“I’m guessing it’s the eight ounces of warm vodka.” He poked him again. “I’m fine.”

Henry straightened. All he could do at this point was believe him. “Will there be others tonight?” he asked the wizard.

“Other shadows returning?” She glanced toward the ceiling and although Henry heard her heart speed up, there was no outward manifestation of her fear. “Could be, but I doubt it. These seem to be the extended wear version, good for a few days. And if you’re right and they’ve been sent purposefully to look for the . . .” She sketched a set of air quotes. “. . . light, then they’ll stay as long as they can.”

“What was the waiting one waiting for?” When both wizard and vampire turned to look down at him, Tony waved. “There was one in Mouse and one waiting here by the gate.”

Arra frowned. “I’d guess it was guarding the gate—the gate was open when you destroyed the shadow last night. The Shadowlord probably felt it die and wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.”

Tony’s eyes widened as sudden realization dawned. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times and then he said, “I killed . . .”

“No, you didn’t.” Arra cut him off. “They’re pieces of the Shadowlord, of the evil he has become. They have no life, no sense of self, until they imprint with a host. You destroyed a tool. A weapon. A thing, not a person.”

“Oh.” He rubbed his fingertips along the painted floor. “That’s okay, then.”

Pulling Henry to one side, Arra leaned close to his ear and murmured, “Look, you stay here with him and deal with whatever shows up, and I’ll take Mouse to a hospital. He smells like a vodka-catnip cocktail and he’s clearly been fighting, so there shouldn’t be any questions I can’t deal with.”

“Given your ability to banish the shadows; shouldn’t you be the one who stays?”

“First, I’m obviously not the one who hit him. They might not believe that so easily of you. Second, you haul that light stand around and you can banish them just as easily. You already have. Third, there’s no point in chancing me so close to the gate. If the Shadowlord knows I’m here . . .”

About to ask, He’ll what? Henry changed his mind at her expression. Or rather her lack of expression; in all his long life, he’d never seen anyone so desperate to hide her true feelings. There would be a time of reckoning between them but not now, not with innocents needing their attention. “You can drive?”

“I can ride the heart of the whirlwind secured in place with a rope braided from the dreams of trees.”

“That’s not what I asked.”