- And do not tell me that you went to the bathroom, but a little mistook the direction - the same tone continued to tease the vampire. - And the knife is for cutting toilet paper, isn't it?
- Or a knife to cut the ties on your pants. Well, I got confused in the strap, I got lost in ties..." continued Vadim.
Well, you bet he isn't. So, come out and put your five kopecks in, too?
- Or if the toilet attacks and tries to bite...
Clara screamed. But then she woke up and smiled.
- Still, your Leoverenskaya is dead!
- You're giving wishful thinking away," said Mecislav. - Vadim?
A vampire stepped to the bed and, presumably, moved the blanket masking a rubber doll.
- But... how?! - Clara was in shock. - I mean, she smelled. And she was breathing...
- Julia? - Mechislav let me get out and get into the game.
I rolled out from under the bed and sent Clara a tender smile of hungry hyena.
- Come on, boys. She just decided to wish me pleasant dreams. Eternal. And give me this cute knife.
- It's not an easy knife," said Boris at the door.
Mechislav did not even begin to dispose of it aloud. He just nodded at one of the vampires, and he stepped forward to the woman. Clara cried out and tried to swing the knife. Wherever that is. The vampire's movements were like scrolling through a movie in accelerated mode, so everything blurred out. I couldn't even see the impact - just Clara's scream and the knife on the parquet.
- Sir, - the vampire slipped forward and respectfully gave the knife to Mieczysław. - Mistress, - bow to my side. Such a "gracious bow of the head". I answered with a nod and moved closer to Mieczysław, who was carefully spinning in his hands confiscated weapons.
The knife was really remarkable. Not an ordinary kitchen set, which can be used in every shop. Nope. It was a narrow dagger clearly handmade. The long triangular blade of bluish-blue metal was threateningly narrowed from handle to tip, and I suspected it would easily penetrate a five-inch board and not bend. The handle is made in the form of a lying lion. The beast's muzzle was ravenously shining, its forelegs divorced for the jump, and the claws on its hind legs were smoothly transferred to the blade. I imagined this slipping into my heart, and I swallowed it convulsively.
However, the dagger was also suitable for cutting punches.
- It was poisoned," Mechislav pointed at the tip of the blade. At first I didn't understand what and how, then, looking at it, I noticed that the metal was as if in rainbow divorce. And I couldn't help myself.
- What, is she going for an elephant? I could use a Chinese knife, too. From a dinner set for the squeamish.
- She didn't have a chance to get another one, Mecislav shrugged his shoulders. - Indeed, we change too slowly. And we're not stealing, so there's a lot we haven't foreseen. But I will get better. Pins and other burglar's guns are useless against the code lock. And video cameras and bugs are humanity's great invention.
I blurred out in a happy smile: Thanks to Grandpa for the advice.
- And who sponsored our Clash?
I deliberately provoked the fox, and it worked. Clara leaned on me like a noble lady on a rat.
- You bastard! It's a pity you couldn't be sewn up sooner!
- Am I a bastard? - I'm a little surprised. - If I really was, I wouldn't have let you and Slava on the doorstep. And your beautiful plan would have been covered with a copper basin.
- Oh, I wouldn't let you in! There's a pitiful one! C-bitch! First they threw her out of the house, and now you're pretending to be nice?! Oh, yeah?!
- I'm not pretending, - I didn't even think to raise my voice - enough with the mocking tone. - Slava left on his own. And he didn't let the bloody time break through about him. Why should we love him and help him? Because of his dubious kinship?
- He is your brother!
- That's why you were able to get close to me. But not too close. One thing is unclear: why didn't you kidnap me on the very first day when I was sleeping, and you and Slava were at my place? Killing you wouldn't have stopped you, would it? Slava - with a knife to the throat, me - with a vase to the head, and through the attic. It's a nice case.
- Fluffy, she couldn't do it, - Mecislav threw a finger at me. - My men were watching you.
- And it wasn't hard to take people off.
