Children of the Night by Dan Simmons

Author:Dan Simmons
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Vampires, Thriller, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780446364751
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 1992-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

When O’Rourke was finished talking, the three of them stood in silent tableau there in the hissing lamplight, Lucian frozen halfway between the hot plate and the door, O’Rourke standing in shadow by the sprung sofa, and Kate standing closest to the lantern. Her gaze had been moving back and forth between the haggard-looking priest and the younger man, but now she stared only at Lucian. Her thought was, If he runs we will have to chase him down. O’Rourke looks exhausted. I will have to do it myself.

Lucian did not run.

O’Rourke rubbed his stubbled cheek. There was no victory in his eyes, only sadness.

If Lucian is one of them, thought Kate, then they know where we are. The men in black. The men who killed Tom and Julie and Chandra. The men who stole Joshua …. She felt her heartbeat accelerate, was vaguely conscious of her. fists knotting as if of their own accord.

Lucian stepped back to the hot plate, lifted the wooden spoon, and slowly stirred the now-bubbling soup.

Kate wanted to strangle him at that moment. “Is it true?” she asked. “Lucian, was it you?”

If he had shrugged, she would have lifted the wooden chair behind her and brought it down on his head at that moment.

He did not shrug. “Yes,” he said. “It was me.” He looked at her a second and then lifted the spoon and tasted the soup.

“Put the spoon down,” said Kate. She found herself wondering if she could dodge in time if Lucian threw the pan of boiling soup at her.

Lucian set the spoon down and took a step toward her.

O’Rourke stepped between them just a~ Kate raised both fists. Lucian raised both hands, palms outward.

“Let me explain,” he said softly. His Romanian accent seemed stronger. “Kate, I would never do anything to hurt Joshua …”

She felt her composure slip then and remembered pulling the trigger when the man in black had seemed to threaten her baby three months earlier … an eternity earlier. She wished that she had a gun now.

“No, I mean it,” said Lucian, reaching past O’Rourke to touch her arm.

She pulled her arm away. Lucian held up his hands again. “Kate, it was my job to get the baby out of the country safely, never to hurt him.”

It seemed as if Michael O’Rourke had not blinked during the entire exchange. Now he stepped aside, unplugged the hot plate, and carefully set the pan of soup aside on a tile ledge, out of Lucian’s reach. “You said you can explain.” He crossed his arms. “Explain.”

Lucian tried to smile. “I expect you’ll have some explaining to do yourself, priest. After all, it’s hardly coincidence that you-“

“Lucian!” snapped Kate. “We’re talking about you.”

The young man nodded and raised his hands again as if urging calm. “All right … where to begin?”

“It was your job to get the baby out of the country,” said O’Rourke. “What do you mean your job? Who gave you that job? Who are you working for?’.”

Kate glanced at the door, half expecting Securitate forces to break in.

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