Without a word he set the shotgun aside and took the woman from me. I saw his eyes as he did, touched with worry and fear—and not for himself. He took her very gently, something I would never have imagined him doing, and growled, “How do I know you won’t leave us behind? Let them rip us apart while you run?”
“You don’t,” I said curtly, picking up my staff. “Stay if you want. These things will kill you both; I guarantee it. Or you take a chance with us. Your call.”
Hendricks glared at me for a moment, but when he glanced down at the unconscious woman in his arms, the rocky scowl faded. He nodded once.
“Harry?” Thomas asked. “How do you want to do this?”
“We head straight for your oil tanker,” I said. “Shortest route between two points and all.”
“They’ll have the door covered,” Thomas said.
“I hope so.”
“Okay,” he said, rolling his eyes. “As long as there’s a plan.”
Footsteps crossed the floor above us, and paused at the top of the stairs.
Thomas’s gun swiveled toward the stairs. I didn’t turn. I covered the doorway.
A voice like out-of-tune violin strings stroked by a rotting cobra hide drifted down the stairs. “Wizard.”
“I hear you,” I said.
“This situation might be resolved without further conflict. Are you willing to parley?”
“Why not,” I answered. I didn’t turn away from the door.
“Have I your word of safe passage?”
“You do.”
“Then you have mine,” the voice answered.
“Whatever,” I said. I lowered my voice to an almost subvocal whisper I was sure only Thomas could hear. “Watch them. They’ll try something the second they get a chance.”
“Why give them the opportunity?” Thomas murmured.
“Because we might find out something important by talking. It’s harder to question corpses. Switch with me.”
We traded places, and I kept my staff pointed at the stairs as the mantis-thing came down them. It crouched on the topmost step it could occupy while still maintaining visual contact with the entry hall. It looked none the worse for wear for being blown to hamburger by Gard’s rifle.
It crouched, the motion eerie and alien, and tilted its head almost entirely to the horizontal, first one way, then the other, as it looked at us. Then its stomach heaved. For a second I thought it was throwing up, as a yellow-and-pink mucus began to emerge from its mouth. After a second, though, it lifted its clamplike claws and gripped its head, then peeled it back and away from the mucus, the motion disturbingly akin to someone donning a too-small turtleneck sweater. A human face emerged from the mucus and gunk, while the split carapace of the head flopped about on its chest and upper back.
The Denarian looked like she was about fifteen years old, except for her hair, which was silvery grey, short, and plastered to her skull. She had huge and gorgeous green eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a delicate, pointy chin. Her skin was pale and clear, her cheekbones high, her features lovely and symmetrical. The second set of green eyes and the sigil of angelic script still glowed faintly on her forehead.
She smiled slowly. “I wasn’t expecting the chain. I thought fire and force were your weapons of choice.”
“You were standing on top of someone I knew,” I said. “I didn’t feel like burning her or blasting her through the wall.”
“Foolish,” the girl murmured.
“I’m still here.”
“But so am I.”
“You have five seconds to get to the fucking point,” I said. “I’m not going to let you stall while your buddies get into position.”
Mantis Girl narrowed her eyes. The eyes on her forehead narrowed as well. Très creepy. She nodded at Hendricks and Gard. “My business is with them. Not you, O Warden of the White Council. Give them to me. You may leave in peace. Once they are dead, I will gather my compatriots and we will depart the city without harm to any innocents.”
I grunted. “What if I need them alive?”
“If you wish, I can wait until you have interrogated them.”
“Yeah, that’s what I want: you, standing around behind my back.”
She lifted a talon. “I give you my solemn word. No harm will come to you or your companion.”
“Tempting,” I said.
“Shall I add in material reward as well?” Mantis Girl asked. “I’ll pay you two hundred thousand, in cash.”
“Why on earth would you do that?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “My quarrel is with the upstart Baron and his subjects—not the White Council. I would prefer to demonstrate my respect