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Frost saw the monstrosity first In the instant of discovery, he was overcome by a sensation about which he’d often read but of which he had no previous experience The skin on the back of his neck went cold and see as real as centipedes or spiders

As an agent of the FBI assigned to the equivalent of a black-ops division, he had seen horrors enough and had known fear in a variety of textures and intensities But nothing until this had touched that most deeply buried nerve, which was not a physical nerve at all, but an intuitive sensitivity to the uncanny, whether of a supernatural or merely a preternatural kind Neither all of his education nor his vivid iination could explain the existence of this abo sensation burrowed deeper, from the back of his neck into his spine, and a chill scurried down his laddered vertebrae

He gestured for Dagget to join hie his partner’s reaction to the loathsome object The sudden intake of breath and a wordless expression of revulsion in the back of his throat conveyed Dagget’s disgust and dread

For a ht turn in its fleshy socket, focusing on hiht flex and curl in an obscene quest But that expectation was iue and the eye on the bed were dead tissue, no ment would be able to chew the carpet under theazines seeainst whatever enemy they faced The explanation behind events in Rainbow Falls was neither ordinary crih he had been cast back to childhood, to the confusions and anxieties of a preschooler, Frost looked down at his feet, inches from the he hostileunder the bed Where in the past there had never been a boogeyht there now be so more mysterious and yet more real than any of those fairy-tale threats?

The spell of childish timidity held him in thrall only for a moment and was broken by the announce bathrooh the half-open door, into the stillness of thevoices

Chapter 18

The front passenger-sidedissolved as Deucalion rolled the Toyota Sequoia onto its roof When Mason Morrell refused to abandon the overturned SUV, the giant expressed the intention of s the reluctant warrior from the vehicle whether he wanted to come out or not

Saotiate with the on-air talent He reached through the broken , pulled up the lock ste the side of his foot as a broolass that sparkled in the snow, he got on his hands and knees, and he crawled into the Sequoia

On all fours on the ceiling of the overturned SUV, he faced Mason at a curious angle The talk-show host hung upside-down in the driver’s seat Actually, he wasn’t hanging because he hadn’t taken the tier had he been to start the engine and split the scene Hewheel and by hooking the heels of his shoes under the seat as best he could Of the twoSa down into his friend’s face when the orientation of the SUV suggested that he should be looking up into it

The only light, the bluish glow of the parking-lot lah the los of the inverted vehicle The air was cold and smelled of new-car leather and of Mason’s spicy aftershave Besides their breathing, the only sounds were the clicks and tinks and pings of the Sequoia adjusting to its new, unconventional relationship to the pavement

"I’m so sorry this had to happen," Sarieved "It didn’t have to"

"Maybe it didn’t, but it has The station will pay for repairs"

"That’s the way you are, but it’s not the way Warren is Warren pinches pennies"

"Re that looked like Warren is dead, too, its weird guts all over the floor in there So I’ to look at Sa to die"

"That’s not what I believe," Sammy said

"Well, it’s what I believe"

"I haven’t told you this," Sa plans for you and your show"

"It’s the end of the world There won’t be any radio after the end of the world"

"It’s not the end of the world It’s a national crisis, that’s all If we pull together, if we defend the station and get the word out about what’s happening here, we can turn this around in no time I’ve always been an optimist, you know, and my optimism has always proved to be justified"

"You’re not just an optimist You’re insane"

"I’m not insane," Sammy said "I’m an American Hey, you’re an American, too Where’s your can-do spirit? Listen, I have plans to expand the format of your show, s I want to advertise it ed deterional syndication, then national, not just five other stations but hundreds You could be the male Dr Laura You could be a more human Dr Phil"

"I’m not a doctor"

"You are if I say you are That’s how radio works"

A few flakes of snow spiraled through the broken-outand danced on the frosty plumes of their breath

Sa was hard under his bony knees The weird angle made him feel like he was in one of those topsy-turvy dreams in the movie Inception But he smiled and patted Mason on the arm, in ahis head forward, rolling his eyes down and sideways to get a better look at his program director, Mason said, "Because I’h I’h to stand the pressures of national syndication"

"I’h for both of us," Sammy assured him "And did you just listen to your voice? The tiift, Mason You can’t throay a gift like that"

"I don’t know," Mason said doubtfully "Souy Listen, if you were doing one of those shows about flying saucers and parallel worlds and secret civilizations under the sea--well, then you’d be all wrong for e’ve got to do tonight Everyone would think it was just the usual shtick But your show is intimate, people let you into their lives, all the way in, they trust you, they take your advice, they admire you They love you, Mason You’re a friend to your listeners They think of you as family If you tell your listeners thatfor hu over Rainbow Falls, they’ll believe you They wouldn’t believe my voice I sound like a skinny kid"

The talk-show host closed his eyes and hung--or clung--upside down in silence for a long htened bat Then he said, "They love me?"

"They adore you"

"I try to do my best I really try to help them"

"That’s why they adore you"

"It’s a terrible responsibility, giving advice"