Adrian’s breath caught. There was something in the girl’s eyes that hadn’t been there before.

  Teri turned and vomited on Richard. He half expected her head to spin around.

  “Goddammit!” Richard yelled and lurched back.

  She looked up at him and fluttered her eyelashes. “Thanks for all your help, Dick. You’re my hero.” She turned and fixed her eyes on Adrian.

  “You too, Adrian. You’re my hero, too. Everyone always loved you, didn’t they? Especially that dog of yours. What was her name? Freya? What happened to Freya?”

  Adrian went cold. He hadn’t thought of his German Shepherd since high school. He’d loved that dog so much. But she chewed up the game ball, the one from the home run he’d hit in the playoffs. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, just teach her a lesson. He buried the body out in the woods behind his parent’s house, and told everyone she ran away.

  “But she didn’t run away, did she, Adrian?”

  “Richard. For fuck’s sake, she’s got her powers back. Stop her!”

  “I’m … trying,” Richard said. “She’s too strong.”

  “Did you know, Adrian, that if I interfered with a certain region of your pituitary, you’d no longer have a man’s desires? I wonder if you could kill me fast enough, Adrian. I wonder if you’d ever be able to reverse it without my help. But do you know what I really wonder, Adrian? I wonder if Shelly Tom would still be alive if I’d gotten to you sooner.”

  “Richard!” Shelly Tom ... the parking lot, the broken bottle, the blood, the fetid smell of the swamp as he watched her sink below the surface ...

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Teri,” he said.

  She laughed. “Teri’s not here, Adrian.”

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  “What?”

  She smiled.

  “Where is Teri, then? I could have sworn she was sitting right there.” His fingernails were digging into his hands.

  “You aren’t nearly as bright as you think you are, Adrian.”

  “Maybe not, but I still hold all the cards.” He nodded to the doctor. “Put her under.”

  The doctor prepared another syringe. Teri looked at him. He froze.

  “You weak-minded idiot.” Adrian snatched the syringe. “I’ll fucking do it myself.”

  Her laugh came again, in his head this time. Do you hold all the cards, Adrian? I wonder.

  Richard grabbed her and held her arm still. Adrian stabbed the needle in several times before finding a vein, all the while feeling a growing pressure in his head.

  “Strap her down,” Adrian said.

  “Shouldn’t have sent Carl in to scare her,” Teri said. “Terry had stuffed me back into the cage, but you made her let me out. Now you’re stuck with me. And you don’t have a prayer of breaking me. Teri was the only one stupid enough to fall for your bullshit, but she’s never coming back.”

  They wrestled her onto the exam table. Adrian’s head throbbed.

  “So you’ve decided … to be a pain in the ass?” Adrian snarled. He pulled the rope tight around her chest.

  “You have no idea, Adrian. You can’t begin to touch me. It will be worth the pain to see you fail.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this, Teri ...”

  “That stupid bitch isn’t here!” She screamed it into his face. He staggered back, clutching his head. It felt like he’d been punched.

  “You’ll never see that spineless little cunt again, Adrian,” she said. “You failed. Now you have to kill us.”

  Adrian stared at her. The migraine was making it hard to think straight.

  “Thank you, Adrian,” she said. “Thank you for setting me free.”

  “Free …?”

  “Oh yes. Free to do whatever I want.” The headache resolved into a sharp pain at the base of his skull. “Now untie me or I’ll kill you.”

  “Richard! Jesus, Richard!”

  “Dammit … I’m trying …” Richard said. He pulled himself up on the table and laid on top of her. The table groaned under their combined weight. The pain in Adrian’s skull faded.

  “I’ve got her,” Richard said. “I’ve got … ahhh!” He grabbed at his shoulder. Blood trickled between his fingers. “She bit me! The bitch bit me!”

  Teri laughed. Richard drew back a huge fist. “Fucking cunt!”

  “Richard!” Adrian yelled. At the last moment, Richard opened his palm, turning the punch into a slap. Her head rocked to the side. She laughed even harder.

  “Get ahold of yourself,” Adrian said.

  Teri’s eyes rolled up. Her arms began to shake.

  Zimmer cleared his throat. “The drug mixture is going to overwhelm her soon. If you still want her alive, I’ve got to do something now.”

  “Let her die,” Richard said. “Fucking bitch bit me! I’ve probably got rabies now.”

  “Go ahead and help her,” Adrian said. His headache was gone. “Maybe we can still salvage something.”