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“Then we’ll get a pony. That’s probably better anyway. It’s smaller and its blood is fresh and vital.”

“I’m not sure a small horse is what Kenny is looking for,” says Dan, and then the whole fucking room is debating what animal is small enough to fit down here but big enough to keep Kenny fat and happy. I tune it all out. Not only don’t I care about their ridiculous plans, but I’m distracted by other things.

Like Kenny’s entrance from Downtown. I’ve seen a lot of spirit manifestations over the years, but the one Dan pulled off was very specific. It’s the exact same passageway I’ve seen too many times in Little Cairo. Could it be just a weird coincidence? Are Kenny and the doom twins reading from the same playbook as whoever called the Stay Belows back to this world? It’s possible, but I have severe doubts.

The doom twins are so in love with death I can see them in the rumpus room night after night trying to get the hoodoo right. And they did it without even realizing it, opening a gateway and letting those murderous spooks into this world.

That all makes sense, but it still doesn’t explain Chris Stein or why the haunting is in Little Cairo. When Juliette and Dan said they didn’t know if he’d been in the Lodge they were telling the truth. I could see it in their eyes and hear it in the microtremors of their voices. So, how did Stein end up as the focal point for all those spooks? There’s one thing I do know. I’m not going to find the answers here. These dummies have no idea what they’re doing. That means someone else called Stein. I’ll take a look at their records, but I have a feeling I’m right back where I started.

Maybe not right back. Where did those spooks that attacked me in the flying saucer house come from? Me and Kenny weren’t exactly friends. Did he figure out how to control the Stay Belows and send them for me? And did the doom twins know anything about it?

Janet says, “So? What do you think?”

“I could have shown you Hell without you killing the bird.”

“Then do it.”

“No.”

“There’s the problem. Kenny is the solution.”

“Then why am I here?”

“You’re a powerful presence,” says Dan. “And you know more than you say. If things go pear-shaped, you won’t let everyone die.”

“Just you.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Around me, the others are happily speculating on the best way to kill things for Kenny.

I turn to Janet.

“You’re okay with the animal sacrifices?”

They whisper, “Not really. But Kenny is suffering. He said sacrifices would help him escape that terrible place.”

I consider telling her that sacrifices don’t work that way. They don’t get you out of the House of Knives. I know this from personal experience. I still remember the blades ripping into me for the first time. It didn’t even hurt—at first. The feeling was more an icy kind of shock. But the cold slipped away quickly and there I was with my insides twisting around whirling daggers. It was the first place the Hellions tried to get rid of me. Before the arena, it’s where I discovered that I was hard to kill. But I can’t tell Janet all of that.

Instead I say, “You can do what you want. I’m not murdering any dogs.”

They hold on to my hand as I get up.

“Please don’t make a scene.”

I pull my hand away and turn to the doom twins.

“Thanks for the floor show.”

I check Janet one more time to see if she—they—want to come with me. They turn away.

When I head upstairs, Dan calls after me.

“Leaving so soon? The evening was just getting started.”

I stop by the door and smile at him and Juliette.

“There’s one thing you should know. I don’t kill animals. I kill people. And if anything happens to Janet, I’ll kill you. Aside from that, stay away from me. All of you.”