[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
After that, I just heard Polly, so I assumed Sarah had gone back into the office to call Steve.
One of the lights on the phone lit up. Yep, that was what she was doing. She'd know if I tried to use one
of the other lines. Maybe in a minute.
Polly was trying sweet reason with Godfrey. Godfrey was not talking much, himself, and I had no idea
what was going through his head. I stood helplessly, pressed against the wall, hoping no one would come
into the office, hoping no one would go downstairs and raise the alarm, hoping Godfrey wouldn't have yet
another change of heart.
Help, I said in my mind. If only I could call for help that way, through my other sense!
A flicker of an idea crossed my mind. I made myself stand calmly, though my legs were still trembling
with shock, and my knee and face hurt like the six shades of hell. Maybe Icould call someone: Barry, the
bellboy. He was a telepath, like me. He could be able to hear me. Not that I'd ever made such an
attempt before well, I'd never met another telepath, had I? I tried desperately to locate myself in
relation to Barry, assuming he was at work. This was about the same time we'd arrived from Shreveport,
so he might be. I pictured my location on the map, which luckily I'd looked up with Hugo though I
knew now that he had been pretending not to know where the Fellowship Center was and I figured we
were southwest of the Silent Shore Hotel.
I was in new mental territory. I gathered up what energy I had and tried to roll it into a ball, in my mind.
For a second, I felt absolutely ridiculous, but when I thought of getting free of this place and these
people, there was very little to gain in not being ridiculous. I thought to Barry. It's hard to peg down
exactly how I did it, but I projected. Knowing his name helped, and knowing his location helped.
I decided to start easy.Barry Barry Barry Barry . . .
What do you want? He was absolutely panicked. This had never happened to him before.
I've never done this either. I hoped I sounded reassuring.I need help. I'm in big trouble .
Who are you?
Well, that would help. Stupid me.I'm Sookie, the blond who came in last night with the
brown-haired vampire. Third-floor suite .
The one with the boobs? Oh, sorry.
At least he'd apologized.Yes. The one with the boobs. And the boyfriend .
So, what's the matter?
Now, all this sounds very clear and organized, but it wasn't words. It was like we were sending each
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
other emotional telegrams and pictures.
I tried to think how to explain my predicament.Get my vampire as soon as he wakes .
And then?
Tell him I'm in danger. Dangerdangerdanger . . .
Okay, I get the idea. Where?
Church. I figured that would be shorthand for the Fellowship Center. I couldn't think how to convey
that to Barry.
He knows where?
He knows where. Tell him, Go down the stairs.
Are you for real? I didn't know there was anyone else . . .
I'm for real. Please, help me.
I could feel a complicated bundle of emotions racing through Barry's mind. He was scared of talking to a
vampire, he was frightened that his employers would discover he had a "weird brain thing," he was just
excited that there was someone like him. But mostly he was scared of this part of him that had puzzled
and frightened him for so long.
I knew all those feelings.It's okay, I understand , I told him.I wouldn't ask if I wasn't going to be
killed .
Fear struck him again, fear of his own responsibility in this. I should never have added that.
And then, somehow, he erected a flimsy barrier between us, and I wasn't sure what Barry was going to
do.
WHILE I'D BEENconcentrating on Barry, things had been moving right along in the hall. When I began
listening again, Steve had returned. He, too, was trying to be reasonable and positive with Godfrey.
"Now, Godfrey," he was saying, "if you didn't want to do this, all you had to do was say so. You
committed to it, we all did, and we've moved forward with every expectation that you would keep to
your word. A lot of people are going to be very disappointed if you lose your commitment to the
ceremony."
"What will you do with Farrell? With the man Hugo, and the blond woman?"
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]