1

“If anything happens to Vicky, Abe—anything—I’m going to kill him.”

Hell, something had already happened to Vicky. She had a foul-looking mark across her back. The thought of it made Jack sick.

He and Abe had assumed their customary fore and aft positions at the scarred counter in the rear of the Isher Sports Shop. He’d come here because he could no longer stand being in the same room, the same apartment, the same goddamn block as his brother.

“Such a remark I’d take with a grain of salt from anybody else. But seeing as it’s you…”

Jack closed his eyes at the memory of Gia’s frantic call, his headlong rush across town with Tom tagging along, and then the gut punch of seeing that mark on Vicky’s back and knowing—knowing—it was connected to the Lilitongue. How could anyone doubt that? Especially after the damned thing had appeared in Gia’s home and set up watch in Vicky’s bedroom.

He’d wanted to strangle Tom then and there. Still did.

Vicky had been terrified, thinking it had followed her because it was mad at her for touching it. She’d spent the night in her mother’s room. Jack had sent Tom home and had spent the night in a guest bedroom. Vicky had had a rough night but had finally dropped off to sleep. She was still asleep when he’d left this morning.

“I’m serious, Abe. He’s just this far from being enrolled in the Judge Crater club.”

“Another explanation for the mark is possible.”

“Yeah? Give me one.”

“I should give you what I don’t have? All I’m saying is that post hoc ergo propter hoc is not a reliable path to the truth.”

“In this case my gut tells me it is. There’s this thing floating in midair in Vicky’s bedroom. That’s not natural. Then there’s this big black mark that appears on Vicky’s back after she touched the thing and started it floating. That’s not natural either. Then it shows up in her bedroom.”

“Your guderim also tells you this mark is dangerous?”

Jack nodded. “Oh yeah.”

Exactly what danger, Jack didn’t know, but a black mark… on Vicky… from a thing a girl with a dog and a hole through her belly had warned against… no way he’d ever find anything good about that.

He pounded his fist on the counter, just once, but hard enough to send Abe’s pet parakeet fluttering toward the ceiling.

“He’s got to be one of the stupidest, most clueless assholes on the planet! I could—” He cut himself off. “Sorry. Just venting.”

“So vent already.”

Jack knew he was in a foul mood. Lack of sleep made it worse. He’d kept waking up during the night and stealing down the hall to Vicky’s bedroom to see if the Lilitongue had moved. The only movement he wanted from it was back into its chest so he could lock it up and find an upstate landfill for its final resting place. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Not unless it was forced back into its chest.

On one such foray he remembered talking to the damn thing: What are you? What have you done to Vicky? Then taking a swing at it.

His knuckles and wrist still ached from the impact.

“Tom and I spent the whole morning calling every place we could think of that might have heard of the Lilitongue of Gefreda. From the Museum of Natural History to antique dealers and antiquarian booksellers. Nothing.”

“The Museum of Natural History? You should check with Doctor Buhmann there.”

“Who’s he?”

“He was one of my professors at Columbia. Specializes in dead languages.”

“I’m not looking for a translation, I’m looking for somebody who knows about strange, ancient artifacts.”

“This Lilitongue is ancient?”

Jack shrugged. “I know it’s more than four hundred years old. The jerk says—”

“The jerk?”

“My brother.”

“A shmegege you should call him. That better fits how you describe him. A shmegege and a gonif.”

“I’ll have to trust you on that. Anyway, the shmegege says the few mentions he found about it hinted that it was really old—maybe B.C. in origin. So you see, I need an archaeology type. If he can lead me to some old book, then I may need your professor friend. But at the moment—”

Nu, if this Lilitongue is one of a kind, you won’t find anyone who’s ever seen it, but someone may have read about it… especially if they specialize in translating texts of ancient languages.”

Hope wanted to spark but Jack wouldn’t let it. Still, Abe had suggested a direction he hadn’t considered.

“Okay, maybe after we’ve exhausted the other avenues, I’ll—”

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and hit the speak button. Had to be Gia.

“Jack?” Gia. Something in her tone…

“Something wrong?”

She sobbed. “The mark—it’s bigger!”

A lead weight dropped into the pit of Jack’s stomach.

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. Last night it was between her shoulder blades, now it’s touching them!” Another sob—the sound tore Jack’s heart. “Jack, what’s happening?”

He wished to hell he knew.

He spent a few moments trying to comfort her, assuring her that he was doing everything possible. When he hung up he relayed the latest to Abe.

“How do I get in touch with this language guy?”

“I’ll see if I can arrange a meeting.”

“Don’t see if—do.” He realized how he sounded. “Please.”

Abe nodded as he picked up the phone.

“He’ll remember you?”

Abe looked at him over the top of his reading glasses. “Oh, he’ll remember me.”