“It doesn’t do any good coming back up your nose,” Arra snapped as he choked and coughed. “You have to swallow it.”

He flipped her off with his free hand—at this point he honestly didn’t give a crap about being rude—and took another mouthful. It didn’t taste any better, but after the fourth mouthful the vodka started numbing things out. A little. “How much . . . ?”

“Drain the cup.”

“All of it?”

“Isn’t that what drain means?”

“Give me a break,” he muttered, wondering if the tip of his nose was supposed to be tingling, “I’ve had a rough night.”

“And it’s not over.”

“Fucking great.”

Hands shoved in the pockets of his coat, Henry took a step closer to the wizard. “So, you’re involved now.”

“I’m . . .”

“The shadow in Tony said you were unfinished business. That his master would be thrilled to know where you were after all this time. And the one in . . .” His gesture took in the fallen cameraman. “. . . knew you.”

“Would be thrilled,” Arra repeated, screwing the cap back onto the thermos and sitting back on her heels. “Knew me, past tense. Both shadows have been destroyed, so no information’s going back through the gate. No one’s going to be thrilled on my account.”

“But it seemed to know you’d be here.”

“Well, of course, it knew. As Tony pointed out,” she added wearily, “I’m the one who opened the original gate. The son of bitch found this world by using my research.”

“It said you were unfinished business.”

She shrugged. “Who likes loose ends?”

“Your hand was in his chest.”

The non sequitur seemed to throw her for a moment, then she snorted. “You saw that, did you?”

As far as Tony could see, Mouse’s chest looked pretty much like it had all night. Okay, the horizontal part was new, but other than that, big and plaid pretty much covered it. “You had your hand in his chest?”

“I had the essence of my hand in the essence of his chest. I reached into the place where the shadows have substance and we don’t.”

“How . . . ?”

“Clean living.” Raincoat crinkling, she got slowly to her feet, her opinion of the question clear.

“Look, magic might be the obvious answer where you come from, but it isn’t here.” Tony swallowed the last of the potion and belched. A spray of tiny green sparkles danced in front of his face. “Not usually, anyhow.” The world tilted slightly sideways. “I think I need to sit down.” The floor seemed like the best option. It was close and he’d already proved that he could hit it. His legs folded. Another belch. More tiny sparkles.

“Is it the shadow?” Henry’s face swam in and out of focus.

Tony stretched out a finger and poked him in the cheek. “The objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear.”

“What?”