- It wasn't difficult. But they couldn't have taken you out of town anymore. And then, they wanted to kidnap you, not kill you. Sooner or later, somebody would have tried to use you. And I would have filed a complaint with the Council right away. For the heinous kidnapping of my name. I am not the strongest, but a powerful enough Prince. A kidnapper would have had enough for the rest of his life. And you would have been brought home.
- That's why you had to be disgraced at first - the pieces of the mosaic would fall into place. - Either kill you, or distract you so you wouldn't have a last name. Save your hide and take your legs away!
- Yes. The plan was good. But you made it all go away. No one expected you to cooperate with the FPI.
- I beg you not to generalize! I'm not cooperating with these fanatics, I'm just communicating!
- Okay. The first time you couldn't be kidnapped because of your abilities. The second time I was interrupted by Rokin.
- I'll have to call and thank you.
- Yeah, I will.
- Is that why they just tried to kill me now? For what?!
- And that's what Clark will tell us. If she wants to stay undamaged. Or should I give the order to the executioners?
Clara shone her eyes at us.
- I hate it! Beasts!
- I wonder what we did to you.
I was really wondering. There was a werewolf's voice that hated - at least go to the pharmacies for recycling. But why did I hurt her like that? The fact that I was stronger once? That's weird...
- You! You spoiled rich bitch! Bitch! You bastard!
Clara seems to have decided that she can't get away alive anyway. So at least say the last thing you want to say. This ritual self-immolation under the slogan "Know, you bastards, what a wonderful and beautiful man lived next to you!
Whom
you didn't appreciate it!" But I wasn't going to stand there and let myself get dirty. Not even for her dying wish.
- So what? Didn't I hurt you?
- People like you never get hurt! They don't even notice! You've had everything since you were born! Stuff, cars, apartments, money - everything! Anything you want! How can anyone compare to such spoiled princesses?!
I snorted. That's bullshit!
Yes, Grandpa has his own firm. How many times did they try to put him on the tarmac because of this business? It's scary to remember! And my father was killed. It's a bloody fee for "well-being." Not to mention the fact that we don't have anything serious. All the money's in the business. Yeah, we got a nice apartment. Grandpa's got a car-- "hammer." Grandpa says this car reminds him of a tank. So what? So neither Mom nor I wear diamonds. We buy stuff where we have to. And to tell you a big secret, jeans for five hundred rubles from the sales store sit just as well as branded "leviys" from some pathos boutique. And a cute jacket of some Kursk jersey looks even better than all that is sold in fashion stores. And it doesn't irritate your skin because it's not synthetic.
Our only luxury is the apartment I bought. I strongly suspect it's a vampire, but I won't ask you directly. He owes me more for my problems and my scars. It's a one-time thing. And... scaring my mom with nightmares and screams at night is two. I'd rather hide in my lair and at least show up relatively normal.
And what about the comparison to the spoiled princess... ha! If I was half like that, I'd have been eaten by Duke by now! And he didn't choke.
- You have everything! And those who've been shattered by fate are just dirt under your feet! Worse than worms! At least you won't step on them, you'll squeal! And you can trample on everyone else! Push!
Don't you notice! Despise! There was one of them wi
th me! She had everything! She had everything! Money! Jewelry! Guys! She had all the teachers on her hands! And only I knew what a bastard she really was! If it weren't for her money, no one would have looked at her!
- And all the more so," Vadim quietly said. But Clara had enough.
- Yes! Especially Sashka! She only needed him for fun! Like another toy! And he fell in love! Idiot! They also invited me to the wedding! Beasts! But I got even with her later! She didn't even know who I was! And I ripped her throat open! And I laughed! I was laughing when she was dying! And Sashka cried at her funeral! Pathetic fool! I tried to comfort him, but he dared to say that there was no one better than her! Bastard! But I didn't kill him! Let him live and suffer. And sometimes I send him pictures of her! Let him remember,
whom
he preferred me!
Clara was mockingly laughing. I urgently wanted to take a bath with chlorine - so much her laughter, and she herself was disgusting.
- But now you have Slava," said Vadim again. Clara laughed even louder. Her eyes glistened.
