“Well, I’d have to say you’re underreacting about the wizard, but given your friends . . .” Another corner-of-the-eye glance at Henry “. . . that’s hardly surprising. You’re over reacting . . .” She matched his emphasis. “. . . about Mr. Nicholas. You don’t need to go looking for him—and I certainly don’t—because the shadow will return to the gate approximately twelve hours after it came through.”

“What?” Tony froze in place and stared down at her, searching for another lie. “It’ll bring Lee back to the gate and just leave him?”

“Essentially.”

“So all we need do is make our way to the soundstage and wait?” Henry asked.

Arra nodded. “Be there at 11:15, it’s as simple as that. Research also indicated . . .” She glanced over at Tony, who curled his lip. “. . . that the mirror image of the gate equations would also work. On this world, that means there’s the potential for a gate every twelve hours. The Shadowlord will want to retrieve his spy and the information it carries as quickly as possible—he won’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute!” Tony took two quick steps closer to the couch. “What the hell does essentially mean?”

“It means that it’s unlikely to be as simple as Ms. Pelindrake is indicating. It never is,” Henry continued when Tony spun around to face him. He returned his attention to the wizard. “Is it?”

She shrugged. “It could be. The gate will open, the shadow will leave; any complications will be completely separate from that.”

“Lee?” When she didn’t answer immediately, Tony knew he was right. “Any complications will involve Lee, won’t they?”

“It’s possible he may have been damaged by the shadow’s possession.”

“Possible?”

“Some are; some aren’t. Those who are . . .” She looked inward, toward memory, and obviously didn’t like what she saw. “Some of them shake it off, some are damaged beyond repair; it depends on the individual and there’s no way of knowing until the shadow’s gone.”

“So what do we do?” Tony demanded.

“To prevent the damage? Once the shadow is in control, there’s nothing you can do. After . . .” Another inward look, then she shook herself free of the past. “There was a potion we had some success with in the early days, but the ingredients are a world away.”

“Can you substitute?”

An emphatic snort made her opinion of Henry’s question clear. “And what would you suggest I substitute for glinderan root, Nightwalker?”

“That would depend on what its properties were.”

“You’re serious?” When his expression made it obvious that he was, she snorted. “What do you care? Lee Nicholas isn’t yours.”

“No, but Tony is and Tony cares.”

“So you’re here, threatening me, because your exboyfriend . . .” She jerked her head in Tony’s direction. His lip curled. “. . . has a crush on an actor?”

“I’m here, threatening you, because an evil wizard is attempting to gain a foothold in this world, my world. And the fact that I can make so ludicrous sounding a statement with a straight face should give you some indication of how serious I am.” Henry’s eyes darkened as he allowed the Hunger to rise, capturing the wizard’s gaze and holding it. “I will not sit by and allow that to happen and neither will you.”