Page 47 (1/2)

But the woone Came to see the professor, and this is what coers on the island Better for everyone if you just let us clean up the o back to the hed and gestured to indicate that since the wo him, Julianna should ask the questions

She narrowed her eyes and gazed at the woman "What professor? Where is he?"

The wo if you must, but you won’t like what you find"

Then she turned and strode aithout a single backward glance Julianna watched until she had left theher expectantly She took a breath and let it out slowly

"Let’s go," she said

Halliwell nodded and together they continued on toward the building whose porch was now cru in flames Bits of the ornate ork had burned away co in the fire The fla inside the s like the eyes of so church was behind the with the two other houses of worship and a nues Julianna felt the chill of the stor around her face as the wind picked up, but as they neared this other fire, its heat h the skin on her face was stretched too tight

"What is that?" Halliwell said, his voice barely audible over the hungry roar of the blaze

Julianna picked up her pace Her boots slid in the slushywas an old rock wall that ran out of the village square, the stones piled up decades-- perhaps centuries-- earlier as soht they could clearly see a cottage at the end of the path The little house had been destroyed recently enough that there was only a dusting of snowfall on the shattered interior now exposed to the elements

Fire had not been the culprit here At first glance she thought an explosion had taken place, but then realized thatoutward

Yet she spared only a e

It was the carnage that drew her attention In the diffuse daylight that filtered through the storlare of the fire, they could easily round, shrouded in a thin layer of fresh snowfall Dark stains spread out fro to for odd about the corpses, but Julianna could not focus on theh to determine what it was that unsettled her

Because there was another corpse in their midst that made her breath catch in her throat She could only stare at the creature-- for she could not think of it as a round Thin, frozen blades punctured the creature’s leg and side, shot up through its chest and belly and skulland its wings

Julianna could only stare Though it had the shape of a iant bird of prey, and its wings were enors

"My God," Halliwell rasped beside her "This can’t be real None of it"

He started forward and knelt by the nearest corpse, brushed away the snow to find orange and black fur beneath, and a snout full of deadly fangs The dead er that walked like a man

"You mean like the ice man ith Oliver? And the way he and the others just disappeared, like they were stepping right out of the world?" Julianna asked, staring at hiain, and then at the bird-thing impaled on the ice "You said we’d folloherever they went, Ted You’ve got a whole lot of mysteries on your hands, not just Max Bascosley, but the other children you think are connected to this killer who’s re just as hard a time with this as you are, but you can’t turn back now"

Halliwell’s expression darkened "Who said anything about turning back? I’ anywhere I justthe world isn’t supposed to be like this"

Julianna sed Her throat was dry and tight and she didn’t think it was froo inside," she said

The detective nodded and they started for the ruined cottage As she passed the dead things scattered around her she tried not to look too closely, but could not help herself Soure beneath that thin blanket of snow had no head, and one of the things on the ground had horns There was even a creature that was no larger than a dog, ings folded against its back

Julianna hurried on

She reached the front of the cottage Where the door had been there was a hole, with no sign reto deterht safely enter In theout froed, broken beaht that perhaps they had come as far as possible Whatever they could learn about what happened to that cottage, they would have to determine from outside

"Julianna," Halliwell said

She turned to see hi the path and off to the left The snow there had been disturbed and as she walked over to join him, she saw that in addition to a sround, there was a spattering that seemed more recent, even fresh

Halliwell touched the spots of blood and lifted his fingers to show that they were smeared with red

Since they had arrived on Canna Island she had been nearly numb Wonder and confusion and horror had swirled in her mind, but this was the first tis"

Halliwell nodded He gestured to the ground and she saw that the path of broken snohere one of those things had crawled or dragged itself on the ground-- went around the side of the ruined cottage, past one of the walls that was still standing Halliwell started to follow the trail

"Wait Ted, please I don’t think we should--"

He shot her a dark look "What did you just tellanswers?"

Juliannain her teht"

Hallient around the corner of the house Julianna folloarily, peering into the ruin of the house and looking carefully at the stone boundary wall to make certain there was nowhere for anyone to hide But the trail continued, the broken snow sprinkled and streaked with fresh blood

The ent on perhaps fifty yards past the house, where it intersected with another at a tiny structure built of the same stone, with a roof of cracked and faded tiles The little building e-- perhaps even a workshop-- but its two sri open The trail ended there

"Ted," Julianna whispered

Halliwell did not even hesitate He went to the door, tensed as though heit open The hinges creaked loudly Inside there was nothing but dust and shadows