Nightside 06 - Sharper Than a Serpents Tooth

appetites. Tastes for things that can only be found in the material world. Our new masters… indulge us."
    "We take our comforts here," said the light. "To our eternal shame."
    "To our endless satisfaction," said the dark.
    "But why serve the Authorities?" I said. "Even as diminished as you are, you must know they're not worthy of you."
    "We have to serve someone," said the light.
    "It's in our nature," said the dark.
    "Enough," said Harper, and immediately both figures fell silent. Harper glared at me, and I glared right back. He raised his voice a little, to convince both of us who was really in charge here. "Normally, we run the Nightside from outside. We live in London proper, in the sane world. We're only here now because Walker summoned us with your name. What do you want with us, John Taylor?"
    "Answers, to start with," I said, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. "Why haven't you sent your armies to support Walker? Don't you know how bad things are here?"
    "We know," said Harper. "But what help could we send that could hope to stand against Lilith and her followers? We're not in the business of throwing good lives away after bad."
    Walker stirred for the first time. "Bad? Those were my people!"
    Harper didn't even look at him. "Not now, Walker. I'm talking."
    "If not now, then when?" said Walker, and his voice was colder than I'd ever heard it before. "How many years have I and my people served you here, protecting your interests in the Nightside? Is this how you reward us—by throwing us to the wolves?"
    Harper finally looked at him, but only to smile condescendingly. "You mustn't take it personally, Walker. It's just business."
    "You look nervous," I said suddenly. "All of you. Uncomfortable. Sweating. You don't like being here, do you?"
    "As you said, the Nightside has become a dangerous place." Harper took a long draw on his cigar. "Before Walker contacted us with your name, we had been preparing to seal off the Nightside, closing every entrance and exit until all this… unpleasantness has run its course."
    "You're abandoning us?" I said.
    "Why not? You're only a business interest. A cash cow, from which we squeeze every penny we can. We are aware of the powerful men and women who come to your little freak show, to indulge in the pleasures and excitements they can't find anywhere else, but we… We have only ever cared about the profit they made us. For us, the Nightside is simply a commodity, that we exploit. Correct, Walker?"
    "Don't look at me," said Walker, surprisingly. "I see things differently, these days."
    I looked at him for a moment. There was something in his voice… but that would have to wait. I turned back to Harper.
    "If the Nightside falls to Lilith, then so does the rest of the world. You can't hope to contain a Power like her. She will break out, then there'll be nowhere far enough or safe enough for you to hide."
    "So we have come to believe," said Harper, reluctantly. He glared at his cigar, as though it had failed him in some way, and stubbed it out in an ashtray with quick, angry movements. "So, it seems we have no choice but to make a deal with Lilith. Very well. We can do that. We're good at making deals. It's what we do, after all. That is why we agreed to meet with you here, John Taylor. Lilith's son. You will be our agent, our representative, in these negotiations. Talk to your mother and promise her… whatever it takes, to reach an accommodation. We have already revealed our presence to her and summoned her here to talk with us."
    Walker stood up straight, pushing himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on. "What? Why didn't you consult me first? Do you know what you've done, you bloody fools…"
    "Not now, Walker!" Harper didn't even look at him.
    He was still doing his best to intimidate me with an imperious stare. "We are rich beyond the nightmares of avarice, Taylor. We can afford to be flexible, if we have to. Better to share the wealth of the Nightside with your mother than risk seeing it destroyed. It's just a matter of finding out what she wants… We're all reasonable people, after all. I'm sure we can come to an understanding with Lilith, with your help."
    "Lilith isn't reasonable," I said. "She isn't even people. You have no idea what you're dealing with. She isn't interested in money, or even in power, as you understand it. She just wants to wipe the whole slate clean and start again. And replace Humanity with something more suited to her needs."
    One whole