The scene in the room was dreamlike despite her willful effort to focus on the things that were concrete. Help was coming. The entire nation was on alert, and it had something to do with this person calling for her. Help had to be on the way. The baffling Vengelis was standing on the stage, holding the hotel manager in the air by the collar of his shirt. Vengelis’s body was not even in a tensed position, and his arm held the husky man clean off the ground with seemingly no effort at all. Kristen could feel the fear coursing from the audience behind her. The beautiful young woman sat on the stairs leading to the stage with her hands wrapped round her knees. She was looking at Kristen emphatically, and Kristen saw she had scrapes on her arms and hands. “There you are,” the man calling himself Vengelis said. “Come here.” Kristen stood her ground and looked up at him carefully. He raised the hotel manager farther into the air.
