"Mickey Zucker Reichert - The Books of Barakhai 02 - The Lost Dragons of Barakhai" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reichert Mickey Zucker)

Zylas' pointy face jerked up.
Collins suddenly felt foolish and cruel. It seemed unreasonable to request politeness and
consideration, then turn it down outright. "I'm sorry. I have a life here. In Barakhai, I'm a dead man."
Zylas stared, and his eyes turned steely. "At least… you have a life somewhere." He turned with an
unratlike air of irritation and dignity. "I thought you'd just hear us out. I thought you might care, be
curious. Or, that you might want a chance to talk to Korfius again."
Collins felt all of those things; but the last, strangely, seemed the most compelling reason of all. He did
want to know if Korfius was satisfied with this way of life, if he could do anything to make the dog/boy
more comfortable, if Korfius might not prefer his dual life in Barakhai. Collins had made a lifelong
commitment to the dog, since Korfius would probably outlive him. If Zylas and Falima had come at a
more decent hour, he might be able to think more clearly. "We can't talk here," Collins reasoned aloud.
"You… maybe, okay. But a horse? No, that won't go unnoticed." Now suspicious, he wondered if
Falima had come simply to force the issue. Without her, Zylas could have safely stayed and chatted.
Zylas turned a circle, clearly reading Collins' wavering. "Come with us. We can talk at the entrance,
or in a safe house, if you wish. We can always send you right back."
Sensing another trap, Collins found the problem. "It's a one-way door. Once I go through, I can't get
home."
"Not the same way," Zylas admitted. "But Prinivere now has enough power to send you back."
Collins still hesitated, unsure.
 "She got you back last time, didn't she?"
Collins had to admit that she had. Otherwise, he would have died of his wounds in Barakhai, not
recovered in Algary's Intensive Care Unit. "Pretty much in pieces."
Zylas could not argue the point and, to his credit, did not try. "You can leave whenever you want.
Whenever you decide."
Collins set his jaw, considering despite his better judgment. He had finally got himself on the right
track. It had taken him months to recover enough to return to school full-time. He had won back his
laboratory assistanceship and found a way to make money using the translation skills Prinivere had
magically bestowed upon him to allow communication with the humans of Barakhai. The doctors could
not explain how a head wound could make a biology graduate student who had struggled through high
school Spanish speak every language they could throw at him fluently, but the hospital appreciated his
ability to bridge the gap between explanation and understanding for their non-English-speaking patients.
Prinivere's spell did not extend to the written word, however, so they could not simply ask him to
translate common descriptions and treatments into brochures. He had paid off most of his student loans,
the semester's tuition, maintained his quarters and his dog, and still had some pocket money for campus
movies, pizza, and an occasional, thus far unsatisfying, date.
Falima thrust her muzzle back through the window to whicker a low "come on." Zylas gave Collins a
pleading look. Korfius stood by the bed, tail wagging.
Collins heaved a sigh. "If I wasn't out-of-my-mind exhausted, I'd never even consider this." He gave
Zylas a steady scrutiny that he hoped looked rock hard. "I get to decide when I leave Barakhai?"
Zylas waved a paw. "You get to decide."
"Even if it's immediately?"
Collins saw no downside. He could still reconsider on the walk to the portal; and, even once there, it
was not an irreversible choice. It seemed safer to discuss any matter with a horse somewhere other than
the middle of campus.
"Why don't you pack a few things," Zylas said. "Just in case."
It was a reasonable suggestion, though it made Collins wary. "I can leave Barakhai any time? Even
immediately?"
Zylas opened his lids wider, making his fiery eyes seem to bulge from their pink-rimmed sockets.
"You're repeating yourself."
"It's called reassuring." Collins crinkled his nose. "And don't do that eye thing. It's freakish."