Blackbird tried to wrench her wrist away from Slimgrin without success. "What have you done with him? What?"
"Calm yourself," said Deefnir quietly, "for he has chosen, and there is nowhere he would rather be. He is fulfilling his destiny."
Garvin turned to Amber and Tate. "Find Niall. Go."
They vanished into the mist.
"You have some explaining to do," said Garvin to Deefnir.
"My Lord Altair awaits your pleasure," said Deefnir with a smile.
"You can let go of me now." Blackbird tried to twist out of Slimgrin's long fingers.
"You'd better go tell the Highsmiths that you're alive," said Garvin. "We will accompany Deefnir back to the High Court."
"Where's Niall?" said Blackbird to Deefnir. "Where is he?"
"All in good time," said Deefnir.
"Don't worry," said Garvin. "We'll find him."
"You'd better," said Blackbird. "You'd bloody well better."
"If this is one of your games, Raffmir…"
"I swear by my life, the hour is upon us. Hear the truth in my voice. Your daughter is in gravest peril and will die without aid. I have made preparations, but what must be done cannot be done alone. If you would have your daughter back, it must be now, before midnight."
I stood and looked at him. I was dead tired, bruised from the jump to the boat, desperate for a change of clothes and a hot shower. Even so, the truth rang in his words. I sifted through them, searching for the double meaning, the lie within the truth that would give his plan away. I could find none.
He offered the sword again and I took it.
"Where is she?"
He squeezed my shoulder. I stared at his arm until he removed it.
"I will take you to her. Come, we must use the Ways."
He strode away towards the town, confident that I would follow. I trailed after, unwilling to catch up with him, but drawn along all the same. When he reached the road leading up the hill past the church he waited for me and then walked alongside. We passed the church, where the lights blazed inside through the great east window.
"Give me a moment," I said. "I need to deliver some news."
He grasped my arm and hauled me up the hill. "We do not have a moment, Dogstar. If you can travel faster then do so. Our time is slipping away and we have much to achieve before the night turns into tomorrow. We must go now."
I allowed him to draw me on, wondering why, after all these weeks, it was so critical now. The pace meant I felt every ache as we mounted the hill behind the town. We reached the Way-node and he barely hesitated before stepping on to it.
"Follow swiftly."
He vanished in a swirl of air and I stepped after him.
The Ways are dangerous when tired, they sap the will and divert the attention. It took every fibre of concentration to follow the path left by Raffmir. Gritting my teeth, I swerved around the nodes, whipping tight around the Way-points. I was only barely aware that we headed south, focusing only on the chill path left behind him. We veered past node after node. Then we were there.
I staggered forward on to solid ground, wrong-footed by the sudden return of gravity and space. Raffmir watched me, his smile loaded with mute sarcasm.
"If you say anything about style, I will kick you," I said.
"It never crossed my mind to comment." The lie was obvious in his voice, as he must have known it would be.
I looked around. We were in a forest on high ground. I could see distant lights through the trees, but there was no obvious sign of civilisation. We were in the middle of nowhere.
"My daughter is in the middle of a wood?"
In response, he caught my sleeve and, despite my efforts to shake him free, led me through the trees until we emerged on a clear hillside. Below us was a broad expanse of heath land scattered with small dark buildings and what looked like abandoned vehicles. Beyond the heath was a complex of buildings, white lights arrayed around them. They glowed with industrial brightness, stark against the neglected landscape.
"There," he said, "we will find your daughter."
I watched for a moment. There was no sign of occupation, no movement of people or vehicles. The place appeared deserted but at the same time lights blazed in all the offices. Didn't these people know how to switch a light off?
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Wiltshire."
"No, I meant, where in particular are we? What is that place?"
"That is where your daughter is being held. This is the facility in which she is imprisoned. Tonight we must break in to release her. I warn you, it is well guarded."
"You didn't answer my question."
"They call it after this heath on which we stand. It is called Porton Down."
I glanced at him, wondering whether this was some kind of wind-up. "Porton Down? That's the chemical warfare place. The one where they develop nerve gas."
"And for that reason alone, I would watch where you step. They test fire ordnance on this heath and you might lose a leg if you were to wander unwary, but chemical warfare is not the only thing they do here. There is research into all manner of things. It is true, though, that defence against chemical and biological weapons is their primary purpose. It is the biological aspect that concerns us. This is where they take the dangerous mongrels, the half-breeds out of control, the ones that cannot be contained through other means."
"How do you know my daughter is in there?"
"Are you doubting me?"
