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"You were unconscious for a long time, don&039;t you think?"
"So? What does this have to do with this kid?"
I speak carefully "Seymour, you did not sio so easily She threw so at you, a sharp stake It was shaped like a spear" I pause "She threw it so hard it stabbed through your spine and out through your stomach"
Seymour stands "That&039;s not true"
"It is true I jumped off the pier and helped you to shore, as I told you But you were on the beach less than a itated "Then how did the wound disap?pear? You told ive ive you ht it would kill you" I shrug "So I left it in"
He is breathing hard "You&039;re not answering my questions"
I stand and step to his side and put a hand on his shoulder,
"You lost too much blood Even I couldn&039;t save you" I pause "You died that night on that beach"
He forces a sht I&039;m Lazarus, back from the dead"
"There was a vial of the child&039;s blood I stole it fro for the baby at the hospital I had that vial with me when I took you up to the mountains"
"Why did you take me up there? You never explained that"
"To cremate your body You e pile of wood" I squeeze his shoulder "Seymour"
He jumps back and tre this story up I couldn&039;t have been dead When you&039;re dead you&039;re dead God damn it, Sita, don&039;t lie tome and I don&039;t like it"
I a swept overlighter and I couldn&039;t stop staring at your face and thinking how you shouldn&039;t be dead Then I remembered the vial of blood, and I took it out of my pocket and poured some over your wounds and some down your throat Then I walked away and stood behind a tree and prayed to God that everything would be all right" I ain and put my arm over his shoulder Both our eyes are daht, Sey was perfectly all right" I kiss the side of his face and whisper in his ear "I wouldn&039;t lie to you about this, you know I don&039;t lie to those I love"
He is still shaking "But I don&039;t remember any of this"
"Maybe that is part of the miracle Maybe it is for the best"
He looks at me with a sad little boy&039;s face "She really killed ht me back?"
"Yes"
He is awed as well as shocked "That must ainst his chest and dry et to him or to Paula I just can&039;t I have to stop her and the only way I can do that is to kill her"
Seymour strokes my hair Now he comforts me We make a fine pair
"Can she be killed?" he asks
I raise my head "I think so Even Yaksha could be killed"
"But she is more powerful than Yaksha You said so yourself"
I turn away and look at the ocean out the
"She must drink blood to survive," I say "She has needs that only mortal flesh can fulfill A portion of her must be mortal She must be vulner?able"
"To the fire of auto froth never ceases to amaze me But he is a believer now, even if he won&039;t adued that he had never been dead For God&039;s sake, Jesus, it was just a bad cold Yeah, well, why do you smell so bad, Laz?
I continue to stand withtheir aid," I say "But to do so I would have to tell theive them a demonstration"
"You don&039;t want to do that They&039;d kill you after they killed Kalika, just to be on the safe side" Seymour considers "Kalika is described in their scripture?"
"That&039;s a perceptive question Yes But they haven&039;t let me read that portion of the scripture I only know of their knowledge of Kalika because I eavesdropped on their conversation"
"Did they call her Kalika?"
"The Dark Mother It is the sarimace "They have a horrible opinion of her"
"No doubt Especially if Suzama was as accurate as you say" Seymour scratches his head "You can&039;t tell them that you&039;re a vampire and knew Suzama personally You would have to drink soet the for their guns But if you&039;re able to describe Kalika in clear enough terh to check her out How many of them are there?"
"Two dozen, which is a sive theht of that as well," I say
"The only problehter is"
"That may not be true" I explain how Kalika spoke of her wonderful view, and the large pool below her Yet this tip only seems to disturb Seymour
"She mentioned the view," he says "She went to the trouble to stand out on a balcony when she spoke to you She knows all about your pheno And she probably kno places fit the description of her current residence Does this add up to soht be lying in wait for us"
"Shein wait for the entire Suzaht suspect you will turn to them for help"
"I don&039;t know if she takes the" I pause "Plus she promised she wouldn&039;t kill unless it was neces?sary"
"Oh, that&039;s a relief I feel a whole lot better now The Mother of Darkness proh unless she gets pushed around If I understand you correctly, the Suzama Society thinks it is their destiny to kill Kalika Well, your daughter&039;s not going to stand around and let them fill her full of lead"
I shake s, but I don&039;t think she would have said such a thing toyou should believe she has no intention of har the child"
"No Obviously she intends to kill the child She has killed to try to get to hiaze upon hi else In fact, she asked if there was anything she could do forwill have to hit her hard and quick if they&039;re to survive"
"Agreed But should we go to theht?"
He shrugs "It&039;s their decision"
"Don&039;t be so flip No matter what you or I tell them, they won&039;t understand how deadly Kalika is until they come face to face with her"
"I meant what I said Their decision would not be flip This is so these people believe in They have dedicated their lives to it Also, if all this is true, look at what&039;s at stake? If this baby is the Big Guy then the world needs him Kalika h to stop her"
I nod sadly "You said so siive her a chance to see who she turned out to be" He pats me on the shoulder "I&039;et a hold of all the firepoe can Let&039;s try to track down Kalika today If we find her, and we live, then we&039;ll go talk to Dr Seter Hell listen It&039;s just a question of how far you have to go to persuade hi I can do for you, Mother?" There is pain in my voice as I speak next "This child is special, there can be no question about that But to me, Kalika, even if she is evil, is special as well" My head hangs heavy "I don&039;t knohether to pray for success or failure"