[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

admit this there were some I didn't dare cut off completely. If I had, they would have been
mortally offended." She bit her lip, and looked at her hands.
"And offending an Unseleighe prince can have very permanent results," Tannim commented. He could
understand that; heck, he lived it. "They hate everybody, and it's only when they want something
out of you that you can trust them within limited bounds. It's just a good thing that there are
rules even they don't dare break."
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"Exactly." She blinked rapidly, and rubbed her eyes. "I was still supposed to be your opposite; I
went on studying you, partly because it didn't do any harm, and partly because if Father wanted me
to be your opposite, I wanted to see what I was supposed to be the opposite of. You posed
something of a challenge, actually, trying to come up with things I could do to match your skills.
I've been watching you, on and off, for years. Since you were in high school, in fact."
She'd been studying him? For years? He couldn't conceal his shock and surprise and it was that
shock that made him blurt out what he would not otherwise have revealed. "Did you dream about me
the way I "
She brought her head up like a startled deer and stared directly into his eyes, her pupils wide
with shock and surprise. "You dreamed about me? When?"
Good one, Tannim. You really stepped on your dick that time. Well, it was too late now; might as
well fess up. "At least once a month, sometimes as often as every other night, for years. Since
Chinthliss first came across to my side of the Hill, anyway." He couldn't help himself; he felt
his ears turning hot as he flushed. Would she guess just what some of those dreams had been about?
But she averted her eyes, and pink crept over her cheeks. "I dreamed too, about you. I thought it
was just because I was studying you."
Quick, get the subject back on track before you really stick your foot in your mouth. Don't ask
what she dreamed about! "Right," he said more harshly than he intended. "So now what? How do you
figure into this mess? Besides challenging me, I mean; I suppose that was on this Madoc Skean's
orders. Why'd you get me out of that prison?"
"I caused it," she said in a very small voice. Her blush deepened to a painful crimson, and she
stared fixedly at her clenched hands crushing her empty drink-box. "It's my fault you're Underhill
in the first place. I was the one who brought your car here."
So that's why ! Damn it
"I didn't expect you to follow it so fast!" she continued, an edge of desperation in her voice, as
she finally turned to meet his accusing gaze. "I was oh, I was under pressure from Madoc Skean. I
didn't know what to do, I mean, I really got a rush out of challenging you, but he kept pushing
for me to "
"To get rid of me," he supplied, flatly. "So?"
"So I was trying to buy time for both of us! I couldn't risk a direct confrontation with Madoc
Skean, I didn't want to actually consummate the challenge, and I was trying to buy us both time!"
Her hands tightened on the drink-box. "I thought I thought you'd follow the car in a few days at
best, and by then, I'd have some idea of how to put Madoc off further, or I'd have managed to
create a rift among his other allies, or you'd have gotten in touch with your Seleighe friends.
And I had no idea this car was going to make such a huge disturbance when it came across!" The
muscles of her throat looked tight, and there was a line of strain between her brows. "Madoc had a
lot of ideas; he thought that without the Mach I you might choose something other than `racing' as
your weapon. And in case you decided to go chasing after it, he expected to use the car as bait in
a trap, and I was the only one that could bring it Underhill for him. My plan was to keep the fact
that I actually had it hidden from Madoc until I could talk to you... ."
Her voice faltered and died, and she licked her lips unhappily. But she did not avert her gaze,
and she seemed sincere. He looked into her eyes and saw no falsehood there. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]