“But wait,” Pauz said, and he sounded earnest enough to catch our attention. “You don’t have a tail, do you?”
“If you want to beg for mercy, maybe you shouldn’t start by arguing trivialities about Molly’s death,” Rose said. “I didn’t really know her, but Blake did. He cared about her.”
Laird didn’t answer, and Pauz took the opportunity to continue. He almost crooned, if that was even possible with his hoarse, rough-edged voice. “Shall I drag your intestines out through your arsehole so you have something to wag for me, Laird Behaim? That’s not permanent damage. It’s within the bounds of the written rules.”
“Ew,” Evan said.
“Pauz,” I said, “Shut up.”
He shut his mouth and glared at me.
I chewed on my lip for a second.
“Thank you,” Laird said.
“You shut the fuck up too,” I said. “If I hear another word out of your mouth, I’m liable to let the imp have his say.”
Laird shut his mouth, his lips in a firm line.
“You don’t really get a good look at someone until all the chips are on the table,” I mused. “You don’t get a good look at yourself, either. Right now, though, listening to you, I feel like I’m getting a sense of you. How you’ve responded to this whole situation. To the circle and Pauz.”
Laird, mute, could only listen.
“You started by trying to be clever. To figure it out, to be gracious and win me over in little ways. You picked at Maggie and Rose to try and find weak points, and tried to figure out what you could about the circle for much the same reason. I didn’t miss that. That’s Laird Behaim on the surface level. Push a little deeper, and you get the reaction, the rationalizing. Morality, deferring the blame.”
I studied him. His eye flicked between me and Pauz, who was mute, tensed as if to leap, mouth pressed into a frown that extended from one corner of his jaw to the other.
“Push deeper, add a note of desperation, and we see what may well be the real Laird Behaim. You’re pushed to find a solution, you’re almost begging, and in that moment, you go for the first ideas that come to mind. Ideas that would work if the tables were turned and we were trying to convince you. You tell us we’ve won, as if the nebulous idea of victory is something I even want. You continue to rationalize.”
Laird spoke, knowing full well that I’d threatened to sic Pauz on him for speaking just one word. “I’m not the enemy you think I am.”
“You’re sure as fuck not my friend,” I said.
“You don’t have it in me to give this imp a genuine shot at me,” Laird said. “I’m thinking the rules of that contract allow him to scare me, but not actually get to me.”
I didn’t flinch as he met my eyes. “Do you want to try me? Test that suspicion?”
Laird paused, gauging me.
Then he shook his head.
“Didn’t think so,” I said. “Pauz, if he says another word without my express permission, I permit you to talk to him again. Until then, I want you to remain silent.”
Laird glared at me.
“Rose,” I said. “Do me a favor?”
“Maybe?” she replied.
“I’d feel a hell of a lot better with a second line of defense. The Tallowman, maybe?”
“The whole idea of using Pauz was to avoid having to dedicate too many resources to keeping him contained.”
“Please,” I said.
Rose hesitated, then relented. She nodded.
■
“Classic Bond villain mistake,” Ty said.
“I know,” I said.
“Leaving the enemy in the deathtrap, ignoring him? A henchman of questionable loyalties watching over things?”
“I know,” I repeated myself. “But there are things to do. Time is passing, and we can’t make dealing with Laird a full-time thing while all my enemies are scheming. We wrote up that contract carefully. The imp can’t actually do much. The Tallowman is a bigger threat to Laird than Pauz.”
“Don’t tell me you did the monologue, explaining things.”
“I did, kind of.”
“Damn it, Blake,” Ty said.
“It makes sense in context, the karma gain for fair play-”
“You’re telling me the universe encourages being the Bond villain?”
I hesitated.
“It does, doesn’t it?” Ty asked.
“Kind of? Convoluted traps are generally better than just shooting the bastards, apparently.”
Ahead of us, Fell was talking with Maggie. The man paused. “Don’t underestimate the value of a bullet.”
I sighed. “I won’t and I don’t.”
Ty changed tacks, “Evan, back me up here. The rule for an evil genius is that you’ve got to have, like, an ordinary five year old kid to keep around and tell you your plan is idiotic.”
“I’m not five,” Evan said.
“He’s not ordinary,” I cut in.
“And Blake’s not evil,” Evan added.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ty declared. “Look, how many Bond movies have you seen, Ev?”
“None?”
“None!? You’re in dire need of an education. We should make that a thing, tonight. Shore up our defenses, sit back with some videos on the laptop, and get the kid caught up with the greatest hits.”
I let the discussion between Ty and Evan continue in the background while we walked. The Hyena’s sword sat in a poster tube, a hat sitting on the upper end, covering up the hilt where it stuck out of the tube. It was awkward, slung over one shoulder, and banged against my right thigh like the Hyena was striving to make its irritation known. Evan, for his part, was perched on the pom-pom on the hat.
People looked, curious, but I was well beyond the point of caring.
Rose was back with Alexis and Tiff, giving them quick lessons. Ty had been restless, which wasn’t so unusual for him, and I’d been glad to have him along. He carried our supplies, general arts and craft stuff we’d sent Joel and Goosh out to buy while we waited for Laird to wake up, while I carried the Hyena. My carrying both would have been awkward.
The streets were crowded, people doing their shopping in the evenings, and I could smell rich food as people grabbed late lunches or early dinners. I was hungry.
It was easy to forget to attend to real life.
First things first, though, we had stuff that needed doing. The sphinx was due to attack, and this was the optimal time. I didn’t want to be near Laird when it happened, lest disaster strike, and if I was being entirely honest with myself, I wasn’t upset to know that Alexis was a fair distance away.
“Fell, how are your power reserves doing?” I asked.
“I’ve used more power in the past three days than I do most years,” he said. “Covering us up, covering our tracks and keeping the hideouts out of sight. It’s not easy.”
“Where do you stand?”
“If and when you ask me to do this stuff tomorrow morning, I might have to say no,” Fell told me.
I nodded.
Rose had only the two summonings. The Hyena was a dangerous tool to use, as the sword seemed to suggest.
We’d dealt a blow to Conquest. The trick was seizing this opportunity and running away with it. I was no long sure I wanted to bide our time, knowing how Conquest might let his people prey on Toronto, but I’d do it if I had to.