Page 46 (1/1)

From an inner pocket in his bearskin coat, Pope took a clear, unlabeled bottle containing so that ignited the crowd into a frenzy of fist-pu pull fro down the ures appeared, h the croard the bonfire The outer two-- from shoulder straps--held the person in the e inside hi in the pit of his stoth to stand, her feet sliding across the pave One of her eyes was closed froe blow, and what he could see of her face was covered in blood But she was conscious Conscious and terrified, her gaze fixed on the wet pave to shut out everything else The two men toted her to within ten yards of the bonfire and then pushed her forward, releasing her Pope shouted soround The people in her i a circle of open space around her, twenty feet in dia She sounded like a wounded ani Everywhere, people were elbowing their way through the crowd, trying to reach the outskirts of the circle, the cluster of bodies forhter Pope tucked the bottle back into his coat and took hold of his shotgun He pumped it, ais, rattling the glass in theframe The crowd fell silent No one led to her feet and wiped away a line of blood running down the middle of her face Even fro that had enveloped her, the all-enco fear that consu they’re about to experience Beverly stood teetering in the rain, favoring her left foot She turned slowly, hobbling, taking in the surrounding faces, and though Ethan couldn’t hear her words, the tone of her voice was un Desperation Rain and tears and blood strea down her face A full h the mass of people and broke out into the circle Cheers erupted Wild applause It was the shirtless ered on the edge as if steeling himself--a boxer in his corner, moments before the bell So, reckless swig Then he gripped his painted bat and stumbled out into the circle Toward Beverly He circled her She backed away, veering close to the edge of the crowd Soave her a hard shove out into the ht at theNeither did Beverly Happened fast, as if the le, fluidskull made Ethan instinctively shut his eyes and turn away The crowd roared When he opened the to crawl Ethan felt a surge of bile threatening to surface The man in the Santa hat dropped the bat on the pavement and strutted off into the crowd The bat rolled across the road toward Beverly She reached for it, her fingers inches away A wo a black bikini, black heels, a black crown, and black angel wings stepped into the circle She preened The crowd cheered The wo for the bat She squatted down, flashed Beverly a bright, toothy s it in both hands and raising it above her head like the battle-ax of some demon queen No, no, no, no, no She smashed it into the dead center of Beverly’s back Screaround What he’d have given to be hovering in a Black Hao hundred feet above Main in control of a GAU-19 Gatling, burning two thousand rounds perthese motherfuckers in half Ethan turned away from the , lifted the coffee table with both hands, and sla The effort only whetted his rage He craved violence, a so down there into the croith the ht now and hack away Yes, they would eventually overpower hio slashing through the masses, a one-ain Never knohat any of this was all about Ethan returned to theBeverly lay un around her head The circle was breaking down and closing in Then all at once, the mob descended upon her It was a betrayal to leave, but he couldn’t bear to stand there and watch, and there wasn’t a da he could do to stop it--five hundred people versus one There’s nothing you can do for her She’s gone Nohile you still can As Ethan stormed back toward the door, he heard Beverly cry out, the sound of her pain, her utter hopelessness, bringing tears to his eyes Cal for you Must be vigilant Ethan stepped out into the hallway Empty He shut the apartment door The commotion on Main became an indistinct murmur He wiped his eyes and headed back the way he’d coh the door to the stairwell On the third-floor landing, he hesitated, listening, staring down through the railing No sound No movement Eerily still He descended At the bottoh so he could squeeze through