"I'm asking how you know. You don't even live on this world. I've been trying to find her for weeks and yet you know where she is?"
"Ah well, there fortune has smiled upon me. It has gifted me the ability to grant you what no other can. Your daughter's location came to me by happenstance, one of those moments of chance when you know that fortune does indeed play dice, and she always wins."
"You came upon her by accident." I could not keep the sarcasm from my voice.
"Not an accident, but I swear that I did not seek her out. Her name came up in conversation with regard to other matters. I made the connection and once the connection was made, it was obvious what must be done."
"Which is?"
"That I must bring you here to release her, so that you may be reunited."
Once again I could hear the clear and perfect truth in his words and yet I felt that there was more that he was not telling me.
"Swear to me that you are not intending her harm."
He looked offended. "Have I not already sworn? Would you have me repeat my vow?"
"I would remind you of it."
"The reminder is unnecessary. I have already sworn not to harm your daughter or by my actions to allow either you or her to come to harm, but I face a dilemma. What we attempt is not without risk."
He gestured at the complex of buildings. "If we do not rescue your daughter then she will die tonight, but releasing her is not without danger for you and for her. We may attempt a rescue and in so doing put your life and hers in jeopardy, but without the attempt you will surely lose her. Do you see my quandary?"
"I understand, Raffmir. Though the question that remains is: what do you get out of this? The way I see it, you could stand aside and let matters take their course. If my daughter is dead, why do you care? Isn't that one less mongrel to pollute your precious bloodlines? With a free hand, you would kill her regardless, so why the effort to save her?"
"Is it not enough that I would see you unharmed?"
I thought for a moment. "No," I said. "I want to know why you're helping me."
At that he looked at his feet and then sidelong at me.
"Then I must confess my unwitting involvement in the harm that may come to her."
"Unwitting?"
He threw his arms wide in a gesture of innocence. "I swear I did not know she would be part of what is done here. There was never any intention that she would become involved. She was brought here without my knowledge or approval and it was only after she was within the establishment that I discovered she was here."
"You? What would you be doing at Porton Down?"
"That I am not at liberty to divulge."
I turned to face him and poked him in the chest with my finger. "Oh no. You don't get out of it that easily. If you are involved, you can't just deny all knowledge and expect me to accept it."
"It is not my secret to tell." He looked down at my finger and it was my turn to remove it.
"But you know what's going on. Come on, Raffmir, what are you up to?"
He shrugged and turned to face the distant buildings.
I stepped into his line of sight, forcing him to look at me. "You've done something that caused my daughter to come to harm in direct contravention to the vow you made. Otherwise I would not be here. I think you'd better tell me what you've done. Either you explain it to me or I'm going for Garvin and the Warders."
"By the time you return she will be dead."
"And you knew that would be the case."
He sighed. "I suppose that one way or another it will be known tonight. By the time this night is over, what is done will be done."
I waited for an explanation.
"The Seventh Court have been funding research into a cure for the condition with which your daughter is afflicted."
"What do you mean, afflicted?"
"A way of reversing the effect of fey bloodlines, of returning those who have inherited fey abilities to a normal human life."
"It's not a disease, Raffmir."
"There are those who would disagree with you. Within this establishment there are a number of individuals who would gladly receive treatment if it would only reverse the changes visited upon them."
"And you have been funding this?"
"The Seventh Court has, through a network of foundations and trusts, yes."
"That's ridiculous. This is a defence establishment. Surely they check into the sources of their funding? Otherwise they could be infiltrated by spies or enemy agents."
"We are not spies, though, are we? And we are not foreign. The foundations of which we speak were established in this country hundreds of years ago and have been engaged in supporting research and building understanding for all of that time. There are no enemies here."
"But why would the Seventh Court get involved in human research?"
"Because if a treatment can be found then the mongrels can return to being human and the Feyre can return to being fey. The reason for our exile becomes a moot point. You have not lost anything and we have everything to gain."
"But you would be forcing this treatment on the half-breeds?"
"It is a humane alternative to culling. You would live as long as you were ever going to. It is a compromise."
"This is what Altair's been discussing with the High Court?"
"No. We hoped to, but unfortunately it doesn't work. I will not say that I understand the science but whatever they are doing has the effect of removing the ability to contain the power without quenching it."
"I don't understand."
"Nor I, but the effect is simple. Once the treatment is applied, the magic is unleashed and it consumes the subject. They have lost every patient they have tested. Your daughter is the next test subject and they are planning to run the test tonight."
