His expression became still more pained. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“Look, you’re a grown man,” Tammy said. “If you want to stay with her, knowing what she’s capable of, then you stay. I hope you’ll be very happy together.”
“Todd … ” Katya murmured.
She stepped out of the shadows now, choosing her moment, as ever, beautifully. The demonic Katya, the woman who’d thrashed Zeffer then thrown him to Goga, had vanished completely. In her place was a sad, gentle woman — or the appearance of such — who opened her arms to Todd like a loving mother.
“Come back to me,” she said.
He made the tiniest nod of his head and Tammy’s heart sank.
He started to turn his back on the door, but as he did so there was a sudden and furious eruption of noise from the depths of the house. Somebody in the Devil’s Country was beating on the door: a furious tattoo.
It came at the perfect moment. At the sound from below Todd seemed to snap out of his mesmerized state and instead of heading for Katya’s open arms he began to retreat towards the door.
“You know what?” he said to Katya. “I can’t take this place any longer. I’m sorry. I’ve got to get out.”
Katya flew at him, her arms outstretched, her eyes wide. “No!” she cried. “I want you here!”
It was more than Todd could take. He backed away from her and stumbled out over the step.
“Finally,” Tammy said.
He grabbed hold of her hand. “Get me the fuck out of here,” he said.
This time there was no hesitation in his voice, no turning back. They ran to the gate and out into the street, not stopping for a moment. Tammy slammed the gate loudly, not so much because she felt it would keep the bitch from following, but because it made the point to the entire Canyon that they were indeed out of the house and away.
“My car’s up the road,” she told Todd, though of course it was now three days since she’d left it, and there was no guarantee it would still be sitting there. And the keys; what about the keys? Had she left them in the ignition? She thought she had; but she was by no means certain. So much had happened to her in the intervening time; she had no clear memory of what she’d done with the keys.
“I’m assuming you’re going to come with me?” she said to Todd. He looked at her blankly. “To the car,” she said, for emphasis.
“Yes.”
“It’s up the street.”
“Yes. I heard you.”
“Well, shall we go then?”
He nodded, but he didn’t move. His gaze had drifted back to the house. Leaving him to stare, Tammy set off up the road to where she’d left the car. There was neither moon nor stars in the sky; just a blanket of amber-tinted cloud. She soon lost sight of Todd as she headed up the benighted road. Memories of her night-journey through the place, with all its attendant miseries and hallucinations, rose up before her, but she told herself to put them out of her head. She was going to be out of this damn Canyon in a few minutes, long before it got back into her mind again, and started its tricks.
The car, when she reached it, was unlocked. She opened the door and slipped into the driver’s seat, fumbling for the ignition. Yes! The keys were there. “Thank you, God,” she said, with a late show of piety.
She turned on the engine, and switched on the headlights. They lit up the whole street ahead. She put the car into gear and brought the car roaring around the corner. Todd had wandered out into the middle of the road, and she could have ploughed into him (which would have made an ignominious end to the night’s adventures) had he not stepped out of her way. But at least the distracted look had gone from his face. When he got into the car there was a new and welcome urgency about his manner. “We’re out of here,” he said.