Ape shook his head in the darkness. He didn't share Jo-Jo's confidence. The power failure worried him. "Call me back in five minutes. Even if you get the lights fixed."

  "Will do," said Jo-Jo and hung up.

  Still tense, Ape put the receiver back on the hook. Other than the sound of his own breathing, the room was silent. "Jo-Jo says not to worry."

  "Good for him," answered Boris, from close to the front door of the suite. "You tell him to send some dudes with flashlights?"

  "Never thought of that," said Ape, feeling awfully stupid. "We got some candles in the kitchen."

  "Better than nothing," said Boris with a snort of annoyance. "Get them while I push the sofa in front of the door."

  Ape did as he was told. He felt like a complete idiot. The absolute blackness of the room had him off balance. He wasn't thinking straight.

  It took a few minutes of feeling around the bottom of cabinets till he found the package of candles. Royce used them in some of his more esoteric ceremonies. Flicking on the gas range, Ape lit three of the wax sticks. Dim light filtered through the kitchen. Dark shadows leapt onto the walls. Quickly, Ape started four more candles burning.

  Using some of the dripping wax as a base, he sealed several of the lights to plates. Carrying two of them, he stepped back into the living room.

  "You done made my day," said Boris, his face breaking out in a big grin. With a sigh of relief, the bodyguard rose from the heavy couch wedged up against the front door. "I told the boss everything was okay."

  Ape glanced over at the phone. Five minutes had come and gone. "Jo-Jo didn't call back."

  Boris frowned. "That ain't like him. He always follows orders. You wanna call him?"

  "Not yet," said Ape. The muscles in his neck tightened. "Maybe he's talking with the power company."

  "Yeah, maybe," said Boris, not sounding convinced. Neither was Ape.

  The minutes ticked by slowly. Anxiously, both men paced the room, gazes fixed on the phone. But it remained silent. Finally Ape picked up the receiver and dialed the first floor.

  It rang twenty times before Ape gave up. Licking his lips, he tried calling the police emergency number. Nothing happened.

  "Outside line is dead," he told a grim Boris Bennett. "We're trapped up here on our own."

  "She-it," said Boris loudly. "We got a dozen men in the halls. Where they all be at?"

  Ape's throat felt as dry as the desert. "I need a drink. You tell Royce the bad news."

  When Ape returned from the kitchen, Morris was in the living room whispering with his brother. Royce remained in the inner bedroom. The Bocar had been drinking all day and evening. But all the liquor in the world couldn't provide him with enough courage to face the Dark Man.

  "Morris will go downstairs and see what gives," said Boris.

  "That sounds dangerous," said Ape.

  "You got any better ideas?" asked Boris. "He's the quickest of us three. Maybe things ain't as bad as we think."

  "Or maybe they're a lot worse," said Ape.

  Morris shrugged his shoulders. "Only way we find out for sure is go look." He turned to his brother. "You got a signal?"

  The other Bennett nodded. "Two long knocks, then one short. Don't forget. That be the only way you get back in here. You try anything else, Ape and me blast you away."

  "Two long, one short," repeated Morris carefully. "No sweat."

  Cradling the sawed-off shotgun in one hand, he pulled the sofa away from the door with the other. Cautiously, he opened the bolts holding the suite door shut. With a quick jerk, he pulled the door open and peered into the pitch-black hallway.

  "Nobody here," he whispered. "Give me some of those candles. I'll be back before you know it."

  Morris disappeared into the darkness. Boris closed the door and locked it. "Twelve bad dudes out there," he said, his voice strained with worry. "What happened to them?"

  The flickering light from the candles barely illuminated the suite. Fingers of darkness crept in from all corners of the room. Ape kept a tight grip on his shotgun. Boris stayed close to the door, his head turned as he listened for movement outside.

  Five long minutes passed. Then, without warning, the lights came back on. Ape sucked in a deep breath, as the tension drained from his body.

  "Hot damn," said Boris, relief etched in his drawn features. "Now we're cookin'. Things be back under control. All we need is Morris back with the news."

  As if in answer to his wish, two long knocks rattled the suite door. A pause, then a third.

  "That's him," said Boris, fumbling with the lock. "He even remembered the code."

