Suddenly Benny felt himself falling over.
He felt hands catching him. Women hovered over him.
Dr. McReady.
Colonel Reid.
They were both speaking at once, shouting, calling his name, yelling at each other.
Then the sound of gunfire drowned it all out.
Benny saw reapers trying to fight their way to Brother Peter; saw them suddenly jerk to a stop and dance like marionettes on the strings of a madman, their twitches and jumps purposeless. As they fell, their bodies riddled with bullet holes, Benny saw Lilah and Chong facing each other, both of them crouching like animals.
He bared his teeth at her.
She bared hers at him.
Chong attacked, pouncing like a panther; but the Lost Girl moved into the attack, slapping his head to one side, wrapping a muscular brown arm around his throat, bearing him to the ground, wrestling him, pinning him, screaming and screaming a single word that Benny fought to understand.
“Pills! PILLS!”
Nix stood there, torn between rushing to her and rushing to Benny.
Benny managed to raise one arm and made a pushing gesture toward Lilah.
She needs you, he wanted to say. Chong needs you. Help them.
Grimm stood by Joe Ledger, who had collapsed into a limp sprawl.
Benny tried to say something that would make sense of this moment.
He needed to tell Joe and Nix and Lilah about what Brother Peter had whispered to him.
Mountainside will burn.
But when he opened his mouth, all he could do was scream.
Then a hand of darkness wrapped its cold fingers around him and closed them into a fist.
PART FOUR
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.