Quotes
»Jeg ved det godt.« Jeg støttede varsomt kinden mod hans hår. Det føltes lige så silkeblødt, som det så ud til. »Jeg oplever dem også.«
Matthews arme var blevet, hvor han havde anbragt dem, med den ene hånd på mit knæ og den anden på stolens armlæn. Ved mine ord flyttede han dem langsomt og lagde hænderne om min talje. Kulden fra hans hud trængte igennem mit tøj, men jeg skuttede mig ikke. I stedet rykkede jeg nærmere, så jeg kunne hvile armene på hans skuldre.
He spoke so softly that I had to prick up my ears to hear him. "Witches and vampires are not supposed to feel this way. I experience feelings I never have - " he was silent.
"I know."I gently pressed my cheek against his hair. It felt as silky as it looked. "I experience them too.«
Matthew's arms had stayed where he had placed them, with one hand on my knee and the other on the armrests of the chair. At my words, he moved them slowly, putting his hands around my waist. The cold from his skin penetrated my clothes, but I did not shoot myself. Instead, I moved closer so I could rest my arms on his shoulders.
»Det glemte jeg,« sagde han, rejste sig ubesværet og gik væk fra mig. Jeg bevægede først det ene ben, så det andet, for at få blodomløbet i gang igen.
Matthew rakte mig mit glas og gik tilbage til sin plads. Da han havde sat sig, prøvede jeg at give ham noget andet at tænke på, end hvordan jeg mon smagte.
»Hvad var det femte spørgsmål, du skulle besvare til The Prize Fellowship?« Kandidaterne kom op til en eksamen, der omfattede fire spørgsmål, der kombinerede tankeudfordrende bredde og dybde med djævelsk kompleksitet. Hvis man klarede de første fire spørgsmål, fik man stillet det berømte ‘femte spørgsmål’. Det var slet ikke et spørgsmål, men et enkelt ord såsom ‘vand’ eller ‘fravær’. Det var op til kandidaten at afgøre, hvordan han ville svare, og kun de mest geniale svar gav én en plads i All Souls.
A vampire could obviously sit comfortably in that position for days. But a wicked witch couldn't. When I touched me a little, he looked at me in confusion, and then his face lit up.
"I forgot," he said, getting up effortlessly and walking away from me. I moved one leg first, then the other, to get the circulation going again.
Matthew handed me my glass and went back to his seat. When he sat down, I tried to give him something to think about other than what I tasted.
"What was the fifth question you had to answer for the Prize Fellowship?"The candidates came up with an exam that included four questions that combined thought-challenging breadth and depth with devilish complexity. If you answered the first four questions, you were asked the famous " fifth question." It was not a question at all, but a simple word such as ‘water’ or ‘absence’. It was up to the candidate to decide how he would answer, and only the most ingenious answers earned one a place in All Souls.
Det var så den afledningsplan.
»Begær? Hvad skrev du?«
»Så vidt jeg kan se, er der kun to følelser, der holder verden i gang år efter år.« Han tøvede og fortsatte så. »Den ene er frygt. Den anden er begær. Det var det, jeg skrev om.«
He reached over the table-without setting himself on fire-and poured more wine into my glass. "Desire," he said, carefully avoiding my gaze.
That was the diversion plan.
"Lust? What did you write?«
"As far as I can see, there are only two emotions that keep the world going year after year."He hesitated and continued. "One of them is fear. The second is desire. That's what I wrote about.«
Impressions
