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"Miss s I don’t want to think about

"How did you get here?"

"I cah the woods When I saw those black trucks, I hitched a ride on top"

I’ve never seen a Jade in full feral mode before Candy’s nails have curved out into thick claws Her eyes are red slit pupils in a sea of black ice Her lips and tongue are as black as her eyes Her htly different shape Like she has a few more teeth or the ones she has are wider and sharper than before A mouthful of pretty white shark’s teeth She’s theI’ve seen in eleven years I want to haveexplodes, someone screams, and I remember my other friends and the end of the world

"Parker probably has Vidocq and Allegra at the center of the club, near the sacrifice," I tell her It’s just a guess, but with D-day going on in the front parlor, it’s where I’d go

Candy helps ether It can als ht arm over her shoulders, puts her left arm around my waist, and practically picksSo far, this is the best first date ever

I talk Candy through the twists and turns I remember from Muninn’s blueprints There isn’t much action in the inner roo behind the furniture, trying not to listen to the slaughterhouse noises from the outer rooms

Candy and I are almost to the door of the central room

And about to beand s on the stone steps outside the sacrifice rooirl at Donut Universe

"Look what the cat drug in," says the kid

"Dragged in, but won’t drag out," says Dad

"Let’s eat hi inside"

"You don’t mind, do you?" Dad asks me He seems to notice Candy for the first tiht dessert"

"What is she?"

"A filthy, dirty monster, son Maybe you should nibble her first I want to see what Mr Shiny Chest tastes like"

The Kissi aren’t carnivores, like the Jades There’s a hint of ga in their voices Fear and confusion are the Kissi’s favorite snacks and words are a good way to tenderize the meat Candy takes her are

The young Kissi circles Candy, but I can’t watch long

Dad is co for round It’s not my favorite place to be, but I’ve been here before You can’t avoid an attack, so you hang back, leave yourself open, and let the attacker show you what he’s going to do

The Kissi goes straight forthe butt of the Browning down on its neck But he tricks es up at et out of the way in time

Daddy Kissi plants his shoulder in my sternum and knocks the wind out of ht I knohat’s co over my ribs Then he’ll pull out my heart and the key with it When I fell,or reach s his hand down hard But just sort of punches me in the chest

I look down, then at him The Kissi looks as surprised as I do He rears back and slaain It just bounces off the body ar that this isn’t part of the arn But my heart and the key are still where they should be, so I’? Stop it!"

When he rears back for another try, his weight shifts enough for

This time, when Daddy Kissi slams intounder his chin, and blast away The Spiritus bullets blow the Grand Canyon out the back of his head

I shove his carcass off and look around for Candy She’s on her sto out chunks of Avila’s polished wood floors with her clahile Junior is on her back with both hands buried inside her spine

I canin his ear, and blow half of his head off Junior falls one way I fall the other Candy pushes herself up onto her elbows, crawls over, and collapses on top of me

"The sacrifice is in there," I say "We can’t stay here"

"I know," Candy says She sits up and pulls me up with her We’re both streaked with hurabs my head and plants a hundred-thousand-volt kiss onin her saliva that feels like spider venoue into her th of it

Candy lets go and smiles She uses her thumb to wipe off soetting him off me," she says

"Anytime"

She helps ain I can tell that Junior hurt her, playing around in her lungs I give her the Browning and the Navy Colt pistols I pull the na’at frorip to collapse the center shaft so that it hangs like a whip

I point to the doors

"Open sesauns and blasts open the twin doors

Inside, it’s alination? It’s like a Hot Topic Halloween party There’s a circle of , black, hooded robes Each ed, naked starlet wannabe with an inverted pentagram cut into her chest Up at the altar, the head priest holds a shiny kris over an unconscious angel The angels are what make the scene not funny There are thirteen of theest are filthy Cut up, pale, and bruised The newer, less abused ones are hog-tied with bright, diauards stationed outside, it probably didn’t occur to the devil’s nitwits to have some security inside Candy and I are pretty beat up, but they don’t know that Plus, we’re arh blood and filth that we look like Hell arrived in the room a little sooner than they expected

One of the robed satanists takes a swipe at Candy with his dagger and she blows a manhole in his chest with a blast fro clock over the altar hits the first ht chiets near her I swing the na’at over th, and crack it like a bullwhip The high priest’s hand and kris knife fly off in different directions He screaates of Hell

The rest of the old-boy coven doesn’t seem to notice that they’ve already lost They swar the na’at, feeling it shear bones just right Bring my arm up and sweep it down Let the na’at’s own o on killing these guys all night But I can’t go co around like drugged sheep Ifloor when I can They fall over like bowling pins with tits

More satanists are running out of the rooht, which is fine by me My knee burns uns anyht jeans and Chuck Taylors

I collapse the na’at and hold my arms out at ers I don’t even fight them I don’t have to They stab and slash and all they hit are h to matter, and none draws blood