"Maybe he can accelerate things. If we miss this window-"
"I know. Only one more new moon before the equinox." The Ceremony had to be completed each year during the phase of a new moon between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. "But we still have time."
What a catastrophic shame to lose the little Vietnamese lamb. He'd been ripe for picking, everyone in the Circle had been on standby; the Ceremony could have been completed last night, and they'd all have been set for another year.
"But you know what bothers me the most?" Strauss said.
"You, here, in a hospital bed. Because of the Ceremony you're supposed to be protected, immune to harm. At least that's what you've been telling us." He waved his hand in the direction of Eli's IVs. "How do you explain all this?"
The same question had tortured Eli since the blade of his own stiletto had cut into his flesh.
"I can't," Eli said. "In the two hundred and six years that I have been performing the Ceremony, nothing like this has ever happened. I have come through wars and floods and earthquakes unscathed. Yet last night..."
"Yeah. Last night you were anything but protected. Care to explain?"
Eli didn't like Strauss's tone. A note of hostility, perhaps? Or fear?
"I believe the problem is not with me but with the man who attacked me. After personally experiencing his superior strength, and after what you've told me about his elusiveness, I'm beginning to believe that we were not attacked by an ordinary man. I-"
Eli stopped as he experienced an epiphany. Suddenly it was all clear.
"What's wrong?" Strauss said, leaning forward, his expression tight.
"The only way to explain last night's events is to assume that we are dealing with someone who is using the Ceremony himself."
Yes, of course. That had to be it. It explained why the attacker had moved the child away, why he didn't turn in Eli and Adrian to the police; it might even explain his taking the knife. He didn't want to expose the Circle-he wanted to control it. He wanted to usurp Eli's position, and he probably thought some of the leader's blood would aid him in accomplishing that.
"Oh, that's great!" Strauss said, his voice rising. "Just fucking great! How are we supposed to handle something like that?"
Eli kept his tone low and even. This was no time for panic. "The way you would handle anyone else. You have at your disposal the resources of one of the greatest police departments in the world. Use them to find this man. And when you do, bring him to me."
"But I thought you were the only one who knew the Ceremony."
"What I can discover, so can others. You are not to worry about that. Your task is clear: Find him, Freddy. Find him and bring him to me. I will deal with him."