Succubi

in shock, he concluded, not that he could blame her. How could she possibly deal with all that had happened and all that she’d learned in the last handful of minutes? Erik did not expect her to.

“Come on, come on.” He led her back down the stairs, keeping the Remington tipped toward Duke’s motionless bulk. The wifmunuc, no doubt, was already starting the preliminaries to the rite. But they still didn’t have Ann, a fact which only thickened the grimness of the circumstances. They needed Ann, and that could only mean… The wifhands are out looking for her, Erik concluded.

“We still have time,” he tried to console.

“Time?” Her voice sounded shattered and hoarse. “You said the doefolmon is tonight.”

“Yeah, but not till four in the morning or something like that. I’ve been dreaming about it for months, and you have too, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Ann replied.

“And haven’t most of the dreams occurred around then?”

Ann’s terror-drained face tightened in reflection. “Yes,” she repeated. “Almost every time, I’d wake up, and the clock read 4:12.”

“That’s why. The dreams were really portents.”

They stepped over Duke’s body and made for the kitchen. “Same plan,” Erik informed her. “We’ll go out the back. I’ll take you to the van, then I’ll go look for your daughter. She’ll be at the cirice—the church—now. Getting her out shouldn’t be too risky. Most of the wifhands won’t be there.”

“Why?”

“They’re looking for you, and so are the wreccans. Giving them the slip is the hard part. The rest’ll be easy.”

Ann didn’t look convinced.

Erik stopped at the kitchen entrance.

“What?” Ann asked. “Let’s get out of—”

Bullets, Erik thought. None of it would be easy if he didn’t arm himself more effectively. He only had one round left for the shotgun.

Duke’s revolver, he reminded himself.

“Wait here. I’ll need Duke’s gun too.” He went back to the dim foyer and peered down. The giant revolver still lay in Duke’s grubby, squab hand. Erik knelt, fished around in his adversary’s jacket for bullets, the—

Holy sh—

What he noticed in that fraction of a second was all that his destiny would ever amount to. Duke’s plaid flannel shirt lay in tatters, but there was no blood. Through the holes he could see smudged, pocked white and several balls of buckshot that clearly had not penetrated Duke’s torso.

Bulletproof v—

In one split-second motion, Duke’s left hand grabbed the shotgun barrel, and his right hand snapped forward. Erik froze.

The revolver was aimed directly at his face

Duke leaned up, grinning proudly as ever. “Fooled you again, huh, fairy?” he remarked.

«« — »»

Ann stood in the entry, letting the pulse of her thoughts slow down in time with her heart. The sweat of her fear sucked her clothes to her skin. Then the thought replayed:

Kin sacrifice. Melanie must murder me before she can become the demon…

Time seemed to congeal before her face; all motion, even the world’s, seemed to freeze. Ann sensed something but didn’t know what. She stepped down the short hall to the foyer. Erik Tharp knelt at the body, rummaging for bullets. Suddenly, he seemed poised, his joints locked up. Then—

—his skull divided into three segments

She never even seemed to hear the sound of the shot. She felt concussion, and heat, then Tharp’s head simply burst. Wet hanks of brain slapped her in the chest. It all happened so fast she couldn’t even react. Tharp’s body collapsed before a fine gray cloud of smoke…

And through that smoke, the figure rose: Duke Belluxi grinning behind the giant revolver pointed at Ann’s face.

—

Chapter 33

“So you’re the one,” the madman observed. The end of the gun barrel looked big enough to admit a thumb. “You’re the one he came back for.”

Ann stood taprooted in her terror. The chunks of Tharp’s brains fell off her blouse, leaving glistening stains. A piece of scalp, tufted with white hair, stuck to her forearm. Duke’s hair was the same strange color. He took a step forward, his grinning face broad as a carved pumpkin. Behind the closely set eyes, Ann saw sheer, raging madness.

“The cocksucking little fairy set me up,” Duke informed her. Old bloodstains streaked his pants. “He used me to help him bust out, thought he was smarter than me.” He veered the mad grin down and laughed. “How smart are you now, fucker?”

Ann’s mind swam. If she tried to run, he would kill her. But somehow she also knew that if she didn’t run—if she tried to placate him, bargain with him—he’d also kill her. She could see that fact. She could see it in his eyes.

“Tharp kept talking about destiny, like he was put on earth to do something special. He wasn’t shit. But me, I got a real destiny. Know what it is?”

Ann couldn’t reply, couldn’t even move.

Duke was all over her at once, wielding his massive body with a nearly eloquent finesse. Ann screamed as he dragged her to the floor by a handful of hair. As his weight sidled onto her, so did the meaty, fetid stench of him. He straddled her chest; she could only squirm within herself. His mad eyes focused down. Chuckling, he tore open her blouse, snapped off her bra. Then the chuckle shrank into a demented stare. Ann gagged when he drooled into her mouth. His breath grew short as he traced her nipples with the revolver.

“You’re gonna be my best nut yet,” he promised her. “Oh, yeah, you sure as shit are. I can tell just by lookin’ at ya.”

He opened his trousers and withdrew himself. Suddenly, his stench stupefied her. Dried blood matted his pubic hair.

Then he plugged the revolver into her navel.

“That faggot Tharp, he used to blow me for quarters. Always makin’ phone calls. He was calling you, wasn’t he?”

Look at the moon tonight. Ann remembered the words. She nodded tensely.

“Why?” Duke Belluxi asked, and pinched a nipple.

Doefolmon, she thought. Fulluht-Loc.

Duke laughed. “Doesn’t matter none to me. Now, don’t take this personal, honeybunch, but it’s best if you’re dyin’ slow while I’m boppin’ ya. Gives me a better nut—know what I mean?”

Ann tremored in her paresis. Duke cocked the big, clunky revolver, growing erect in time with his pulse. Through the front bay window, the moon shimmered pinkly.

Ann prepared to die. She closed her eyes

Then the awful weight was gone.

Ann turned where she lay, looking ahead. Duke Belluxi was being dragged across the carpet by…something. Ann caught glimpses of faces, flesh. Duke thrashed as he was pinned to the floor by quick, snatching hands. Abruptly, he was screaming in hoarse bursts. What’s happening? Ann dumbly wondered. She felt in shock. Duke’s heels and palms pummeled the floor, his body arching up. Two fingers sharp as masonry nails sank promptly into his eyes. Two more clawlike hands ripped his trousers off. Ann could only stare frozen at