"My daughter!"
"I have tried to delay it. I have done everything in my power, I assure you, but she is next on the list. They are very hopeful for the results. Unfortunately I remain pessimistic."
"This is barbaric! They can't do this on human subjects."
"They have consent from the patients and from the families. They can do it, and they already have."
"They don't have Alex's consent. How can they? She's a child."
"They don't need hers. They have yours."
Of course they did. I had signed the papers myself. It hit me, then, what they were doing. They were waiting until families were in the position that Katherine and I had been in at the hospital and then putting forms in front of them.
What was the phrase?
We will do everything in our power to save your daughter.
This was what they meant.
"I know what I consented to, and I didn't mean this."
"It makes no difference. They have all the permission they need."
"It's immoral. It's wrong."
"They believe they are helping them."
"They're killing them!"
"In pursuit of a cure. If they can make it work they believe they will save far more than they harm."
"You know that's never going to work. You know what being fey is like. Once the magic is active, it's there forever. You can't just send it back."
"They think they can."
"That's ridiculous."
"So is putting a man on the moon. They did that."
I turned away, speechless at the obscenity of it.
"There is not time for this, Dogstar. If we are to rescue your daughter, it must be now."
I turned back. "You did this, Raffmir. You're responsible."
"Did I not bring you here in time to set things right? I am doing everything in my power, but without you tonight's endeavour may fail with tragic consequences. I need your help."
"Then let's go."
"This facility has been constructed to contain those with fey abilities, mongrels who have lost control and are capable of murder and worse. It will not be easy to get inside."
"But you know a way?"
"Fortunately it has been constructed to stop fey getting out, not to prevent them getting in. It has its weaknesses, but once we begin we cannot stop. There are no friends here, Dogstar, and no innocents. Everyone involved knows what transpires here. Because it is night, the staff is much reduced, but the facility runs continuously – there will be people there."
"I'm ready."
"We will go to the roof. They are not expecting us. Their strength is limited and we have the advantage. Once inside we cannot afford for them to organise resistance. We will need to be ruthless."
"You shouldn't have a problem with that."
"It is not me I'm concerned about."
"I can do my bit."
"Your resolve must be firm if you want to see your daughter again."
The memory of what a few misguided men had done to the missing girls on the boat returned to me, but in a form that was distilled and cold. It left me feeling empty and full at the same time.
"I have seen what people do to each other, Raffmir. I don't need a lecture."
In my mind, though, I began to wonder whether I would be able to contain the anger again, if it was once released. Raffmir watched me. Whatever he saw, it was enough.
"Come then," he said. "It is time I took you to your daughter."
He stood close, pointing across the heath to the cluster of buildings. "The building we need is the one at the back there, near the road. That is Bethlem Wing."
"What did you say?"
"Bethlem Wing. That's what it's called. Why do you ask?"
Another piece fell in to place for me. Bethlem Wing, Porton Down. The initials on the B files were BWPD. That was what it meant. He was right, this was where they had taken her.
"Never mind. How do we get in?"
"As I showed you on the hill, that day, we must travel to the roof of the building. Once we are there, you must not draw power unless absolutely necessary. The alarms are set to detect changes in temperature, so if you draw power for any reason you will alert them to our presence. Use glamour alone until I give the word."
"OK. How do we get inside?"
"I have a way. Once we are in the building we must try and avoid raising the alarm for as long as possible. The longer we have before the alert goes out, the better chance we have of getting in, finding your daughter and getting out."
"And how do we get out?"
"We make our escape route as we go in. All we have to do then is get back to the roof and we leave the way we came. The best outcome is they don't know we've been there until after we're gone."
"Is that likely?"
"If we draw power the alarms will trigger and they will assume there is a break-out in progress. They will not be expecting a break-in. We still have the advantage."
"Until we want to leave."
"Do not get trapped in there, Dogstar. The best of it is that they would break my vow for me. What they will do to you does not bear speaking of, and I would not be the cause of it."
"And yet you've been funding it, all this time."
"These are the depths we are driven to. I do not like it any more than you."
"And yet it continues."
"Do you wish to argue morality or rescue your daughter?"
I stared back across the expanse of rough grassland.
"Good," he said. "Follow me."
He stood apart, gathering energy until he was surrounded by a white aura of power. The warm night breeze chilled in response until he suddenly vanished. In the glare of the arc lights on the distant buildings I could not see him, but I knew where he'd gone. I stood in his place, focusing on the roof of the building he'd shown me, until the energy thrummed through me and the shadow world was overlaid on to reality. Then I stepped behind the curtain of the world into the space beyond, emerging on to a rooftop surrounded by arc lights.
