“Knowing what he knows, he’s wise to enjoy himself while he can.” She could feel the grin slipping away. “I’ll have potion enough for seven ready before the gate opens again.”

He started to say something, but she shrugged the phone down into her hand and hit the disconnect. If he wanted to find Tony and if the two of them wanted to shine bright lights on the Shadowlord’s spies, that was their business. Eventually, one of two things would happen; they’d realize they were whistling into the wind or they’d die fighting.

Since they’d already forced her involvement, she’d continue to make sure the taken had a chance to recover. Having done it once, balking at doing it again seemed foolish. And it put her in no more danger than any other person on this world.

This world.

Just another place she couldn’t save.

There were people in the building who’d take the cats when she left.

“I saw you this morning.”

“Yeah? So?” Tony had pressed himself back as far into the bucket seat as he could, trying and failing to get away from Mouse’s shadow as it pooled in his lap like a big, black . . . really creepy thing! It moved continually, like liquid but not, and in a futile attempt to get out from under its cool weight, his balls had climbed up so high they were practically sitting on his shoulder.

“You ran to Lee’s side.”

“Because he fell!”

“No.” Mouse glanced over at him and then turned his attention back to Friday night traffic on the Granville Bridge. “You moved before he fell. You know something.”

“I don’t know anything! I just did what anyone would do.”

“No one did.”

“Did what?”

“What you did.”

Tony rolled his eyes. Mouse had always been one of those guys who saw no point in using five words if three would almost do the job. “I was already there, so no one else had to do anything, did they?”

The cameraman/minion of the Shadowlord shrugged; a minimalist move of one burly shoulder that was all Mouse. As was the two-wheeled turn onto Hastings Street and the speed he was using to maneuver the Mustang around lesser vehicles. Tony thought the driver of a dark green Chevy Impala flipped them off as they passed, but they were by too quickly for him to be sure. Oh, sure, if he drove like this across the border in the US, some guy with a Bud tucked in his crotch’d get so pissed off he’d haul out the shotgun and pop a few off which would get the cops into the act and we’d end up on the next episode of FOX TV’s High Speed Chases heading for a dramatic finish where minion-guy here rolls the Mustang and I get rescued!