Dirk & Steele 05 - Eye of Heaven by Marjorie M. Liu

Author:Marjorie M. Liu
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-10-11T16:00:39+00:00

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Chapter Ten

Las Vegas, burning in neon. Blue's brain felt as if it were on fire as he leaned against a narrow strip of wall beneath the striped turquoise awning and facade of the Horseshoe Casino. His right leg buckled—just slightly—and he slid down into a loose crouch that offered more psychological rest than anything real. Blue wanted to stretch on the sidewalk, cool his body and aching head, but this was Fremont Street, downtown, not as free or gritty as the Strip, and he could already feel the nearby police watching him from the corners of their eyes.

So he just sat, head down, surveying from under his eyelashes the crowded entrance of the Golden Nugget, situated in all its brass glory directly across from him on the other side of the packed pedestrian walkway. He tried not to think about how much he needed a soft bed, some shut-eye—a good long rest away from anything more powerful than a battery.

You stay here much longer and your shields will buckle.

Tough luck. Two weeks ago, before the bomb, this wouldn't have been a problem. But that blast, the lingering pain inside his head...

Iris.

Blue gritted his teeth. He could barely see the Golden

Nugget's doors through the crowds, most of whom were waiting for the light show to begin again on the Viva! Vision screen arched above them. Twelve million lights, hundreds of thousands of watts, all pounding like jackhammers against his skull. The casinos were little better; the Horseshoe and the Golden Nugget felt like volcanoes ready to explode: fire into electricity, electricity into the inferno, burning, burning.

The power spoke to him; just one touch, one whisper of desire. One thought, and the world would go dark. Las Vegas, dead.

Do it. Do it and see what it feels like to bring a city to its knees.

Blue shifted uncomfortably. A nearby elderly couple glanced at him, gazes turning uneasy before they looked away and pushed through the crowd. He wondered what they saw in his face, and decided that he didn't want to know. There was a darkness in him tonight, a hard edge that had been getting sharper and sharper ever since he'd left Iris, and he could taste its bitterness on his tongue like blood.

No, he told himself, battling the old edge of temptation. You have to keep others safe. Above all else, do that.

Because he did not want to live with the price of his self-indulgence, did not want to be a person who felt entitled to wreak havoc simply because he could. Great power, great responsibility, and all that crap. Nor did he want to waste a lifetime cultivating his control, only to give it up because ... because...

You want to know what it's like to be your father. Ruthless, without conscience. A perfect cunning ego. If he had your gifts...

God help them all. Disgusted, Blue pushed away that thought and focused on the Golden Nugget. He wondered if he should go in. Iris and Daniel had recently

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