Drummond’s mouth curled in a delighted smile. “I assure you these two are still human.” From behind him the tall figure lifted a hand and ran a talon down the cheek of one of the girls, who screamed in pain and fright. Blood dripped to her chin.

“Shoggoth don’t bleed, don’t feel pain, don’t feel fear, and only lust for food and to serve the Great Cthulhu. These two are human all right.” He waited, then shook the girl again, treating her like a rag doll, to draw forth another shriek of terror. He looked to Adira. “She’s very frightened.”

Adira didn’t flinch, her gun pointed directly at the cowled figure. “I don’t care, killing them might be the most humane thing.”

Drummond’s smile faltered.

Adira’s gun muzzle edged up toward the dark cowl. “Let’s see what’s under there.”

Drummond picked the girl up and stepped in front of the tall figure. He used one hand to reach around and grip her throat. He squeezed, hard. She started to choke.

“First one is for you then.” Adira’s face was like stone.

“Stop.” Matt held up his hand, and then pushed Adira’s gun up. “We’re better than them.”

Adira glared, and simply brought the gun around again. “I don’t want the girls; I want the Book.”

“The Al Azif? You want that…now?” Drummond threw his head back and roared with laughter. “To do what?”

A sound started up, deep, bubbling, and it took Matt a while to work out what it was. The cowled figure was also laughing. It leaned forward and spoke again to Drummond.

Drummond cocked his head to listen, but this time Matt heard, and understood, every word.

The words have already been spoken, and the final seals removed. It is of no use to them now. This amuses me; taunt them.

Drummond snorted and nodded. “We will consider your offer. Your weapons and the soldier, for the girls and the Book.”

The cowled figure drew the tome from his robes and held it out. Matt noticed the hand was little more than a slimy flipper that ended in sharp talons. He felt his gorge rise.

Drummond grinned and took the Book from the flipper, and held it up. “A deal is done.” He shook the girl one-handed; her face was now blue. “The weapons, please…on the ground.” He looked at the child. “Oops, she’s going…going…going…”

Abrams looked at Adira and nodded. He threw his handgun onto the dark sand. Matt did the same with his. Adira’s fingers looked unwilling to release their grip.

Matt turned to her. “It’s what we came for. We have to risk it.”

She growled and then tossed the machine gun onto the sand.

“And the others, please,” Drummond said softly.

Adira threw four more guns down.

Drummond’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, well, you really are a one-woman war, aren’t you?”

The cowled figure leaned forward again to speak in his strange bubbling tongue. Drummond listened and then threw the girl to the side. Her sister scuttled over to comfort her, and then quickly dragged her away toward the cliff wall.