“No, I used it to try to talk to you, something I have been attempting for some time. But the one you call Pritkin has been especially watchful lately, and when I finally did get an opportunity, what did I find?”

I didn’t get a chance to reply, not that I was planning on it, because he showed me.

The space in between us lit up with more hazy imagery, although it wasn’t as indistinct as he was. Maybe because this newest picture was filled with the watery light of a cloudy day—this day. And it was showing me the Thames where—

A battle for the ages was going on.

It was a replay of what had happened this morning, only this was late in the game. There were already wrecked hulks everywhere, the remains of once robust river traffic. There were miniature bonfires scattered across the scene, the leftovers of the great one that our fight had dispersed far and wide. And there were drifts of smoke obscuring parts of the landscape, even from the bird’s eye view I seemed to have. But the smoke wasn’t so thick that I couldn’t make out what was happening below, which…

“You see?” Not Pritkin said. “I arrived, became disoriented, and pulled back for a wider view. You can imagine my surprise at what I saw.”

Yeah, I thought, leaning forward. And momentarily forgetting that this was crazy, and that he was dangerous, and that I should be calling for help. Although what Gertie could do against a demon hopped up on godly spillover, I didn’t know.

And I didn’t find out, because I was too gripped by what I was seeing to do anything but stare in amazement.

Below was a tiny figure in a ruined dress, more black than white at this point, with strange, burnt edged holes all over it, like hell’s polka dots. I finally figured out that they were the marks from the hail of burning coal, which had left the dress more missing than there. But the person wearing the ruined outfit didn’t look beaten down and defeated, as I’d have expected. She also didn’t look like me. A halo of stolen power spilled out around her, lighting up the murky water and gilding the gloomy day. Her face was so bright that I could barely look at it, her hair was a radiant sunburst about her head, and her eyes…

Shone like stars.

“There,” Not Pritkin said, and I realized that he had moved to the bed beside me. I still couldn’t see him very well, more like black smoke given human form, except for the brilliantly green eyes. “You see?”

I saw.