nusik: переводы

→“I gotta get going.” Trey reached into his pocket and handed over something that I was grateful to see. My phone. “Figured you were missing this.”

→“Well, I’ll figure something out then, some big move to get the Warriors’ attention and get my dad and me back in with them. I have to.” His face started to fall again, but then there was a brief return of the phantom smile—though it was tinged with sadness. “You know what else sucks? Now I can’t ask Angeline out. Hanging out with you is one thing, but even if I’m an outcast, I can’t risk being friendly with Moroi or dhampirs. I especially can’t date one. I mean, I’d figured she was one a while ago, but I could have played dumb. That attack in the arena kind of killed any chance of that. The Warriors really don’t like them either, you know. Dhampirs or Moroi. They’d love to see them brought down too— they just think it’s too hard and less of a priority right now.” Something about those words made me shiver, particularly since I recalled the offhand Warrior comment about eventually taking out Moroi. The Alchemists certainly had no love for dhampirs and Moroi, but that was a far cry from wanting to bring them down.

→A hint of his old smile returned. “Nothing’s ruined for good. I told you, I’ll get back in. And if it’s not by killing Strigoi, who knows? Maybe if I learn more about you guys, I can bridge the gap between our groups and get us to all work together. That would score me some points.”

→“No,” I said. “Especially since none of them are easy kills.” I hesitated, unsure how to proceed. “Trey, what’s this mean for us? I understand if we can’t be friends anymore. seeing as how I, uh, ruined your life’s work.”

→“I. I’m sorry. I never thought anything like that would happen.” “Wasn’t your place to,” he said pragmatically, though his tone was still miserable. “To a certain extent, they’re right. I was the one that got you in. It is my fault, and they’re punishing my dad for what I did. That’s the worst part of all.” Trey was trying to play it cool, but I could see the truth. He’d worked so hard to impress his father and ended up causing the ultimate humiliation. Trey’s next words confirmed as much. “The Warriors have been my dad’s whole life. To be kicked out like that. well, he’s taking it pretty badly. I have to find a way to get back in—for him. I don’t suppose you know where any easy-to-kill Strigoi are, do you?”

→“No. Yes. I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Indirectly, I guess. They don’t blame you personally or even the Alchemists. Hell, they still want to team up with the Alchemists. They figure you just behaved in your typically misguided way. But me? I’m the one who pushed to let you in, who swore everything would be fine. So, they blame me for the lapse of judgment and fallout that came from it. Others are taking the blame too—the council for agreeing, security for not stopping the raid—but that doesn’t make me feel better. Dad and I were the only ones exiled.”

→I stared for a few moments, at a loss for words. I didn’t like the Warriors or Trey’s involvement, but this wasn’t quite what I’d been trying to achieve. “Because of me?”

→“So do I.” I reconsidered. “Well, unless there’s a way to save them all, but that’s unclear.” Despite how much I’d said while advocating for Sonya, I wasn’t quite comfortable letting him on the secrets and experiments. “If the Warriors travel around, what’ll happen the next time they’re in this area? Or even L.A.? Will you join them again? Will you travel to the next hunt?”

→Maybe not stupid, but certainly nave. I nearly crumpled up the magazine. I was furious at Lia. Part of me wanted to sue for using a picture of a minor without permission, but we had much bigger problems. How wide was this magazine’s circulation? If Lia had only put Jill’s photo on display in California, maybe no one would recognize her. Still, a Moroi model could raise eyebrows. Who knows what kind of trouble this was going to cause for us now? “Sydney, I’m sorry,” said Jill. “What can I do to fix this?”

→It took me a moment to catch it. The picture was a profile shot, with Jill in sunglasses and a fedora—as well as that peacock- colored scarf Lia had given her. Jill’s curly hair streamed out behind her, and the angles of her face looked beautiful. If I hadn’t known Jill so well, I would never have identified her as this chic model—though it would certainly be obvious that she was a Moroi to anyone who knew what to look for.

→She snapped back to reality. “Yeah, I think so.” A small smile played over her lips. “And once this has passed, maybe Eddie will want to go out sometime—away from campus, of course. Seeing as we’re ‘related.’”

→She brushed curly hair away from her face as she considered. “Yes. And no. I like him. And I’d like to keep hanging out with him— as friends—if he wants to. I don’t know, though. He took it kind of hard. and our mutual friends? Well. they’re not very happy with me right now.” I tried not to groan. Jill had made such headway with her status here, and now it could be shattered. “But it’s for the best. Micah and I live in different worlds, and there’d be no real future with a human anyway. Besides, I’ve been thinking a lot about love. like, epic love.” She looked up at me for a moment, her gaze softening. “And that wasn’t what we had. Seems like if I’m with someone, that’s what I should feel.”

→I wanted to scream or cry or throw myself in front of Sonya. We were a heartbeat away from the death of a bright, caring person. Then, without warning, the silence of the arena was pierced with gunfire. Chris paused and lifted his head in surprise. I flinched and looked immediately toward the armed escort, wondering if they’d take it upon themselves to become a firing squad. They looked just as surprised as me—well, most of them. Two of them didn’t show much emotion at all—because they were crumpled on the ground.

→Chris raised the sword, a fanatical gleam in his eyes. A happy gleam, even. He wanted to do this. He wanted to kill. Dimitri and Rose had killed many, many times, but both had told me there was no joy in it. They were glad to do what was right and defend others, but they didn’t take pleasure in bringing death. I’d been taught the existence of vampires was wrong and twisted, but what I was about to witness was the true atrocity. These were the monsters.

→Master Angeletti snapped me back to the present. He made a grand gesture toward Chris as he spoke. “By the divine power we have been granted to bring light and purity into this world, you are authorized to destroy this creature. Commence.”

→I froze at those words. The blonde girl came forward and again forced me to sit down on the first row of the bleachers. I offered no resistance, too shocked at what I’d just heard. What did they mean they’d come for the Moroi? Sonya could just be the beginning, then the rest of my friends, and then Adrian.

→Years have divided us, but we came from the same place—in both our goals and blind attitudes.

→Again, I was speechless—but not because I appeared to have lost my case. Master Jameson’s words were nearly identical to what Keith’s father had said, when he’d told me Keith would be taken back to Re-education. Mr. Darnell had echoed the sentiment, that they couldn’t take the risk of even a subtle bit of influence affecting Keith. Extreme actions had been required. We’re the same, I thought. The Alchemists and the Warriors.

→Master Jameson had apparently heard enough from me. “We appreciate you coming out here and respect your attempt to stand up for what you believe is true. We’re also glad you were able to see just how strong we’ve become. I hope you’ll take this news back to your order. If anything, your attempts here have demonstrated what we’ve long known: our groups need each other. Clearly, the Alchemists have gleaned a lot of knowledge over the years that could be very useful to us—just as our strength could be useful to you. Nonetheless,” he glanced over toward Sonya and scowled, “the point remains now that whatever your intentions, you truly have been deceived. Even if there’s some tiny impossible chance that you’re right, that she truly is a Moroi. we can’t take the chance that she’s still been corrupted. Even if she believes she’s been restored, she may still have been subconsciously influenced.”

→I was momentarily speechless. Was he saying, was he saying that Marcus Finch used to be an Alchemist? No. He couldn’t be. If he had been, then Stanton would have known who he was. Unless she lied about not having any record of him, a voice in my head warned.