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"There are worse things, believe me"

"Who was that man back there?" she asked, and added determinedly "Is he dead?"

Brent Malone shook his head He looked as if he should have been a rock ain, he was tall, wiry, well- all way around

"He’s not dead"

"Who was he?"

"It doesn’t matter"

"What do you mean, it doesn’t matter? He tried to kill me"

"I don’t think he intended to kill you"

"He was running around with a butcher knife, coht at me, but he wasn’t supposed to kill me"

"I don’t think so He was supposed to scare you Just as the fire was supposed to send you into hiding"

"Why?"

"Because," he said flatly "We don’t think that you’re supposed to die until toht"

The shivers that swept into her so of solid truth "All right, so I’ht And I’--where, of course, ’they’--exactly whoever ’they’ may be--will be able to findpretty serious tome to trust you I don’t knohat’s happened to my husband--between you and Mike, I’ve been taken so far from the scene of the fire that I may never find Finn And Finn…"

She stopped, a sudden tie in her throat preventing her fro her dead?

Finn, possessed by so the one anted her dead!

"Lucian is with Finn; I a on deep reserves of patience as he spoke

"Listen to o, and I don’t want to hurt you"

"Fine Then you need to tell me just exactly what happened back in the woods, and why it shouldn’tWouldn’t he have been part of ’they’?"

"No Most probably not Everything happening now is just a teaser, and the people provoking you tonight are just vulnerable to the suggestion of those in pohile those in poill not risk theht"

"Great You apparently have a dog, and the dog brought thecoo now?"

She was terrified, but determined that her speech would be matter-of-fact

"Let’s take it slowly for now, huh? The man in the woods is alive, but dazed, and not one of themail earlier today, so he was ht was intended to destroy the possibility of you and your husband being surrounded by a crowd of hundreds toht hour And yes, probably, to cast suspicion upon the two of you as well, to bind a rope htly around Finn’s neck--ht be an arsonist on top of all else I believe you were to have wound up in the custody of the Satanists, with Finn in a rage at the police department, but maybe under arrest himself as well despite your disappearance--

after all, plenty of people in the town knew that you tere at odds, your own relatives believe that you’re afraid of hi you to believewe call the Alliance, and e try to keep down some of the murder and destruction in the world caused by such people as those who are trying to bring Bac-Dal back into the world"

Megan stared at hi you the truth"

She struggled for words It wasn’t difficult to believe that a group of people ht intend to do murder for a diabolical ritual

It was more difficult to really believe that a deht back And yet…

There were the dreams

He extended a hand to her She took it slowly, eyes on hi?" she de?"

"Don’t playover the ht you saw a dog," he said

"I know I saw a dog"

"You saolf"

"A wolf? So where is it now?"

"Occupied If you should happen, though, to speak to anyone not in our immediate circle, don’t mention the wolf It will never hurt you, only protect you Please--the place we’ve rented is just ahead"