“What are you doing to stop the summoning?” Eddie asked.  He knew this was a distraction, and that he should be focused on his real challenge—Adrian, and getting the wizard cured—but the thought that some sort of snake-worshipping sex cult was trying to summon its demon-deity caught his attention.  “Was that the idea behind stealing the Nehushtan?”

“Yeah,” Irving looked depressed.  “But I can barely get it to flicker.  It’s the real deal, all right—but I’m not.  Funny thing is, if our positions were switched, Aaron could probably use it like a flamethrower.  He was always a believer.”

“Still is,” Eddie pointed out.  “Just in the wrong stuff.”

Irving nodded.  “And the spells.  The summoning—I think—is a sort of group performance and incantation.  I think I have some ideas about how to throw a monkey wrench into it, but I’d need to have access to their props and scripts beforehand.  Well,” he chuckled uneasily, “or else be present at the ritual.”

“Would that be another orgy?” Mike asked.

“Boobs,” Twitch said.  Mike turned his palms up in an innocent shrug.  “We all know what you like, is all I’m saying,” the drummer added.

“Yes,” Irving answered.  “And at the end of the orgy, Apep is supposed to appear.  Surviving worshippers will be touched by him—like Aaron and Miriam were touched.”

“Surviving?” Eddie asked.

“Most of the worshippers will be eaten.”

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