PROLOGUE
“My middle name is Odysseus. Of course, growing up, they just called me Odd.”
—Christos Karacis
Christos Karacis
Gypsum Valley, Midnight
Damned silly to be skulking around a campsite at my age like some Boy Scout on a panty raid. Too bad there was nothing nearly so entertaining about my situation. The Back to Earth compound had turned out to be a lot bloodier than a Scout jamboree.
I hadn’t slept in two days, ever since I’d seen what I’d seen. Every time I closed my eyes, JD’s terror-stricken face, the hot spray of his blood, the sight of his intestines spilling into his hands as they tore him apart played out in my head. Then I’d remember the way clawlike hands had latched on to keep me from lunging to the rescue, the fear that I was next, the suddenly alien faces all around me, and especially the knowledge that even if I could grab up JD’s trailing innards and shove them back in, he’d probably die of infection.
He never had that chance.
Suddenly, liberating Mara’s daughter from the cult had become a matter of life and death. By the time I’d infiltrated it, she was already inner circle. I couldn’t get anywhere near her. I was still too low on the totem pole at the winter solstice even to rate an invitation to their celebration, so it was only at the vernal equinox that I’d seen what the bacchants were capable of. And now that I had … It was possible that Casey was too far gone to save, but that wasn’t for me to say.
I had to avenge JD, if nothing else. Penance for my failure to listen when he’d cracked, started raving about wild women and cannibalism and getting out. I’d chalked the rant up to moldy rye, just the way history had for the accusations of the witnesses at the old witch trials. I’d assumed the name bacchant was an affectation chosen by someone who knew them historically as worshippers of the fertility god Dionysus—someone who didn’t know about their dark fits, the festival frenzies where they tore men limb from limb and let their blood pour out like libations upon the fields. I couldn’t accept that anyone would willfully whip his followers into madness and resurrect human sacrifice. So what in the seven hells had Dion done? Was his name just another affectation or could it be … No, I’d never believed our family tales that the old gods walked among us—Atlas with a gym franchise, Aphrodite the new Mayflower Madam and the like. Drugs or mass hypnosis ranked far higher on the probability scale than divinely inspired blood lust.
My body shuddered involuntarily at the thought, as if trying to throw it off, and I pressed myself more deeply into the shadows of the building that the solar-charged lights of the compound failed to reach, trying to hide myself from the bacchants sauntering by on their rounds. It was nearly midnight; everyone else was snug in their beds.
When they passed, I forced myself to walk as if I had a purpose. There were, sadly, a few yards of well-lit ground to cover between me and the main building—the only one with a phone so far as I knew. Slinking would certainly get me noticed. If I could pretend to be on a mission, maybe I could brazen it out. No one stopped me on the way, but still a sense of dread clutched at my heart. Between that and the odd heat wave making the air as thick as pea soup, I was gasping like a landed fish by the time I made it to the side door of the office building. I’d never noticed video monitors—they were against the anti-technology stance of Back to Earth—but I wasn’t going to stake my life that they didn’t exist. The office phone was just barely tolerated as a necessary evil and only for the high muckety-muck, who was presumably beyond corruption. I kept my head down, my face away from where I thought the cameras would be placed, and pulled the promotional postcard I’d swiped—sixty percent recycled paper—from my pocket. I slid it like a key card through the minimal gap between the door and frame. It took three tries. Between the lack of lamination, the tight fit and the sudden weakness in my hands, I mangled two edges before I felt the proper slide.
As quietly as I could, I closed the door behind me and listened. Aside from the hoot of an owl outside, which I tried not to take as an ill omen, all was as silent as the grave. Eerily quiet in the way only a place without the constant, accustomed hum of technology can be. The glow from outside barely penetrated the gloom, lighting my way to Dion’s inner sanctum. I crossed to his door, staying low to avoid windows, and tried my trick again with the postcard. It was a lot easier this time. I thought I might be getting the hang of breaking and entering.
Dion’s office was pitch black, without a single window for illumination. I had to feel my way to the desk and phone. Shaking, I sat in Dion’s cushy chair and dialed Detective Beverly Simon’s number by touch. I’d thought long and hard about who to call and figured that of all people, she’d listen. Plus, she could take care of herself and had the clout to get things done.
“Simon,” she answered with a voice all groggy from sleep. Longing shocked me like a sucker punch to the gut.
No time. “Bev, you’ve got to listen to me.” I kept my voice low.
“Christ—”
“Shh. Just listen. I don’t know how much time I have. The Back to Earth movement. Check them out. A kid’s been killed. JD something.”
God, I hadn’t even bothered to learn the kid’s full name. The fact that we didn’t use them here didn’t make me feel any better. For all I knew, JD wasn’t even his real name. He might have recreated himself as so many did on joining.
“What? You vanish for months with no word and then call me with a tip?”
I heard a sound, like someone testing the outer door, maybe preparing to enter.
“Bev, please. I’ve gotta go.”
I pressed the button to disconnect, then quickly hit random keys to prevent anyone from punching redial in case I was discovered. I didn’t want Bev in their sights. I replaced the receiver as quickly and quietly as I could. Still, the slight sound it made touching home seemed to echo in the resounding silence of the compound.
Over my own pounding heart, I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard an answering snick of that outer door sealing. Someone was inside with me. The footsteps heading my way confirmed it. There was only one exit from the office and nowhere to run.