Lords of Salem (37 page)
The coven released their grip on her. With a smile, Margaret Morgan slit open Heidi’s belly and tore open the womb. After a great deal of effort, she pulled forth a bloody deformed mass.
At first it seemed an abortion, an incomplete stillbirth, but as she held it and stroked it, it began to unfurl long curling tentacles that
began to flail and shake. She turned, presenting the deformed creature to the shadowy figure of its father.
Heidi’s eyes clouded over, slowly glazing and going dim.
Satan took the child from Margaret Morgan and, cradling it, stepped slowly backward and away, returning once again to the fire. The flames again rose around him, and when they died down Satan and his child had disappeared. With his departure, the landscape, too, shifted, the trees fading and becoming the walls of the building, the hillock a stage, the rolling and lumpy grass the seats of a theater. Where Morgan had stood was now Heidi’s landlord, Lacy, her two sisters beside her.
For a moment they seemed confused. They looked around, scanned the theater, seeming to take in the corpses of the women and of Herman, and then they smiled.
“We have been avenged, sisters,” said Lacy.
The other two did not respond. Megan had found Heidi’s body and was prodding it, pushing her toe into the tear in her belly, and then letting most of her foot slide in. The others joined her, standing around the body, staring down at it, smiling.
They reached out and joined hands.
Soon they were dancing.
END
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Contents
Part One: Salem, Massachusetts September 16, 1692
Part Two: Salem, Massachusetts Present Day
Monday
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Tuesday
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Wednesday
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Thursday
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Friday
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Saturday
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Spookshow Deluxe, Ltd.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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www.twitter.com/grandcentralpub
First e-book edition: February 2013
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to
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or call (866) 376-6591.
ISBN 978-1-4555-1918-7
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Spookshow Deluxe, Ltd.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
www.twitter.com/grandcentralpub
First e-book edition: February 2013
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to
www.hachettespeakersbureau.com
or call (866) 376-6591.
ISBN 978-1-4555-1918-7
