Revenant by Richardson Kat

Author:Richardson, Kat [Richardson, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dpgroup.org, Fluffer Nutter
ISBN: 9780698145603
Amazon: B00G3L6LY4
Publisher: Penguin USA
Published: 2014-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

This time, the house was illuminated—it even looked welcoming as the taxi driver let us out at the gate. He’d barely squeezed the small car through the medieval streets of Alfama with close calls at every turn and passing. I’d been too exhausted to react and Carlos had spent the short ride brooding out the window at the city he no longer recognized.

The taxi fare was surprisingly low and even with my meager collection of coins, I was able to tip the guy to a degree that earned me a huge grin. “You’ll want to be more careful with your money around here, love. Neighborhood’s gone to the dogs since the smart set moved to Chiado and Bairro Alto. Still, it’s lovely, ain’t it? Can’t complain about the view, eh?”

“No. And thanks for bringing us up.”

“Pleasure’s all mine.”

We watched him drive away, threading the twisty streets once again with inches to spare and no apparent care for his paintwork. Carlos and I limped through the gate and courtyard to the house.

Quinton and Rafa awaited us in the dimly lit doorway.

“Look what I caught,” Quinton said, waving his arm to indicate the phantom housekeeper.

“How?” I asked.

“With the key. We’re in her version of the house right now. That’s why I left the gate and door unlocked for you. Holy crap!” he added as we stepped from the shadow into light. “What happened?”

He lunged to grab me as if he thought I’d fall at any moment, leaving Rafa to attempt an escape while he was distracted. Carlos made a gesture and spat out a word, and she froze in place as if time had stopped.

He turned back to us and, in the light, I saw a smear of dried blood on his forehead and long streamers of it stiffening the black fabric of his shirt from collar to waist. In the dark it had been invisible, but here it was plain. “You look like death,” I said.

Carlos bowed his head with an ironic smile, just out of Quinton’s sight as my lover said, “You look worse.”

“Do I?” I glanced at my arms, but the left was fine. The right was covered in small nicks and filthy scrapes that had bled and dried closed again already. My shins below my skirt were covered in worse scrapes and gouges where the stones of the broken church had cut me while they fell and my outfit was filthy and ripped in several places. I’d never taken that kind of damage in a temporacline before. I already felt weak and uncertain, and the sight didn’t improve my sense of being barely in the normal world at all.

But Quinton was looking at my face, not my body. He smoothed a warm hand over my cheek and forehead and into my hair. “You look like you’ve been in a wreck.”

I gave a rough laugh. “A ruin. But we survived.”

Quinton finally turned back to look at Carlos. His eyes widened, but he said nothing.

Carlos raised an eyebrow, but I noticed he was leaning back against the wall with more of his weight than usual.

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