嶽風因為某些原因，給人當了贅婿，端茶倒水被人瞧不起，隱忍度日，直到有一天…
如果二維奧碼識別不了，可點擊文未」閱讀原文「
豪門戰神
最佳女婿
神級龍衛
龍門兵少
重生霸道嫡女
總裁男神偷我心
絕美夜色
乘龍快婿
古術醫修
夜少愛妻如命
愛過才懂情濃
冰冷少帥荒唐妻
情雲北去慕星辰
TWENTY-FIVE
Aboard the Steamer OZYMANDIAS, Mississippi River, October 1857
ABNER Marsh had expected darkness, but when Sour Billy shoved him through the door to the captain's cabin, the room gleamed in the soft light of its oil lamps. It was dustier than Marsh remembered, but otherwise just as Joshua had kept it. Sour Billy closed the door, and Marsh was alone with Damon Julian. He gripped his hickory stick hard-Billy had thrown the gun in the river, but allowed Marsh to retrieve the stick-and scowled. "If you're goin' to kill me, come on and try," he said. "I ain't in the mood for no games."
Damon Julian smiled. "Kill you? Why, Captain! I'd planned to feed you dinner." A silver serving tray had been set on the small table between the two big leather chairs. Julian lifted its cover to reveal a plate of pan-fried chicken and greens, turnips and onions on the side, and a slice of apple pie topped with cheese. "There is wine, too. Please have a seat, Captain."
Marsh looked at the food and smelled it. "Toby's still alive," he said, with a sudden certainty.
"Of course he is," Julian said. "Will you sit?"
Marsh moved forward warily. He couldn't figure what Julian was up to, but he considered it for a moment and decided he didn't care. Maybe the food was poisoned, but that didn't make no sense, they had easier ways of killing him. He sat down and picked up a chicken breast. It was still hot He bit into it ravenously, and recalled how long it had been since he'd had a decent meal. Maybe he was going to die presently, but at least he'd die on a full stomach.
Damon Julian, resplendent in a brown suit and golden vest, watched Marsh eat with an amused smile on his pale face. "Wine, Captain?" was all he said. He filled two glasses and sipped delicately from his own.
When Abner Marsh had polished off the pie, he sat back in his chair and belched, then screwed up his face in a scowl. "A good meal," he said grudgingly. "Now, why am I here, Julian?"
"The night you made your hasty departure, Captain, I tried to tell you I simply wanted to talk to you. You chose not to believe me."
"Damn right I didn't believe you," said Marsh. "Still don't. But now I ain't got much say on the matter, so talk."
"You are bold, Captain Marsh. And strong. I admire you."
"Can't say I got much use for you."
Julian laughed. His laughter was pure music. His dark eyes shone. "Amusing," he said. "Such bluster."
"I don't know why you're tryin' to butter me up, but it ain't goin' to do you no good. All the fried chicken in the world ain't goin' to make me forget what you did to that damned baby, and to Mister Jeffers."
"You seem to forget that Jeffers had just run me through with a sword," Julian said. "That is not something one takes lightly."
"That baby didn't have no sword."
"A slave," Julian said lightly. "Property, by the laws of your own nation. Inferior, according to your own people. I spared it a life of bondage, Captain."
"Go to hell," said Marsh. "It was just a damned baby, and you cut off its hand like you was cutting the head off a chicken, and then you crushed its head in. It didn't do nothin' to you."
"No," said Julian. "Nor did Jean Ardant harm you or your people. Yet you and your mate crushed his skull in while he slept."
"We thought he was you."
"Ah," said Julian. He smiled. "A mistake, then. But whether you acted in error or not, you slaughtered an innocent man. You do not seem unduly consumed by guilt."
"He wasn't no man. He was one of you. A vampire."
Julian frowned. "Please. I share Joshua's distaste for that term."
Marsh shrugged.
"You contradict yourself, Captain Marsh," Julian said. "You judge me evil, for doing what you do without compunction-taking the lives of those unlike yourself. No matter. You defend your own kind. You even include the dark races. I admire that, you see. You know what you are, you understand your place, your nature. That is as it should be. You and I, we are alike in that"
"I ain't nothin' like you," Marsh said.
"Ah, but you are! We accept our natures, you and I, we do not seek to become things we are not, things we were never meant to be. I despise the weak, the changelings who so hate themselves that they must pretend to be something else. You feel the same way."