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Back Black Ambrosia Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. About the Author
  46. About the Cover

“And then I felt Angelina hurting, hurting real bad, and all the disgust and all the hate I’d felt for her melted, as if . . . well, it just melted. Then I didn’t want to hunt her anymore, I wanted to hold her. I wanted to stop her from hurting, stop her from hurting others. I felt that if I could stop one, the other would automatically stop. If she didn’t hurt anybody else, she wouldn’t hurt herself.

“I spent most of my time in the Hot-­Dogger Bar, trying to figure out my life, and that’s where they found me when they finally got word.”

25

25

Her suit was tailored, her coat leather, her car luxuri­ous. Rosemary took old-­lady steps over packed snow to her car, got in, and started it up with a wild cloud of frosty exhaust. I walked slowly, more like an old man, and by the time I was able to swing my deadening legs inside, the interior was warming quickly. The pain clouded my brain, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. If it had been a pain I could press, a pain I could grit my teeth against, an acute pain, one I could scream over, it might have been easier. But it was just an infernal ache, a continual, inescapable, nauseating ache.

The miles rolled beneath us as I agonized, trying everything I knew to rid myself of the pain, or at least to ease it. Rosemary’s presence was comforting, I could feel her shiny eyes on me as she checked me every now and again, sometimes patting my shoulder as she did.

It was a long time before I could speak, before I could offer Rosemary any company. And that was only after She came for me, to offer me bribes, to lure me back to the old ways.

I fell through, for the briefest of moments, into the void, and She was there. She cupped my chin in Her hands, ever so delicately, and Her touch was like velvet. Her love and warmth surrounded my delirious head, She cooled my forehead with Her breath, lay Her cheek next to mine, and I knew Her offer.

She would lift the pain.

It was such a compelling idea, to have normal, pain-­free legs. I dwelled for a moment on how won­derful it would be, and for another moment on how much I had missed Her (oh, yes, that was the ache that I felt) and I opened my eyes to look upon Her loving face. Boyd stared at me from over Her shoulder, he judged me, and reality slammed me back into the car, by Rosemary’s side, into the pain of my frostbitten legs.

“No!” I said, teeth gritted. “I won’t pay that price!”

Rosemary’s eyes were wide with alarm and I began to talk—began to talk about Sarah.