speed reading

Grevane stood below, trench coat wet and swaying, water dripping from the brim of his fedora. There was a half circle of dead men standing behind him, and he beat a slow rhythm on his leg with one hand.
I wanted to cut and run, but I couldn't. I had to hold things up here until Butters had a chance to get away. And besides, if I ran away, toward the back exit and nowhere near my car, Grevane's zombies would catch me and tear me apart.
I licked my lips, struggling to weigh my options.
Then I had an idea. Holding my pentacle's chain in my teeth for light, I opened the book and started flipping through it, one page after another. I didn't read it. I didn't even try to read it. I just opened the pages, fixed my gaze at a couple of points on each, and moved on.
It wasn't a long book. I was finished less than two minutes later.
There was a sound from the stairway, and I rose, readying my shield bracelet.
Grevane came onto the gallery floor, zombies marching behind him. He stood and stared at me for a moment, his expression impossible to read.
"Stay back," I said quietly.
He blinked at me very slowly. "Why?"
I held up the book in one hand. "Because I've got the Word here, Grevane. And if you don't back off, I'll burn it to ash."
His eyes widened, and he lurched a half step closer to me, licking his lips. "No, you won't," he said. "You know that. You want the power as much as I do."
"God, you people are dysfunctional," I said. "But just to save time I'll give you a reason that you're capable of understanding. I've read the book. I don't need it anymore. So if you push me, I'll be glad to flash-fry it for you."
"You didn't read it," Grevane spat. "You haven't had it for ten minutes."
"Speed- reading," I lied. "I can do War and Peace in thirty minutes."
"Give me the book," Grevane said. "I will allow you to live."
"Get out of my way. Or I will allow it to burn."


Dead Beat Chapter 36, Page 327-328