strong enough to attempt a spell that would claim hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives in one fell

swoop."

strong enough to attempt a spell that would claim hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives in one fell

swoop."

"They were stopped in Los Angeles," Modred continued, "but not long thereafter, similar killings started

to occur in Paris. Again, the same pattern. There was more than one killer and the victims all had the

same symbols carved into their torsos. Once again, they were stopped. Three of them were killed and a

fourth managed to escape, only to surface again last year in Tokyo, where the same pattern was

repeated."

"And none of these cult members were ever arrested?" Loomis asked.

"They are fanatics," Modred said. "They would not allow themselves to be taken alive."

Loomis sighed heavily. "It was bad enough knowing we had a serial killer who's a necromancer," he

said. "Now you're telling me we've got some kind of international murder cult on our hands. And they're

here, in Santa Fe." He glanced at Paul. "You said something about cults the other day, remember?"

Paul nodded. "Yes, I did. But until I spoke with Michael, I had no idea it could be anything like this."

"So the Bureau knows about this," Loomis said. "And they've managed to keep it quiet."

"Can you imagine what would happen if the existence of this cult were to become public knowledge?"

Modred asked.

Loomis exhaled heavily. "Man, I don't even want to think about it. All we need is for someone like Ginny

Fairchild to sniff this out and it'll really hit the fan."

"Leave Miss Fairchild to me," said Modred.

"What does that mean?"

"The less you know, Joe, the less you may have to answer for," Modred replied.

"Hey, now wait a minute, Cornwall," Loomis protested. "What have you got on your mind? Ginny may

be a reporter and she may be an occasional pain in the ass, but she's a straight-shooter and she's sort of

a friend of mine. She agreed to keep quiet about Paul's sensitivity, didn't she? I don't want you trying

anything funny with her, you understand?"

"No need to be alarmed," Modred reassured him. "No harm of any kind will come to her, I promise

you. However, there are ways, if she were to discover anything, to simply induce her to forget what she

had discovered."

Loomis pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I don't know. I don't like it."

"It would be only a last resort," said Modred. "But you must realize what a dangerous situation you have

here. At the end of the week, you'll have your festival. The city will be full of people, celebrating in the

streets all day and night for three days. It will present an ideal opportunity for the members of this cult to

effect a spell of mass murder. Somehow, we must find them and stop them before then."