felt claws sink in