Page 93 of The Shade of Things
“My hands are tied.” She sent me a pointed look.
“Oh, come on. If they’re that powerful,” I said, “I can’t take them down.” I didn’t expect them to retaliate for hurting Jason because he struck me as the type of man who wouldn’t want his bosses to know I’d gotten the better of him, but any direct approach on them was a different matter.
“Are you paying us?” Tatiana said.
“Really?” I crossed my arms. “Every single case you’ve had a bad feeling about, but this one you’re fine with?”
“I’m not if it’s pro bono. Well?” Tatiana got up and opened a kitchen drawer.
Ryann looked down at the tablecloth, absently tracing an infinity symbol on the fabric, until she caught herself and dropped her hand. “I have a slush fund I could redirect without anyone being the wiser.”
My boss returned with a pen and a pad of paper. “Write the amount down.”
I spread my hands wide, gaping at them. “I can’t believe you two are discussing this. The Consortium stopped the magic cops from going after them directly.”
“Which is why you’re perfect for it.” Ryann nodded enthusiastically, while writing a number down. “They won’t expect you.”
“I infiltrated their game. I’m on their radar.”
Tatiana snatched up the paper. “This will do.”
“Just kill me yourself,” I said. “It’ll be faster.”
“Leave the theatrics to Sadie,” Tatiana said. “She’s better at them. You’re not going after the Consortium.”
“We had a deal,” Ryann said.
“Be real,” Tatiana said. “Even if you found and arrested every single member, with their power they wouldn’t even merit a slap on the wrist.”
“They’re violating the prime directive,” Ryann insisted.
I swung my head to Tatiana because this was getting good. What had she agreed to take money for?
My boss made a raspberry sound. “That doesn’t matter and you know it. Now, if you want to stop your directive from being further violated, there’s only one way to go about it. Miriam?”
I blinked stupidly at her for a moment, my brain racing. Then I slammed the table. “The only way to win is to destroy the game!”
Tatiana pointedly rubbed at the spot on her table that I’d hit. “What did I say about theatrics?”
“Sorry.”
“But you’re right,” she said.
Good, because now that the idea had been planted, I had to be the one to see it through and be certain that no one else would ever suffer through that horror.
“What’s to stop them from creating a new game somewhere else?” Ryann said.
They didn’t have the Ascendant to create an opening to Gehenna, that’s what.
“They took over an abandoned demon space for this one,” I said. “It was enormous. I doubt there’s many of those up for grabs or that Ohrists could create something that large.”
“She’s right,” Tatiana said. “Before you showed up, I got through to Laurent, who apprised me of the scale of their game.” Wait, what? He willingly spoke with his aunt in his current headspace? Okay. That was good. I guess. “It’s much larger than Blood Alley, larger even than the Park, which is one of the bigger hidden spaces in the world.”
I hadn’t known that.
Ryann scratched a hand through her buzz cut, her brow furrowed. “The Park exists because it uses the real Stanley Park as a foundation. Given the game world’s size and detail, it couldn’t have been created from scratch.” She nodded. “We can rule out a re-creation.”
Having secured Ryann’s agreement about destroying the space, as well as her fee, Tatiana wrapped up the meeting.
