'You have to nowadays,' the kid said.
'What's your name?' Ann asked.
The kid squirmed a bit. 'Isadora Volante. And it's no act. They got their money's worth. Weren't you convinced?'
I had to admit that she had a wild talent. Just how wild she didn't seem to know.
'Look, kid-'
'It's Isadora,' she snapped, 'when I've got my clothes off.'
'Right. Listen, you acted as if you didn't know what led us to you.'
'I don't. You weren't just passing by?'
'Ki-Isadora, you lit up L.A. with enough special effects to shame Cecil B. DeMille.'
She snorted. 'Well, I never noticed it. All I knew was, that freako tried to kill me and there wasn't any way I could even touch the son of a bitch. I've bounced some weird stuff back at guys, but whatever was inside his head...' She quivered and hugged my neck tighter.
'Go easy on him,' I said. 'He's suffers from a massive inferiority complex.'
A fluttering noise half-echoed from another part of the lower plaza. 'Listen,' I said. 'More flies?'
'Too loud for that,' Ann said.
'Let's change directions,' I suggested. 'We can try the northside escalators.'
'Why?' Ann asked.
'Call it a hunch, call it intuition, call it a healthy cowardice. I don't think we should go back the way we came.'
Ann nodded. 'Lead the way.'
I turned. The fluttering was behind us now. I jostled Isadora. 'Hey,' I asked softly, 'you're not transmitting anything, are you?'
'Too tired.' She leaned her chin on my shoulder.
The sound grew louder, like slabs of wet leather slapped lightly against one another. Ann and I waded as swiftly as we could.
I started to say, 'Ann-'.
And then they were on us.
10
The Damned
The first one flew out of the darkness to strike my shoulder with sharp black talons fully extended. They ripped through cloth down into flesh. Blood welled up in droplets like dew on a beer mug.
No illusion. This was real. It hurt. The screaming grew louder.
Except that I thought bats couldn't scream.
Ann didn't make a sound, even when the other dozen or so swooped down the corridor, howling madly. Score one for her.
I dropped the kid into the drink to give me a little elbow room. I reached for my Colt, only to hesitate. The bats outnumbered my supply of rounds, and I wasn't such a fabulous shot that I could bring down small animals in this light.
My concentration was broken by one of the things slapping against my back and sinking its fangs into the nape of my neck. I reached up and behind to squeeze its little neck until it choked and let go.
Two of them had ganged up on Ann, and they weren't the storybook types that get tangled in hair. They went for her eyes. The others circled about, screeching.
I had problems of my own.
