circumstances. I know he has information we can use, if we can get him to talk. If you hear anything
alarming, come back in.” Angela glanced at the creature, who had closed his eyes, as if waiting for
the ordeal to end. A look of determination passed over her features, and Verlaine knew that she was
testing herself against the creature, marking her strength and intelligence against it, placing her bets on
her ability to defeat it. He recognized the feeling. It was exactly this that kept him hunting.
“Go on, Luca,” Angela said, opening the door. “I’ll alert you if there’s a problem.”
The film went black and then, in a sputter of light and movement, resumed. The bright, industrial
overhead bulb had been dimmed, and a single desk light glowed in a corner, casting a blue shadow
over the creature. Angela Valko sat in a metal chair across from the angel. They were alone.
“Identify yourself, please,” Angela said.
“Percival Grigori III,” the creature said. “Son of Sneja and Percival Grigori II.”
Verlaine looked more closely at the creature, trying to understand how this could be the person he
had met in New York. The Percival Grigori he had known was twisted and ill, his skin transparent,
his eyes a watery, weak blue. The angel in the film was beautiful, his skin glowing with health, his
golden hair glossy, his expression one of superiority and defiance. In fact, there was a staggering
resemblance between the angelologist and the angel. It was obvious to anyone who saw them together
that they were related by blood. And yet, Angela never knew the true identity of her father. Neither
one of them could guess what time would bring. Frozen in 1984, they were forever suspended in their
innocence.
“Percival,” Angela said, her manner softer, as if she were playing a new role, that of a woman
charming a quarrelsome companion. “Can I get you a drink?”
“How kind,” Percival said. “Vodka. Straight.”
Angela stood and walked offscreen. Verlaine heard the clinking of glass. Soon she returned with a
cut-crystal tumbler.
Percival looked from the glass to his hands, which were bound by rope. “If you please.”
As Angela hesitated and then untied the ropes, Verlaine wanted to jump into the film and to stop
her, to warn her against Percival, to pull her away. He felt his heart sink at what lay ahead. Angela
Valko was falling into a trap.
When the ropes fell from Percival’s wrists, Angela gave him the tumbler of vodka and returned to
her seat. “Now it’s time to answer my questions.”
Percival took a sip, swallowed, and said, “Perhaps. But first I have a question of my own: Why
does such a lovely young woman spend so much time in this dungeon of a laboratory? I can’t imagine
it offers much pleasure.”
“My work has its own rewards,” Angela said. “One of which is capturing and studying creatures
like you. You would make a fine specimen for my students.”
Percival smiled, his expression cruel. “It is very fortunate that I am not as brutal as my grandfather.
He would have killed you within the first five minutes of meeting you. He would tear you apart and
leave you here to bleed. I wouldn’t dream of killing you in such a messy fashion.”
“That’s reassuring,” Angela said, a hand disappearing in the folds of her white lab coat. She
removed a pistol and aimed it at Percival’s chest. “Because I have no such scruples.”
Percival drank the vodka, turned the glass in his hand as if pondering what to do, and then, with an
explosive movement, threw the tumbler at Angela. It smashed against a wall, the crystal shattering
offscreen, creating chords of dissonance. “Untie me,” he said.
Angela leaned back in her chair, a smile on her face. “Come now, I can’t let you go. I’ve only just
got you talking.” She raised the gun, slowly, as if considering its weight in her hand, and shot. The
bullet missed, yet Percival cried out in surprise and anger. “I have a reason for bringing you here. I
don’t expect to let you leave until I have answers.”
“About what?”
“Merlin Godwin.”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“I have proof that he’s been in communication with you,” Angela said. “What you need to do now
is to give me the details.”
“You are mistaken if you think that you pose a threat to us. Indeed, your work has helped us
enormously.”
“What has Godwin given you?” Angela said, her voice carefully calibrated. “I want to know
everything: the experiments, the subjects, the purpose. I am especially interested to know how Merlin