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.Oh! Yes, yes.She needed to do that.A spike of frustration speared her middle.She'd dependedon Thad for so much since they'd come here.How would she function?Just fine, she told herself.You are a goddess.You can withstand this.She reached for the doorhandle, swinging it shut.She wasn't sure she could bear what she'd done to Thad."I apologise, she said, the words meant for more than the driver.He shrugged. Where to?"She gave him the names of the street signs she'd seen earlier, a place she'd sensed strong magicpower earlier.Hopefully, he'd know where she meant.There was no way she could give himdirections."Okay.Chinatown. He pulled into traffic and like the driver earlier, narrowly missed anothervehicle which blared long and loud at them."Yeah, yeah, yeah, he muttered. So what's in Chinatown? he asked her. I hear the food isreally good, but the place is a little too mystical for me.I'd rather stick with Allah, you know.""I understand, she answered, not telling him her plans as she stared distractedly out thewindow.Hopefully, she could lose herself in the area for five or six days.The buildings flew past so quickly, they blurred together, one shop looking much like the next.She supposed that wouldn't be the case if she was walking.There were so many, too.Perhaps shecould ask Thad to show some of his city to herShe took a shuddering breath.But she couldn't ask him.He wouldn't know her from the nextwoman.She'd robbed him of huge chunks of his past.If he knew, he'd never forgive her, probably beunable to understand why she'd done it too.She wanted only to protect him.No one ever appreciated that.Throughout time, whenever she'd taken measures to protect herpeople, they'd complained long and loud.They never liked restrictions.They liked the way thingswere.The only time they were truly thankful was when she swooped in to save their skin literally,and then they promptly forgot she existed again.A surge of magic hit her as they approached her destination, snapping Jett to attention. Stophere, she told the driver."You sure? Chinatown's not for a few more blocks.This ain't such a great part of town, lady.""I'll be fine. Quickly, she completed their transaction, handing him the unfamiliar greenmoney and hoping she'd done it correctly.She must have, since he didn't protest when she steppedfrom the cab.He drove away while she stared at the humming sign on the building before her.Sleep andThings Home-tel.Excellent.The magic was strong here.It was a perfect place to stay.The perfection started to recede immediately.The door to Sleep and Things stuck when shetried to open it, its handle coated with something black and bumpy that partially obliterated the dullmetal beneath it.Okay, she'd be careful to touch as little as possible.Once she'd muscled herselfinside the place, a faint musty smell combined with a much stronger smell of pine and smokeassaulted her.She'd breathe as little as possible, too.If she wasn't desperate, and if she didn't believe this was the last place on earth anyone wouldsearch for her, she would have pivoted and run.But she didn't.She tried not to gag or wrinkle hernose as she approached the portly man at the desk.With the thick, brown stick hanging from hismouth and his slicked-back brown hair, he fit right in with the place.She wondered if perhaps itwasn't his duty to clean the front doors.Perhaps he did that on the same day he bathed.He leered at her when she approached, lingering long enough on her breasts that she crossedher arms over them."Ya lost? he garbled around the stick in his mouth.A clump of ashes fell from the end onto adog-eared book on the desk.Unconcerned, he thumped out the smouldering result with a beveragecan.She shook her head.What was she doing?"What can I do for ya, sweetheart?"Look away from me when you speak."I need a room.""By the hour or by the day?""A few days.""Whatever floats your boat. He reached for a key hanging from a rack behind him andhanded it to her. Room 412."He pushed the previously smouldering book at her and lifted a grimy pen from a wire holder.Recklessly, he scratched an X on the page. Sign here."She stared at it. Sign?"The man gave a long suffering sigh that nearly knocked her over with the odour. Write yourname, he clarified. Ya okay, honey? Ya understand American, doncha?"She nodded jerkily.Gods! She'd never written her name before.Would he refuse to let her stayhere if he knew she could not inscribe his language? Should she worry about that? It might be ablessing.She had to stay.It was a good hiding place.This place was rife with energy, no one wouldnotice if she used a little of it to mark her name.Hurriedly, she magically scrawled  Jett.""Your last name, too, the man instructed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]