"The door jerked open and he glowered at her. "What do you want?" "Hey! Why are you mad at me? I just want to talk to you." "I don't want to talk," he said, pushing the door closed. With inexplicable courage, she put her booted foot in its path. "Then maybe you can listen." "No!" he bellowed. "You're not going to scare me!" she shouted at him. Then he roared like a wild animal. He bared his teeth, his eyes lit like there were gold flames in them, and the sound that came out of him was otherworldly. She jumped back, her eyes as wide as hubcaps. "Okay," she said, putting up her hands, palms toward him. "Maybe you do scare me. A little." His eyes narrowed to angry slits, and he slammed the door again. She yelled at the closed door. "But I've come too goddamn far and gone to too much goddamn trouble to be scared for long!" She kicked the closed door as hard as she could, then yelped and hopped around from the pain in her toes. It"