There was more along the same lines, but Tony ignored it. No matter what he said, there was a chance Arra could beat him or he wouldn’t be here personally making sure she was destroyed. The speech wasn’t directed at him anyway, it was meant to undermine Arra’s confidence. To make her run. It might even work if he didn’t do something soon. He had no illusions about the depth of Arra’s commitment to the cause. She was there because he was, motivated, as the Shadowlord said, by guilt. But what to do? Sneak around behind the coffin and ram him with it? Shut off the main power? Weaken the shadows in the dark? No way the Shadowlord hadn’t taken care of that, though, it was way too obvious. The main breaker would definitely be guarded. Or welded.

“Shall I show you what’s in store for you?”

That was directed at him again although Tony wasn’t sure how he knew.

The Shadowlord gestured, Peter called, “Roll camera,” and Charlie Harris stumbled out into the center of the set, clawing at his own shadow wrapped around him like a shroud.

And Tony remembered.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, and most importantly, he couldn’t breathe. It was like being trapped under a pliable sheet of cool charcoal-gray rubber that covered him from head to foot like a second skin, curving to fit up each nostril and into his mouth. Obscenely intimate.

The Shadowlord held out his hand and the gesture drew a wisp of black from Charlie’s skull. It sped across the set and into the wizard, who closed his eyes and murmured, “Just taste the terror.”

Charlie fell to the floor, heels kicking against the painted plywood.

“Are you learning from this, Tony? Thousands will die this way.”

Yeah, yeah. You’re not just blowing smoke out your ass. I get it. His hands gripping the edge of the wall, Tony braced himself for the charge. A solid tackle, knock the air out of the son of a bitch, and maybe Charlie’d have a chance.

He was standing, left foot raised, right leg about to push off when Henry dropped from the ceiling.

Right onto the Shadowlord’s lap.

The vampire reached out, wrapped his hands around the Shadowlord’s head, and twisted.

The resulting flare of darkness threw him back almost to the watching crowd.

Tony froze. Wizardy protections. You can’t whack at him.

“Deal with him.”

As the shadow-held advanced on Henry, Tony remembered he was supposed to be dealing with the Shadowlord. But not just dealing with him, dealing with his power over shadow.

How do I stop a shadow?

Know what’s real.

Light was real. Darkness was real. Light and dark. Light and absence of light.

Okay, that about does it for the options.

And then he realized he’d already given himself the answer.