Punktown: Shades of Grey (37 page)

Barnett was in the midst of a pleasant conversation with one of his authors, Charlee Jacob, when his attention was diverted by a commotion from across the dealers’ room. Upon seeing the source of the problem, he bolted up from his seat in alarm. Jeffrey Thomas was in the grip of the Vlessi with whom the publisher had spoken only minutes earlier. The extra-dimensional being had seized Thomas by his wrists, and though he was struggling wildly it was evident that the Vlessi was much stronger. From inside his jacket, Barnett drew his Decimator .220, lunging out from behind the Necro Publications table—and accidentally bumping into Charlee Jacob as he did so. Peripherally, he saw her stumble backwards.

Thinking to rescue his writer, Barnett took a firing stance and sighted on the Vlessi with its metallic pink scarf. But just then, there was an odd hum in the air that seemed to ripple across Barnett’s flesh, and he saw a misty blue-green light appear directly behind the Vlessi. The alien backed into the eerie glow, drawing Thomas with it. The gaping portal of light entirely swallowed the Vlessi, then the author—then closed up and was gone. The humming faded with it.

“Charlee, are you alright?” Barnett heard someone say behind him, but he was intent on moving forward to where he had seen his writer vanish, kidnapped into another plane of existence. He reached the precise spot where the two had disappeared, other convention-goers already having gathered there in a stunned circle. One of them, writer Jeff VanderMeer, knelt down and recovered something that had dropped to the floor in the scuffle. It was a
name tag
, and when Barnett extended his hand VanderMeer passed it to him.

Bewildered, Barnett stared down at the PunkCon 33 name badge, which read: CY HELIOTROPE.

As if commanded by an instinct, David Barnett glanced back toward his Necro Publications dealer’s table. There, he saw two of his authors in animated conversation.
Charlee Jacob and—for the first time he’d ever seen the author in person—Jeffrey Thomas.

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