She bent closer as if she couldn’t stop herself. Her eyes were now positively glazed, vacant, as the eyes of the other one, Killer, had appeared just before he’d sunk his teeth into Garekyn’s neck.

“It’s marble, tell me the truth,” he prodded.

“All right it’s marble,” she murmured but her voice was sleepy, a monotone. “But it’s not an altar, I told you….” She was bending down as if to kiss him, and with her right fingers she touched his lips. “We’re taking you to the scientists among us. We’re not wild beasts.” He could hear her heart tripping. Somewhere far off Armand was arguing with Benji. But they were too far away for Garekyn to hear what they said. How far away? How long would it take them to get back here if this woman were to sound an alarm?

She was so pretty, so very pretty. Her hair fell down around him. He could feel it against his forehead and his cheek, feel it falling on his neck. It was now or never.

With all his might he bucked, pulling up with his arms, pounding down with his heels, convulsing his whole body. The marble cracked and he found himself sitting upright, the cables falling loose around him, and the whole stone platform of sorts crashing to the floor in three giant fragments as the woman screamed.

Freeing his arms instantly, he reached for her and clapped his hand over her mouth. Dragging her with him as he stepped out of the coils of cable and the debris of the broken marble, he moved to the door. She struggled mightily, almost managing to free herself.

He slammed the door shut tight in its huge metal frame.

She fought him with all she had, scratching at him, biting at him, even stabbing his left leg with the sharp heel of her shoe. He tried to throw her off but he couldn’t, and finally grabbing her by the hair, he waltzed awkwardly to the side with her, pulling her off-balance, and slammed her head against the concrete wall as he had done with Killer.

She screamed so loudly it was like a dagger going right into his ears. But the impact had stunned her body, and the scream was all she could control.

He flung her head at the wall again, and then again.

The bones broke, but her screams did not stop. She slid down the wall to the floor, the blood pouring out of her mouth and out of her ears and down the front of her black silk dress. He could see the pearls being covered in blood, thick, sparkling blood, blood alive with something he could see in the light.