Paul stared at Modred, speechless with astonishment.

Paul stared at Modred, speechless with astonishment.

"You look like you could use this," it said. "'L'chayim."

Paul emptied the glass in one gulp. "Thank you," he said weakly. He exhaled heavily. "I can see why this

was too complicated to explain over the phone."

"It's a long story, Paul," said Merlin, "and when I've finished telling it to you, you'll understand why

there's a need for secrecy. For us, it began when Wyrdrune and Kira teamed up to steal three enchanted

runestones from an auction of artifacts found in the Euphrates Valley . . ."

Lt. Loomis stood on the riverbank, staring down at the body. His lips were compressed into a tight

grimace. His stomach was growling. He'd been trying to lose weight and had been skipping meals. It was

not the advisable way to diet, but since moving to Santa Fe from Chicago, he had become hopelessly

addicted to Mexican food and he knew that if he sat down at a table, he'd eat like a hog. It disturbed him

that he could think of food at such a time. That's what comes of being a cop in Chicago for ten years, he

thought to himself. You get so numb that nothing gets to you. If he'd stayed on in Chicago, he could have

retired by now, but he'd had enough of being a big-city cop. He wanted some peace and quiet in a nice,

relaxed, warm climate. So much for best laid plans, he thought.

"How long has she been dead?" he asked the medical examiner.

"Difficult to tell for certain until I've had a chance to perform a more thorough examination," the man

said, "but I'd say at least twenty-four hours."

Loomis took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

"Wounds just like the other one," the medical examiner said, looking at the victim's chest and stomach.

"Yeah. Just like the other one." Loomis turned to one of the officers. "Who discovered the body?"

"Couple of little kids," said the officer. "I didn't think it was a good idea to keep them hanging around.

They're home with their folks."

"You did the right thing," said Loomis. "Kids. Jesus. How'd they take it?"

"How do you think?"

Loomis sighed. "Used to be you could raise kids in this town without having them see something like this.

You spoke with their parents?"

"Yeah. They were pretty upset. I told them you'd probably stop by to see them."

Loomis nodded. "I'll call social services and see if they can have someone come out and see them with

me, in case they need any counseling. Damn. It looks like we've got a serial killer on our hands. And a