“We have your hold on the world right here,” said Natasha, gesturing at Kim. “You used her death to open a portal into our world, which means as long as her ghost haunts this station, you can’t be thrown out. She’s the focal point of everything that’s happened here.”

“Natasha,” said JC. “Where, exactly, are you going with this?”

“I would have thought it was obvious,” said Natasha. “What’s the fate of one dead person, compared to the whole world?”

“No,” said JC. “There has to be another way.”

“But there isn’t,” said Kim. She smiled gently at JC. “I’m dead. My life is over anyway. I won’t fight this, JC, and I won’t let you fight it either. It’s necessary.”

“But I love you . . .”

“And I love you. But love is for the living.” She looked at Natasha. “What are you going to do, exorcise me?”

Natasha smiled. “No, dear. I eat ghosts.”

She moved forward, still smiling, and JC stepped forward to block her way, his face cold, and very determined. And Kim walked straight through him, to stand before Natasha. JC cried out and pulled the monkey’s paw from his pocket. Melody drew her machine-pistol, and Erik his pointing bone. And Happy threw both hands in the air and waved them vigorously as he yelled at the others.

“Hold it! Hold everything! Look at the Wolf!”

Everyone hesitated, then turned and looked at the Wolf’s head. It was grinning mockingly, its wet red mouth stretched wide. Dead men’s blood drooled and dripped.

“What about the Wolf?” snapped Natasha. “It isn’t doing anything.”

“Exactly!” said Happy. “You’re about to destroy the one thing that gives it a hold on our world, and it isn’t even worried? If Kim meant anything at all to the Wolf, it would have acted to defend her. Probably turned us all into frogs or something, and I do wish I hadn’t said that out loud.”

“He’s right,” said JC. “Kim isn’t the focal point.”

“Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you?” said Natasha.

“No,” Erik said reluctantly. “The telepath’s right. The Wolf isn’t worried. Kim was only ever a decoy, a distraction. We’ve missed something. Damn. Damn! We’ve missed something important!”

“Then why did he have me killed?” said Kim.

“Because it was fun,” said the Wolf. And it laughed at them all.

Melody stepped forward, trained her machine-pistol on the Wolf’s left eye, and emptied the whole magazine into it. The great manufactured head soaked up the bullets and took no damage at all. Erik stabbed his Aboriginal pointing bone at the huge Wolf face. The bone exploded in Erik’s hand, and he cried out in agony as jagged splinters were driven deep into his hand. He cradled the bloody mess against his chest and fell back, moaning.