THE SILENCE IS MORE DEAFENING THAN THE thunder.


    The candles sputter and extinguish as one.


    The charm grows instantly cold.


    When I look around, I see for the first time that not only Frey''s chair but every bit of furniture in the room has been reduced to shards of broken wood. It''s a wonder Williams and I weren''t staked by flying debris.


    Suddenly, Culebra sits up on the cot. He looks around, his eyes full of questions.


    Then he frowns and looks at me.


    "What in the hell have you done to my bar?"