laughed. “You believed that nonsense? You’re as much a patsy as the rest of those bow-legged cretins.”
I said, “You mean you didn’t want to kill off the kiddies?”
“Of course! That was the point! When Ufran spoke to me, he told me what I needed to do in order to have my own child. He said that I should sacrifice the gnomes’ children, an entire hatching. And he told me how. The longer the plan evolved the more beautiful it became. First it was just Australia’s bunch that would tear into Canberra Deep Space Complex’s connections. Then I convinced the Ufranites in Madrid and California to join in. But the closer the time came, the more jittery they got. Only my partnership with the werewolves, and their generous donations to each church involved, have kept our plans on track.”
“What about your people? Don’t you think some of them will want your head on a platter when they learn how you’ve betrayed them?”
“Why would they? I’ve earned them enough money to buy new sun generators for the entire colony.
They’ll be able to grow crops without worry for the next twenty years.”
“And all it took was the death of everyone’s larvae.” Okay, they weren’t all dead. But I was going for dramatic effect, okay?
“Who cares? I am the shaman! And now I’ll have a child of my own.”
“I don’t think so.”
She’d recovered enough by now to nod. Even her skin had pinked up. “Ufran promised me!”
“That’s just it. He didn’t.”
She laughed. And stopped when she saw neither of us were joining in.
I went on, “The guy you saw was a Domytr named King Brude. He was just posing as a god to get you to do his dirty work.”
Denial in those darting eyes. The lips, however, trembled slightly as she said, “I don’t believe you.”
“He has a tattoo on his stomach shaped like a scythe. There’s one on his left shoulder that reminds me of a sea turtle and a lawn chair doing the horizontal mambo.”
“H-how did you know?”
“Like I said, Tabitha, you don’t talk to gods.”
“But I do,” said Cassandra. The Ufranites had lowered her to the ground. She stood among them, wearing a heavy, shapeless robe and a green woven hat that added at least eight inches to her height. Still she managed to look like a beauty queen. How fair is that?
Vayl spun Tabitha around, and when she saw Cassandra standing safe among all her followers I heard her gag.
“As I was leaving the shaman’s quarters, I laid my hand on the traditional headdress. And Ufran came to me,” Cassandra said softly. The light in her eyes was new. Otherworldly. “He had tried to speak to me before, but I have not acted as an oracle in so long that I missed his message the first time.”
“How could that be?” snapped Tabitha. “He always spoke loud and clear to me.”
“You were talking to Lucifer’s bounty hunter,” I told her.
Cassandra nodded. “Ufran speaks in a gentle, quiet voice. Because he is not a god who would want his people to sacrifice their young for any reason.”
“Yeah!” came the roar from the crowd.
“Nor does he want them entering life having cannibalized another creature. Dead flesh works just as effectively for them and is much more humane.” Cassandra threw a package of hamburger into the street.
The nearest larvae wriggled slowly toward it. As soon as they encountered plastic they burrowed right through and into the meat.
“I would beware of who I agree to partner with as well,” Vayl said. “The Valencian Weres may talk respectfully, but their loyalties lie completely with their Sol and his pack.” Loud murmurs of agreement from the Ufranites. But underneath, a new sound. One so faint I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been standing almost on top of it. I looked down. Tykes’s trousers had ripped at the seams. Because his legs had doubled in size.
“Vayl! Cassandra! Run!” I blew outta there so fast I’d reached Tabitha’s getaway truck and jumped into the bed before I heard the fleshy splat of exploding tissue. Even from my vantage point I could see blood and larvae fly into the air.
And then Tabitha began to scream.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Istood in the rental house shower, technically goop-free as of five minutes ago but still feeling polluted.
Brude. Even if we were able to find the Rocenz and scrape him outta my brain, would I ever consider myself clean again?
Plus, we’d heard from Martha. Only our mission had succeeded. NASA had taken hard knocks in California and Madrid, from which it wouldn’t soon recover. So Roldan’s stock had just doubled, making the Valencian Weres the newest, worst threat to national security. Bad news for the good guys.
Especially considering Cassandra’s vision. More than ever before I worried for the safety of my team. In light of Pete and Ethan’s deaths, I’d pleaded with them all to go home. Let Vayl and I tackle the next leg of this quest alone, especially since it wouldn’t be an Agency-sanctioned mission. Only Cassandra had agreed to fly back to the States, and I still thought the main reason was because Dave had called to let her know he was about to come home for a couple of months. At least she was taking Jack along. Now I wouldn’t have to worry about him becoming possessed too.
A knock at the door. “Occupied!” It opened anyway. “What the hell?” Vayl said, “I have sent the others into
