They think you could be a tremendous asset. I think so, too.
I give her a look. You might want to recheck your facts. I think youre missing a few. Folks in charge of organizations dont consider me an asset. Never have, never will. I hate organizations. Folks got to be free, able to breathe, and make up their own minds about stuff, not be fed a party line. Ritual numbs the brain. Repetition is grass for sheep.
Mrs. Lane, so nice to see you again, Ryodan says, and I almost fall over. Not only didnt I hear him approach us, hes being polite. Ryodan is never polite.
I squinch up my face, studying him. Dude, you feeling okay?
Never better.
Why are you, like, pretending to be nice?
Mr. Ryodan is always nice. He was a lovely host while we stayed at Chesters.
You didnt stay at Chesters, you were hostages. What is wrong with everyone that they cant see things for what they are?
He and his men were keeping us safe, Dani. The Sinsar Dubh was targeting people Mac loved.
Was the door to your room locked? Dude, that makes you a hostage, I say.
Our door was never locked.
Huh? Yeah, but did you even know how to get out? Hes got those tricky panels.
Mr. Ryodan showed Jack and me both how to operate the doors.
Huh? Yeah, but there were guards outside. Keeping you in.
For our protection. We were free to come and go. We chose to stay. The city was dangerous when the Book was loose. Jack and I are very grateful for Mr. Ryodans help during those difficult times.
I scowl at Ryodan, whos wearing a smug-ass smile. He probably worked some kind of spell on them, like the kind of thing he did to me in the Hummer when he forced me to take the candy bar from him by muttering strange words. He makes people puppets. Empty-headed slaves. Not me.
Do you know hes forcing me to work for him by holding Jo hostage? I tell Rainey. She needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
You mean that lovely young waitress? Ive seen the way she looks at him. Shes crazy about him, Rainey says.
And that pisses me off even more. Macs mom can tell Jos stupid crazy about this psychopath just by looking at her? Gah! Just gah! On top of it all, said psychopath has Rainey so fooled theres no point in even talking to her anymore! Not that lack of a point would shut me up. Do you know he has private clubs under Chesters where
I just spoke with Barrons, Ryodan cuts me off. Macs on her way to meet you, Mrs. Lane. She should be here any second now.
I give him a suspicious look. Hes probably lying. And he knows perfectly well Iwont risk finding out.
Rainey gives me a warm smile. Dani, shell be so glad to see you! Shes been looking for you for weeks.
Im sure she has.
I lock down my mental grid to freeze-frame, make like folks on Gunsmoke and get the feck out of Dodge.
TWENTY-FIVE
I dont know who he is behind that mask
What are you doing.
Why do you care? I got belligerence stuck in my craw and I dont even know why. Sometimes just standing next to Ryodan makes me feel that way.
Because if theres no point in what youre doing, youre wasting my time.
Dude, got eyes? Im collecting evidence. Finally! I been trying to get out for a second look at the exploded scenes for just about fecking ever but things keep coming up, like me almost getting killed. Oh, and me almost getting killed again. Theres never a dull moment in the Mega-verse. The Ice Monster would freak me out a lot more if my world hadnt been jam-packed with monsters of all kinds since pretty much my birth: big, small, human, not.
In Ziploc bags.
I think theyre Glad.
They look impartial to me.
I start to snicker then stop myself. This is Ryodan. I hate Ryodan. Lying deceitful dickhead. Tricking folks into thinking hes really nice so I look stupid. Think my swords unfrozen yet?
No.
I stoop and scoop. I know a thing or two about myself. I see a lot. But sometimes there are small things going on that even I miss. Ergo my impartial ziplocks. Ill fill one at each scene. Go deep into the frigid center of the exploded debris, scoop up handfuls of icy detritus, stuff it in, and label it all neat and tidy-like. Later, me and Dancer will sift through the ziplock bags and look for clues. I pull a Sharpie from my pocket and write on the white strip Warehouse, North Dublin. Then I tuck it carefully away in a backpack slung over my shoulder. Collecting my ziplocks makes perfect sense to me.
It doesnt make sense. You could examine the detritus thoroughly right here at the scene.
Dude, do I ask you to explain yourself?
Kid, are you ever not prickly.
I root around in the rubble, making sure I got some of everything, keeping my back to him because sometimes looking at him is more than I can stand. Sure. Like, when Im not around a prick. We investigating or having a conversation all personal-like? Cause I got business to take care of today and youre wasting my time. Its going to be dark soon.
Observations.
I got two. The scene blew to smither-fecking-reens and everythings still cold.
I give her a look. You might want to recheck your facts. I think youre missing a few. Folks in charge of organizations dont consider me an asset. Never have, never will. I hate organizations. Folks got to be free, able to breathe, and make up their own minds about stuff, not be fed a party line. Ritual numbs the brain. Repetition is grass for sheep.
Mrs. Lane, so nice to see you again, Ryodan says, and I almost fall over. Not only didnt I hear him approach us, hes being polite. Ryodan is never polite.
I squinch up my face, studying him. Dude, you feeling okay?
Never better.
Why are you, like, pretending to be nice?
Mr. Ryodan is always nice. He was a lovely host while we stayed at Chesters.
You didnt stay at Chesters, you were hostages. What is wrong with everyone that they cant see things for what they are?
He and his men were keeping us safe, Dani. The Sinsar Dubh was targeting people Mac loved.
Was the door to your room locked? Dude, that makes you a hostage, I say.
Our door was never locked.
Huh? Yeah, but did you even know how to get out? Hes got those tricky panels.
Mr. Ryodan showed Jack and me both how to operate the doors.
Huh? