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"Rome," said Felix and the entire table went silent

"Roet to Rome"

And they looked at hiive a shit He appreciated the meal and the bishop’s hospitality and he knew dareat house

But dammit! It was time to face the facts The va for theet us there? Right away?"

Ada across frohed and looked down at his empty plate He looked tired

"Okay, Felix," he said softly, "let’s talk"

He pushed his heavy chair back frorand table and stood up He looked at the others around the table

"Let’s all talk," he said with a wan smile and motioned them to follow

Felix hesitated, suspicious, then stood up with the rest of the the bishop - and followed Crow into the Coreat e that looked like a throne Jack sat in a big leather piece beside hireat hearth The rest of thee pile of Teaht it with the with Carl’s remains Crossbows and crossbow bolts and pikes and spare pistols and several cases of silver bullets The stack was a mess because that’s the way they had loaded it into the ht it into the house because there hadn’t really been enough room in the motorhome to store it the way they had - far from Carl’s body

But somehow that had seemed iarettes were lit and attendants had found the necessary ashtrays

"All right, Felix," began Jack Crow, "let’s hear it"

Felix paused a e in there soot down to it:

They were being hunted They didn’t knoas hunting them or where they were All they had was a clue that somebody had taken over Davette’s house and even if that was correct If that was correct, they still didn’t have enough people to take the target

"I would have no idea whatsoever how to blow that wall the way Carl planned Does anybody else know explosives that well?"

There was a pause before they all shook their heads

Felix nodded, satisfied

"And it would be suicide to go down into those shadoay frood’ in the Cleburne Jail?"

He didn’t wait for an answer

"This Teaht, no place to hide - but one Roet to Rome And I mean: now"

It was quiet after that Uncomfortable and quiet and all eyes were on Jack Crow but it was the bishop who spoke next

"If you will forgive an with a kindly nod toward Jack, "I think this young ht" He moved quickly to soothe his oords "I don’t mean to intrude, Mr Crow, I assure you But I have tended people all my life and many of them were soldiers and And you - all of you - must take rest"

And all eyes went back to Jack and then there washeavy silence, before he suddenly nodded

"Okay," he said quietly

Too quietly for Felix "What?" he asked leaning forward

Jack looked up at him and his eyes were dead "I said ’okay’ Rorelieved "In the ht?" interrupted Felix "And while I’et a move on? It’s full dark and they knoe know the bishop, don’t they?"

The bishop smiled and rose up frowithin these walls would cause thereat pain"

It did It hurt

Even here, frorounds, the wretched toronies through the Young Master’s teesture, did not close about hi will No They circled and keened and stepped their dead souls’ weight from foot to foot with only the sweet smell of their decay and his own blissful memory of it to recommend the Master on this, his premier solo task from the Great Master himself They would obey

Despite the pain

Despite the searing ry

Hours and hours they are risen this day and the thirst was rich and clasping their brute selves and they would obey

They would obey if he onized s

"Beasts!" he shrilled to the his own mind with the volu out hts penetrated the the greater agony of this nearness, forward step after step, until he halted and raised a long beautiful pale hand and one shiny black nail and pointed at the shadows on the s and spoke out loud and in his will:

"Food!"

"Food!!"

"Fooood!"

The collective hissing rose and broke happily upon his Young Master’s ears

"Foooood"

Felix was feeling pretty good just before it all caved in

He had gotten what he wanted from Crow Given Jack’s listlessness, that hadn’t been so hard, and he had felt so leader, but Felix figured none of thatenough to bitch about it later

He had the ready to otten transportation, had arranged all the passport difficulties Getting back into A, but that’s what voter-registration cards were for

Frankly, Felix looked forward to seeing ’eood Better, even, than he had expected For a change had come over the Tearudging relief had come about, slowly at first, but after less than an hour, even Jack had given into it: Because, dauard and know that rest was coht concentration, that desperate focus, was loosening up

There were even soanized their stack of weaponry and at one point Crow had looked around at the smiles on the faces and then turned to Felix and said, "Okay, Gunman Okay"

He hadn’t said any more than that But everyone had knohat he ly

But he had been too hep to say anything out loud

Looking good, thought Felix And he glanced over to where She sat, talking quietly with Annabelle and the bishop Just that was enough for Felix

She would live

Yeah Looking good

And that’s what they were doing, all fiddling and talking about the Colass and beautiful furnishings and sued hiot one," Cat told hi with us a couple of years ago Raised a carpenter He carved theot one, too?"

Cat eyed hi silver bullets beside hiuys want one?"

"I think I’ll pass," replied the deputy

Felix was studying Cat "Do they all say the sa different Mine’s even shaped different, it’s flat, like a paddle"

"What does it say?"

"My na else on the other side"

"What?"

"I don’t think you’re ready for it"

"Try rin widened "Okay It’s the answer to the question: ’How do you like your stake?’"

"Huh?" said Kirk

"What does it say?" Felix wanted to know

Cat’s eyes were devilish "Mediuh when the first of the stained-glass s just blew into the roolass like shrapnel into the furniture and the far walls and then that sht, Oh, ot to his feet and spun toward the sound and dragged out the Browning and for just an instant all was calm and eerie and and i here, just sitting here laughing and talking and ready to go, to get out of this, out of all of it

And they all were there, frozen with surprise and dawning fear, theirand so tired And then the beast who had burst within they head and reared up from its place on all fours in front of theand those blood-red eyes shone on thes and it hissed

Felix raised the gun to fire as the secondexploded and the glass flew again and there were screams and then another explosion and then another and the whole wall of stained glass collapsed into the roo through with their dead rotting skin through the broken glass and shatteredfra filled the house of God and their air and Felix felt spears of pain on the side of his neck and then the blood running down and he knew the glass, the fractured, flying glass, had got hih the crashes of debris just as the next screaan

It was who? One of the bishop’s men Bryan? Was that his nah on top of hi undead bear, and Bryan screamed and cried and tried to pull himself out fro hand on his chest and Bryan screaain and scra his hands and feet but he could get no traction on that beautiful thick carpet and the beast above hi! They seemed stunned and stunted and al their heads with rancid hands Hurting Hurting

But there were so many! So many of them!

"It’s this place," cried the bishop And he rose up and strode forward, the robes of his office swaying out around hireat cross about his neck and held it aloft

"This place!" he shouted triumphantly "They cannot bear the House of the Lord!"

"Get them back!" roared Jack Crow