She Is The Darkness

82

"Was I right?" Croaker asked.

"About the standard?"

"What else?" He seemed exasperated. Maybe it was a strain, sharing quarters with Lady and the loon crew of Smoke, Singh and Longshadow.

"Probably. You could sure feel it. And nothing got by." I was worn out. My inner thigh ached again after the long walk over. "But I can't prove that wasn't because of Lady's gimcrackery."

"The Lance did something, though?"

"Oh, yeah. Everybody felt something. Some probably even decided it had something to do with the standard." Thai Dei had remained outside, as he always did when I visited the Old Man, so I was not shy about describing the skirmish between Uncle Doj and Mother Gota.

"Which was about this Noose constellation?"

"That started it. I think that was just an excuse. Their conflict runs a lot deeper."

"And this all just started?" He smiled to himself, like me, probably, jumping straight back to Gota's business with One-Eye.

"And where is our pet hedge wizard?" I asked. He was not out riding Smoke, which is what I had expected him to do while I was away. Lady had the little fire chief all tied up.

Croaker shrugged. "Out of my hair, which is all I want right now."

Probably off tending his distillery, which had not been found in his dugout when the rescue crews turned the place inside out, looking more for that than for poor old One-Eye.

I said, "I had a dream. Or maybe I was out of myself. It almost turned into a nightmare."

"Uhm?"

"Catcher's figured out how to run the shadows. Just like our boy in the cage, there." Longshadow, though, was unconscious. More so than Smoke, who insisted on groaning every few minutes.

Croaker sighed. "I'm disappointed but I'm not surprised. It was a logical step for her. And she's had time to work on it."

"You going to do something about it?"

"Haven't I already?"

"You lost me, boss."

"She's figured out how to manage a few shadows. Close up. But I control the source of the shadows. And I don't have to get near her. Though I'm going to."

"I wouldn't get overconfident where she's concerned. You never know with her. Remember how she planted that demon Frogface on us."

"I take nothing for granted, Murgen." He glanced at his woman, lying motionless beside Smoke. "But I try not to let paranoia cripple me."

He would get an argument on that from a lot of people. On the other hand, though, he had overthrown the Shadowmasters and seemed well positioned to have us survive the perfidy of our allies.

But, Soulcatcher? I did not doubt that Smoke had been right every time he insisted She is the darkness!