White T-shirt, suspenders, suit pants. In his hand is a black plastic comb, which he runs through his white hair.

Werth tries to say something. All that comes out is a squeak of surprise.

The old man looks… healthy.

No. Not just that – he looks like the Konrad Zoladski from ten years ago. Tighter stomach. A little taller. Broader chest. The wrinkles are not so deep. The eyes are bright and young.

“Werth,” he says, giving a clipped nod and a toothy smile. “Good to see you.”

“B… Boss. You… the cancer…”

The old man winks. “Feeling like a new man. I think I’m gonna beat this thing.”

“How?”

“My friends from the Candlefly family here have some old world medicine. Some real rarified stuff, if that’s the word. Knocked me flat. Felt like I was going to die, but now…” He slaps his chest hard, too hard. “I feel like I just rolled off the Detroit assembly line with all new parts.”

“It’s goddamn good to see you again.” Werth looks to Candlefly who stands there in the hallway looking oddly amused. The man in the suit speaks:

“Did you need something, Mr Werth?”

“I just… I wanted to talk about Mookie.”

“Regrettable,” the Boss says. “But we deemed him disloyal. For killing my grandson and all. Him and that demon daughter of his. Shame. A real shame.”

The old man stares him down.

It’s then that it hits Werth: Zoladski’s eyes don’t look right. They’re clear, bright, sure. But they’re also the wrong color.

His eyes are normally dark. A brown so dark they might as well be black.

These eyes are crystal blue. Blue like Hawaii water.

The Boss pats Werth on the shoulder.

“I’m going to go have a sandwich now.”

Werth nods. “Sure, yeah, of course.”

Candlefly says, “We’ll talk later.”

Then the two of them are gone. Werth feels alone until he remembers Sorago – he looks to the Naga, and sees the Snakeface staring at him. Wicked smile plastered on the serpent’s face.

Nora rests for a little while. Regaining strength.

But then, above her – the air shifts. She feels a presence. Like someone is standing in the room with her.

She lifts her head. Pain gathering in her gut like water collecting in low places.

A black shape, black as night, stands by her bed.

Dead dark eyes that flash like quarters watch over her.

She thinks, It’s a nightmare, a hallucination, but it’s not. She sees it. The Blue allows her to see it.

“Wh… what are you?”

A voice in her mind:

WE ARE VOLLRATH.

“What… do you want?”

WE WANT TO SEE YOUR MIND.

Then the thing leaps upon her.

Ghost-scalpels cut into her. Invisible fingers probe.