"So I was in the umbra when I met Taylor the first time?"
"No. You were in the umbra when you talked to Logan, but retreated to the base level when you went to rescue the woman."
Ha. The things you learned. "So all I have to do is lure Taylor through the levels until we're in the umbra?"
"Getting him there will be the problem. He will be wary of astral traveling too close to the umbra. Most seasoned travelers are."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because while a soul generally cannot be killed on the astral plane, that rule doesn't hold on the umbra portion."
I digested that for a moment, then slowly said, "That's what he plans. He said only one of us will be coming back from this battle."
"Make sure it is you, Risa. I could not—"
He cut the rest of the sentence off, leaving me wondering just what he'd been about to admit. The part that hungered for his touch desperately wanted to believe it was something along the lines of not being able to live without me, but that was stupid, given that he had a totally different physiology. More likely, he was simply going to remind me that he couldn't continue the quest without me.
Which he'd reminded me of often enough.
I waved a hand toward the front door. "We'd better get going."
Because the sooner we got to that house and whatever delights Taylor had waiting, the sooner we could get on with the business of finding the next key.
But even as I made my way down to my car, a dark voice within was whispering, You'll be finding nothing but the afterlife if you lose this battle. And you could lose it. Very easily.
And if I kept thinking along those lines, I'd be defeated long before I ever made it onto the astral plane.
It didn't take all that long to get across to Altona, thanks to the fact that peak hour had pretty much passed. I parked under a streetlight at the top end of Keeshan Court—there was little point in hiding—then climbed out and studied my surroundings. It was a typical middle-Melbourne suburban street, filled with tidy-looking brick houses and neat front yards. The sort of street I could imagine kids playing in happily, never realizing there was a psycho in their midst.