“Dead?”

“Fugisawa, ” Modred said quickly, “back away.”

Fugisawa stepped back out of the path of the slowly advancing

woman, unable to take his eyes off her. His stomach churned with

revulsion. She was close enough now for them to see the unearthly,

translucent pallor of her skin, the bloodless lips, the lank dark hair

covered with dust and cobwebs. Small spiders scampered through

the long and matted strands. And behind her, moving out of the

shadows, they could see the ghostly shapes of other animated

corpses. Leila’s victims, naked, their bodies caked with dried blood

and dust, gaping holes in their chests where their hearts had been

ripped out. They advanced toward them slowly and inexorably, with

that same shambling, marionettelike gait.

The Yakuza man closest to her cried out and fired his machine

pistol. The 9-mm jacketed hollowpoint slugs tore into her body,

penetrating it as easily as if she had been made of paper. She

jerked as the bullets struck her, exiting through her back, but she

did not fall. Black, coagulated blood oozed sluggishly from her

wounds. The man kept firing until he emptied his entire clip and

then he threw the gun at her. It struck her in the face, gashing her

forehead. She reached out and seized him by the throat. He tried to

break away, but her grip was too strong. He pummeled at her with

his fists, but his blows had no effect. She continued to strangle him,

relentlessly.

The other gangsters had seen enough. They turned and bolted

back up the stairs. Their leader paused only long enough to raise

his machine pistol, aiming it at Modred, but before he could fire,

there was a searing flash of white light and a broadsword came

whistling through the air, chopping off the gunman’s arm at the

elbow. For an instant, he stood still, staring in shock at his severed

arm, spouting a fountain of blood, then he screamed. The scream

was cut off abruptly as the broadsword whistled through the air

once more, severing his head. It bounced down the stairs like a

basketball and came rolling to a stop at Fugisawa’s feet, an

expression of horror and agony fixed on its features.

Fugisawa stared in stunned disbelief at the incredible vision

coming toward him. Billy had disappeared and in his place stood a