The shield blocked my view, but that didn’t change that Blindside still blocked aim. I was flying on a course, and I couldn’t pitch that course to go cleanly over Blindside. I hit an invisible wall, my flight course altering against my will. I brought my legs up, feet planting on the wall, and then flew, strongarming my shield in Blindside’s general direction.

I hit the invisible wall and canceled out the Wretch. The shield carried on, slamming into the concrete wall and scraping a light clean away from its housing.

“Oh, it’s you,” Blindside said. They didn’t sound like they were so close they’d almost been hit by the shield. Had they scooted back?

Blindside moved, feet tapping against the tunnel floor, and I was forced to look away, turning toward the wall. I could gauge from the edges of my vision and judge distance using the angle I’d been moved at.

“Reminder: if your head turns too fast the wrong way, you might snap your neck. That’s not me trying to do it. I don’t want to do it. Believe me, it’s a problem, driver flies by, head turns too far to the left, car goes flying… if you go flying, actually flying, the same thing happens. I don’t want the blame for that shit.”

“What are you doing, Blindside? You work for Tattletale and Lord of Loss, got a heroine shot, and now you’re here, working for Teacher? I can’t picture those two working together. You can’t possibly think Teacher’s going to fix your problems and not enslave you.”

“Get this through your skull, Patrol girl. I don’t work for them. I don’t like either of them. I work for money. Cash. Dollars and dineros. Trading dollars and New Dollars, if you want to be modern. I’ll even take some nice horses for barter if I gotta. They tell me to guard the tunnel while they do what they do, I’ll do it.”

“Take it from someone who was a crime boss in an earlier life,” Damsel said. “Sometimes it’s easier to leave the help behind than to fork over the cash to pay ’em. You’re going to get left behind.”

“You weren’t that kind of person, right?” Lookout asked.

“I never did it, no. But power makes people callous. I might have.”

Blindside cut in. “You’re talking about Teacher? That man doesn’t want to be on my bad side. Half of what he does is make thinkers. The other half is making tinkers, some of which are still pretty darn affected by my power.”

“Power makes people stupid too,” Damsel observed. “We have exceptions, like Goddess and yours truly, but…”

“Someone like Teacher?” I finished the thought.

“He seems like the kind of person who’s so smart they do stupid things,” Damsel said.