Dema and Juan returned to the villa that night, again visiting it in coyote form. They sensed that the guards were nervous and edgy. Still they had no problem eluding them and making their way to the shed. But this night Silvio was there, and he was armed.

Even so, Juan stepped into the open as before and gave a low coyote-cough. Silvio looked at him and started. Instantly the pistol was in his hand and a shot was fired. But Juan was no longer standing where he had been when Silvio drew the gun, and the shot went wide.

Juan skipped backward several steps and another shot missed its mark. By this time Hector and the other guards had come running. Hector called out, "Silvio, is it the coyote?" Silvio replied, "Yes! Follow him, follow him. I will stay here and see who else comes."

Juan and the guards disappeared from view at the other end of the compound. Silvio turned back to the shed, only to see another coyote standing between him and the door.

But no. Silvio felt a slight wave of dizziness. It was not a coyote, it was a woman standing in front of him."

Silvio is it?" she said. "Here, let me help you with that gun." There was a slight click, and the clip fell out of the handle of the automatic pistol Silvio still held in his hand. He pulled the trigger and there was a faint puffing sound. The round in the chamber had misfired.

Dema grinned at him. "Having trouble with coyotes here, are we? Let's have a look." She turned to the shed door. The padlock fell open, and she took it off and dropped it on the ground. Silvio heard the snick of the deadbolt sliding out of the door frame.

Dema turned the handle and swung open the door. She stepped inside. Dumbfounded, Silvio followed her. "Ah, yes," she said. "Drugs. Opium," she took a packet from the shelf and dropped it on the floor, where it burst open with a puff of the white powder. "Cannabis," she took another, larger package from another shelf and dropped this on the floor as well. "You get your shipments from Guaymas, I suspect? The growers in the region south of there must appreciate your business."

Silvio realized he had nodded in agreement. He closed his eyes. He must get hold of himself. He felt another slight wave of dizziness. This couldn't be happening. But it was. When he opened his eyes again, the woman was different. Before she had been dark, almost invisible in the shadows. Now her hair was a cloud of white, and she was as pale as death.

"Silvio Ordonez," she said, "You are in very bad trouble. Let me tell you about the will of the spirit, the arrow of intent, and the blood of the innocent."

Silvio could not move. He was entranced, enraptured by the pale face that seemed to float in the dark in front of him. Stories from his childhood of tricksters and evil spirits rose up to fill his mind and grip his will.

"You have become a servant of evil, Silvio," she said, "You have chosen to follow a path that disturbs the spirit. It disturbs the spirit of the plants from which these drugs are extracted, by perverting the intent of the life that created them. It disturbs the spirit of the innocents who fall victim to the effects of these drugs, unaware of the evil behind them. And worst of all, for you, it has disturbed the spirit of the Lamia, so that now you find yourself in my presence, for from that there is no escape."

Silvio felt these words penetrate to the core of his being. He was enthralled, and deeply frightened. The words "no escape" seemed to resonate somehow within him.

"Silvio," she said, "There is only one chance for you. You must realign the arrow of your intent, so that it no longer leads you on a path of endless destruction. Your intent has been too narrowly focused on your own self-interest. You have not allowed yourself to see the harm your actions bring to others. You must learn to intend what is best for all. You must allow goodness and mercy to fill your heart and guide your actions. If you do not do this, you will perish."

Silvio felt another wave of dizziness, and the face of death faded from his sight. He felt something brush by his pantleg. When he had recovered enough from his rapture to turn to the door, he saw a pair of coyotes sliding off into the shadows. He sat down in the doorway and waited for the guards to return. In the midst of his musings he noticed the ammunition clip at his feet, picked it up and slipped it into place in the butt of his pistol.

This night it was Eligio Infante who was roused from sleep by the pistol shots and other commotion. He was with the guards when they returned to the shed to find Silvio sitting in the open door.

"What has happened here, Silvio," he asked, "Why is the shed open?"

"There were coyotes. And a woman."

"A woman? And she had keys to the shed?"

"No, she had no keys. She didn't need them."

"What then, did you unlock the door for her?" Eligio wagged his head with this sarcasm.

"No, no, she opened it herself."

"You gave her the keys, then?" Eligio again gestured sarcastically.

"Of course not." Eligio's sarcasm was making Silvio angry.

"Then how did this woman open the door!" Eligio bellowed in Silvio's face.

"She did not need a key! She just opened it! She touched it and the lock fell off! She was a witch! She was a coyote, then she was a woman, then she was the face of death! She spoke of the spirit, of the arrow of intent! She told me I must fill my heart with goodness and mercy, that I must no longer be a servant of evil." Silvio was obviously raving.

Eligio slapped his face, then slapped him again.

Then there was a shot, and Eligio was writhing on the ground, Silvio standing over him with his pistol in his hand. "I must no longer be a servant of evil," Silvio said quietly.

Another shot split the air, and Silvio went down. One of Eligio's bodyguards had shot him.

A stunned silence followed. Finally Hector said, "It's over. We can all go home now."