Raffmir waited next to a large concrete structure built into the rooftop. Around us, banks of air conditioner units whirred in an incessant breathy hum.
"Now what?"
"There'll be a moment or two, then someone will come to investigate."
"The alarms have gone off already?"
"No, but the cameras aren't working." He pointed to a pair of wall-mounted security cameras angled to scan the rooftop. Their bare wires hung from them like entrails where he had ripped them out.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because we need this door open without raising the alarm," he said, indicating a service door. "Stand over there, out of sight."
We waited for a few moments until there was the sound of movement from the door. Someone tried several different keys, then the door swung open.
"…but whichever one it is, they ain't working now."
From my position towards the side, I could see two security guards emerging. They wore uniforms, but were not military. As the second one emerged, Raffmir stepped out on the far side of them into their line of sight.
"Ah, I'm glad you've come. We're having some trouble with the cameras."
"Who the hell…"
As the first one spoke, Raffmir stepped forward. The security guard jerked and the bright point of a sword punched through the back of his uniform. He waved his arms ineffectually and sank to his knees. At the same time, his colleague went for the gun holstered at his waist, his scrabbling fingers clawing for the weapon, flipping open the holster. In a second I had my sword drawn, the edge bright against his throat, pressed into his windpipe.
"Drop the weapon," I told him.
He held the unholstered pistol out by two fingers and let it fall to the ground, where it clattered heavily.
Raffmir stepped forward, placed a boot on the shoulder of the kneeling man and pulled his sword free. The man toppled backwards with a final cough, his head lying in a growing pool of blood. Raffmir swept the sword up in an arc, sending a spray of blood across the air-conditioner units.
"Are you planning on keeping him as a pet?"
I pressed the sword upwards, keeping the man on tiptoe, not letting him gain balance and posture to fight back.
"Can we tie him up?"
Raffmir whirled on the spot. The man jerked in my hand as Raffmir's sword thumped into his chest. He jerked again and then collapsed forward on to the blade I held at his throat. I was forced to relax it or slice his neck through. He fell into a heap across his colleague.
"What did you do that for?" I demanded.
"We do not have time to take prisoners, Dogstar. There are no innocents here, remember?"
"He was helpless. You didn't have to kill him."
"What were you going to do? Take him with us? Leave him here to raise the alarm?"
At that moment the smell hit me, a mixture of shit and blood, the smell of death. My gorge rose and I turned away, spewing what remained in my stomach on to the concrete roof. Cold sweat covered my forehead. I leaned against an air conditioner and tried to wipe my forehead.
"Some Warder you make, throwing up at the first sight of blood." Raffmir was amused.
"I do what I have to," I told Raffmir, the taste of vomit still sour in my mouth. "But I don't kill for pleasure."
"Nor I. It is necessary, I assure you," he said. "They might raise the alarm otherwise and we cannot risk that."
"The alarm will be raised as soon as they miss these two," I pointed out.
At this one of the men's lapel radios chirped.
"Did you find the problem, Chris?" The voice was distorted by the radio.
"Now what are you going to do?" I asked Raffmir.
In response, he rolled the dead guard on top on to his back and unhooked the radio. He shifted his glamour into the image of the man on the floor, and clicked the button on the side of the radio.
"Looks like a problem with the wiring to me," he said, using a voice similar to the dead guard's and looking at the broken camera. "You should get someone up here to fix it."
"Right you are. I'll give the security firm a buzz."
"We're on our way down," Raffmir said.
The security guard that was Raffmir tossed the radio on to the bodies. "By the time they find the bodies, it will be too late. Take the form of the other one. It will avert their notice."
It made me feel sick again to take the form of a man I could see dead on the floor, as if I was somehow stealing his identity as well as his life. He had been going for his pistol, so I suppose that meant he wasn't innocent, but did that make it OK? My hands were slick with sweat and I wiped them on my trousers as I followed Raffmir through the access door into the building.
We dropped three flights of metal stairs before opening a service door on to a corridor brightly lit by lines of fluorescent tubes.
"This is the administration floor."
We passed glass-fronted offices, one after another, each with a symmetrical array of desks. Close to midnight, they were deserted.
"How do you know so much about this place?"
"I have seen plans for the building. We funded the construction, after all."
"You're in this up to your neck, aren't you?"
"In my experience, necessity is only the mother of further necessity. We do what we must."