- Slava?!
Slava?!
You idiot! You idiot! Who needs that idiot?! I was messing with his head as much as I could!!! I lied! Pretended!!! I was kidding! And he never once suspected a trick! Stupid fool! You can't tell the difference between a fall and a prima! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...
Laughter has become a squeal. I've overcome the urge to clasp my ears with my hands. Feelings were... disgusting, like watching cheap soap. You don't get those kind of stamps in an expensive place anymore.
- So you're a prima?
What, they're gonna interrogate Vadim? I took a look at Mečislav. What's going on here?! But the vampire just shook his head, so don't get in the way.
I shook my shoulders. Okay. It's still on the record.
- Yes, of course it is. Wouldn't a normal Padi be able to handle a case like this?!
- Of course not, Vadim agreed. - At first, we didn't even suspect you.
- How did you know that I was me then?! - Clara shrieked. Her eyes were feverishly fluttering around, looking for a way to retreat. But she had no way out, even if she took a hostage. I tried to stay close to Mieczysław: the vampire could stand up for himself (and for me too), and everyone else was not so valuable.
- We didn't know," said Mieczyslaw calmly. - You gave yourself away.
- By what?!
- You don't know how to control yourself, werewolf. Once I gave you a hint about Diego - and voila! You came on your own. And with a knife.
- And you also have an amazingly nasty aura," I put my five kopecks in.
- What are you, a saint, to tell me about it?! You filthy spoiled bitch!
I shrugged my shoulders. Let it be. The important thing is that the fool doesn't go in the second circle. I'm sick of her jealousy. That's what I never understood. It's a rare foolish feeling. You didn't have to be a billionaire's daughter at birth? And I didn't get the perfect top model figure, and somebody got a hook on their nose and ears with burdocks. So what? You can get over it. You weren't born the daughter of a millionaire? So make your own money. Become a millionaire yourself. Or get yourself a plastic if you're not happy with your face. It's in your hands. If you've got it. Hands, legs, head... Got it?! Health?! Have you got it? Well, then jealous of someone is just cretinism. You can do anything on your own. All you have to do is see the target, go to it and don't care about any obstacles. And to spend time and effort to sit and whine: "But she (he) has, and I do not have ... and I want, and I do not have ..." Yeah, well, if you put half the time and energy into it, you can lend Bill Gates in a year. Ha!
- Who gave you the orders?! - Swordsman's voice whipped, whipping my thoughts to shreds.
Clara swooped.
- I won't tell you anything! Got it, asshole?! You can rip my head off, okay? You're dead anyway!
Mecislav smiled, and no one would call that smile tempting. Now the vampire was scary. Terrified by the mismatch between form and content. The same stunning green eyes, the same perfect face, careless plastic leopard - and at the same time a deaf voice, devoid of all intonations, a curve smile on full lips, exposing fangs. And some dead frozenness of all features, like a mask made of light gold.
- I can. But I won't. We have executioners for that. Get her. The voice was stunningly smooth. It seemed that Mechislav wasn't giving orders, he was reading a completely uninteresting book.
Clara twitched to grow her claws, but it wasn't there. She was twisted in a flash and thrown onto the bed.
- I don't suppose you know what you can do to a human with a simple corkscrew and a box of matches," the vampire's voice was just as quiet and calm. - But I have wonderful executioners. You'll tell me everything. Even the things I never knew.
Clara cursed like a shoemaker. Yes. We need to be quick. This way, she'll keep watering us for a long time to come. What if...
What can scare that crap? Apparently, she's a masochist. She's not afraid of pain. It's almost like a joke: "Tear me, bite me, tear me, hit me... oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!" The dream of a masochist.
I slipped forward.
- Oh, let me.
Mecislav turned his head a little bit, and then nodded.
- Are you sure you can handle it?
