[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
cuts, what looked like bites, long welts as though from a rod or a whip. His
wrapped chest and arm told its own story.
But he was alive.
Landon s eyes burned with a frightening inner fire, and he blocked out
his emotions, locked away his grief and rage into something useable,
something deadly.
He stepped into the room, taking deep, shaky breaths to try to calm
himself. He didn t want to appear before Kirith acting like this. Landon
stepped forward, coming around the bed, tucking his gun away so he had
both hands free
Kirith blinked as the door opened, its sound loud and distinctive in the
silence of the room. His thoughts were even more muddled than usual, and
he felt hot and weak, his eyes just wanting to close and stay closed.
Quiet steps, half muffled by the thick carpet; but they weren t Marcello s,
and Kirith tensed in confusion. No one came here but Marcello and the
doctor.
As a stranger came into his line of vision, Kirith watched in silence,
unsure if what he was seeing was real or not. He often saw things in his head
that didn t exist outside, so he was never quite sure if things were in reality
or in thought.
He felt no fear at first. Only Marcello brought such a thing out in his
disordered mind. This new stranger was merely interesting& until he came to
Kirith with harsh emotion clear in his eyes and tried to touch him.
Kirith flinched backward, huddling against the headboard of the bed, his
eyes wide with terror.
No no no no, he whimpered, ignoring the pain that blossomed across his
ribs and shoulder, that exploded upward from his nether regions.
The stranger stopped in midreach, his hand shaking slightly.
Kirith, he said, so very softly, gently, and Kirith tilted his head as he
watched a tear run down one cheek.
Why would the man be crying? He pressed farther into the wood behind
him, confused and frightened in equal measure. Where was Marcello? He
would tell this stranger to go away, to leave him alone.
The man stopped, but there were more tears now, and he spoke into
something on his wrist, using Kirith s name several times. Kirith watched as
the man then sank wearily into the nearest chair, his eyes never leaving
Kirith.
Do you not remember me? he asked softly, his voice trembling a little.
Kirith stared at him, startled by the question. Remember him& He
studied the lean features, the dark hair, then peered into the intense brown
eyes.
You are one of the dream people, Kirith whispered slowly, realization
gradually dawning in his mind.
The man blinked in obvious confusion. Dream people? I am Landon,
Kirith. Remember?
Kirith swallowed hard. The name made him feel something& sadness,
longing, warmth& many things that made no sense. He held his head and
whimpered a little, willing the thoughts to go away. He didn t want to feel
things, didn t want to know. Knowing brought pain. This man just needed to
go away.
He told him so, watching in fear as the man s fists clenched, his face
darken.
Landon wanted to smash something, wanted to maim, destroy, kill.
The terror on Kirith s face, the lack of recognition or even adult
intelligence, made him wish for Marcello s throat between his hands.
This wasn t his lover. This was some broken being whose responses
where that of a terrified child, not a man.
The mere thought of what had been done to bring such a strong person as
Kirith to this.
He sat down in a nearby chair, willing his fury to wane, trying to control
his emotions, realizing it was only terrifying Kirith and serving no useful
purpose. He could only wait now. Enzo and the others were on their way.
Landon could not even imagine what Enzo s response to his brother s
state was going to be.
Certainly Landon had not expected this.
He had dreaded what he would find, yes, but never had he imagined this.
Never had he imagined that Kirith s very mind seemed to be gone.
Numbly he stared into Kirith s frightened eyes, willing recognition to
come, for Kirith to be himself in mind, if not in body.
I won t hurt you, he whispered, unable to bear the fear in his lover s
eyes. I will never hurt you.
Kirith watched him with the unwavering focus of a terrified animal, his
body curled around itself, motionless, trying to be invisible. The reassurance
seemed to do little or wasn t understood at all.
Landon fell silent, fighting his need to go closer, to touch, to reassure
himself that Kirith was real and not some fevered dream.
The thought that his touch would produce only fear devastated him
utterly.
When the man ceased to come closer, but sat quietly in the chair, Kirith
slowly stopped shaking. Reaching cautiously, watching the stranger all the
while, Kirith grasped the covers on the bed and pulled them up over his
shoulders, letting out a faint hum of pleasure as his body warmed. The
texture of the sheets distracted him, and his mind drifted away from the new
threat as he stroked the cloth. The heat soothed him, slowly sinking into his
skin. It made him yawn and relax, the pain slowly die down to something
manageable.
He would have fallen asleep if two other men had not entered the room.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]