  Ape frowned. The timing seemed a little too perfect. The three knocks on the door echoed in his mind. Instantly, he recalled Papa Benjamin's warning.,

  "Don't open it!" he yelled, hoisting up his shotgun. But Boris was already swinging the portal open.

  "Bad move," said the Dark Man from out in the hall. With a vicious overhand chop, he swung his butcher's cleaver. The steel blade caught Boris square in the forehead. Incredible force drove it deep down through bone and brain, crushing the man's features like putty.

  The big bodyguard died instantly. His body dropped to the floor like a sack of wet cement. For a second, the Dark Man stood in the bright lights of the hallway. Weaponless, he was never more vulnerable.

  Panic-stricken, Ape opened fire. He was so close to the Dark Man he hardly needed to aim. One blast, then a second shook the room. The killer shuddered as the shotgun shells tore into his body. The twin explosions ripped the monster's overcoat to shreds and sent his cowboy hat flying back into the hall. The Dark Man staggered but refused to go down.

  For a second, Ape's breath froze in his lungs. No description truly captured the horror of the Dark Man. He had no face. Two red eyes glared out from a sheet of absolute darkness. The monster personified the night.

  The giant lunged forward, intent on the cleaver still wedged in Boris's forehead. With a growl of despair, Ape hurtled across the room for the same target. Perhaps the Dark Man's own weapon could bring him down.

  A gloved hand reached the wood handle an instant before Ape's grasping fingers. With a laugh, the Dark Man wrenched the cleaver up and free from its prison of flesh.

  Unable to stop, Ape tumbled hard into the giant's legs. The two of them crashed to the floor, a tangle of arms and legs.

  Desperately, Ape grabbed the hand holding the butcher's cleaver. Exerting his full strength, he wrenched hard, trying to break bones. The Dark Man only laughed.

  With incredible power, the killer ripped his arm free of Ape's grip. Effortlessly, he rose to his feet. Still chuckling, he reached down for his next sacrifice. Steel fingers wrapped around Ape's jaw and pulled him upright.

  "This is it," said the Dark Man, still gripping Ape by the chin. Smoothly, he raised the cleaver up into the air.

  Others had made the mistake of holding Ape in similar fashion. Instinctively, he leapt off the floor. Drawing his legs in close to his body, he thrust out hard, catching the Dark Man full in the chest. Completely unprepared for the wrestling maneuver, the giant toppled back, releasing his intended victim.

  Ape dropped to the floor in a roll and came up running. He went flying through the door and into the hallway. Behind him, bellowing in anger, came the Dark Man.

  Legs pumping like pistons, Ape charged for the stairs at the end of the corridor. With his short legs and barrel chest, he wasn't built for speed. Any second he expected to feel the bite of the Dark Man's cleaver.

  Ahead of him was the open stairwell. Ape saw a crumpled form at the top of the steps. It was Morris. He never even made it off this level. A pool of red marked the spot where he encountered the Dark Man.

  Unable to slow down, Ape went barreling across the bloody floor. Skidding wildly, he slammed into the corpse blocking the stairs. Momentum carried him up and out. Arms outstretched, he went flying down the stairs. Unable to protect himself, he crashed headfirst into the railing on the lower landing.

  Terribly dizzy, he rolled over on his back. Death stood ten feet away. Casually, in no hurry to finish his task, the Dark Man kicked at an indistinct object by his feet. It landed with a soft plop only a few inches away from Ape's face. Shocked eyes stared blankly into his from Morris's bloody and battered features.

  "I heard that two heads are better than one," said the Dark Man, chuckling at his ghoulish joke. He started to descend the steps. The blade of his cleaver gleamed brightly in the hall lights.

  Ape struggled to his knees. Still reeling in pain, he grabbed hold of the railing and inched his way upright. His fingers clutched the wood bannister tightly as he forced his body to respond. His only hope depended on catching the Dark Man by surprise. Ape refused to die without a struggle.

  "Fighting to the end," said the Dark Man approvingly. "How pleasant. I always enjoy killing a good loser."

  He took a step down. Then another. Then, unexpectedly, he stopped. "Royce opened the hidden passage in his room," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. "If I waste too much time with you, he will escape."

