AnastasiiaS: переводы

→* * *

→Simple, right?

→First and foremost, I had to find another way to get to New Orleans without Levi knowing I’d even left the coven.

→This is the Suppressor talking, giving me stupid mood swings. Right now, it was taking all the bad stuff and making it ten times worse. I couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity, not with so much at stake. Get it together, Harley. If I was going to break my Suppressor and get the jump on Katherine, I needed to focus on what I could do, not what was out of my control.

→I walked over to the wall and leaned on the stone, staring out at the familiar sight of Balboa Park. Sadness hit me in an unexpected wave, emphasized by my cracked Suppressor. I wished Quetzi were still alive, and that we’d managed to stop Katherine. I wished we’d rescued Isadora without compromising Quetzi’s life. I wished Alton hadn’t made his deal, and he was still director of this coven. Either that, or he’d just covered it up and stayed the director here anyway. Now, I was slowly dying of Chaos poisoning and had been denied permission to go to New Orleans to fix it. Not only that, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the coven, and Katherine was still out there, cooking up her next plan of action with even more power at her disposal. I would have given anything for an easier way out of this mess.

→Levi probably already had Isadora in his crosshairs, which was why he’d called her into his selective meeting. Portal Openers were exceptionally rare and of huge strategic value. There was no way Levi would let her slip through his fingers. If Levi found out he had two at his disposal, he’d wet himself out of sheer happiness.

→“Well, one thing’s for sure: we’re not telling Levi about you,” I said to Jacob, as he came to a halt in his dancing. “We can’t have any slip-ups, not even if the mask gets too hot. It’s the only thing keeping you safe right now, and Alton hasn’t told Levi about your true identity. We already covered your portal-making ass by telling them we followed Katherine through to the Asphodel Meadows, but you’re not exactly off the hook.”

→“I bet it went something like this.” Jacob scooted backward around the dragon fountain, half moonwalk, half running man. Louella giggled, her face lighting up. I had to admit, it was pretty funny, and it was even nicer to see the two new recruits laughing. They hadn’t had much chance for normal teenage silliness recently.

→Louella smiled. “I can’t picture Leonidas dancing.”

→“Why did it have to be him, of all people? Seriously!” I muttered. “Ugh, he’s probably been waiting for a moment like this. I bet he did a little dance of glee when he heard Alton wanted to resign.”

→Jacob stretched out with a loud yawn. “Alton might still be able to help us move around without catching Levi’s attention. He knows this place better than anyone—nooks and crannies included.”

→“Not that he’ll be able to do much,” I replied. “He can’t stop Levi from being an ass, and you’d better believe he’s going to be. That dude laps up power like it’s going to run out at any moment. He’ll rule over this place like a freaking emperor. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has us on our knees, scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes by this time tomorrow.”

→“At least Alton isn’t leaving completely,” Louella said, as she sat on the low wall beside the dragon fountain. All three of us rejects—Louella, Jacob, and I—had come out here to find some peace away from prying eyes and curious ears. A gloomy mood hung over the garden as we sat there, discussing how peeved we were at Levi. Still, it was a nice place to recover after the events of the morning, and my pouch of rancid herbs seemed to be doing the trick in keeping the pain at bay.

→Harley

→Five

→I got the feeling that was the point.

→Taking my time to turn back around, I struggled to keep my eyes from rolling hard. I wasn’t supposed to be in here with Levi. I was supposed to be out there, staying close to Harley. I couldn’t protect her from here.

→“Of course, Director,” I replied, wary and frustrated. Harley was my main concern. She’d be on edge about New Orleans, and we had to figure out a way to get her there. Her life depended on it.

→I glanced at the others, who offered sympathetic looks. They needed to get Raffe away from the office before Kadar showed himself again. I understood that, but I really didn’t want to spend another minute alone with Levi.

→“Wade, would you mind staying for a moment?” He looked at me expectantly. “I have something I need to speak with you about.”