'i hope you liked the real jane a little, too?'

he took my hand from across the table, but it wasn't a seductive gesture. he was being as open and honest as i'd ever seen him, which says a lot about our former relationship.

and about whatever our new relationship, our friendship, was developing into.

'i did, jane. i liked you so much. and i still do.'

'i like you, too, ryu,' i said, squeezing his hand affectionately. then i withdrew, and asked the real question.

'so why, exactly, do you want to help? and what do you mean by help?'

ryu burst out with his weird barking laugh, cutting a big piece of steak. i took a bite of my tuna melt, still ravenous. i'd eaten scads of tracy's sandwiches, but then gone for a quick swim in the sow before showering to meet ryu, who was already in the area. i figured i'd earned another meal, at least.

swallowing his mouthful, ryu answered. 'i mean help, as in help. so whatever you want me to do, or whatever you need. i know everything that happened, of course, and i'm assuming you want to get anyan back?'

relief flooded through me at his words, and the easy way he said them.

'yes. and that's okay with you?'

ryu cut off another piece of steak but spoke before taking his bite. 'of course. i figured that's what you'd want. and i think that's the right course.'

i felt my eyebrow drifting up of its own accord. 'you do? you're not thinking like the alfar, that i should kill anyan?'

ryu held up a hand, gesturing for me to wait until he could speak without his mouth full.

'the way i see it,' he said when he'd swallowed, 'is that the alfar have been doing their thing with the red and the white for long enough now. and look where it's gotten us. nowhere. they're still around, still wreaking havoc; only now the stakes are higher. we can't brush their shenanigans under the rug any longer, not with human technology. our world is in chaos after notre dame, and it's just going to get worse. they need to be stopped, for good this time.'

'but not by killing anyan?' i asked skeptically.

'obviously not,' ryu said, giving me a level look. 'think about it, jane. the red and the white have been killed about a million times. has it worked?'

i couldn't help it then. i looked down at my own plate and voiced my worst fear. 'but they're in real bodies now,' i said, my voice small. 'maybe that means they can really be killed.'

instead of agreeing with that idea, ryu openly scoffed.

'that makes no sense. if anything, now we know how little a body, even their own bodies, means to the red and the white.'

looking up to meet ryu's eyes, i felt another rush of excitement. 'iris said the same thing. i mean, she didn't, but sort of. i mean, she brought up the idea that we had to figure out what the red and the white are. like, are they bodies, or souls, or spirits, or whatever.'

'they have to be the latter,' ryu said. 'it's the only explanation. it's why they could communicate, even when they were supposedly dead and cut up, with the people they manipulated. it's why they could enter morrigan and anyan. we never thought of it that way because they would always come back to their own bones, their own bodies. but they're not things, they're ... woo-woo things.' ryu wiggled his fingers in the air when he said 'woo-woo', like a person imitating a ghost.

'so if we kill anyan or morrigan...' i started.

'all we do is release the spirits again, to find another host,' finished ryu.

to my embarrassment, tears rose in my eyes. i was definitely making up for my not crying immediately after everything happened, by crying at everything today.

ryu's hand again found mine over the table.

'we will get him back, jane,' he said.

'why do you care?' i asked, snuffling. i couldn't help it. he was being so good to me, and after everything that had happened between us, i didn't understand why.

'for a few reasons,' he said, withdrawing his hand and leveling a serious look at me, so that i knew he wasn't just being friendly. ryu was also strategizing, and for once i was glad to be on the receiving end of his ceaseless machiavellian manipulations. 'first of all, i've become a leader, too, just like nyx. i've learned a lot about myself these last few months. i realized how selfish i'd been with a lot of things, including with you. so no matter how i felt about you and anyan at one time, i have to put aside those feelings for the good of our people. all of our people. if the red and the white aren't stopped, everything we know will come to an end. all life may come to an end. i can't let my own pettiness stand between me and that reality.'

wow, i thought. he really had grown up. i don't think i could have thought that clear-headedly, if i were he.

'not to mention, how can i live without anyan?' ryu asked, giving me a broad wink. 'he's the moriarty to my sherlock, the road runner to my wyle e. coyote, the tom to my jerry.'

'but you're both good guys.' he acknowledged my compliment with a smile and a small nod in my direction.

'finally, i owe you, jane.'

'what? you don't owe me, that's ridiculous.'

'no, i think i do. i did love you, you know. but i loved you in the wrong way. and i know i hurt you because of that.'

for the umpteenth time, i blinked back tears. this time, however, they were the good kind.

'ryu, you're a better person than me,' i said, meaning it.

'nonsense. although that does mean a lot to me.'

we ate the rest of our meal in companionable silence, and then we even ordered pie.

'so how long are you free from your duties?' i asked ryu as we ate our desserts - cherry pie for him, pecan for me.

'as long as you need me. nyx really is capable of running things without me, especially now. everyone's basically paralyzed, waiting for the next appearance from the red and the white. makes ruling easy. oh, and daoud will be here tomorrow. camille is now running things in boston, although she sends her regards.'

'the old gang,' i said with a smile.

'yes, the old gang.'

and right then, i knew we had a shot. because i did have a gang. i had a massive, incredibly smart, incredibly loyal, and incredibly loving team of people whom i could count on.

people who just might make getting anyan back possible.

so i briefed ryu on what we had, in terms of our own strengths, and what we knew, which was very little. i also promised to show him the labrys later. i hadn't taken it out since i'd gotten back, partially because i knew i'd think of blondie when i did.

grief for her death was something i couldn't deal with at that point, so i'd just bottled it up and stashed it somewhere deep inside. it probably wasn't too healthy, long term, to do stuff like that, but it got me through the short term.

when i was done talking, ryu looked speculative as he put money down for the check. i had to let him pay, as i had no cash. i actually had no wallet, passport, purse, anything, since it was all still back in london with my backpack.

i made a mental note to ask the creature about that, forgetting the creature was actually in my mind. so as soon as i had the thought, i felt a feeling of confirmation run through me, and i knew i'd probably return home to a backpack full of dirty clothes.

'well,' ryu said as we made our way toward the sty's double doors. 'we don't have a lot to go on, but maybe that's a good thing. the fact is, everything we know about how to take care of these monsters hasn't worked. so we have to think up something entirely new.'

i nodded as we pushed our way into the warm spring evening.

'that's the next step. find somewhere to start-'

my sentence was never finished as an explosion rocked ryu and me off our feet. protected by our instinctive shields, we bounced harmlessly off the ground. but when we clambered to our feet, mage balls at the ready, we saw that the glass fronts of all the surrounding stores were blown out. cowering humans, most of whom i knew even if they couldn't recognize me through my glamour, peered up in fright from the sty, and fury kindled within me.

when the next blast hit, we were ready, and i easily contained it within my shields. i also got a lock on our targets, lurking in an alleyway kitty-corner from where ryu and i stood.

beautiful blue eyes met mine from a waxen face, and i strode purposefully forward.

it was about time i dealt with graeme, once and for all.

chapter four

morrigan had definitely sent her big guns, as well as a few little ones.

besides the rapist-incubus, graeme, who wielded a fair bit of mojo, there were two goblins launching themselves across the street at us. they were the little guns, and ryu and i flicked them aside with a negligible release of magic.

while we dealt with them, however, graeme sent another massive blast of magic from a set of charms he held. they were like the magical version of grenades - supercharged, probably by morrigan herself - to be utilized later by whoever carried them.