“I have a counter-proposal,” says Valkyrie, coming down the steps. Her eyes burn. “You let him go and drop the knife. You surrender and I arrest you. You tell me why you came after me and who wants me dead. That sounds pretty fair to me.”

Danny can hear Gant’s smile in his voice as Valkyrie joins them on the street. “Three.”

Valkyrie’s hand glows brighter. “Two,” she says.

The knife digs a little deeper into Danny’s throat. “One,” says Gant.

“OK!” Valkyrie says, the glow immediately fading from her hand. “OK, you win.”

“Naturally,” says Gant. “You have shackles, I take it? Put them on.”

Valkyrie’s face turns to stone.

Gant’s laugh is not a happy one. “You think me stupid, girl? You think I’m going to leave you even the slightest chance to gain the upper hand?”

She hesitates. “The shackles are in my pickup,” she says, and starts forward. She freezes when Gant presses the blade deep enough into Danny’s throat to draw blood.

“Do not take one more step, you insolent little whelp.”

Valkyrie narrows her eyes. “You want me to get the shackles, I’m getting the—”

“You’re not doing anything,” Gant says. He drags Danny back towards the pickup. “I’ve heard all about you,” he says as they go. “I’ve been told about the things you’ve done. Up until now, I wondered which version of you we were going to get – the angel or the demon. Jeremiah and I, we were prepared for both.”

Valkyrie actually smiles. “You’d never be prepared for Darquesse.”

“You’d be surprised,” says Gant. “I’ve killed all sorts of people in the course of my work.”

“And what work would that be, exactly?”

“Killing people like you.” They come to a stop at the door of the pickup. “Angel or demon, we wondered. Now I know.”

“No,” says Valkyrie. “You only think you do.”

Danny feels Gant’s grip loosen as he reaches for the door handle. “Is that so? Well then, you tell me, young lady. Which are you? Angel or demon?”

Valkyrie smiles again. “I’m like anybody,” she says. “I’m a little bit of both.”

Gant opens the door and all Danny sees is a flash of brown and black as Xena leaps from the seat. Danny recoils and Gant falls, the big German shepherd snarling as she rolls off his chest. She goes for him again, jaws clamping down on his forearm. Gant screams and Xena shakes her head furiously. The old man staggers to his feet, kicks the dog in the side. Xena yelps, dances back, dives again, closing her teeth round his ankle.