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those who had never tasted it. His hunger sharpened her own hunger just by
contact, and she realized that staying too close to him for too long would be
dangerous, even if he didn t notice her. But she didn t back out yet.
He was hunting her; Lauren and Jake. He d escaped his confusion, had come to a
decision. He was no longer torn between keeping her and destroying her; he
wanted her gone. Well enough. He became easier to deal with when his goals
were simpler.
He was angry at what she had done to him. He was angry that he had lost some
of his abilities. He wore the shield that she had penetrated because he could
not become still inside anymore. He could not become invisible anymore. He
blamed her. And he intended to destroy her because of what she had done to
him, and then he intended to devour her death, because he was hungry. And then
he wanted to destroy the old gods around her, and Lauren and Jake, and drink
their deaths, too.
Molly experienced a faint shock at this revelation, and pulled out of him
before that shock could betray her presence.
For just an instant she permitted herself to wonder what the hell was going
on.
The scale in her hand was Baanraak s scale. The memories in his mind were his.
The personality was his. But he didn t know that the old gods around her,
including Thor, were immortals. He didn t know, in spite of the fact that he
had fought Thor. Twice.
Molly couldn t make sense of this. She had found Baanraak on her first try,
but what she had known to be true didn t fit the reality of the moment.
She cast her mind toward the shadow he had created, hoping that if she could
find it, she would at least be able to get some sense of what he planned.
And she found, not a decoy, not a trick, but& Baanraak. Wearing different skin,
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a different face, but beneath a convincing exterior possessed of the same mind
she knew. Weighted by doubts, scarred by a startling and unexpected sense of
loss, but in full possession of the skills and talents and treacheries of
uncounted thousands of years of existence.
Her blood went to ice in her veins, and she shuddered.
No. This second creature could not also be Baanraak.
But it was.
Cat Creek
Heyr closed his eyes and winnowed out the background noise of the world,
seeking the individual members of the Cat Creek Sentinels. He hoped to find
one or two who might stand against the dark god that was coming, but the news
wasn t good.
He could pull George out of the gate where he was keeping watch, but George
was mortal and purely human, and Heyr didn t want to use him against a dark
god. He would have gladly put either Raymond Smetty or Louisa Tate into the
field against Baanraak, considering their mortality a benefit. But they were
both a long way away, and in some sort of incarceration, both feeling very
betrayed. Heyr fished through their thoughts as quickly as he could, got the
gist of what they d done, and had to laugh. Bastards he savored the
realization that they were in the process of getting what they d deserved. He
thought it unlikely that they d be any further problem to the Cat Creek
Sentinels.
Heyr s immortals, though, were a problem for another reason. Of all of them,
only Pete was already on his feet, and he was down in South Carolina with the
shadow of Baanraak that Molly had mentioned. And a bizarre fuzz of energy
surrounded Pete, blocking Heyr s attempts to reach him. Of the remainder, Eric
was in the best shape, and he was rolled into a fetal position on his bed,
moving only occasionally, and then only to lean over the bed to vomit into a
trash can. Mayhem, Darlene, Betty Kay, June Bug all of them were so lost in
the haze of the world s horror they would be worthless for days.
The first days of immortality, when every lapse in attention let the whole
weight of the world pour over the new immortal, were the worst. Had Baanraak
held off for just another week, Heyr would have had a force strong enough to
stand against him.
Another goddamned handful of days, and instead, Heyr was going to end up in
this thing alone, with the mortal he had to save at all costs at stake and a
dark god he didn t trust as his only backup.
Now he wished he hadn t pissed off Loki.
Cat Creek
Seven P.M., and Pete was feeling better. He d discovered that he could drink
prodigiously and wash drunkenness out of his system with the tiniest
application of his will, leaving only a pleasant burr that dulled the edges of
the pain that being in Hal s presence didn t quite alleviate.
Feeling cheery and mildly beery after he knew not how many brews, he leaned an
elbow on the table and in a low voice told Hal, It isn t just that I want to
get laid, but God knows getting laid would be good. You know?
In theory, I know. Beyond the merely theoretical, however, I haven t screwed
in so long, I ve forgotten how, Hal said, laughing, and Pete laughed with
him. Hal s voice was louder than Pete s, his movements broader and giddier,
and the cop part of Pete noted this, and that Hal wasn t going to be driving
himself home. But Hal had been matching Pete drink for drink, and Hal wasn t a
god. Pete didn t believe for a minute that Hal wasn t getting laid, though,
either. The guy was good-looking, had a car that Pete could only dream of,
clearly had money and lots of it. Pete figured the no-sex story was just an
attempt at drunken bonding if he d talked about having had a dozen women in
the last week, he figured Hal as the kind of guy who would have claimed two
dozen.
Hal took a long swig of his beer and lit up another cigarette. My thing& it
isn t really about sex, anyway. It s about& He sat there, staring off into
the distance, and the strangest look crossed his face. You know, I don t have
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the faintest clue what it s about. She s a drug to me, and she is my disease
and my addiction and my cure, and probably my death. And she is the first
glimpse I ve had in longer than I can remember of any sort of idea that
something is lying on the other side of death, too. He shook his head. And I
can only conclude that I want this because I m stupid.
She s magic, Pete said, actually getting it.
Hal nodded. More than you could know.
So why is she not interested in you? Pete asked.
She is. But not in a good way.
Pete waved over the waitress and said, Two more beers. He turned to Hal.
I m buying now. Why isn t she?
Because. Hal made a face. I m not a nice guy. I ve done some bad things in
my life.
Pete didn t let his expression change or let any glimmer of his sudden
interest show, but the guy with the broken heart faded into the background and
the FBI agent perked up his ears. Drunken confessions were confessions
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