“It’s why you sought me out.”

She laughed. “I didn’t seek you out. Our meeting was pure happenstance.”

“I wonder.” He cocked his head. “How long will you need to feed yourself these falsehoods before you recognize the truth that’s right in front of you?”

Her expression turned incredulous, her tone mocking. “What? You’re telling me you set it all in motion—the abuse I suffered, the group of kids I met heading south, the days and nights of drugs, everything?”

Preach smiled at her benignly, as a grandfather smiles at his beloved granddaughter. “I want you back, Lucy.”

“Well, gee, that’s just too fucking bad for you.”

“You have the gift.”

She shook her head. “What gift?”

“You’re a death-dealer.”

She shook her head. “Stone-cold insane.”

“Don’t look so alarmed. I won’t force you; I won’t have to. You’ll come back of your own accord.”

“When the temperature rises in heaven.”

“We’ll see.” He grinned as he stood up. “Enjoy your sundae while you can. No sugar allowed at home.”

Lucy stared down at her half-eaten dessert. The ice cream she had consumed seemed to have congealed in her stomach. She had thought about this reunion for a long time; the conversation hadn’t gone anything like what she had imagined. That fucker had something nasty up his sleeve, she could feel it in her bones. Before he unleashed it she would have to find a way to protect herself. Then she’d destroy him.

Deliberately, she took up her spoon and resumed digging in. Even though her stomach was clenched tight, she was determined to finish the sundae, even if in the next minute she might vomit it all up.

*   *   *

Preach stood just inside the door to the kitchens building, his eyes closed to slits, in intimate communion with Crow. Trey emerged from the house onto the porch, settled into the rocker next to Albin. As Preach had expected, Trey had with him the Peranomicon, which he foolishly believed would protect him from what was to come.