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.Summers.Joyce.If your daughter comes after you, Iintend to capture her.If she does not, this is my gift to you.This door will be barred, but if you can findthe other way out, I will not pursue you.By that time, your daughter s fate will have been decided oneway or another. Joyce stared at him.She did not, for a moment, think that he was telling the truth.But she could notknow how much was truth and how much a lie.So she did the only thing she could do.She walked toward the iron doors, just happy to be free of her captors presence for the first time indays.Whatever waited inside those walls was no more life threatening than the Sons of Entropy, thatmuch was certain.The sorcerer watched her go, the smile slipping from his face only to be replaced by alook of eager anticipation.Almost hunger.He barred the doors behind her. But I m still alive, Joyce whispered to herself.And as long as they kept her alive, that meant Buffy wasstill alive.She turned to her left and began to walk along the inner wall of what she quickly realized was a hugelabyrinth.She turned right.It s a maze, she thought with astonishment.Then she smiled wildly to herself.They just wanted to make it harder for Buffy to get to her, and to keep her busy while they tried to killher daughter.Left again.But Joyce didn t mind.Joyce liked mazes.There d been one built on the campus of a college not farfrom where she d grown up.It hadn t been anywhere near as large as this, but.yes, she could do this.All she had to do was think, and remember the turns.To concentrate, and try to map out the maze in hermind.Right again.She could do this.Then she heard the bellow of a monster, some kind of beast, not far off.Here in the maze with her.And it all fell into place.The things Buffy and Giles and Willow had told her about the Gatehouse, andthe Otherworld, and all of that.This maze.This labyrinth.And the half-man, half-bull creature who lurkedinside the labyrinth, preying on those who became lost within.The Minotaur.She began to sweat.And worse, she began to wonder: if they would do this to her, put her life in danger in this way, perhaps Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlher daughter was dead after all.Joyce didn t let her mind wander too far in that direction.But after that, she found it very difficult to concentrate.Only a handful of his enemies remained alive outside his home, but the Gatekeeper could not raise ahand in its, or his own, defense.Even now, they were calling for reinforcements.For the moment, theywere still frightened of him, still loath to come near.They had seen him on his knees before, seen himapparently beaten, apparently dying of old age or fatal wounds, only to emerge young and perfect tobattle once more.But now, as he dragged his bleeding and broken body up the stairs in front of the Gatehouse, Jean-MarcRegnier knew that it was over.He was finished.His frail form was too brittle to make the climb, but evenhad he been able to, the Cauldron of Bran the Blessed would have done him no good.When it hadrejuvenated him, it had used part of his life force as a foundation.He had nothing left to give.Not a drop of energy left to devote to the world.For just a moment, as his enemies moved in behind him, he thought of his mother, Antoinette.He waspleased that he would soon join her in the spirit world.But then, as a young magician loosed a spell of destruction upon him, crushing the bones of his legs topowder, Jean-Marc could think only of his son, Jacques.As he screamed in pain, he knew that his agony was more than physical.The grinning magician thoughtthat it was he who had brought down the Gatekeeper, but it simply wasn t so.It was just his time.No one was immortal, a lesson taught to Jean-Marc by his own father, Henri, sovery long ago.Jacques,he thought weakly.I m so very sorry.Then Jean-Marc Regnier s head slumped to his chest.The Gatekeeper was dead.The Gatehouse, and all the strange and horrible beings inside, groaned as one, mimicking the old man sdeath rattle.And the world held its breath.Chapter5IT WAS HALF PAST SIX WHENETHANRAYNE STEERED HISrental car into the parking lot ofthe Blue Horizon Restaurant and Lounge.Midway along the stretch of Sunnydale s coastline, and alsoabout halfway between the beach and the docks, the Blue Horizon sat on a stony promontoryoverlooking the crashing surf.It was an older restaurant, built sometime in the forties, if Ethan guessedcorrectly, and it had long since seen its better days. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlStill, with its high windows looking out on the ocean, and a fresh coat of white paint on its clapboards, itwas a stately old place, frequented mainly by locals and older tourists.It wasn t hip.It wasn t happening.But the owners apparently still did enough business to keep it running.It seemed like the kind of placeAmericans always gravitated to when it came time to hold their wedding receptions.Ethan smiled as he got out of the car.The Blue Horizon had been his idea.He d eaten here several timeson his visits to Sunnydale, and though the menu was pedestrian, the preparation was first-class.And,given that most of the other restaurants in the area at least those that were currently popular servedeither Mexican food or what was dubiously called California cuisine, Ethan was happy to go anywherehe could get a decent steak au poivre.With a spring in his step, he mounted the stairs to the door and went in.The Blue Horizon was neverreally busy, and tonight was no exception.Plenty of diners, but no wait.He ignored the hostess andwandered into the lounge, eyes roving over the people at the bar.Though he hadn t seen the man innearly fifteen years, it didn t take him long to spot Calvin Trenholm.The man s blond hair had all butdisappeared, leaving a ring around Trenholm s head that was more nostalgia than actual hair.But the facewas the same, without a doubt [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Summers.Joyce.If your daughter comes after you, Iintend to capture her.If she does not, this is my gift to you.This door will be barred, but if you can findthe other way out, I will not pursue you.By that time, your daughter s fate will have been decided oneway or another. Joyce stared at him.She did not, for a moment, think that he was telling the truth.But she could notknow how much was truth and how much a lie.So she did the only thing she could do.She walked toward the iron doors, just happy to be free of her captors presence for the first time indays.Whatever waited inside those walls was no more life threatening than the Sons of Entropy, thatmuch was certain.The sorcerer watched her go, the smile slipping from his face only to be replaced by alook of eager anticipation.Almost hunger.He barred the doors behind her. But I m still alive, Joyce whispered to herself.And as long as they kept her alive, that meant Buffy wasstill alive.She turned to her left and began to walk along the inner wall of what she quickly realized was a hugelabyrinth.She turned right.It s a maze, she thought with astonishment.Then she smiled wildly to herself.They just wanted to make it harder for Buffy to get to her, and to keep her busy while they tried to killher daughter.Left again.But Joyce didn t mind.Joyce liked mazes.There d been one built on the campus of a college not farfrom where she d grown up.It hadn t been anywhere near as large as this, but.yes, she could do this.All she had to do was think, and remember the turns.To concentrate, and try to map out the maze in hermind.Right again.She could do this.Then she heard the bellow of a monster, some kind of beast, not far off.Here in the maze with her.And it all fell into place.The things Buffy and Giles and Willow had told her about the Gatehouse, andthe Otherworld, and all of that.This maze.This labyrinth.And the half-man, half-bull creature who lurkedinside the labyrinth, preying on those who became lost within.The Minotaur.She began to sweat.And worse, she began to wonder: if they would do this to her, put her life in danger in this way, perhaps Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlher daughter was dead after all.Joyce didn t let her mind wander too far in that direction.But after that, she found it very difficult to concentrate.Only a handful of his enemies remained alive outside his home, but the Gatekeeper could not raise ahand in its, or his own, defense.Even now, they were calling for reinforcements.For the moment, theywere still frightened of him, still loath to come near.They had seen him on his knees before, seen himapparently beaten, apparently dying of old age or fatal wounds, only to emerge young and perfect tobattle once more.But now, as he dragged his bleeding and broken body up the stairs in front of the Gatehouse, Jean-MarcRegnier knew that it was over.He was finished.His frail form was too brittle to make the climb, but evenhad he been able to, the Cauldron of Bran the Blessed would have done him no good.When it hadrejuvenated him, it had used part of his life force as a foundation.He had nothing left to give.Not a drop of energy left to devote to the world.For just a moment, as his enemies moved in behind him, he thought of his mother, Antoinette.He waspleased that he would soon join her in the spirit world.But then, as a young magician loosed a spell of destruction upon him, crushing the bones of his legs topowder, Jean-Marc could think only of his son, Jacques.As he screamed in pain, he knew that his agony was more than physical.The grinning magician thoughtthat it was he who had brought down the Gatekeeper, but it simply wasn t so.It was just his time.No one was immortal, a lesson taught to Jean-Marc by his own father, Henri, sovery long ago.Jacques,he thought weakly.I m so very sorry.Then Jean-Marc Regnier s head slumped to his chest.The Gatekeeper was dead.The Gatehouse, and all the strange and horrible beings inside, groaned as one, mimicking the old man sdeath rattle.And the world held its breath.Chapter5IT WAS HALF PAST SIX WHENETHANRAYNE STEERED HISrental car into the parking lot ofthe Blue Horizon Restaurant and Lounge.Midway along the stretch of Sunnydale s coastline, and alsoabout halfway between the beach and the docks, the Blue Horizon sat on a stony promontoryoverlooking the crashing surf.It was an older restaurant, built sometime in the forties, if Ethan guessedcorrectly, and it had long since seen its better days. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlStill, with its high windows looking out on the ocean, and a fresh coat of white paint on its clapboards, itwas a stately old place, frequented mainly by locals and older tourists.It wasn t hip.It wasn t happening.But the owners apparently still did enough business to keep it running.It seemed like the kind of placeAmericans always gravitated to when it came time to hold their wedding receptions.Ethan smiled as he got out of the car.The Blue Horizon had been his idea.He d eaten here several timeson his visits to Sunnydale, and though the menu was pedestrian, the preparation was first-class.And,given that most of the other restaurants in the area at least those that were currently popular servedeither Mexican food or what was dubiously called California cuisine, Ethan was happy to go anywherehe could get a decent steak au poivre.With a spring in his step, he mounted the stairs to the door and went in.The Blue Horizon was neverreally busy, and tonight was no exception.Plenty of diners, but no wait.He ignored the hostess andwandered into the lounge, eyes roving over the people at the bar.Though he hadn t seen the man innearly fifteen years, it didn t take him long to spot Calvin Trenholm.The man s blond hair had all butdisappeared, leaving a ring around Trenholm s head that was more nostalgia than actual hair.But the facewas the same, without a doubt [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]