"Everyone lies about sex. It's human nature."

"Do you believe Paula's the reincarnation of Suzama?"

"I don't know."

"I'm not asking what you know. I'm asking what you believe."

"It's possible, I suppose."

"Has Paula shown psychic abilities?"

"Yes."

"Has she accurately predicted future events?"

"Yes."

"When did you last see her?"

"A week ago."

"Where?"

I hesitate. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"I can't let you get to John."

"Sita. You understand if you don't tell me, I'll have to use the Pulse. And this time I will turn the dial up to eight. Do you want that?"

"No."

"Then answer my question. Where are Paula and John?"

I feel tears in my closed eyes. "I can't tell you."

He turns the dial, I hear him turn it, the click of the numbers, eight in a row, eight steps down the ladder that leads to hell. But an instant before the pain starts, I think of Krishna and his deep blue eyes. It is said, in the hidden scriptures in India, that to focus on the eyes of the Lord is the highest spiritual practice a human being can perform. It's supposed to be equal to the greatest act of charity, which Jesus describes in the Bible as sacrificing one's life to save the life of another.

The Vedas, the Bible, it's true, they overlap a lot.

Maybe gazing into Krishna's eyes . . .

Pain . . . Pain . . . Pain . . .

Is equal to Christ's sacrifice.

I'm only suffering this pain to protect John. It doesn't matter that he won't see me. I still love him, I will always love him. And in this exquisitely agonizing moment, I realize he refused to see me because he wanted to force me to see him inside. Ah, that's the key! This practice of visualizing that I'm staring into Krishna's blue eyes, I've done it before.

But this is the first time I see him staring back at me!

The agony comes, and it does not get transformed into bliss.

If anything it is worse than before. Except for one thing.

The pain does not obliterate my sense of "I."

I'm still Sita, the last vampire.

I manage to open my eyes and look at Haru.

"You're a cold bastard, you know that," I whisper.

He stares back, shocked. He reaches for the dial, then stops. He calls to one of his assistants. "You placed the wires on the wrong lobes. No one can defy me under such duress."

"She was breaking down a few minutes ago."

"She's not breaking now!"

"Her brain must be wired different from human beings'."

Haru stands. "I don't have time to argue. Fix the problem and call me when you're ready."

"It doesn't matter what you do with your silly wires," I call after Haru. "I gave you the answer to all your questions, and you didn't hear it. No, you heard it, but you rejected it because it scares you. You already know what's stronger than the Array and your Pulse, and it frightens you, because you've lost the capacity to care for another person. Your coldness has turned you into a coward. It's made you lose your control over me. It's done all these things because it's the truth. Yes, you're finally getting the truth that you've been begging for. Love and kindness are the answers. Without them you'll always be afraid of the Array. And you'll always be running from your own shadow."

Haru grabs a laser rifle from a guard and strides toward me. He pushes a button and a row of lights turns red on the side of the weapon. I assume that means it's ready to fire. He puts the barrel to my head.

"I don't need pain to make you beg," he says.

I smile and prepare to say what I assume will be my last words.

Then I hear a noise in the hallway. No, it's on a level above us. It seems to be coming from the stairway. I hear a high vibration followed by a sizzling sound, as if meat were being cooked at an extremely high temperature. I pick up an odor that I immediately recognize as burned human flesh. Ironically, the smell is sweet, far from unpleasant.

The vibration switches on and off, in quick succession, and I hear Telar screaming for help. I can hardly believe it. Someone is trying to rescue me.

TWENTY-TWO.

Chaos reigns supreme. Haru shouts for his people to kill the intruder. A half dozen rush out the door, male and female, all armed with their strange rifles. Yet they're no sooner past the threshold than a series of ruby beams slices the length of the hallway.

The Telar are tightly bunched. The rapid laser fire proves devastating. Chests are scorched, amputated arms fly through the red-soaked air. A head is severed at the neck and tumbles to the floor and rolls into our room. It belongs to the technician who was helping Haru torture me.

A female Telar with a ghastly abdominal wound staggers into Haru's torture chamber. Blood gushes over her legs. A fried hip bone protrudes through her burned flesh. Haru catches her in his hands.

"Who?" he demands in ancient Egyptian.

"The Abomination," she gasps in the same language.

