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mouth. “Mab put the key in, and when I went to get the chalice, the statue was gone. College kids steal that damn statue all the time, so I’m guessing his chalice was broken and this time Fufluns got out and ran with it.”
    FIND HIM AND BRING HIM TO ME .
    â€œHow?” Ray said.
    HE’LL POSSESS SOMEONE. THEN DRINK AND CHASE WOMEN .
    â€œThat’s every guy in the park.”
    Kharos seethed for a moment. If he could have, he’d have smashed Ray’s head like a clay pot. But he couldn’t. Ray had power and skills. And he was on the outside of the prison in which Kharos was trapped, so he couldn’t be reached anyway.
    Although . . .
    Fufluns’ and Tura’s escapes had strengthened Kharos. Straining against the confines of his chalice, he reached out with his mind and tweaked the back of Ray’s head.
    A clump of hair fell out.
    Ray scratched the back of his head and then went on talking, oblivious. “It’s not like I have time to go hunting down escaped demons. I’m the
mayor
, you know. I have things to do that don’t involve you.”
    INSECT
, Kharos thought. In two weeks, he was going to smash Ray’s head like a clay pot.
    â€œFor example,” Ray went on, “we have this Halloween merchant thing going on that’s very popular—”
    GO WHERE PEOPLE ARE LAUGHING. FIND THE HUMAN WHO IS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. TOUCH HIM WITH IRON. IF HE FLINCHES, SAY, “KHAROS COMMANDS YOU TO GO TO HIM .”
    â€œYou know,” Ray said, “maybe we’re rushing this. We don’t have to do this right now. Another year wouldn’t—”
    NO , Kharos said. YOU HAVE DELAYED TOO MUCH ALREADY. FORTY YEARS .
    â€œHey, the first twenty were mine, that was the deal.” Ray chomped his cigar gloomily. “I should have held out for fifty. When you’re fifteen, thirty-five sounds ancient.”
    YOU’VE TAKEN FORTY .
    â€œYeah, but the last twenty have been working for you, making money for your big plan.”
    IT TOOK YOU TOO LONG .
    â€œEven with your mojo, the markets are treacherous. I did the best I could.” Ray looked mutinous. “And then I had to come back to this podunk town.”
    FORGET THAT. YOU HAVE MY WORK TO DO NOW .
    â€œWhat I’m saying is that if you give me another year or two, maybe five, I’ll own the whole town and the park, and then we won’t have to go sneaking around like this. A little more time—”
    YOU ARE TRYING MY PATIENCE .
    â€œWait. I have some good news.” He put his cigar on the edge of the bench, reached under his long coat, and pulled out a wooden chalice. “I got Tura. One of two ain’t bad.”
    THAT IS AN EMPTY VESSEL .
    Ray looked at the wood in his hands. “But the lid is on. I swear, I haven’t opened it.”
    FUFLUNS FREED HER .
    â€œI didn’t turn the key to open the statue. I told Mab to replace the flute key so I could get Fufluns’ chalice out of his statue while she was up on the roof. She never suspected a thing.” He looked away, frowning as he thought. “She must have found the dove key and put it on the Tunnel of Love on her own, thinking she was just putting back a missing bird.” He shook his head. “That was not my fault—”
    PUT TURA’S CHALICE BACK. FIND FUFLUNS. HE WILL DEAL WITH TURA .
    â€œAll right, although I still think waiting another five or ten years would be smarter.” Ray stood up. “Oh, one other thing: Glenda’s son came home. Ethan. He just got out of the Green Berets.”
    THAT IS NOTHING TO ME. FIND FUFLUNS .
    â€œAll right. I’ll put off my own work to help you. But I can’t keep dropping everything every time there’s a glitch in your plan. It’s taken me along time to live down the Brannigan name. People are sucking up now, but they’re just waiting for me to screw up, and then they’ll be on me