Robert Browne - The Paradise Prophecy

Pathetic.

The good professor, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly where he was going. And after their little trip to Ozan-land, Callahan had pretty much given up on trying to talk herself out of what she now knew in her bones to be true. She might be reluctant to admit it to La Laurie, but he didn’t need to convince her of anything anymore.

What happened to Ozan was not even close to what anyone would classify as normal. And judging by Gabriela’s phone message, she’d gone through the exact same thing. Which meant that the Satan-worshipping wack-job theory that Callahan had been clinging to for so long had gone straight out the window.

Bottom line, she owed LaLaurie-and Lieutenant Martinez, for that matter-a profound apology.

Whatever they were dealing with here, it had the ability to get inside your head and drive you bat-fucking insane.

And the idea of that chilled Callahan to the marrow.

Batty felt sure it would be just a few more turns, another set of steps, and they’d emerge somewhere on the streets of Istanbul.

He couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to give this manuscript a closer look. He could almost feel it vibrating inside the book bag, as if it were alive. Which lent some credence to Milton’s claim that the words on its pages were divinely inspired.

But as he turned a corner, he suddenly stopped.

Callahan said, “What the hell are you-”

He held up a hand, silencing her.

Ahead, one of the light fixtures was broken, plunging the far end of the tunnel in darkness, and he sensed that someone was waiting there, in the shadows.

He could feel the heat. The hunger.

Keeping his voice low, he said to Callahan, “Don’t move.”

She squinted toward the darkness, whispered, “You see something up there?”

“The waitress from the tea shop across the street.”

Callahan paused, as if waiting for a punch line. Then she said, “You’re kidding me, right?”

“I wish I were. She waited on me when I stopped there this afternoon.”

“What-you forgot to leave a tip?”

“Actually, I gave her a pretty generous one, but I don’t think that matters much right now. If I’m right about her, and I’m pretty sure I am, she could rip us both apart in about thirty seconds flat.”

Callahan considered this a moment. “Normally, I’d ask you to explain a statement like that, but I think I’m gonna take your word for it. What do you suggest we do?”

“Stay very still,” Batty told her. “Believe it or not, she needs an invitation to attack. A sign of aggression.”

“Ooookay . . . This is probably a stupid question, but how the hell do you know all this?”

“I thought we already established that. I read a lot of books.”

She looked at him. “You ever considered fiction?”

“Never go near it,” he said.

The shadows stirred ahead and Batty had a feeling their movement through the tunnels alone had probably been aggressive enough to pose a threat. Or maybe he’d already managed that back at the tea shop.

Whatever the case, it was already too late.

The shadows shifted and Ajda stepped forward into the light-not a drudge, as he had hoped, but a full-fledged, shape-shifting, throat-ripping sycophant.

And that was far, far worse than any drudge could ever aspire to be.

Worse still, she had shifted already, looking more animal than human. Freddy Krueger’s long-lost daughter with a loving spoonful of junkyard rat thrown in, complete with bared teeth, sharpened nails and phosphorescent green eyes. Feral didn’t even come close to describing this thing.

Batty felt Callahan sway beside him, and he knew that any doubts she’d had about otherworldly phenomenon had just been swallowed whole by the Goddess of Chew-on-This-Motherfucker.

She was tough-probably one of the toughest people he’d ever met, man or woman-but there was nothing in her playbook that could have prepared her for something like this.

“I think I’m about to be sick,” she gasped.

And as the beast let out a long, low growl, Batty said, “I’ve only got one word of advice for you.”

“Which is?”

“Run.”

Callahan didn’t need to be told twice.

Without a word, she wheeled around and took off through the tunnel like a triathlete at the starting gun.

Running barefoot on stone with your purse tucked under one arm and your dress hitched up around your waist probably wasn’t the most graceful way to make an escape, but she figured she’d save the performance evaluation for later and concentrate on staying alive.

LaLaurie was right beside her, breathing hard, and she could hear that thing-whatever the fuck it was-only feet behind them, skittering across the tunnel floor like something from a Kafkaesque nightmare, hissing as it ran.

The tunnel curved ahead, and Callahan leaned forward, picking up speed. But as she moved into the curve, the hissing got louder and more sustained. She heard a flurry of movement behind her, then the thing screeched and LaLaurie grunted and went down hard.

Stopping in her tracks, Callahan spun around and saw him thrashing on the ground, the thing pinning him down like a cat with a hamster, its lips drawn back, exposing sharp, spiky teeth. Then it went directly for his throat.

Sweet holy Jesus.

LaLaurie grunted again, trying to block it, only to get a forearm full of teeth for his trouble. To his credit, he didn’t scream, but Callahan knew she couldn’t stand here and watch this fucking thing rip him to shreds. Yanking the hairspray canister from her purse, she leapt forward, spraying what was left of the stuff directly in the thing’s face.

It screeched and fell back, but it didn’t go down. Not even close. In fact, the assault only seemed to piss it off even more and now it was looking at Callahan, growling and hissing at her, getting ready to pounce.

But she didn’t give it the chance. She knew she could hurt it, so the trick was to strike fast and keep it off balance.

Hitching up her gown again, she turned sideways and kicked, nailing it in the side of the head, wishing she still had her heels on, maybe drive a five-inch spike right into one of those baleful green eyes. The thing screeched a second time and went flying, slamming into the tunnel wall. Maybe it had the advantage of nails and teeth and agility, but despite its immunity to her magic hairspray, it didn’t seem any stronger than your average everyday tea slinger.

And that made Callahan feel very confident, indeed.

Stepping forward now, she promptly got to work.

Batty clamped his arm, trying to stem the bleeding as he scrambled out of the way and watched Callahan in motion, a blur of kicks and spins and punches, and it was obvious she knew exactly what she was doing. It was, he thought, quite an amazing thing to see, and he knew that somewhere deep inside that rodent brain, little Ajda was wondering who the hell this crazy bitch was.

Callahan was relentless. Didn’t pause, didn’t slow down, didn’t even seem to take a breath as she continued her assault, driving the beast down, every attempt at an attack countered by a solid, bone-jangling blow.

Then the beast was lying on the floor, hunkered up in the fetal position, bleeding, whimpering softly, as Callahan stood over it with her fists clenched, trying to catch her breath.

“Holy shit,” she muttered, staring down at the thing as if seeing it for the first time.

But Batty knew what was happening. Still clutching his arm, feeling blood pool up in the sleeve of his tuxedo jacket, he climbed to his feet and stood next to Callahan, watching as the thing on the floor shifted again, morphing from beast to human before their eyes.

Then Ajda looked up at them, her face battered, her mouth twisted in fear and pain, tears streaming down her cheeks.