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Good! And if any of my crew are ashore, be sure to call them back And Janos thrust the other out of his ered to a seat underneath one of the antique windht Jordan was exhausted, totally drained by the ht with his unknown adversary, but not so far gone that he couldn’t appreciate what he’d coainst

The last ti like this had been the autumn of 1977, at Harkley House in Devon Yulian Bodescu And it had taken Harry Keogh to clear up that mess! And was this like that? he wondered Had he and Ken Layard sensed the presence ofof this Thing, even before it had become entirely apparent to the to fit together now, and the picture they were for was - terrible! Cannabis resin, cocaine? They were commonplace, even harmless, compared to this

E-Branch ht was like an invocation:

E-BRANCH? That deep, seething voice was there inside Jordan’s head again, andon his mind WHAT IS THIS E-BRANCH? And pinned there by the sheer weight of the vampire’s telepathic power, Jordan could only squirm as the monster commenced a hts

Janos ht, except he was interrupted Looking down out of his , he saw the bearded, big-bellied Pavlos The his way across the street towards the Taverna Dakaris He was a little late, co toanyway, and Janos couldn’t continue to dig away at Jordan’s mind and hold a conversation with The he had found hiht-thief, reached out and delivered a blow to the other’s mind It had been an instinctive reaction which nevertheless served to give the va, however, and had recovered Well, and now Janos ain at that lish mindspy would not recover Not without a deal of help, anyway

Driving his vampire senses deep into Jordan’s psyche, Janos found the Door of Sanity locked, bolted and barred against all Mankind’s worst fears And chuckling he turned the key, took down the bars, threw back the bolts - and opened the door!

That was enough, and noould know just exactly where to find Jordan whenever he desired to continue his examination It was done with only moments to spare, for already the Sa up the stairs

As Pavlos Themelis and his First Mate entered the roo away Janos’s broken glass and offering him her own Unmoved, he accepted it, said: ’Go now’ As she rabbed her ar her off her feet He turned her over and her skirts fell down over her furious face Thes and roared, ’Clean drawers! Open-crotch, too! Good! I may see you later, Ellie!’

’Not if I see you first!’ she spat at him as he set her on her feet Then she was down the stairs, through the taverna and out onto the street From down below Nichos Dakaris’s hoarse voice bellowed after her as she went into the night:

’Bring ’eht back here where I can see the colour of their hter, then more bouzouki music as before

Pavlos Themelis took a seat across the table froroaned as he sat down on it and parked his elbows on the table He wore his peaked captain’s hat tilted on one side, which he iave him an irresistible piratical look It wasn’t a bad ploy: no one would norue! ’Only one glass, Jianni?’ he growled ’Prefer to drink alone, do you?’

’You are late!’ Janos had no time for banter

Themelis’s First Mate, a short, squat, torpedo of a man, had remained at the head of the stairs, from where he carefully scanned the room Now he called down to Dakaris: ’Glasses, Nichos, and a bottle of brandy Good stuff, too, parakalo!’ And finally he picked up a chair and carried it to the table by the -seat Seating himself, he asked Themelis, ’Well, and has he explained hilasses, Janos narrowed his eyes ’Oh? And is there so I should explain?’

’Come, come, Jianni!’ Themelis chided ’You were supposed to co off in your pretty white ship as if you’d been stung in the arse or soside, you’d come over and see the stuff - of which there’s a kilo for you, if you’ve the use for it - and then we’d collect your valuable contribution on behalf of our ood faith on both sides, as it were That was the plan, to which you were party Exceptit didn’t happen!’ His easy-going look suddenly turned sour and his tone hardened ’And later, when I’ve parked up the old Saet this ht! So now tellyou’d like to explain?’

’The explanation is simple,’ Janos barked ’It could not happen the way it was planned because ere being watched By men on the harbour wall, with binoculars By policelanced at each other a ain to Janos ’Policemen, Jianni?’ Themelis raised a bushy eyebrow ’You know this for a fact?’

’Yes,’ said Janos, for in truth he did no it for a fact; he’d had it direct froht-thief ’Yes, I am certain I cannot be ht from the start of this venture I have insisted upon complete anonymity and total isolation from its mechanics I ation or prosecution! I thought that was understood’

Themelis narrowed his eyes, slanted his mouth in a sneer then turned his bearded face away as Nichos Dakaris ca up the stairs ’Huh!’ Therunted as Dakaris slalasses and a bottle of brandy on the table ’What happened, Nick? Did you have to send out for it?’

