glowing brightly, Kira teleported, leaving Loomis in the car alone with Gomez and the enchanted

paragriffin sculpture, Ramses. In the next instant, the radio came on again as an excited voice reported

"Unit Nineteen, Unit Nineteen, we've got contact! Repeat, we've got contact! Positive report from a

thaumagene in Sector 9."

glowing brightly, Kira teleported, leaving Loomis in the car alone with Gomez and the enchanted

paragriffin sculpture, Ramses. In the next instant, the radio came on again as an excited voice reported

"Unit Nineteen, Unit Nineteen, we've got contact! Repeat, we've got contact! Positive report from a

thaumagene in Sector 9."

"Holy Mother of God," said Loomis, grabbing for the mike.

"Nineteen, this is Loomis! I want the address of the contact, dammit!"

As the officer in Unit Nineteen gave the address, Gomez leapt from the car, shouting, "Come on,

Ramses!"

"Wait a minute!" Loomis shouted. "Where the hell are you going?"

But Gomez was already out and Ramses had leapt out the open window. As Loomis watched, the cat

leapt onto the sculpture's back and Ramses took flight, carrying the thaumagene effortlessly.

"Goddamn it!" Loomis swore, smashing the steering wheel with his palm. He drew his stag-handled

.357 Magnum and leapt from the car, running onto the plaza.

Wulfgar sat on the floor, his entire body shaking with the strain of controlling two demonic entities

simultaneously. He was bathed in sweat. His hands were clenched tightly into fists and his jaws were

clamped together, his lips drawn back, exposing his teeth as he grimaced with the effort.

His eyes were squeezed shut, but his brain registered a double set of images as he saw through the eyes

of the two demonic entities. And then he saw them.

Two of them, running toward the entity in the plaza. And then the third, materializing in the middle of the

street on Canyon Road.

That one, he thought. And he released control.

His body jerked forward, as if suddenly released from a strong pull it had been straining against. He

collapsed, overcome with a hollow, vertiginous sensation, and for an instant, he seemed to feel as if parts

of him were falling away in two separate directions. He fought to keep his mind from fragmenting entirely.

He propped himself back up, moving as if he were a marionette with its strings cut, his motions jerky.

His hand closed around the shotgun by his side. With an enormous effort of will, he stood, breathing

heavily, and gasped out a teleportation spell. He disappeared.

As the first demon appeared out of nowhere in the plaza and bedlam erupted, Megan Leary brought up

her radio and quickly called in her backup. Chambers and Mason were the closest, being stationed just

down San Francisco Street. Rosowitz and Stanley were already running full tilt down the stairs. With so

many people running around down there, teleporting even such a short distance was out of the question.

People around her in the outdoor lounge atop the hotel were shoving against her, crowding up against the