"Which way?"
"Down, always down. The lower floors are the secure area, below ground is where we will find your daughter. There are no windows and fewer exits. It makes it easier to contain the inmates."
"Inmates? Is that what we're calling them?"
"Mongrels, half-breeds, gifted individuals, whatever you would like to call them, that's where they're held."
We pushed through a set of doors and went quickly down a double flight of stairs, exiting on to an identical corridor. As we opened the doors, there were two more security guards walking down the corridor towards us.
"Stay calm," said Raffmir quietly.
"Did you find the problem?" one of them asked.
"Looks like a wiring problem. We reported it and they're calling in the security company," said Raffmir, mimicking Chris.
"Right you are."
They walked past us, the one who had not spoken nodding to me as they did so. I gave him a nervous smile, saying nothing. We heard one of them speak into the radio as they walked on to the stairs we had just descended.
"Chris and Terry on their way down," he said.
We came to another double door and Raffmir thrust through them to the stairway. We descended two floors, passing double doors at each level.
"This is the end of the administration area," said Raffmir. "Beyond here is secure. Stay alert. They will be guarding more closely from here on."
We walked down a corridor lined with more offices. The windows to these were translucent but obscured with privacy film. We came to a double door with an electronic lock and a blank proximity reader showing a red light. Raffmir pushed the door. It rattled but did not yield.
"It's too early," he said.
"For what?"
"To use power. If we trigger the alarms now, by the time we get downstairs it will all be sealed. We'll have a much harder time getting in and out. Let's try the other end."
"It's just as likely to be locked," I pointed out.
As we turned to go back the way we had come, an Asian woman stepped out of the offices ahead of us."
"Chris? Terry? What are you doing? That's the restricted area. You can't go in there." Her accent was Indian, educated and resonant with authority.
"There's been a break-in upstairs. We're checking to see if the security doors are locked." Raffmir glanced at her and then at the security ID badge dangling on a lanyard around her neck.
"A break-in?" She looked around disbelievingly. "Why haven't the alarms gone off?"
Raffmir stepped up to her and grasped her head with both hands. She gave a strangled squeak as he lifted her on tip-toe. He jerked her head sideways and there was a wet snap. Her body went limp and fell to the floor.
"For God's sake, Raffmir! Do you have to kill everyone? What's the matter with you?"
"Check to see if the office is empty." He said, gathering her limp form under the arms.
I ran forward, leaned around the door and found the office from which she had emerged empty. I swung the door wide and Raffmir dragged in the body. He tugged at the ID card around her neck and pulled the lanyard free.
"How many of them are you planning to kill?" I asked, looking down at the woman. She looked strangely peaceful, though the angle of her neck was all wrong.
"As many as I have to. Remember, these people have been systematically killing your mongrel brethren. They have no scruples and there are few things indeed that they would not do."
"So you can just kill them."
"I don't have the attachment to them that you do, Dogstar. To me they are mere curs, yapping at the moon." He took the ID card and returned to the secure door. It beeped once as he presented the card and the door clicked open. He went through and I followed, closing it behind us.
The offices on the far side were identical, leaving me wondering what the extra security was for. We walked past an office where two men argued. They sounded tired and irritable, but they did not notice us. That probably saved them, though they did not know it.
Further down the corridor was another electronically controlled door. This one had a proximity reader, but also a numeric keypad. I glanced back to the office where the men still argued. Maybe they were not so safe after all.
"Remember why we are here," said Raffmir. "Do not be distracted by trivia. When the alarm signal is triggered their reaction will be swift. In and out. That's all that concerns us."
I nodded.
Raffmir placed his hand on the keypad and the light blinked green twice. The door clicked open. He strode through, his pace quickening.
"If it was that easy," I asked him, "why didn't we do that before? We didn't need to kill that woman. We could have just locked her in her office or knocked her unconscious."
"We do not have time for that. The door will open to my command, but by which token I cannot know. The magic finds the easiest route, the path of least resistance. It's like water running through soil, it goes where it can."
"And why is that a problem, exactly?"
We passed the lifts and came to the double doors leading to the downward stairway. Raffmir placed his hand against the keypad again and the light blinked green.
"It will not last. The locks will open to a valid identity, but there is another system that monitors who has access and when they use it. It's part of the security system."
A loud siren suddenly started emitting a piercing whine. Red lights flashed down the corridor. The keypad on the door blinked red, but the door was already open.
"It has just worked out," said Raffmir, "that we shouldn't be here."