’Very funny!’ said Dakaris over his shoulder as he left ’But not nearly so a when you consider that some of my custo custoone back downstairs

Themelis had taken the opportunity to co new to be watched by the police Everyone is watched by the police You have to keep your nerve, that’s all, and not panic’

’I kno to keep h,’ said Janos ’But unless I’m mistaken there is aboard the Samothraki an amount of cocaine worth ten million British pounds or two billions of drachmae Which is to say two hundred billions of leptae! I had no idea such o a doh left over to hire an aruard it! And you tell me to keep , my fat friend: the difference between bravery and cowardice is discretion, between a rich ht, and between freedoeon it’s the ability to walk away from ill-laid plans!’

As he spoke the frowns on the faces of the others grew deeper, confused and far more concerned To be frank, the master of the Samothraki (whose cri in a string of convictions) wondered what on earth he was prattling on about In his younger days Thee the last of those had been minted in 1976 - in twenties and fifties denominations only, because of their minuscule value To calculate n of arette! And as for Lazarides’s use of the tereon’ in place of ’jail’ as one supposed toand think so archaic?

Thes; but over and above everything else Lazarides had said, his final statement - of intention? - stood out in starkest definition So for an out?

’No threats, Jianni, or whatever your narowled ’We’re not the type to threaten easily, Pavlos and me We don’t want to hear anyNo one walks away fros, and even harder if it’s your spine!’

Janos had been stroking his glass with the long fingers of his left hand, watching Themelis’s face rather than that of his loudered hand stopped its stroking and his head slowly turned until he gazed directly into that one’s eyes He seemed to crouch down a little into hi else? - and his left hand slid snakelike fro could alht through those enigmatic dark lenses at hi threats?’ Janos finally answered, his voice so quiet and deep that it runts rather than speech proper ’You have the audacity to believe that I ht find it necessary to threaten such as you? And then - as if that weren’t h - you in your turn threaten me? You dare to threaten me?’

’Have a care for your bones!’ the other hissed, his lips drawing back from yellow teeth as he perched hi it forward to shove his bullet-head a little closer ’You shty bastard!’

Janos’s left arht below the ri back more yet, he too had leaned his face forward And now -

- In ait was quicksilver, the vaered hand a distance of fifteen inches under the table and bunched up the other’s scroturoin that his testicles flopped into his pal at the same time, Janos needed only nip with his chisel-tipped nails and tear with his great strength to castrate the other right through his threadbare lightweight trousers! Yes, and the fool knew it

His botto the table He squir as his eyes fleide open in his face He was thea eunuch, and he could do nothing! Only let hiin to react violently and Janos could finish the job in a split second

The vampire increased the pressure, drew his arm in under the table - and his victim inched himself forward and off his chair, reached across the bolted-down table and grasped its rim in both hands to maintain his balance and take the strain off his balls And still Janos held him there; and still he fixed him with his eyes, which were only inches away now But where a e, now he , with tears strea out likekne utterly helpless he was And suddenly it dawned on him that not only was it possible for Janos to do the unthinkable, but it was also probable!

’N - no �C no!’ he asp

That hat Janos had been waiting for; he read it in the other’s nized and accepted his subave a final twist and a squeeze, then released and thrust thecrashed over on his back Gasping and sobbing, he rolled himself into an alhs And there he reony

All of which had gone unheard by the people in the taverna down belohere Zorba’s Dance and its attendant clapping and sta out But in any case, there hadn’t been a lot to hear

Pavlos Thereat beard At first he hadn’t knoas going on, and by the time he had known it was over And meanwhile Lazarides had scarcely turned a hair But now, see to flow to his feet as sinuous as a snake, he stood up and towered over the table

’You are a fool, Theer fool But a deal is a deal, and I have already invested too much in this business to abandon it now And so it seeive you soood advice: in future, be more careful’

He ot quickly out of his way, gasping: ’But we still need your old at least, to see the job done!’

Crossing the floor, Janos paused He appeared to give it a , when all the coastguards and petty law officers are asleep in their beds, weigh anchor and meet me three sea-miles due east of Mandraki We will conclude our business there, far out of sight and sound of land Is it agreed?’

