"I saw Michael do that once," I said, panting. "He told me he knew how to find where he was needed. How long is this freaking ladder?"

"Another twenty or thirty feet," Susan said. "Comes out in the basement of an empty building south of the Loop . Martin's waiting with the car."

"Why did that guy talk about a Fellowship when he saw you back at the auction?" I asked. "What Fellowship?"

"It's a long story."

"Condense it."

"Later."

"But-"

I didn't get to protest any further, because I slipped and nearly fell when I reached the top of the ladder. I recovered my balance and scrambled up into a completely dark room. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Susan outlined, a dim shadow against a faint green-gold light.

"What's that light?" I asked.

"Eyes," Susan said. Her voice was a little thready. "Coming up. Move over."

I did. Susan slid onto the floor as the green-gold light grew brighter, and I heard the steely rasping sound of Deirdre's hair moving below. Susan turned and drew something from her jacket pocket. There was a clinking, clicking sound. Then she whispered, "One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand, four, one thousand," and dropped something down the ladder.

She turned to me, and I felt her fingers cover my eyes, pushing me away from the ladder. I got it then, and leaned away from the shaft the ladder had come up just before there was a hellishly loud noise and a flash of light, scarlet through Susan's fingertips.

My ears rang and my balance wavered. Susan helped me to my feet and started moving out through the darkness, her steps swift and certain. From the shaft, I could dimly hear the demon-girl shrieking in fury. I asked, "Was that a grenade?"

"Just a stunner," Susan said. "Lots of light and noise."

"And you had it in your pocket," I said.

"No. Martin did. I borrowed it."

I tripped over something faintly yielding in the darkness, a limp form. "Whoa, what is that?"

"I don't know. Some kind of guard animal. Shiro killed it."

My next step squished in something damp and faintly warm that soaked through my sock. "Perfect."

Susan slammed a door open onto nighttime Chicago, and I could see again. We left the building behind us and went down a flight of concrete steps to the sidewalk. I didn't recognize the neighborhood offhand, but it wasn't a good one. It had that wary, hard-core feel that made The Jungle seem like Mary Poppins by comparison. There was dim light in the sky-evidently dawn was not far away.

Susan looked up and down the street and cursed quietly. "Where is he?"

I turned and looked at Susan. The dark swirls and spikes of her tattoo still stood out dark against her skin. Her face looked leaner than I remembered.