“It was an interesting battle. Interesting finish.” Henry hadn’t been able to get to Tony until the light faded. He’d had to stand, surrounded by the fallen, fighting restraining hands, unable to do anything while Tony screamed. Yeramathia, whatever or whoever Yeramathia was, didn’t give a damn what he considered his. “What else do you remember?”

“Golden light. The Shadowlord . . .” He waved a trembling hand. There weren’t really words for having seen a man dissolve in light. “I remember pain.”

“That’s because you were touching the pattern when Yeramathia answered.” Arra’s voice cut through the memory. She stood, arms folded, by Raymond Dark’s desk. Apparently, frowning caused her no trouble at all. “What were you thinking, boy? Were you trying to get yourself killed?”

Tony shifted in Henry’s grip until he faced her. “I was thinking that your pattern was wrong.”

“My pattern?”

“Yeah. Your pattern. I’ve seen it more recently and it was wrong. So I fixed it.”

“You fixed it?”

“Yeah.” Her expression had begun to worry him. “No big. I just tugged one line over a bit.”

“You just tugged one line over a bit?” She was staring at him again, only this time her mouth was open. As Tony was about to point it out, she closed it with a snap. “Right. Well. Next time . . .”

“No.” He’d gotten his definite back. “There isn’t going to be a next time. We barely survived this time. Go home, Arra, you know you want to. Go home when the timer goes off and start a new order or raise chickens, I don’t fucking care.” Head throbbing, he let himself sag against Henry’s shoulder for a moment. Plenty of time to be butch later. “Just go home and close the gate after you.”

“Come with me.”

“What?” So much for sagging.

“Be the start of my new order. The Shadowlord has been destroyed, but there remains much work to do on the other side. I could use the help of someone who does not run away from a fight. The help of someone who will not let others run away.”

“What?” He squirmed around and looked at Henry who didn’t seem all that surprised. “What the hell is she talking about?”

“She’s telling you that you can be a wizard, Tony. If you want to.”

“Me?”

“You,” Arra answered. “You see what others do not. You reach out where others fear to. You are able to touch power and mold it to your use.”

The lack of contractions was beginning to seriously freak him out.

“I saw this in you from the beginning. There is great potential in you. You could become . . .” She paused, snorted, and rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not promising anything but you could become competent with training and practice.”

“Me?”

“We’ll work on articulate as well.”

“She’s serious?”

Henry nodded. “And abrasive. But I believe her.”