  The giant hesitated, as if torn between two choices. For a second his attention wavered. Realizing there would be no second chance, Ape seized that moment to act. Calling on all of his remaining strength, he raised himself up and over the railing.

  He dropped the two stories to the main floor in a second. The ground rushed up to meet him but he knew exactly what to do. Perfect timing made the difference. Grabbing hold of the lowest bannister, Ape swung his body up and over into a flying somersault. He landed lightly on the balls of his feet, ready to run.

  "I'll deal with you later, Ape Largo," called the Dark Man from the hallway above. "Royce dies first, then I'm coming after you. No one escapes me tonight. No one."

  Groaning in pain, Ape headed for the front door. Willis Royce no longer needed him. Only an undertaker could help the Bocar. His death signaled the end of the Children of Danballah.

  Bloody sigils covered the walls of the Temple. Ape fixed his eyes on the front door. He dared not look in the corners of the room. Too many of his friends perished here tonight. The very air stank of death.

  Gasping for breath, he burst out of the building into the damp night air. Inside, a solitary scream echoed through the halls. Willis Royce had met the Dark Man. Soon the killer would be after him.

  Ape knew that without supernatural aid he was doomed. For the first time in his life, his massive strength meant nothing. That detective, Taine, spoke the truth. The Dark Man embodied all the power of night.

  Grimly, Ape started running. One slim hope beckoned in the darkness. His only chance for salvation lived eight long blocks away.

  31

  Papa Benjamin loved Johnny Carson. He particularly liked Johnny's opening monologue. The talk show host expressed the complex frustrations of daily life in the funniest way imaginable. It was the one show on television that the voodoo priest never missed.

  Johnny just walked out on stage when someone started pounding away on the door to the oum'phor. Since the police visit, Papa Benjamin had locked the front entrance of his church each night. Grumbling, he flicked on his VCR to record. As he made his way downstairs, he gave thanks to the voodoo Loas for the magic of videotapes.

  The houn'gan stared out the peephole into the darkness. A very frightened and disheveled Ape Largo stood outside. Papa Benjamin sighed in disappointment. No Johnny Carson for him tonight. He might never see another monologue. It all seemed quite unfair. Making a face, the voodoo priest opened the door.

  Ape stumbled into the oum'phor, his clothes soaking wet from the light drizzle outside. His breath came in short, quick gasps as he sucked in air. Papa Benjamin silently noted the man's ripped clothes and numerous bruises. Ape looked like the loser of a vicious assault.

  "I ran all the way here," said the bodyguard, spitting out the words between gulps. "He killed all the others. I'm the only one left. And he's on my trail."

  Papa Benjamin knew without asking who Ape meant. A deep sense of self-pity filled his soul. The voodoo gods asked too much of an old man. But he knew the choice was his to make.

  He either accepted his role or rejected it. The Loas believed in free will, even for their priests. The final decision rested entirely with him.

  "We don't have much time," said Ape urgently. "Can you stop him?"

  "Perhaps," answered Papa Benjamin. "But the question is, why should I?"

  "Huh." Terror returned to Ape Largo's features. "What do you mean?"

  "You do not belong to my congregation," said Papa Benjamin, measuring his words carefully. He needed to make one final test. A houn'gan without spirit served only himself, not his followers. Did Ape Largo possess the necessary courage?

  "I owe you nothing," he continued. "You work for a fraud and a corrupter of children. His organization mocks every true worshiper of the Invisibles. What reason can you give me to save your worthless soul?"

  Ape stood there, stunned, his face ashen. "If you won't help fight him, I'm dead meat. I saw how the Dark Man operates. He's unstoppable."

  Papa Benjamin shrugged his thin shoulders. "He wants only you. This fight does not concern me."

  Carefully, the voodoo priest watched for Ape's reaction. For a moment, the big man said nothing. Eyes closed tightly, as if glimpsing his fate, he shook his huge head in despair. Then, as if gathering together his nerve, the massive bodyguard straightened. Hands the size of shovels curled into fists. Turning away, he faced the door.

