five uniformed security men around him. Yuri told them. No one from the Talamasca. Only Yuri. Aaron Lightner. Yuri showed them his passport. “You know Aaron,” he said.
They nodded; they understood.
“Well, we’re not letting anybody in here, unless we know that person, you know. We’ve got the nurses’ names on a list.”
Michael walked Yuri back out to the gate. The fresh air felt good. It was waking him up.
“I talked my way past them,” said Yuri. “I don’t want to get them in trouble, but stay on them. Remind them. I never gave them my name.”
“I got you,” said Michael. He turned and looked up at the window of the master bedroom. On the first night that he had ever seen it candles had been flickering behind the closed blinds. He looked at the window below it, which led to the library, the window through which that thing had almost come.
“I hope you’re close. I hope you’re coming,” he said in a bitter whisper meant only for Lasher, his secret and old friend.
“You have the gun Mona gave you?” Yuri asked.
“Upstairs. How did you know about that?”
“She told me,” he said. “Put it in your pocket. Carry it always. You have other reasons.” He gestured to a figure in the shadows across Chestnut Street, against the stone wall.
“That is one of the Talamasca,” he said.
“Yuri, surely you and Aaron don’t really believe these men to be dangerous. They’re being devious, I see that. They aren’t helping. But dangerous? You’re angry, something’s happened. But you don’t think men from the Talamasca would take human life. Yuri, I did my own investigating of the Talamasca. So did Ryan Mayfair before I married Rowan. The Talamasca is made up of bibliophiles and linguists, medievalists and clerks.”
“Nice description. Your words?”
“I don’t know. I think so. Seems I said it crossly to Aaron once. But seriously. Lasher is the thing to fear. Lasher is the thing to catch—” He reached into his pocket. “Almost forgot. Take this to Aaron. You can read it if you like. It’s a poem. I didn’t write it. Make sure he gets this. Not tonight, tomorrow—whenever you see him—will be soon enough. It contradicts what I’m saying, actually, but that’s not the point. I just Want him to see it, all of it. Maybe some of it will mean something to him. I don’t know.”
“All right. I will see him in an hour. I am going back there. But keep the gun near you. See that man? His name is Clement Norgan. Don’t speak to him. Don’t let him come in.”
“You mean don’t ask him what the hell he’s doing there?”
“Exactly. Don’t let him goad you into engaging him in conversation. Just keep an eye.”
“All this sounds so Catholic, so Talamasca,” said Michael. “Don’t engage the Devil in conversation; do not converse with the evil spirit.”
Yuri shrugged, with a small bit of a smile. He looked off into the dark. His eyes fixed on the distant figure of Clement Norgan. Michael could scarcely make it out. There was a time when he could have seen it clearly, but now his night vision wasn’t so good. He knew it was a man there. And it crossed his mind that somewhere out here in this soft, gentle darkness, somewhere Lasher could be standing, watching, waiting.
But for what?
“What will you do now, Yuri?” asked Michael. “Aaron says they’ve kicked you both out.”
“Hmmm, I don’t know,” said Yuri. The smile broadened. “It’s nice to realize that. I can do things. I can…do something completely new. I hadn’t thought of it before.” Then his face darkened. “But I have a destiny,” he said softly.
“What is it?”
“To discover why all this happened with the Talamasca. To discover…who made what decision when. Don’t tell me. It sounds very governmental. Central Intelligence, that sort of thing. Tonight I was at the house of Mona Mayfair, using her computer. I tried to reach the Motherhouse archives. Every code was blocked. Imagine changing so many codes, just to defeat me. Maybe it is always done. But never did anyone change a code while I was there. No, it’s crazy.”
Michael nodded. For him, things were really simple. He was going to kill the thing. But why explain? “Tell Aaron I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for the wedding. I wanted to be.”
“Yes, he knows. Be careful. Watch. And listen. Two enemies, remember?”
And with that Yuri stepped back and then darted away. He was across Chestnut Street with a few large strides,