He led the way, descending three full levels before he halted. "Wait here," he said.
"What are you going to do?"
"Below us is the guard station for the secure levels. I will deal with the guards."
"Can't we…"
He literally vanished from sight in front of me, fading into the stairway as if he'd never been there. "Raffmir?" I was talking to the empty stairway.
I gritted my teeth. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
There was a series of staccato eruptions from below, followed by the dull boom of a shotgun in a confined space. Screams and shouts echoed up the stairway with the acrid smell of smoke and discharged gunpowder. There was a final percussive shot and then silence.
A breath of air below me turned back into Raffmir. "The way is clear. Come."
He led me down another level to a bend in the corridor which opened out into a space covered by guard posts on either side. One had the menacing muzzle of a machine gun poking from it while the other had thick glass, now smeared with a red stain. Dead bodies were strewn about the floor, blood pooling beneath them, their weapons lying with them where they'd fallen. The smell of blood and guts was mixed with acrid smoke, making me retch.
"How many did you kill?" I asked.
Raffmir shook his head. "Are you keeping score?"
"No, but I need to know what this has cost."
"Even if it were a hundred, would you not pay that price in battle to have your daughter back? Blood calls to blood, Dogstar. It always has."
A young soldier behind a barrier had been rammed into the concrete face first, leaving his features unidentifiable. "This wasn't a battle. You slaughtered them."
"They prepared to fight the fey – mongrels, half-breeds, the ill-bred and misfits. They have not faced the true fey for centuries. They have become arrogant and complacent. It is their weakness." I noticed then what had been bothering me. The whole area was peppered with iron. The guards had been using iron in their ammunition. Raffmir was right when he said that they had prepared.
Beyond the guard station was another set of double doors. He put his hand over the keypad, but it flashed red three times and the door didn't open.
"Now what?" I asked.
He took hold of the metal bars of the door handles. With alarming strength, he ripped the doors apart. Once he had a gap he used one to lever against the other until the frame screeched and the hinges buckled, leaving the doors hanging limply and leaving the way down open.
"Bloody hell," I said.
Raffmir grinned at me. "The strength of the true fey is something to behold. You begin to appreciate the differences between us." He stepped through the gap. "The system triggered the alarm, but they still don't know what they're dealing with. The cameras are useless to them, they will show them nothing. We still have the advantage of surprise."
I followed him through what remained of the doors. Beyond them was a reception area with comfortable leather chairs and a water cooler. A middle-aged woman in a white coat was trying to barricade herself into a glass-walled office by pushing a chair under the door handle. If she'd seen what Raffmir had just done to the security doors, she would not have bothered.
There were three sets of opaque glass doors arranged at each corner of the area, leading further into the complex. On each door was a letter – A, B and C. Raffmir ignored the woman in the room, who was now hiding under her desk, and went to the door marked B.
"This way."
As I followed there was the sharp double crack of pistol shots. The opaque glass door to the right shattered in a shower of glass. Alarmed, I leapt aside and pressed myself against the wall, out of the line of the ambush. Raffmir pushed through, there was a dull thud and then a man in a security uniform was hurled backwards through the other door, shattering that too. He bounced once on the floor and rolled across the carpet, groaned and lay still.
I stepped gingerly across the glass-covered carpet to where Raffmir was sweeping fragments of glass from his sleeve. The acrid smell of gunfire hung around him. There was a black pistol on the floor, and I reached for the gun.
"Leave it," he said. "Its sound will only betray our location. Your sword is cleaner and more certain."
"Were you hit?" I asked.
He shook his head, but the smile had gone. "The time has come," he said, "to show them what they are dealing with."
He shifted form back to the long coat and ruffled shirt. As he did so the air chilled suddenly and the lights flickered and dimmed.
"Do likewise," he instructed. "Take as much power as you can. Together we can absorb all they have. Without power or light they will be unable to respond."
The well of darkness within me dilated and I drew in power. The room temperature plummeted and the lights winked out. There was a crackling, splitting sound as the water in the cooler froze and split the container. My hands and fingers were outlined in a white nimbus. The sirens faltered and then subsided into a muted beeping. Emergency lights flickered on then faded to blue and died.
"Keep drawing power. They are not creatures of the dark like us. We will have the advantage as long as we can hold it. Together we can deny them light, while we can still see."
He gestured around him and I found I could indeed see, even beyond the faint outlines illuminated by our flickering nimbus. The real world was in darkness, but the shadow world overlaid upon it was like glowing smoke.
He walked on into that spectral dark, and I followed.