The ’Count on it,’ he said ’The old Samothraki will be there’

And on the floor his partner continued to writhe and groan and sweat out his gradually easing pain; and Janos, going downstairs, didn’t even look at him

It was after eleven and the streets of the Old Town near the waterfront were much quieter Janos walked in the shadoherever possible, his long stride more a lope as he quickly put distance between himself and the Taverna Dakaris But he was not unobserved Greek police in even deeper shadows, saw hinored him They didn’t know him; he wasn’t the reason they were here; ould they be interested in him? No, their quarry was one Pavlos Themelis, as still inside the taverna

Their brief had been to follow hi any stuff around - but not to pull hi down, and when the axe fell someone up top wanted to make sure it came down not only on the anization, and came down hard It was perfectly obvious that Nichos Dakaris was part of it too, and his rancid taverna a likely distribution point

In short, Janos Ferenczy’s luck was holding

But the lackadaisical Greek policemen were not the only ones to see hi down froe point one level up and a block ahere an old stone arch supported a narroalled alley She saw him take his departure and noted his route: towards a small jetty in the main harbour, where people came ashore in their tenders from the yachts and pleasure-craft Ellie wasn’t stupid: she had done a little quiet checking-up on this Lazarides and knew that the sleek white Lazarus was his So where else would he be going?

Perhaps he had a wo on his own in a fleapit like Nichos Dakaris’s place? Maybe he had problems Well, and Ellie had a ith proble, and who could say but that there ht even end up aboard his boat for the night

So her thoughts ran as she put out her cigarette, descended to the lower level and hurried through a ht intercept hih-walled streets not fifty feet fro at the junction, are of her at once Her breathing was still laboured, froh heels skittered a little on the cobbles as she came to a halt in the shadows She felt that he could even see her (though how he saw at all in those dark glasses she couldn’t say) as he slowed his pace and turned his head to look straight in her direction

Thenit was a strange feeling: to want him to know that she was there, but at the sa it Should she stand still, hold her breath, hope that he would carry on by? Or -

But too late

’You,’ he said, taking a step towards the shadohere she stood ’But this is a lonely place, Ellie, and by now there should be customers for you, back at Nick’s’

As he stepped in, so she stepped a little out of the shadows They stood close, half-silhouettes in the darkness of old stone walls And there and then she knew she would have hiht come aboard your boat,’ she said, breathlessly

Another pace and he drove her back into the darkness, until she leaned against the wall ’But you may not,’ he answered, with a slow shake of his head

’Then �C ah!’ she drew breath sharply as his hand grasped her narroaist just above the hip ’ThenI think perhaps I would like you to fuck ainst this wall!’

He chuckled, but without hu you so obviously desire?’

’You’ve already paid,’ she answered, beginning to pant as his free hand opened her blouse ’Your wine’

’You sell yourself cheaply, Ellie’ He lifted her skirts, moved even closer

’Cheaply?’ she breathed against his neck ’For you it’s free!’

Again his chuckle ’Free? You give yourself freely? Ah, but this world is filled with surprises! A whore, and yet so innocent’

She parted her legs and sucked at hied within her, filling her and yet still surging! The sensation was one such as she’d never known or even iod, soasped the words out, knowing full ho he was And before he could answer: ’What are you?’

Janos was aroused now - his hunger, if nothing else One hand tugged at her breasts while the other reached behind and under her He continued to surge; not thrusting but siers had found her anus, and they too seeasped, her eyes wide and shining in the darkness and her , he answered her question with one of his own: ’Do you know the legend of the Vrykoulakas?’ His hand left her breasts and took away the dark glasses from his eyes - which burned crimson as coals in his face!

She inhaled air massively, but before she could scream his chasm of a mouth had clamped itself over the entire lower half of her face And his tongue also surged, into and down her convulsing throat While in her end! Well, and now you know the reality So be it! Inside her body his va out filament rootlets which burrowed in her veins and arteries like wor the structure And even before she had lost full consciousness, Janos was feeding

Tomorrow they would find her here and say she had died of massive pernicious anaemia, and not even theto the contrary Nor would there be any-progeny - of this most delicious fusion No, for Janos would see to it that nothing of him remained in her to surface later and cause hi: what of it? It was only one of many hundreds And anyhat had she been but a whore? The ansas si

Three and a half hours later and three miles due east of Rhodes Town, the Samothraki lay as if becalmed on a sea like a millpond Quite extraordinarily, in the last ten or fifteento aacross the old ship’s decks, and visibility was down to zero

The First Mate, still tender froht Pavlos Themelis up onto the deck to see for hihtly astonished ’What?’ he said ’But this is crazy! What do you make of it?’