- We don't need her alive - my voice could fill up coffee instead of whipped cream, so much I put in tenderness... - Absolutely not. We just need information from her mind. Poor, poor girl. What can we do about it? I'll tighten her up deep. To where Vlad and I were. That's where vampires die. And she may survive. She hasn't died yet. But that's where she'll tell me everything. You just can't lie in there. It's a scandal. And then her brain will collapse. She'll stay alive. Safe and sound. She'll even be able to walk and talk. She'll testify again in front of the entire vampire council. But she won't be Clara anymore... not Clara at all. I'm just gonna suck her personality and wipe her off. And what's left will do everything. It's just everything. It'll even kill whoever ordered her to spy on us.
That's a good one, convincing. I'd believe it myself. I lied like a blue gelding, though. I couldn't have done it. I couldn't do it. And I won't learn. Probably never. I know all my abilities are a random pumpkin method. But I was hoping to scare Clara into incontinence. Speech. I'm sorry.
- You're all lying, you bastard! You can't do this! You don't have that power! - You're in Clara's wild laugh. - And you can't torture me anyway! You can't do that! I'm a prima! And I can stop my heart at any moment! And I can stop it!
I looked at a crazy woman.
- She'll really do it. And we'll stay in our best interest.
- If Raoul... Lazy, didn't Raoul come out of a trance?
That's who we could use right now. One word from Peter, and the fox would tell us all her sins. And she would have added something else. Yes. When Peter comes out of the trance, he'll be a terrible weapon.
- He won't.
- Damn it!
I'm furious, too. Oh, my God, it's gone! There she is, the spy, in our hands, and we can't do anything with her! The eye can see, the tooth is nimble. Just to convince myself that we don't give up on Klavka, it doesn't work. Her testimony just needs a nosebleed. Shit! If the monk had done to her what he planned to do to me, she'd have pawned everyone!
- My lord! Her heart's stopping! - One of the vampires screamed.
Diego! I'm coming to you!
I took a look at a woman's aura. There was a blackness over her heart.
Death?
The end?!
Will I stay in my peak interest?!
No, you won't!
Some kind of force has shaken me forward.
- Die?! I won't let you!
It seems that Mecislav shouted something. But it was too late. I put my left hand just above Clara's heart, in the blackness pouring down the aura.
- It's not supposed to be like that. She still lives. I order her to live!
And she fell into a trance.
The glade I was in was familiar to me. I've been he
re before, with both Vlad and Peter. The scenery changed a bit, but the essence felt the same. An unknown place, located - where? - ...took me in and helped me. I felt calm and cozy here. And mine...
power
was growing. Here, I could use it consciously.
But she appeared on the edge of the clearing, tied up like a bale of Clara felt clearly not at ease. You bet she was.
This
the plate was mine. And I knew I could keep the fox here for life or throw it away, kill it or subjugate it. And I could even put a curse on it. After taking it off Peter, I began to more or less imagine the mechanism of its imposition. But I didn't want to do it. Why not?
I don't know. But there was something inside me that required me to get what I needed, not to mock it, and to kill it. Quick and merciful. She's already dead, anyway. From the moment that Diego died. So have I. Julia Leoverenskaya died with her lover. And what's born is... she's different...
- You! - shrieked Clara when she saw me. - What are you, dead?!
- You can't wait.
- You're gonna shit on me after you die, too?! - The girl continued. Then she heard what I said, and she screamed even louder: - What's going on?! Am I still alive?!
- And it's up to me," I stretched it out. And it was true. Clara could feel it in my voice. - I can let go, I can kill her. Well? Are you gonna talk, or are you gonna rip something off? - I was scared as I was approaching her.
Clara wriggled and watered at me with a selection of scolding. And I was looking closely at the confused woman. What was wrong with that? Why did I see Vlad and Peter as they were, and this one as if it had been dusted with grey dust? I don't understand anything! What's wrong with her?!
Clara is even more furious than she's fathered me. And all of a sudden there's a realization. How little it takes to get your brain back in place, huh?
It's madness.
She's crazy. And that gray dust is her madness.
Is there anything I can do about it? What's the point of talking to a crazy person? A fool to teach that a dead person is to be treated. What's a fool to cure?
Ring of Madness Page 122