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.“I’ll be right back,” he said.He was halfway down the hall when Zach yelled at him.“What? Where are you going?”“Go to the Oval Office,” Cade shouted back, over his shoulder.“I’ll be there as fast as I can.”“What am I supposed to do?”“Improvise,” Cade shouted, and then he was gone, down the stairwell.ZACH STOOD THERE for another moment, watching the space where Cade had been.“Oh, come on!” he shouted, when he realized Cade wasn’t coming back.He heard something.Above him, at the entrance hall, the two agents stared at him.Candace was behind them.“Zach?” she said.“Are you all right?”Zach nodded.“Super.” He looked at the agents.“I need more bullets.”They looked at each other, then one shrugged and tossed him a spare clip.He caught it, ejected the empty clip and reloaded.Almost like he knew what he was doing.The boys from the NRA would be proud.“Get her back in the panic room.”The agents didn’t tell him to go screw himself Zach guessed that fighting a multilimbed horror bought him a little respect.They took Candace’s arms, gently, and started pulling her back.“Zach,” she said, “what are you going to do?”“It’s okay, Candace,” he said.“I’m going to check on the president.”She still looked unsure.But she let the two agents guide her away.Zach was glad she was gone before the adrenaline shakes started.He ran like a spastic toward the West Wing, with 99 percent of his brain totally convinced he was going to die.Still, that remaining one percent—the idiot part of him, probably—knew that if he wanted to, he could have Candace back in the Lincoln Bedroom anytime he wanted.He’d just have to survive this first.SIXTY-EIGHTThere are times when the defense of liberty requires the unleashing of monsters.—President Andrew Johnson, private journalIt had been quiet in the Oval Office for several minutes now.They heard the explosion, muffled by the heavy steel panels.Then nothing.Griff stood at the door, listening, gun drawn.He wasn’t sure what was going on.It could be the fight was over already.Could be that Cade had lost.He didn’t know.Wyman, on the other hand, appeared to have reached a decision.He stood, trying to straighten his blazer and pajama shirt as well as he could.He walked over to Griff.“Agent Griffin,” he said.“Open the door.I’m leaving.”Griff didn’t think anything could make him laugh at this point.As usual, he underestimated Wyman.“You’re not serious,” Griff said.Wyman nodded.Of course he was.Griff could see now his chin was trembling.Wyman was barely holding it together.Somehow, he’d decided this was the plan.He’d just walk out.“Mr.Vice President—”Wyman cut him off.“I’m giving you an order, Agent Griffin.You will follow it.You will follow my order and open that door.”The president looked over, puzzled.“Les,” he said.“Sit down.”Wyman ignored him.“Agent Griffin, I am not supposed to be here.I am not supposed to be here and you will open that door.”His voice pitched toward screeching at the end.“None of us should be here, Les,” the president said, his voice calm.“Just sit down.”“You don’t understand, I am not supposed to be here! Now, open the fucking door!”He rushed Griff.Griff stopped him easily, even as weak as he felt.He stiff-armed the vice president, holding him away.Wyman struggled as hard as he could.Griff kept him back.“Open the door!” he shouted.Griff was sick to death of him.He pushed him back into his chair.Hard.“Sit down, Lester,” he ordered.Wyman’s eyes shone with tears, but he stayed put.That’s when they felt the impact of the first blows against the door.DOWN THE STAIRS, into the P-OCK and through the tunnel.Underground, Cade’s full speed returned.The wound on his cheek healed as he made the mile back to the Smithsonian in record time.Cade opened the locker where Griff had secured the metal case from Kosovo.He flipped it open, wincing slightly.In the gloom of the Reliquary, the object glowed softly with a gentle white light.This was not an object from the Other Side.The Vukodlak had grabbed it from the U.S.Embassy, where it had resided since being saved from an Eastern Orthodox monastery bombed during the Kosovo conflict.It was a human hand, perfectly preserved, encased in a metal gauntlet.The gauntlet dated from at least the fourteenth century.The hand was much older.It was the hand of John the Baptist.Supposedly.The hand that had been touched by an angel and then touched the head of Christ.The relic was believed to have the magical ability to heal, even to return the dead to life.Supposedly.All Cade knew for sure was that it hurt him, more than the cross on his neck.It had power.He just hoped it had enough.He slammed the case shut and ran back into the tunnel that led to the White House.ZACH FELT THE WALLS SHAKING.He rounded the corner, and saw the last Unmenschsoldat pounding at the door of the Oval Office.He stopped.The door began to crack, to tear free of its frame.The thing kept pounding.Zach aimed the gun and fired.Stupid.Without a convenient open wound, the bullets didn’t have any more effect than on the other creatures.He emptied the whole clip, and nothing happened.Zach screamed in frustration.He flung the empty gun at the creature’s head.It bounced off, again with no effect.Actually, there was some effect.The creature’s head spun 180 degrees and stared at Zach.It stopped pounding on the door.Its body swiveled to face the same way as its head.It began walking toward Zach.Oh, good, Zach thought.I’ve managed to piss it off.CORPORAL GARCIA DIDN’T KNOW why he was trying to get inside the locked door.It seemed pretty urgent, but it wasn’t up to him.It was the body, moving on its own [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]