"Don't mention it."

"Y'think anything's 'appened yet?"

"Not yet," said Merlin, and Billy felt butterflies in his stomach. "Not yet,

but

very soon. Very, very soon."

Royce cried out with pain and twisted away, turning as he did so, and he

gasped

at what he saw. The beautiful blond girl had become transformed. Her ears had

become long and pointed; her teeth had lengthened into fangs, and her eyes

were

yellow, without irises or pupils. She had changed into something inhuman,

demonic. Saliva dribbled from her lips as she bared her teeth at him and

growled, reaching for him with fingers twice their normal length, with long,

hooked talons at the ends.

"Is that your dream girl, Father?" Ian asked, laughing at him.

And as the creature grabbed him Royce saw that all the other women were

turning

into hideous monsters as well.

"Kill him!" Carfax shouted. "Kill him now!"

And as Ian raised his knife once more, Royce struggled to break free of the

creature's grasp and screamed, "Ian, for God's sake—"

And then the man lying on the altar opened his eyes, and the jewel embedded

in

his chest blazed suddenly, sending out an intense beam of crimson light that

bathed Ian in a glowing red aura.

As Carfax stood motionless, stunned by the sight, one of his acolytes

screamed,

"No! No, it can't be! Stop him! Kill him, you fool! Kill him! Kill him!"

As if suddenly awakened, the other men slowly started coming to their senses,

but when they saw what horrors their beautiful companions were turning into,

they started to scream in mindless terror. Carfax suddenly leapt off the

dais,

reaching into his robe and pulling out a gun as he ran toward the altar in

the

center of the chamber. In desperation Royce tried to wrench himself away from

the creature that held him, and only his twisting action saved his throat

from

being torn out. He felt the fangs sink into his shoulder, and he screamed in

agony—

And then a dark shape came hurtling across the chamber, meeting Carfax as he

came running across the floor toward the altar, where Ian stood motionless,

swaying unsteadily as his life energy was drained away.

In a growling, bestial voice, Terri cried out, "Joey!" and launched herself

at

him.