"Impossible!"

"He's alive. He's coming." The woman dies, and Haru drops her as if she were a sack of garbage. He turns to his three remaining guards. As a group, they continue to speak in the same lost tongue. "Can we seal this room and gas the entire hotel?" Haru asks.

One of the guards checks a weird watch on his wrist, the kind Numbria and Claudious wore. "No," he says. "He's already neutralized our defenses."

"How is that possible, Dakor?" Haru asks.

"He must have schematics of this structure. Our only way out is through the tunnel."

More screams erupt from the hallway as the laser fire increases and the floor outside begins to steam with boiled blood. Whoever is coming is faster and stronger than the Telar. Haru shakes his head at Dakor's suggestion.

"Stay here with your men and slow him down. I must return to the Source and warn them."

Dakor gestures to me with his laser rifle. "What about her?"

Haru turns in the direction of the vault, ready to leave. He calls over his shoulder. "Use her as a shield if you have to, but don't let her escape. She's as dangerous as the Abomination."

"Bye," I call to Haru.

He turns and glares at me. "You will die," he says in English.

Then he is gone, and it is a relief.

The guards lock the door. They're scared, but not terrified the way a group of humans would be. Working quickly, they barricade the entrance with furniture.

"The Abomination's dead," the second guard tells his buddies.

"Asep must have been mistaken," the third guard agrees.

"He's here," Dakor says. "Besides us, there's a dozen of our people stationed at this hotel. You hear them dying. Someone's killing them. It has to be the Abomination."

"This suite is shielded with Neutra," the second guard says. "There's no way he can cut through the door."

"Not unless he has a disruptor," the third guard says.

Dakor is clearly in command. He acts annoyed. "He didn't stroll into the Source and check out a disruptor. Anyway, the weapon's still in the testing stage."

"Then we should be safe," the third guard says.

Dakor doesn't answer. He looks at me. He has been studying me throughout my interrogation. He has a strong face; it's blunt and worn, but I find him handsome. He has a thick mop of black hair. A wicked scar runs from his right ear to his jaw. One thing for sure, he's been through a hell of a lot in his life.

"Are you in league with the Abomination?" Dakor asks me in English.

"Can't say I ever met the guy."

"Can you help us stop him?"

The question surprises me. He wants my help?

"I'm not sure. Probably. I'm stronger than your people."

"Are you mad?" the second guard cries at Dakor. "She's a vampire. Release her and she'll tear us to pieces."

"We can't disobey the Source," the third guard says uneasily. "If Haru finds out, he'll wire us to the Pulse. We'll die in agony."

"Haru left us here to die without a thought," Dakor snaps. "We owe him no allegiance."

"We just tortured her," the second guard argues. "Why should she help us?"

Dakor studies me. "It's a reasonable question. How do we know you won't turn on us?"

"You don't know. But since you seem certain the Abomination's going to get in here and kill you all, you may as well release me. I'm your only chance of stopping him."

Dakor considers silently. Then he pulls out a set of keys. "Before I release you, you need to know not all of us approve of Haru's approach. Many of us were against taking you hostage."

"Are you a member of the Source?"

"No. I was close to the Source. Until Haru had me demoted."

Outside, the cries stop, and the sudden silence is more intimidating than the fighting. Outside, someone walks the hallway alone. The others hear him. He appears to be collecting weapons.

Dakor stands near me. "I'll take out the wires and fiber optics before I undo your chains. It's safer this way. But you must remain still."

"Dakor. Think what you are doing," the second guard pleads.

"I have," Dakor says. He slips on sterile gloves and reaches for a tray of surgeon tools. He begins to tug on the implants in my skull. He works fast, but his touch is delicate. I feel pain, but it is mild.

"Are you a doctor?" I ask.

"I am many things."

Dakor is almost finished unhooking me from the Pulse when the top hinge on the door begins to sizzle and smoke. All of the guards begin to sweat, but it is the third guard who shows the most fear.

"He has a disruptor," the man gasps.

"No," Dakor says. "He's gathered our lasers together and focused the beams on a single spot."

"The Neutra won't melt," the second guard says.

"He's not trying to melt it," Dakor says. "He just has to soften it."

"We should flee, back through the tunnel," the third guard says.