They're the 'cult' you were talking about, aren't they?"

They're the 'cult' you were talking about, aren't they?"

"It's an incredible story," Loomis said, "but it explains a lot. And I can see why you've tried to keep it

under wraps." He took a deep breath. "Jesus. And I was worried about the necromancy angle getting

out. Compared to this, that's nothing."

"And you had no difficulty believing it all?" asked Modred, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Loomis replied. "But it resolves a lot of unanswered questions. About magic,

about Merlin, about why some people can learn thaumaturgy and others can't, about our legends . . . and

about why you got the Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard to back up your story. He's the only one over

there who knows, isn't he?"

Modred nodded. "What I told you about the murders in Whitechapel was true. Michael Blood is one of

the few people who knows what really happened."

"I figured. Then there's Paul. We haven't known each other long, but we've spent a lot of time together

under not very pleasant circumstances. In a situation like that, you can get to know somebody pretty well

and I knew he was telling me the truth. At least, I knew that he believed it. And I don't think it's very easy

to fool somebody who can read minds."

Modred decided not to tell him that Paul couldn't readhis mind. He wondered what Paul had left out and

a moment later he got his answer.

"Paul said that there werethree runestones," Loomis said. "Only if you've got one, who's got the other

two?"

So he hadn't told him about Kira. He knew Loomis had met her, but he had her connected with Paul.

And, more importantly, Paul hadn't told him about Wyrdrune. Which meant he also probably hadn't told

him about Billy, Merlin, and Gorlois.

"That's not important right now," Modred said. "The important thing is that you now know what we're up

against. If you'd persisted in interrogating suspects on your own, and if you'd encountered the Dark One,

you wouldn't have stood a chance. You would both have been killed. Or, worse still, turned into

acolytes. Perhaps now you'll understand why I had to steal that car. I needed to divert your attention to

me immediately. It was for your own good."

"Yeah, I can see that, I guess. I was going to take you in. Or at least try to. Now, I don't know what the

hell I'm going to do. I don't mind telling you, I'm scared. A necromancer's bad enough, but one that isn't

even human . . ."

"The Dark Ones can be killed," said Modred, "but it isn't easy, as you might suspect. If you were lucky

enough to get off a lethal shot, it might do the trick, but you'd have to catch the Dark One totally off

guard. You can forget any notion of placing the killer under arrest. It would be impossible under any

normal circumstances."

"But itis possible?"