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.He sirked.But he s nervous, too.He keeps bending and straightening his fingers.Moderating his tone, he holds out both arms. Come, sweetness.Find strength andcomfort.Peter sways forward, as if he s overcoming his inertia.Unable to watch himsurrender, I stare at my knees.The silence in the house seems to tick like a bomb.Then Isee movement near me.Wearing a wan smile, Peter kneels beside my chair. Hi. He places a hand overmine. Seeing you is the best thing in the world, Carny.Got any strength and comfort tospare?Gray half-moons hang beneath his eyes.Tears well up in mine.I swear, I ve neverwanted to hold and kiss someone as much as I do at that moment.I turn my hand over,and instantly our fingers intertwine. Go back to your room, Bezod says, raising his voice.216 K.Z.SnowPeter s smile falls away.Fully facing Bezod confronting him, really he standsup with slow deliberation, keeping his body rigid, making that simple movement an actof defiance. It isn t my room.I have my own place now. He s trembling, but notseverely, and not (I believe) out of fright.I m certain he s summoning whatever will isleft in him, and it s requiring a Herculean effort. Tell him, Jackson whispers. Stay out of this, Spey! Cool-hand Bezod, who supposedly eschews emotion, isheating up and in danger of boiling over. Now go back to the bedroom and wait forme, he snarls at Peter. No. Peter s fingers touch my shoulder. I don t want to be with you.I want mylife back.I want& I want to be Peter Elias P-Powell again. Suddenly he makes a soundbetween a grunt and choked whimper, and then goes  Uh-uhnh, like pain is about tolay him out.Just as I frantically jump up and grab for him, he moves like he s going toelbow me in the midsection.He pulls his jab at the last second.Bezod s trying to makePeter hurt me, but Peter is resisting& and he suffers even more for his rebellion.Now hereally cries out.The sound flays me alive,  cause I know Bezod is trying to torture him intosubmission.I m powerless to protect him.All I can do is scream,  Stop it! Leave himalone!With a roar of outrage, Jackson breaks his patient stillness.Damn, does he ever.Thank God there s someone in the room who isn t powerless against Bezod.The windows balloon outward, like they re nothing more than plastic wrap, andthe room begins spinning wildly around me, although Peter and I remain fixed pointsin the centrifuge.Within seconds I don t know what the hell is going on.Jackson soundslike thunder, except he s booming out words including more profanities than I ve everheard at one time instead of mere noise.Peter and I hunch together on the floor,clinging to each other, and I m trying to cover as much of his head and body as I can.Carny s Magic 217Who knows what projectiles could be flying around us? My eyes are squeezed shut, so Ihave no idea. You ll be all right, I tell Peter. We ll get you home soon.You ll be all right. Thank you, Peter says against my ear, then presses his lips there. I love you,Carny.For one blissful, outside-of-time moment, the room seems as peaceful as paradise.I feel warm inside and perfectly safe.I m even smiling.No one has ever said that to me before.The tempest resumes meaning, I m aware of it again.My sweetheart and I arecurled together while a wizard battles a sorcerer.But we ll come through just fine.I msure of it.In those reality-gone-psycho moments, I realize I do not want to be a magician sapprentice.I d rather be an apprentice to a straight gigolo.And anybody who knowshow thoroughly gay I am can appreciate that preference.* * * *When the uproar subsides, I keep my eyes closed.It s bound to start up again atany second.But as the seconds stretch into minutes, I feel Peter slowly disentanglehimself from me.At first I m shot through with terror.I naturally assume I d been presumptuouswhen I felt convinced we d be safe.I d underestimated Bezod s evil power andpersistence, and now he s pulling Peter out of my arms.My whole perspective changes when I open my eyes.I m outside, sitting on sandand tufts of grass.The change of scene only intensifies my panic.I ve been ejected fromthe house, separated from my love. Peter? Where are you? Right here. Smiling, he extends a hand to help me up.218 K.Z.SnowA pair of long legs passes in front of me. Get your ass off the ground, you lout.We re going home. It s Jackson s voice.I hear the click of a car door opening.When Ilook up and to the right, he grins at me over his shoulder.Still feeling unsteady, I get to my feet.Peter twines an arm around my waist. Areyou okay? I ask, scanning his face for any lingering signs of distress. Better than I ve felt in longer than I can remember.We re safe now. He closesthe small space between us and touches his lips to mine.Instantly it s Flutterville in my stomach.The word safe gives my dick permissionto stop playing dead, and it twitches.When was the last time Peter and I kissed?Yesterday? The day before? Everything s been so chaotic, I can t remember.But thatkiss almost feels like our first.I might be a little shaky, but I want to snog him all the way home. What did Bezod do to you? I ask as we slip into the backseat.Peter s brightness fades. What he s done since the beginning.Send me pain whenI disobey him or act in a way he doesn t approve of.He sends it to my head or mystomach or my& well, more sensitive parts. Peter blushes and looks away.Fresh rage rises in me. That son of a  He won t be sending anybody pain for a long time, Jackson says, sounding aspissed as I feel. And Peter, never again. He starts the car. You can take that to thebank.It s then I realize what Jackson s been through today. Dude, I say, touching hisshoulder,  you want me to drive so you can rest? No, I feel great.Energized.You two just cuddle in the backseat and nap if youneed to. What was with all that spinning? I m grateful to see the lake home disappearbehind us as we move down the driveway.Once again, our surroundings seem soCarny s Magic 219normal.Trees arch overhead.A squirrel darts in front of the car.As we near thehighway, vehicles become visible, speeding to the north and south. It s too complicated to explain, Jackson says. But in a nutshell, that was oneway of cleansing a sorcerer s den.Peter, who s been gazing out the window, says quietly,  Is that what he was?I give Peter a surprised look, and Jackson seems startled too.He jerks his head tothe right and asks,  What did you know about him?Frowning, Peter doesn t answer for several seconds. Nothing, really. After apause, he elaborates. He owned houses in different places.He had no friends,just& unusual visitors.He called himself my guardian and told me he d made mespecial through magic.I think he kept a lot of secrets.And often lied [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]