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I didn’t waste any tiers into its head Ias much contact with the oily mist as possible Tentacles thrashed More nor at est, the three people pu each other on the floor The newco into ritted my teeth Let it I channeled the fury intothe disgusting blob I hacked through the Anger tentacle at its root My rage diminished, but that didn’t slon an to deflate It tried to regenerate its Anger tentacle, but the result was thin and pale, barely flickering One by one, tentacles dropped fros Across the roo ceased I h the deot smaller and srayish glop spread across the table Thick, viscous strings oozed over the edge

I wiped ers, and turned around People stood in the rooer had worn off, and they weren’t quite sure what had hit the the dieter to her feet Her dress was torn and she had a black eye, but she’d held her own She clutched a big clu it aith a gasp), and the faces of both bodybuilders bore long, bloody scratch ized profusely to each other Those who’d joined the fight late slunk quietly out the door

As I left the conference roo a date with the dieter "Dinner?" he asked The ideaafter all that pizza They agreed on a movie instead

Back in the lobby, the receptionist looked bewildered and a little green herself She dialed the gym owner to come and fill out the final paperwork and cut h to stay far away froot out of control Now, I assured him over the phone that it was safe to come back, and he said he was on his way

I hoped he’d hurry This job had taken way longer than planned, and I still had to get ready for dinner at my sister’s house Mmm, dinner I wondered e’d have For sory

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IN MY APARTMENT IN DEADTOWN, THE PARANORMAL-ONLY section of Boston, I checkedif pearls were too formal for a family dinner Probably not for this fah-profile lawyer as well as a olf, "casual"his tie And my sister, Gas all about appearances Ten to one there’d be a silver candelabra on the table tonight Now that I thought of it, pearls h Oh, well--they’d have to do Too late now to rent the croels

The phone rang It was Kane, lettingzone in front ofwas chilly--and headed for the elevator, before some zombie h, I paused at the mailboxes Mine held an electric bill and a couple of junk-mail flyers I shoved them back into the box to deal with later, disappointed that the one piece offor hadn’t arrived: a postcard frootten mixed up with the Old Ones, shadowy super-vaend Then she’d disappeared Since her disappearance, she’d sentshe was on the run fro me know she was okay I’d received five postcards so far, mailed from locations all over the world, but the last one had arrived nearly a week ago I orried The Old Ones prey on vampires the way va their victiht up with Juliet, she could be in serious trouble

There was nothing I could do to help her now I didn’t even knohere she was

I went outside Kane’s BMW purred at the curb My Jag was in the shop again--one of the hazards of owning a vintage car--so he was driving us out to Needhaing the skirt of ave a lohistle--I’d call it a histle if I were into puns--and leaned over to kissmy hand on his face I turned his head until our lips touched He sh, pressed against oing" It took about half an hour to drive out to Needhaht at seven thirty, but I didn’t want to keep Gaiting

"Damn," Kane said, but he pulled the BMW away froh "I was kind of hoping you’d brought a little Lust ho its warers curled around the he it upward, and I shivered Then I picked up his hand and placed it back on the gearshift "No, you weren’t If that Peccatum had nailed et I was at a gyrade-A beefcake" Most of them had been firmly held in the clutches of Sloth, Gluttony, or both, so they weren’t exactly in peak forination

He growled deep in his throat and jabbed the accelerator Almost immediately, ere at the checkpoint out of Deadtown He hit the brake, and we jerked to a stop

As the checkpoint guard reached to open his , I leaned over and whispered in Kane’s ear, "Besides, I’ave h another squeeze Then he pulled out his wallet and reuard, who had the gray-green skin and red eyes of a zombie and the bored expression of a public employee in a routine job, checked our cards He looked at each of us, coh his uard nodded as we drove through