Скачать книгу

Louise closed her eyes, paused, glanced expectantly at the door and said, “Good. They’re here. Mathilde, let them in.”

      Mathilde crossed to the door, opened it, and let two more women inside. They were also dressed in black suits and white blouses, wearing lapel pins and headsets. Both of them curtseyed to Izzy, one reaching forward to kiss her bare ring finger.

      “Catherine and Laure,” Louise said, as the two rose and stood at parade rest. “Top agents. Crack shots, magically and otherwise. We’re posting them here to stand guard over Sauvage and Ruthven. They’d rather die than let harm come to the woman lying in that bed.”

      Both women stared straight ahead, but color rose in their cheeks.

      Louise looked at Izzy. “We should mobilize. We’re pushing our luck.”

      Izzy wanted to ask her if she really believed in luck. Where did that fit in, exactly, with people who could use magic? Instead, she arranged her gris-gris over the shoulders of her body armor and patted the Medusa in her holster. The weight of the gun, once an unthinkable burden, was now her anchor.

      Izzy turned back to Sauvage. “You’re being very brave,” she told her. “Jean-Marc will be proud of you when he hears how well you handled this.” The temptation rose again to go downstairs and see him before they left. She quelled it.

      Sauvage’s eyes were huge as she raised herself up on her elbows. “Unless he dies,” she said mournfully.

      “God, Jesse,” Ruthven chided her. “Don’t say shit like that.”

      Louise motioned for the others to follow her as she crossed to the stone wall opposite the door. She snapped her fingers. A hand’s breadth in front of her, a larger-than-life-size oil portrait of Marianne in her white gown shimmered into view. Her stance was regal, power radiating from every pore. A tiara of white flames glowed from the crown of her dark hair, and she held a clutch of lilies in one veined, muscular hand and an athame in the other. From beneath her gown, a white slipper was planted on top of a skull with glowing red eyes.

      Louise looked from the portrait to Izzy and back again, as if measuring the resemblance. Then she pointed her finger and the entire portrait rose into the air, revealing the entrance to a tunnel hewn from the thick marble wall.

      “I’ll take point,” Louise announced.

      Mathilde said, “I’ll bring up the rear. Stay in the middle, Guardienne .”

      Izzy looked one last time over her shoulder at Ruthven and Sauvage, huddled together on the bed, gaping at them.

      “Be careful,” she said. They nodded in silent unison.

      Izzy wondered if she would ever see them again.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RdTRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAUAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAhodp AAQAAAABAAAAnAAAAMgAAAEsAAAAAQAAASwAAAABQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIDcuMAAyMDE0OjAx OjI0IDEwOjQwOjEzAAAAAAOgAQADAAAAAQABAACgAgAEAAAAAQAABXigAwAEAAAAAQAAB0oAAAAA AAAABgEDAAMAAAABAAYAAAEaAAUAAAABAAABFgEbAAUAAAABAAABHgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAIBAAQA AAABAAABJgICAAQAAAABAAAWJQAAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAAAEgAAAAB/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABI AAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAf/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwP FRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQO Dg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEI AIAAYAMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAb/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEF AQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMi cYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj 80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcG BTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kST VKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/ 2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMbExTkXtx/VqoLxo+4lrN0S1u5jX/pLPoVN2++z2LQw+i3ZNja/XYHOAOwB 5fr+aadnqMfW79Hd6jf0dqwq8h19TH2NE27g5gkCNW7P836W1b7Ls2nB2U1uJY55Z+jNoGtIY6rc 1zXWV7ns37PoZFn85/gq2DDGQPENQXSyZTEXHUGq/i3rPqu2yndhZDch7BN5DdrawG7v0jz7G+/f +csNlLQA4PY4O/dO4QPpe5q28l1rbrGsxq3D13j0/QGxrGGxoNrPR9+/bj102b/T/Vsim39Jj0WX A6l9lYHt2bQHFtYrZz+lvqr1/RfSxmUP9T0v0n85/hVJPlomJoUWPFnlI1KuurRYyBp81y3XZPVc iNNu1o8dGtldPfnY+FWDduO47WQ0kbhrq5vwXJZxd6p3OJdEFrjMd5b/ACdqq8rE8cie1BPMn0V4 pSd1ABB0IcXbmngR9D6TUL7M57nTPcg/D6MJVVh250fRHbxP/mK0G0OFZJHYypzLh2YQBLdq0Y9p uqLWve6Du9MBziNWu+k5v0l2VNbrMKh2wMYa2gM9pLdAHe+s+5/t965zB6UzPtw8Wx5rZc97S8CT oXvdtmPpNYu3GPRTU2imttVLRtZW0QGt8FR53KAYR3lqf8Flx6A/RxKr8e37RjsIbbS8hzP5J+ja P+/KvdURS2GyH6OHhqo9TqZjdfrvEhtr27wfzmPA9XZ/V2+z/hFFufl29RfXfdXRjkONWJtBc/3O H8+3d+nq2+pb7/8AraUYmhKOxAmb/wCiri6Hyf/Q5PDpubl72uLccyKg7Uif5trrPf8A1lvfV/6w ZOJkPN19t2K0QGDQyJD9v0tn7/tXL04bvtEZllmPjncS/wBwLtoLgxn7zrNu1Trx37XGjJa4iIBk OJP5rW2NP0Wj6W5VxMxNiXTt6ftbYkdjE11Fvped9ban4zwze0iN3qF20CGy6Jdud+4uQ6hnZ2SL LL7WGqp28NsiHlp2fo9PbX+eqHWPT6ZQ1lQtfZdEW2X+o1wAiy1tMfo2faWvrpbf9P0VVxepZ90V WNDqtGvs2y7b+a4tduZY5v8AUTRkyShxCqJ6rvRE8NEHwdDJt+2UZL6Gg149jiyyxxZu9jWfZqm+ 3c+z0rb63+/Y/wD4xYGSXu3FwEtIBMEHX6K2s1mVQLa2Prdc3IY1tbKw3eGte71pb7nPa92zZs/P VE0ZmZksxX1zkWPZVXVqHFzj7P3dm57vbvTcNDtXT95ZkN97/BbAYHNcXDmAPjytO1pbW8ukOJIj 71T6gbui5dvTBsdk0O9O6xkkBwEO9D1Nn80/9Hve39J9NZzep9QbYZuNkk7g+CD4+5E45TPEKA6W jiERT1H1drnMwXE8WWc/9d+j/K1XUZUhkjSAuI6T9YcDFysJ76rPTrsPquke3eHD9H/pdvqLt8wF p2HkHVZ/ORkMkTIVYNf4y+BB210cnqWLTnlocCHVkFlzY3MdMta2f3n/AJiwxiMH1gfTWS4MdY5p c0iJBJ2Tt3N3Pd71tZeSaMmlhBcxzLLBWBO57R7N39VUeh0frmXlZDi66AbHOMkFxJ2Nn+ptT8Up QxyN+nh9I8ZHhX0NPN//0eROIytpP2o2bmu9u53tdtd6Mgu27H2e23+QruNXX9itNDAar3OZXY6f YHtFQyHO/cpsf7FlYWP67r2mSK63ObP7/wBCsaH/AIRdCcb1H5dBkN9V5bB4Is9OpzWj3fo4cz

Скачать книгу