UttukuThe Books of Darknessby Robert N. Stephenson |
Table of Contents |
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Chapter 35
The Ta’ibah |
Diana Arlyn is an author of gothic fiction best-sellers. A hard drinker with bipolar disorder, she falls in love with a mysterious woman, and the turbulent relationship draws Diana unwillingly into a legend.
Diana is haunted by questions: why did the woman pick her, of all people, and how can the Ta’ibah, the hunter of darkness, know so much about her? She is also haunted by the ghost of a dead author. She must find out what he wants, recover a lost book that belongs to someone who wants to kill her, and ultimately survive the darkness.
“Why did you go to them?” I asked. I wasn’t happy. I had everything going as planned.
“You were taking too long,” he said.
“Time is nothing to you, never has been and never will be,” I said. Inside the train tunnel our voices echoed. The smell of deisel oil was cloying. He’d come through the ground above, sixty metres of it. I simply followed the tracks; the walk helped me settle my anger.
“Diana needed influencing; she needs to see my power and the futility of her life.” He shifted about me like an icy breeze. He was agitated, unable to solidify.
“Do you think Sarina will let her come under your control now?” I still needed Diana for the book and I wanted her to stay disconnected from him until I had it.
I thought of Diana and sent a message.
“I will get the statue back, Bela,” he said. “You will lure Sarina away. You have the means I gave you; now use them, as you should have, fifty years ago.”
I now had no choice. The protections I had afforded Sarina for so long had now come to an end. I just hoped she could protect Diana by herself.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert N. Stephenson
