“Wel , she’s got these guys believing they’re on her team.” I looked back at the scene Astral was beaming to me. “Now they’re in a storeroom on the first floor. It’s the size of a comfy office. There’s a vertical shelf, no, make that three shelves running down its center. I thought it was one because they were al pushed together, but it looks like they run on ceiling and floor tracks like the ones you find in col ege libraries. The lead Were, who looks a lot like Chris Rock, has separated the shelves. One other Were, who looks slick enough to sel cars for a living, and two stringy-haired Luureken are just standing by the edge of the shelves, waiting.”
“Does it seem like they have any idea where to look for the map?” asked Cole.
“Yup. The Chris Rock look-alike has gone straight to the middle shelf. He’s being careful not to disturb anything else while he shuffles through some leather scrol s. He’s not unwrapping them. Just shining a light on one corner.” I took a breath to acknowledge the doubling of my heartbeat and the sudden stinging behind one eye. “He’s found it.” The atmosphere inside the Galaxie went from restless The atmosphere inside the Galaxie went from restless and slightly bored to tense and electric. Game faces fel into place. I went on, feeling the anticipation build in the pit of my stomach as I watched the Were hold the map to my salvation over his head.
I said, “Our demon is snarling like she’s never heard of wrinkles. She’s crouching by the door. She’s transforming her
“Have the Weres realized her plan yet?” asked Vayl.
I shook my head. “They’re partying. So psyched to have the treasure in their hands and be done with guard duty they’ve forgotten she’s there.” I turned my eyes to Cole. “I wish you could see her now. It’s her eyes. They’re so…
hungry. And happy.”
“Hungry people are never happy,” Cole told me.
“There’s your basic mistake,” Raoul pointed out.
“Because she’s not ‘people’ at al .”
I said, “She’s creeping up on the car salesman. Holy crap, that sword’s just as sharp as my bolo!”
“What has she done?” Vayl asked.
“Decapitation,” I said, trying to keep my voice level and dry. “One, two, just like that, and he’s dead. The second Were is morphing. The Luureken are shrieking. Pul ing out their weapons. Naw.”
“What?” Sterling demanded.
“The lead berserker is trying to use his raes. That’s just stupid. It’s a cavalry weapon, you know?”
“O-kay. And who’s side are you on?”
“I’m just saying, the demon’s gonna—yup, there she goes. She’s whipped that sword of hers around so fast he barely has time to block, much less pul off an aggressive move. But the Luureken behind him has a hand axe and she’s screaming like a trophy wife who’s just found hubby with her replacement. Oooh.”
“What?” Barbershop chorus from the four listening guys.
“Axe blade in the demon’s chest. She’s screaming even louder than her attacker. Damned if she doesn’t remind me of Blackbeard’s wives at the JayCees Haunted House in Granny May’s hometown.”
Cole leaned forward. “We gotta go there next Hal oween.”
“Sure.”
I said, “I’m thinking the Luureken shouldn’t have buried that axe so deep. Now she’s got no weapon and the demon is coming back at her with that flaming flyssa.”
“What exactly do you mean by flaming?” asked Raoul, the professional curiosity in his voice tel ing me he was trying to figure out if he had the right weapons to combat it should he ever need to.
“When we met her in Australia and she turned her hat into a boomerang, it burned bluish orange. Which I thought was a reaction to the prayers we’d protected al the entrances with. This is more like a cherry red that seems hot and…” I swal owed involuntarily as I watched the sword sing through the air, the flames leaping toward the Luureken’s throat. “Yeah, starving would be the word I’m looking for.” They licked into her neck just before the sword sliced into her skin. And then, as quickly as she cut the life out of the Luureken, Kyphas met the leader’s charge. Now ful y transformed, its lean form giving it fearsome speed, it stil couldn’t match the demon’s reflexes.
She stood, unblinking, in the face of its heart-stopping growls. Let it see how easily it could tear her throat out. And then, as it leaped, moved with eye-blurring speed. Shoved its head to one side. Chopped into the vulnerable opening she’d made, then stepped forward as his body and half-severed head went crashing into the floor. She grabbed the map before it—or she—could be drenched in arterial spray, turned back, and finished the job.
I told the guys, “I don’t think we’re going to be battling any more Weres this trip. And I hope whoever cleans the storeroom at the Musee de Marrakech skips breakfast tomorrow.”
Astral took one last look at the bodies lying sprawled and lifeless on the floor, their blood crawling toward Kyphas as if begging her to put it back, make the last moments please, please go away. And then, like she knew my wishes, the robokitty looked up into Kyphas’s face. Since I’d stopped talking, I could at least admit to myself that her beauty stil had the power to stun me, even from a distance.
But it seemed different now than it had the first time I’d seen her, stalking Cassandra down the streets of Wirdil ing, destroying everyone and everything in her path.
In Australia she’d had the perfection of an ice sculpture.
Nice to look at, but you knew you’d better keep your distance unless you wanted freezer burn. Now she
