Finally, I arrived at the scene where Maggie sat atop a mountain of corpses like some gang boss lady. Actually, that picture fitted her more perfectly than any nun or Grand Inquisitor or whatever she was rumored to have been when she was alive.
I stepped through the entrance. Behind me, the others held back as if pressed against a wall. Sulin, Jose, every single one of them stood well away from the threshold. Not one of them had crossed it.
The moment I appeared, their heads turned.
"Boy, where have you been?! I was worried sick about you!"
Jose smiled. "See, I told you the guy was somewhere taking a nap."
Sulin looked at me and said nothing.
I didn't say anything either. Just nodded and started forward when the wiry lady caught my wrist. Her grip trembled, but she didn't let go.
Dull spoke as if translating.
