Page 71 of Circle of Death
I look into the distance. Thank God! It’sMaddy!
She’s the only other person moving—coming toward me from about fifty yards away. She’s screaming, but I can’t hear her. Her eyes are wide and her expression is pure horror. She raises her arm and points behind me.
Suddenly I feel it—a squirming weight on my shoulder and a sharp pain on the back of my neck, like I’m being pierced with knives. I whip around and see a fat, greasy rat drop to the ground, its tail curling like a long pink worm.
The image of the rodent imprints on my brain. I shudder as I feel the shift—totally out of my control. I have no choice. Now I’m on the ground in a four-footed stance. Small and compact. The world is a blur of blues and greens. Vibrations shoot through my body. My hairs stand on end. A cocktail of hormones fires me up for the fight of my life.
Rat on rat.
CHAPTER 85
FOR THE FIRST few seconds, I’m in shock. I suddenly realize that most of my brain is now devoted to smell. Food. Garbage. Sweat. And an overwhelming musk from a few feet away. Before the human remnant of my brain can react, the other rat is on me, banging into me broadside, then turning to attack with its back paws—fierce, punishing kicks that I feel against my ribs, rattling my internal organs.
My muscles tighten. But it’s all defense. I’m not sure how to retaliate. My instincts are still recalibrating. My senses are overloaded. Then the other rat turns and rushes at me, ramming into me so hard I can feel the bones under its fur. Sharp claws rake across my face. Fangs dig into my neck again, shooting hot sparks of pain through my whole body. I’m twisting, writhing, trying to escape. Suddenly, I’m on my back, belly up. I squeeze my eyes shut to keep them from being gouged out. The odor of musk and greasy fur is overpowering. My ears are filled with high-pitched squeaks and hissing. I thrash to one side and throw the weight off me. And…
Pow!A loud thud and a sickening crunch.
I look up and see a human shape and a black work boot.
Maddy’s boot.
In a blink, I rematerialize, still on all fours, staring at the body of a crushed wharf rat on the pavement. Its long yellow teeth are sticking out and blood is dribbling from its shattered skull.
The rest of the world slowly unfreezes. The rat is dead, but still twitching. The crowd backs away in disgust. A woman screams. A little boy spits up his milkshake. Maddy and Margo pull me up by my arms and hold on to me while I steady myself. I touch behind my neck. My fingers come back bloody. I’m breathing hard, feeling like I might collapse. I reach for Maddy.
“Where were you? Did she hurt you?”
“Who?” says Maddy.
“The Destroyer!”
Maddy shakes her head. “I saw the creature again,” says Maddy. “I followed him. Then I turned around and saw him shape-shift into a rat behind you.”
I’m starting to understand why time manipulation was a forbidden power. It sometimes allowed evil forces to slip through. I also realize that it’s another way Maddy and I are connected. When the rest of the world stopped, the only ones moving were her and me. And a monster.
“Lamont, look!” It hurts to raise my head. Maddy’s pointing toward the main pavilion, where the massive lighted crawl is running around the base of the structure. But instead of the usual news and fair announcements, there’s a personal message.
It’s for me.
… BONJOUR, LAMONT… THE KILLER WAS A SIMPLE DISTRACTION… EFFECTIVE, NO?… AU REVOIR…
A message from the Destroyer, telling us that the World’s Fair killer was just a decoy, under her control the whole time. How is that possible? Unless her powers are beyond anything we’ve suspected. Beyond anything the world has ever seen.
I turn to Margo, confused and panting. “Au revoir.That means good-bye, right?”
“Not quite,” she says. “It meansuntil we meet again.”
I look at Margo and Maddy. I’m exhausted and in pain. But the night isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
We’ve got a plane to catch.
CHAPTER 86
Orkhon Valley, Mongolia
I’M STILL SORE from the rat fight, and my neck is covered with a bandage. I’m pretty sure the antitoxins in my blood protect me against rabies. But I’m taking the HDCV vaccine to be safe. Margo gave me the first dose last night. I was still a bit woozy when we boarded the military cargo plane. It was about five times wider than Tapper’s stealth jet, but just as uncomfortable. No matter. I slept the whole way.
Diaz provided the flight to an abandoned Chinese black site, but nothing else. No backup. No equipment. No supplies. The plane would return to pick us up in twenty-four hours. “Talk to the locals,” Diaz told us, “and do what you do.” I guess that gives him plausible deniability if we get captured—or set off a nuclear explosion.
