

She bit her lip while I told her about Jurt and the zombies, and she licked idly at the beads of blood that appeared thereafter. There had simply been too much activity since my return. What do you mean by 'godhood'? she asked. Just let me finish with the business about the Pattern, will you? It would take most of the night to tell you this story properly, and we don't have the time, not if I'm going to start looking for Coral soon. I was able to skip over the bit about blasting the table in the cafe, but when I glossed over the business in the sea caves by saying that we'd looked around in them and found them pretty, she interrupted me. Very well, I agreed, and I started again.

I'll give you the whole story if you'll do this for me. Now Now there was the faintest of shadows across the couch, as I realized that I'd rather be holding Coral than her sister. Why hadn't I had a nice normal affair since Julia? The last woman I'd made love to had actually been under the control of that strange body-shifting entity. She rose, crossed the room, and passed out into the hall, leaving the door a few inches ajar. What are you going to do about him? she asked suddenly.
