crimson robe and flanked by two hooded acolytes. He slowly raised his arms,

bent

at the elbows, palms up, and the golden circle and pentagram set into the

floor

began to rise, revealing that it was a round black marble column about three

feet high. As Royce watched in stunned silence the hooded figures placed the

unconscious, bare-chested man down upon the altar, flat on his back. Royce

noticed that there was a red stone over the man's heart.

The man looked dirty and emaciated, his beard and hair were unkempt, and

there

were the cruel red marks of shackles on his wrists. Carfax beckoned to one of

the hooded figures, and the man came forward. Carfax reached into his robe

and

took out a long, gleaming ceremonial dagger and handed it to the man he had

beckoned forth. Comprehension suddenly dawned on Royce, and he looked around

in

astonishment at all the eminent men around him, lying on the couches in

various

stages of undress beneath their hooded cloaks, each with a beautiful young

woman

in his arms, each with a sort of glazed, drugged look about him, and he shook

his head, muttering, "No, it isn't possible. They can't actually mean to..."

He looked up at the hooded figure stepping up to the altar where the

unconscious

man lay, raising the dagger high overhead in both hands....

'Wo!" screamed Royce.

The hooded figure hesitated, looked up, and his hood fell back.

"My God!" said Royce. "Ian?"

His oldest son stared at him, and Royce saw the recognition in his eyes. Ian

smiled and raised the knife once more.

"Ian, no/"- shouted Royce, and suddenly there was a low, throaty growl behind

him and he felt sharp claws sink into his shoulders.

Terri gasped with pain as she loped down the dark corridor. She was bleeding

from the side, where Blood's bullet had struck her. If she had been in human

form, the wound would have incapacitated her, but the transformation was

complete now, and raw, animalistic rage surged through her. Even so, with the

strength Modred had taken from her, and with Blood's bullet lodged in her

side,

she was in severe pain and pushing herself to the limits of her endurance.

She

didn't know who those people with the guns were, but she knew she was leaving

a

trail of blood, and she could hear at least one of them not too far behind,

pursuing her. And she knew just where she was going to lead them. Perhaps she

hadn't lost yet.

Liam McMurphy couldn't see a thing. He slowly felt his way along the secret

passageway, running his hand along the cool, damp stone. He was beginning to

think that this had been a very bad idea. The darkness was starting to get to

him, and he kept up a steady monologue to steady his nerves.