Dervish stares out the windows, then checks the rear-view mirrors. “I’ll go,” he decides. “Keep the engine running. If anything happens—anything—slam your foot down on the accelerator and forget about me. Do not play the hero. Grubbs?” He glances at me, trusting me to know about life and death situations, and how to deal with them.

“We’ll do what we have to,” I tell him.

“Wish me luck,” Dervish mutters and opens his door. Just as he’s stepping out, the car shakes wildly. Dervish falls. The rest of us shriek. The engine cuts out. Juni fumbles for the key. The lights go dead. Something hits the car. A cloud of gas. Coughing, I reach for the door handle. Before my fingers find it, gas fills my mouth and nostrils. My eyes close. I groan softly. Then slump over, senses shutting down, figuring the next thing I see when—if—I awake will be the jaws of a ravenous demon.

I was wrong about the demon. Instead I wake to Juni slapping my cheeks and calling my name. A far more pleasant sight than one of the Demonata!

“What happened?” I moan, sitting up, shaking my head, ears ringing, the taste of the gas still thick on my tongue.

“We were knocked out,” Juni says, going to check on Dervish. I’m lying outside the car, on the road. Dervish is close by, sitting upright, massaging the back of his neck, looking around woozily. No sign of Bill-E.

“Where’s Bill-E?” I ask.

“We’ve been unconscious for forty minutes,” Juni says. “I’m not sure what they used on us. It might have been—”

“Where’s Bill-E?” I ask again, sharply this time.

Juni looks at me steadily. “I don’t know. He wasn’t here when I regained consciousness.”

I try to stand. Dizziness hits me hard. I stagger and sit down again.

“That happened to me too,” Dervish says sluggishly.

“Why are we alive?” I ask. “Why did they spare us and only take Bill-E?”

“I don’t know,” Dervish says. “It doesn’t make sense. This is… confusing.”

“They might be playing with us,” Juni says. “They could have taken Bill-E to use as bait, to lure us back to town, so they could torment us.”

“If they did,” Dervish says, standing slowly, groaning, “they’re smart as hell. I’m not leaving him behind.”

“It would be madness to return,” Juni says. “We can help him more by—”

“No,” I say, standing up like Dervish, fighting the dizziness. “We aren’t going without Bill-E.”

“But you can leave,” Dervish tells Juni. “In fact it would be better that way. Us on the inside, you on the outside. You could spread the alarm and fetch help—if not for us, then for the rest of the people here.”

“But…” Juni starts to argue, then stops. “No. I can see your minds are made up. I’m not going to waste time trying to talk you out of it. I’ll leave, like you suggest. You can give me the names and numbers of anyone you think I should contact. I’ll return as quickly as I can and just pray that’s quick enough.”

“I like your style,” Dervish smiles, reaching out, gently touching her right cheek.

Juni smiles back. Then blinks. “Oh, here, I don’t think this has anything to do with Bill-E, but…” She picks a small object off the front passenger seat and hands it to Dervish. “I found it when I came to.”

Dervish stares at the object. I see his mouth tighten at the corners. A new cloud of anger rises in his eyes. His fingers clench, then relax. He holds his hand out to me. There’s a silver ring nestled in his palm. A flat, circular piece on top, with a gold “L” inscribed on it.

My eyes shoot up. Dervish and I stare at each other, more astonished than furious. If this ring is what I think it is, demons didn’t kidnap Bill-E. He was taken by the Lambs!

PART THREE — THE LABORATORY

DISCIPLES

We get back in the car and tear out of Slawter as fast as Juni dares drive, Dervish busy on his mobile. He makes a series of calls and speaks with six or seven different people. Juni and I listen silently, not understanding everything that he says.

When Dervish finally lays the phone down, he shuts his eyes and massages his eyelids. Juni gives him a few seconds, then says quietly, “I assume the plan is for us to go after Bill-E?”

“Yes,” Dervish says.

“And those we left behind? I don’t want to be insensitive, but we’re talking about the lives of hundreds of people. Is Bill-E that important?”

“He is to me.” Dervish opens his eyes and sighs. “I’m not forgetting the others. I’ve convinced two of my colleagues to help us get Billy back. And I’ll find another couple to send to the film set.”

“Only two?” Juni frowns. “Shouldn’t we alert the authorities? Send in more than just a pair of your friends?”

“My friends have devoted their lives to dealing with the Demonata,” Dervish growls. “The Disciples are people with magical abilities, accustomed to handling messes like this. They’ll know what to do.”

“But surely, the more back-up we provide…”

Dervish looks at Juni with a wry smile. “OK. Call the police. Tell them demons are on the loose. Draw little pictures of Lord Loss and—”

“Don’t,” Juni snaps. “I won’t stand for sarcasm, not in my own car.”

“Sorry,” Dervish says. “But you have to understand, we’re on our own, just us and the Disciples. That’s the way it’s always been. Even if you convinced the police to send in troops, they wouldn’t achieve anything. Demons can only be killed by magical means. Human weapons don’t affect them, not unless they’re wielded by a mage. If the Disciples can’t stop the massacre, nobody can.”

“But—”

“No more talk,” Dervish says, letting his seat back.

“You’re going to sleep?” Juni snorts with disbelief.

“I’m going to try,” Dervish says. “Unless you want me to drive?”

“No.”

“Then wake me when we hit the airport.”

And with that Dervish shuts his eyes and dozes.

Juni looks at me in the mirror, astonished. I shrug. “At least he’s not acting like a brainwashed simpleton any longer,” I say with a smile.

“I think I preferred him when he was!” Juni huffs.

We have to wait four hours for a flight, then three hours in the next airport. Dervish makes more phone calls, recruiting a couple of Disciples to go to Slawter, while Juni and I use the restrooms.

I spend several minutes at one of the sinks, splashing water over my face, enjoying the coolness. As I’m dripping dry, I study my reflection in the mirror and frown. Something’s not right, but I don’t know what. I look much the same as always, skin a touch paler than normal, eyes a bit wider.

Yet I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. Is it my hair? I run a hand through my ginger mop—nothing amiss there.

Unable to put my finger on the problem, I go see how Dervish is getting on, then Juni and I grab a bite to eat.

“You shouldn’t worry,” Juni says as I nibble with disinterest at a BLT. “We’ll get your brother back.”

“Thanks.” I start to smile, but again I’m struck by an uneasy feeling. I glance around nervously—are we being followed? But nobody’s watching us. I’m just being paranoid, imagining threats that aren’t really there.

A long second flight. Seven hours in the air. Dervish fills Juni in on what’s happening. Tells her about the Lambs, the visit from Prae Athim, her interest in Bill-E. Explains about the Disciples, their efforts to stop the Demonata from crossing into our world and slaughtering at will.

Dervish says he knows where the Lambs’ main laboratory is situated. It’s part of a vast security complex. Lots of armed guards. Breaking in will be very dangerous. He won’t blame her if she doesn’t want to get involved. Juni waves that away, but she’s not entirely happy with the plan.

“You can’t know for certain that they’ll take Bill-E to this laboratory,” she says. “What if they place him somewhere less obvious?”