Part 48 (2/2)

She felt her hair pulled, her elbow jostled.And then...

Along with all the other sounds, a whisper.

”Run, Megan, run.”

Then laughter. A soft, eerie laughter, right at her ear.

The person in the cloak and cowl still had her hand. In a death grip.

”We've got to get farther. We've got to get away.”

”No, I have to find Finn!”

”Finn's all right. We've got to move out!”

”Who the h.e.l.l are you?”

She tried to jerk away. The grip was relentless. She couldn't see the person's face. The voice was deep and raspy.

”It's all right, Megan, it's me. It's Mike. Please, let's just get far enough away in case there is an explosion. Finn will get out, he'll know you're out.”

”No!” she said insistently. ”Finn will be looking for me; he could run back in!”

Apparently, Mike didn't hear her. Someone pushed her from behind, forcing her forward. Mike took advantage, jerking her hand hard, running.

Propelled and dragged with equal force, Megan found herself tripping across the parking lot. They were heading past the cars, she saw.

And toward the woods.

Megan had gotten off the stage; Finn made certain of that. Despite the sparks flying and the flames leaping up around the area, he crawled on his hands and knees over the entire area of the stage, praying only that he wasn't electrocuted in the process. People were running into the dais there, falling, crying out. He could hear a voice, begging for calm. It sounded like Adam Spade. It wouldn't be Tartan, Finn thought bitterly. Tartan would have been the first person out of the building.

Someone fell hard against the stage. Finn found an elbow and lifted whoever to their feet. He was rewarded with a dazed, ”Thanks!”

”Get out, buddy, get out!” Someone told him.

Another small explosion rocked the stage. Finn rolled backward to avoid the flames. Landing hard on the dance floor by the stage, he ducked beneath it quickly to keep from being trampled. Despite the tangle of legs rus.h.i.+ng past, he managed to roll out and get to his feet.

The acrid smell of smoke filled his nostrils. The smell of it definitely indicated an electrical fire, but he knew that his sound system had been in excellent shape. So...

”Move, move, move! The fires are growing!”

They were, which seemed impossible, since the sprinklers were now dousing the entire place. Caught up in the exodus, Finn became determined to move with the crowd, shouting Megan's name all the while.

Feeling the temptation to give way to panic, he gritted his teeth, telling himself that Megan was capable and smart; she had been caught up in the flow of the crowd, just as he was himself. When he found an exit, he would find Megan.

Still, fear set in. All this hok.u.m about dreams and demons. And the greatest danger they were coming to face was a fire. Avery real danger. Not something out of the mist, or the imagination.

A fire that had started on the stage.

A fire set on purpose?

He thought back to the afternoon and remembered what Lucian had said-that they wouldn't be playing tomorrow night. They were scheduled to play, but they wouldn't be playing, because midnight was the hour.

The hour when a demon could best return to earth.

”Megan!” His voice roared over the spray of the sprinklers, the screaming, the thumping, the cras.h.i.+ng of objects around him.

A few minutes later, he burst outside.

Into something worse than darkness.

A true shadow realm, for smoke had combined with the ceaseless fog that seemed to haunt the place, and all that was visible was a field of shadows.

”Megan!”

He called her name.

”Finn!”

Faint... the answer so faint, and yet, he was so certain he heard her. From where? From the direction of...

He whirled around.

”Finn!”

He thought he heard her again. Real? Imagined? He didn't now.

He had no choice. He ran in the direction of the woods.

”Mike! Stop, I mean it!” Megan said determinedly. She jerked hard on his hand, forcing him to come to a stop.

”Megan, we have to have distance!” he insisted, jerking her hand again.

”We've got distance. We're nearly in the trees.”

”I am not going to let you kill yourself!”

He started to move again, jerking her along. But suddenly, in the midst of the fog, he came across a barrier and crashed into it so hard that he drew Megan along with him.

It was another man in a brown cape, the hood so far over his face she couldn't begin to see it.”Let her go,” he said firmly.

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