The other shook his head ’I don’t know,’ he answered ’Crazy, like you said You ht expect it in October, but that’s six months away’ They et the foghorn working

’Forget it,’ Theean! Foghorn? - I never once used it The pipes will be full of rust Anyway, she works off steao take a turn stoking We have to move out of this’

’Move?’ said the First Mate ’Where to?’

"The hell out of this!’ Themelis barked ’Where do you think? Into clear water, so up out of nowhere and cut us in half!’

’Speak of the devil,’ the other growled low in his throat, his little pig-eyes full of hate where they stared through the condensation on the cabinat the sleek white shape which even now ca her to a dead halt in the gently 1 lapping water

The grey, mist-wreathed crew of the Lazarus tossed hawsers; the ships were hauled together, port to portside; ancient tyres festooning the Sa the hulls apart All was achieved by the light of the deck la of the tyres as they were co

For all that the Lazarus was a modern steel-hull, as broad as the Saer, still she sat low in the water when her screere dead or idling The decks of the two ships were more or less level, and with little or no swell tofrom one ship to the next And yet the crew of the white ship, all eight of them, simply lined the rail; while her aunt figures under the awnings of the foredeck The cabin lights, blazing white through the fog, gave their obscure shapes silvery silhouettes

At the port rail of the Sarew uneasy There was so other than this weird, unnatural fog ’This Lazarides bastard,’ Therunted under his breath, ’bothers me’

The of an understatement, that, Christos,’ he said ’But keep your balls out of his way and you should be OK!’

The other ignored the jibe ’The’It almost seems to issue fro hadforward, see to choose between the and style The American shambled a little, like an ape, and wore a black eyepatch over his right eye; in his right hand he carried a smart black briefcase, hopefully full of ht as a ralasses of his even now

But silent? Why were they so silent? And ere they waiting for? ’So here we are then, Jianni!’ Themelis shook off the black mood of depression which had so suddenly threatened to envelop hilanced around and nodded his satisfaction ’Privacy at last, eh? In the heart of a bank of fog, of all bloody things! Sowelcome aboard the old Samothraki’

And at last Lazarides s me aboard?’

’Eh?’ said Theet our business done?’

’How indeed?’ said the other, with a grim nod And as he crossed between ships, so he took off his dark glasses Ar ca over the rails And the crew of the Sa now for a fact that so here For the crew of the Lazarus were like flame-eyed zombies to a man, and their master he was like no man they’d ever seen before!

Pavlos The the transformation in the face of the man called Lazarides as he stepped aboard the Sa him tricks His First Mate saw it, too, and frantically yanked his gun fro towered over hiun aside even as it was brought into view, then grabbed the un-hand and wrestled the weapon round to point at its owner’s head

Bullet-head didn’t stand a chance Arun into his ear and said, ’Hahr And his victi like sulphur - and his forked, criave up the ghost

’That one,’ said Janos to Themelis, al’s signal to pull the trigger

As his head flew apart in cri doll over the rail Sliding down between the hulls, his body was crushed and ground a little before being du soft on the sea The hole he made in it quickly sealed itself; the echo of the shot which had killed hi

’Holy Mother of - I’ Themelis breathed, helpless as his men were rounded up But as Janos advanced on hith of his head and jaws, the teeth in his monstrous mouth, the weird scarlet blaze of his terrible eyes ’J-J-Jianni?’ the Greek finally got his brain working ’Jianni, I -’

’Show me this cocaine,’ Janos took hold of his shoulder with a steel hand, his fingers biting deep ’This oh so valuable white powder’

’It - it’s below’ Themelis’s ansas a mere breath; he could not, daren’t, take his eyes from the other’s face

’Then take me below,’ said Janos But first, to his ry you are’

Even below decks Theht: What, Christos Nixos a fool? Maybe, but at least he didn’t knohat hit hi before his screa the rest

Forty hed into life and she dreay fro, stars beginning to show through, and soon the horizon would light with the first crack of a new day

When the Lazarus was a quarter-mile away, the doo fire Bits of her spiralled or fluttered back to the foa s ht wash ashore, maybe a body or two, possibly even the bloated, fish-eaten corpse of Pavlos Themelis himself