  "I can't say I blame you," he said calmly. "No reason for you to suffer because of my mistakes. I brought this on myself by joining Royce's operation. Time for me to get going. Maybe I can shake him in the Loop."

  Satisfied with his choice, Papa Benjamin raised a frail hand in protest. "A man faced with death should always try a little bargaining," he said with a smile. "Consider the alternative."

  "What can I offer?" said Ape, desperately. "Like you said, I don't even belong to your church."

  "That can be arranged quite easily," said Papa Benjamin. "Are you willing to pay for your life with your life?"

  "I don't understand," answered Ape, his glance flickering back and forth between Papa Benjamin and the outside door.

  "I can save you," said the priest. "Or at least, I can try. But if I do, you must dedicate your life to the voodoo Mysteres."

  Seeing the astonished look on Ape's face, the priest hurried on. "If we survive this night, you must stay with me and study to become a houn'gan. After I die, you will become the leader of this congregation for the rest of your life."

  The gnarled old priest smiled gently at the bewildered bodyguard. "Make your decision. Do you 'pass through the water' or die beneath the knife?"

  "I accept," said Ape without hesitation. "I give you my word."

  "We will seal the agreement in blood another time," said Papa Benjamin. "I sense your enemy—our enemy—approaching. Quickly, clear away all the chairs around the center post. I need my supplies from the pe."

  Ape rushed to obey. Meanwhile, the voodoo priest hurried over to the Holy of Holies and filled his pockets with a variety of small objects.

  "Faster, faster," he commanded, running back from the oum'phor. "I need time to prepare our defenses."

  "What else do you want me to do?" asked Ape, as he moved the last of the chairs to the rear of the peristyle, leaving a clear space some fifteen feet across at the center.

  "You learned more about this Dark Man since your visit? Good. Tell me everything you found out while I work."

  Papa Benjamin dumped out all of the items in his pockets onto the socle. Grabbing a thick piece of white chalk, he carefully drew a large circle some nine feet in diameter around the center post.

  Next, he drew a second circle, a foot less in measure, inside the first. As he worked, he listened closely to Ape's description of the Dark Man's mystic origins.

  "This man, Taine, knows a great deal about the Invisibles," said Papa Benjamin cryptically. "I would like to meet him."

  Finishing the second ring, Papa Benjamin rose to his feet. He pointed to the two circles. "No matter what you see, no matter what you hear," he said, in a tone not to be disobeyed, "do not cross this inner circle."

  Ape nodded, warily, his eyes filled with apprehension. "Those chalk markings are going to stop the Dark Man?"

  "Your methods worked so well?" asked Papa Benjamin sarcastically. He handed Ape a small box pulled from his pile of charms. "Put these carefully between the two circles. Make sure to rest them so that no part touches either chalk mark."

  The massive bodyguard shook his head in disbelief. The container held a pile of tiny silver crucifixes. "How will these help us?"

  "You understand little of the true nature of the Mysteres," said Papa Benjamin. "Voodoo comes from the Church in Rome, though they hate us for that. If we survive this night, I will teach you the great secrets of your heritage."

  As he spoke, the houn'gan inscribed a large X in the circles. He centered it at the base of the socle, with its arms touching the outer line.

  In flowing hand, he drew an elaborate ritualistic picture of two snakes, separated by three stars and followed by a cross, in each quarter of the circle. The voodoo priest worked astonishingly fast, drawing the complex picture with bold, sure strokes.

  "I learned this veve in Haiti," he said, when he finished the last picture. "It is the sign of Danballah Wedo and Aida Wedo, the great serpents of voodoo. Only they can protect us against the evil in the night."

  "You told Royce your magic was useless against the Dark Man," said Ape.

  "I cannot defeat this monster," said Papa Benjamin. "That much is certain. I pray that this magic circle will protect us from his fury."

  Reaching down, he picked up his asson. Standing where one arm of the cross touched the inner circle, he shook the dried gourd in the air and said loudly three times, "I call upon the powers of Legba Atibon CataRoulo."

  At the second line he summoned "the powers of Keviozo Dan Leh." In the third position, "the powers of Maitre Agoueh Ro Io." And at the fourth line, "the powers of Ai-zan A Veleh Ketheh."