“What the fuck were you doing?” Talina snapped as she bent down to stare into his eyes. His Holland & Holland was held low, crosswise before her. “You were talking to Dan Wirth? And you said, let her go? Let go of whom?”

“Sharascina,” he whispered. “She turned into a quetzal at the last instant.”

He wiped at his eyes, aware of rainbows at the edges. Shouldn’t be seeing rainbows in the darkness.

“Don’t listen,” a reptilian voice hissed in his ears. “She ran from your bed.”

“Oh, go eat shit.”

“What did Demon just tell you?”

“That you ran from my bed. Why am I here? What happened to me?”

Quetzal laughter seemed to explode in Dek’s brain, making him wince. His stomach tensed. Revulsion—a disgusting feeling of self-loathing—rose from his core. Made him bend sideways, the nausea so thick in his belly, he ached to dry heave.

“Dek,” Talina was bent down to peer into his eyes. “Stay with me now. Pay attention. Demon is playing with your head. He’s using transfer and memory RNA to tap your cerebellum. Pulling up things from your past. He’s trying to control you, to make you do his bidding.”

“How did I get to the school? I was . . . I was . . .” He rubbed his face. “Wait. Your bedroom. I was in your bedroom.”

“I got home. You were gone.”

“I don’t remember . . .” She was right. He had been at her place. Remembered going to sleep despite the prickle of healing in his leg.

“So,” Talina mused, straightening, “who is Sharascina? What was Dan Wirth doing with her?”

“She’s . . . perfect. Famous. The most sought-after courtesan in the Hetaira guild. We were at Tiboronne.” He shook his head. “Dan Wirth came down the escalator, was going to rip her dress off. And then I had my rifle . . .”

“And you were going to blow a hole through Dan Wirth’s brand-new school.” She thoughtfully fingered his Holland & Holland and dialed down the charge. “Had it set to maximum. Not only would the charge have blown a hole clear through the building, the recoil would have broken both of your arms. And, I don’t want to put this any too mildly, but from the direction the bullet would have taken, it would have shot clear through to the dormitory in the back. Be just my luck that you’d have hit a kid.”

Quetzal voices echoed hollowly in his head as he dropped it into his hands. Flashes of Transluna . . . people he knew . . . Miko laughing at him . . . anger . . . disgust . . . “I want this shit to end.”

“Won’t happen, Bucko.” She turned, looking down the dark street toward the south. “Shig’s right.”

“Isn’t he always?”

Talina slung his rifle, reached down, and pulled Dek to his feet. His leg hurt, and he winced as it took his weight.