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And I opened the door.
The first man tried to push me aside, and I stiff-armed him back.
There were six, I could see that.
"What do you want?" I asked them.
But never a word was spoken, and I saw guns.
I kicked out and slammed the door again and shot the bolt.
"Okay, they're really there," I said. "But how do I know you're not pulling something?"
"You don't," he said, "but I really wish I were. They look wild."
I had to agree. The guys on the porch were heavily built and had hats pulled down to cover their eyes. Their faces had all been covered with shadows.
"I wish I knew where we are," said Random,
I felt a hackle-raising vibration, in the vicinity of my eardrums. I knew, in that moment, that Flora had blown her whistle.
When I heard a window break, somewhere off to my right, I was not surprised to hear a growled rumbling and some baying. somewhere off to my left.
"She's called her dogs," I said, "six mean and vicious brutes, which could under other circumstances be after us.
Random nodded, and we both headed off in the direction of the shattering.
When we reached the living room, two men were already inside and both had guns.
I dropped the first and hit the floor, firing at the second. Random leaped above me, brandishing his blade, and I saw the second man's head depart his shoulders.
By then, two more were through the window. I emptied the automatic at them, and I heard the snarling of Flora's hounds mixed with gunfire that was not my own.
I saw three of the men upon the floor and the same number of Flora's dogs. It made me feel good to think we had gotten half them, and as the rest came through the window I killed another in a ma
Suddenly, and without thinking, I picked up a huge overstuffed chair and hurled it perhaps thirty feet across the room. It broke the back of the man it struck.
I leaped toward the remaining two, but before I crossed the room, Random had pierced one of them with the saber, leaving him for the dogs to finish off, and was turning toward the other.
The other was pulled down before he could act, however. He killed another of the dogs before we could stop him, but he never killed anything again after that. Random strangled him.
It turned out that two of the dogs were dead and one was badly hurt. Random killed the injured one with a quick thrust, and we turned our attention to the men.
There was something unusual about their appearance
Flora entered and helped us to decide what.
For one thing, all six had uniformly bloodshot eyes. Very, very bloodshot eyes. With them, though, the condition seemed normal.
For another, all had an extra joint to each finger and thumb, and sharp, forward-curving spurs on the backs of their hands.
All of them had prominent jaws, and when I forced one open, I counted forty-four teeth, most of them longer than human teeth, and several looking to be much sharper. Their flesh was grayish and hard and shiny.
There were undoubtedly other differences also, but those were sufficient to prove a point of some sort.
We took their weapons, and I hung onto three small, flat pistols.
"They crawled Out of the Shadows, all right," said Random, and I nodded. "And I was lucky, too. It doesn't seem they suspected I'd turn up with the reinforcements I did-a militant brother and around half a ton of dogs."
He went and peered out the broken window, and I decided to let him do it himself. "Nothing," he said, after a time. "I'm sure we got them all," and he drew the heavy orange drapes closed and pushed a lot of high-backed furniture in front of them. While he was doing that, I went through all their pockets.
I wasn't really surprised that I turned up nothing in the way of identification.
"Let's go back to the library," he said, "so I can finish my drink."
He cleaned off the blade, carefully, before he seated himself, however, and he replaced it on the pegs. I fetched Flora a drink while he did this.
"So it would seem I'm temporarily safe," he said, "now that there are three of us sharing the picture."
"So it would seem," Flora agreed.
"God, I haven't eaten since yesterday!" he a
As soon as she left the room, Random turned to me and asked, "Like, what's it between you?"
"Don't turn your back on her."
"She's still Eric's?"
"So far as I can tell."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I was trying to sucker Eric into coming around after me himself. He knows it's the only way he'll really get me, and I wanted to see how badly he wanted to."
Random shook his head.
"I don't think he'll do it. No percentage. So long as you're here and he's there, why bother sticking his neck out? He's still got the stronger position. If you want him, you'll have to go after him."
"I've just about come to the same conclusion."
His eyes gleamed then, and his old smile appeared. He ran one hand through his straw-colored hair and wouldn't let go of my eyes.
"Are you going to do it?" he asked.
"Maybe," I said.
"Don't ‘maybe' me, baby. It's written all over you. I'd almost be willing to go along, you know. Of all my relations, I like sex the best and Eric the least."
I lit a cigarette, while I considered.
"You're thinking," he said while I thought, "'How far can I trust Random this time? He is sneaky and mean and just like his name, and he will doubtless sell me out If someone offers him a better deal.' True?"
I nodded.
"However, brother Corwin, remember that while I've never done you much good, I've never done you any especial harm either. Oh, a few pranks, I'll admit. But, all in all, you might say we've gotten along best of all in the family-that is, we've stayed out of each other's ways. Think it over. I believe I hear Flora or her woman coming now, so let's change the subject... . But quick I don't suppose you have a deck of the family's favorite playing cards around, do you?"
I shook my head.
Flora entered the room and said, "Carmella will bring in some food shortly."
We drank to that, and he winked at me behind her back.
The following morning, the bodies were gone from the living room, there were no stains upon the carpet, the window appeared to have been repaired, and Random explained that he had "taken care of things." I did not see fit to question him further.
We borrowed Flora's Mercedes and went for a drive. The countryside seemed strangely altered. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that was missing or new, but somehow things felt different. This, too, gave me a headache when I attempted to consider it, so I decided to suspend such thinking for the nonce.
I was at the wheel, Random at my side. I observed that I would like to be back in Amber again-just to see what sort of response it would obtain.
"I have been wondering," he replied, "whether you were out for vengeance, pure and simple, or something more," thereby shifting the ball back to me, to answer or not to answer, as I saw fit.
I saw fit. I used the stock phrase:
"I've been thinking about that, too," I said, "trying to figure my chances. You know, I just might ‘try.'"
He turned toward me then (he had been staring out of the side window) and said:
"I suppose we've all had that ambition, or at least that thought-I know I have, though I dismissed me early in the game-and the way I feel about it, it's worth the attempt. You're asking me, I know, whether I'll help you.
The answer is ‘yes.' I'll do it just to screw up the others." Then, "What do you think of Flora? Would she be of any help?"
"I doubt it very much," I said. "She'd throw in if things were certain. But, then, what's certain at this point?"