Nightside 02 - Agents of Light and Darkness

her. Part of me wanted to throw myself at Belle and tear her throat out, make her pay for what she’d done. But I couldn’t do that. I had to be smarter, sharper, than that. Belle was armored against all attacks, physical or magical. Or so she thought. My only hope was to keep cool and talk calmly with Belle. Keep her mind occupied, distracted, while I slowly and very surreptitiously focused my gift on her. Do it right, and she’d never even notice. As long as I narrowed my concentration right down, into a single cold needle, I should be able to slip my gift past her mental and magical defenses just long enough to do what I had to do. It was dangerous. If Belle even suspected what I was planning, she’d have my throat out in a second, and to hell with her mission. And even so small a use of my gift would still blaze like a beacon in the night, revealing my presence to those who were always hunting me. So I had to be careful, and focused, and utterly underhanded.
    Luckily, I was good at that.
    “Been a long time, Belle,” I said, in something very like a normal voice. “What is it, six, seven years since we worked together on that Hellstorm business? I thought we made a good team.”
    “Don’t try to appeal to my better nature, darling,” Belle said in her marvelously cool and smoky voice. “You know very well I don’t have one. We made good partners, John, but we were never more than that.”
    “I heard the Walking Man got you, stalking you through the catacombs under Paris.”
    “Oh he very nearly did, darling, but I’m so very hard to kill. Unlike your little sweetie there. Poor Suzie. Never did know what you saw in her.”
    “You’re a lot faster than you used to be, Belle. Been taking vitamins?”
    “See these new boots, darling? Aren’t they simply super? I skinned a minor Greek deity to get them, so I could have his speed.”
    “Give it up, John,” said Walker. “Come with me now, and I promise you I’ll see Suzie gets help. No-one has to die here. Don’t let your pride get in the way. I’m the good guy, this time. I’m saving the Nightside from destruction.”
    “I’ve been told,” I said, still looking at Belle, “that if either set of angels gets their hands on the Unholy Grail, Armageddon could come early.”
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” said Walker. “The dark chalice doesn’t belong among people, John. It’s always been trouble. Let it pass to others more suited to control it.”
    “Ah, Walker,” I said. “Always ready with an inappropriate homily.” I smiled sadly at Belle. “You must know you can’t trust him, or the Authorities.”
    “I don’t trust anyone, darling. But Walker paid in advance, so I’m all his, for as long as the money lasts. And after this unfortunate business is over, and they’re finished with you, I’ve been promised that I can root through your living brains until I find the source of your special gift. Then I’ll rip it out and stick it in my own head. And your gift will become mine. Isn’t that sweet? It means you’ll always be with me. Now put Suzie down, dear, and come with me. Or do you want to dance a little first?”
    I put Suzie carefully to one side, laying her tenderly on the bloody floor. Her eyes stayed locked on mine. I stood up and faced Belle. The whole front of my coat was soaked in Suzie’s blood. More of it dripped from my clenched hands. I grinned at Belle, cold as ice. “Let’s dance, darling.”
    She laughed in my face. “You wouldn’t hit a lady, would you?”
    “Sure,” I said. “Know any?”
    And while she was still laughing, I hit her with my sharply focused gift, driving it right past all her defenses. I can find anything, with my gift. This time, I found the single small magic that Belle used to hold all her acquisitions together, that made it possible for her to access all their various attributes. And it was the easiest thing in the world for me to tear that magic away from her and crush it with my mind. Belle screamed once as the magic vanished, and her control over her various armors disappeared with it. The werewolf pelt fell away from her back and head, revealing only bare meat showing, red and glistening, with no skin left to cover it any more. The long gloves and boots cracked and rotted and fell apart, leaving bare muscles and tendons showing on her arms and legs. And half her face, the younger half, slipped away from her head, disintegrating into dust. Belle shrieked