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Paula shook her head. "Neither money nor jewels means anything to this man. He feeds off blood and misery the way carrion worms feed off dead flesh." |
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"Nice simile," Cyrus muttered. "So how do we get to him?" |
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Paula paced the room like a mad scientisthands behind her back, her face set with lines of concentration. Each time she approached the door to the shop, she paused to stare at the postman's corpse. |
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The body was degenerating at an amazing rate. The skin of the face had peeled away in layers like the skin on an onion, exposing grayish patches of underlying bone. The arms and legs had shriveled up like those of a dead fly, and judging from the stench, the internal organs had already started to liquefy. The man had died with his mouth open and his tongue was sticking out black and swollen like an overripe banana. |
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Unnoticed by Paula as she racked her brain trying to come up with a plan was the small, silvery-black spider perched at the back of the postman's tongue. Each time she approached the body, the spider scurried deeper into the man's throat. Every time she moved away, the spider crawled out again. |
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"You're going to have to let him come to you," Paula said. "He will come because whatever it is he wants, Kyna has. But now he must kill you too, Russ. You have become too powerful and he is smart enough to know you would never let Kyna's murder go unavenged." |
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"That's a comfort," Kyna declared bitterly. She stared at her reflection in the mirror of her compact as she tried to repair the damage the tears had wrought, but her hands were shaking so badly she finally gave up. "I'll be as dead as George Washington's butler, but it's okay 'cause Russ will avenge me. Oh yeah, I feel much better." |
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Paula ignored Kyna's grousing. "My advice is to continue your trip. He'll make his move somewhere along the way." |
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"I don't know," Cyrus replied. "I'm leaning toward burying those fucking diamonds, shipping Kyna's boss his money and going home. Let this witchman come at us on my turf." |
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