"Laura Anne Gilman - Retrievers 03 - Bring It On" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gilman Laura Anne)

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21


About the Author

Coming Next Month


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Again, a shout out to my editor, Matrice, and my agent,
Jenn, who are lovely, patient, kind, considerate, patient….
Did I say patient?

Deb Grabien, who is a goddess—quite mad, of course,
but all the best goddesses are.

And to my “baby bro” Keith, who was there, every time.


For my Muse.
Without whom I might sleep better at night,
but not have such interesting dreams.

“No one gets to miss the storm of
What will be
Just holding on for the ride…”
—Indigo Girls

Prologue

Darkness. Not merely night, which mankind had banished ages ago with the first, stuttering campfire, but
an absolute, terrifying dark. No moon sailed, no stars glittered. No light reached into the cold heart and
set the blood to pumping again.

“Do so swear to it.” One voice. Confident. Neither demanding nor coercing, not inviting or seducing. It
did not echo in the darkness but rather settled into the corners, softening the edges, herding those within
hearing distance into a tighter group, although few of them did more than shuffle in place.

“I do so swear.” More than one voice, less than a dozen. Muted, one or two uncertain, but all with an
underlying note of—determination? Fear?—carrying them forward. Like most initiations, it was less
about wanting to belong, and more about the fear of being left behind—or left out.
“Then I hereby declare the overwrought and pretentious portion of this meeting to be concluded.”

Faint, relieved laughter, and the lights flickered and came up, revealing an open courtyard surrounded on
three sides by thick stone walls, the center one with a simple doorway set into it. Directly opposite it,
similar stones framed an open window running the length of the wall, showcasing what, in daylight, would