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"Yeah, right. The talisman." |
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"The talisman that belonged to Macumba, the Butcher of Cotonou?" Bryan held out his hands, palms up. "The talisman he brought to Haiti in 1789 and used to create an occult empire? The talisman that acts as a magnifying glass, enhancing a thousandfold the psychic power of the wearer?" |
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"Oh . . . that Butcher's Broom." |
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"The one that spick stole for me?" Conrad nodded. "You remember me telling you about that Hungan on Roatan?" |
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"That's the witch doctor?" Conrad asked, just to piss his boss off. |
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Bryan sighed hard enough to blow out a forest fire. "Correct." |
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"The guy that everybody in your club is about to pee their pants over?" |
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"Coven, goddamn it, Conrad. It's a coven!" |
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"With that talisman the man is one of the most powerful sorcerers on the planet. Without it, he is vulnerable. As long as I keep the psychic shield I just constructed in place, he won't even know I exist." |
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"That's good. So you got nothing to worry about." |
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Bryan glanced at the cauldron. "Well . . . except Morales went a little overboard." |
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"He killed the man's son." |
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"I didn't tell him to," Bryan added quickly. "I paid the spick a damned fortune. He should have been able to buy the kid off. . . ." |
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"So that's why you're so spooked." |
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"Spooked?" Bryan's face went red again. "I'm not |
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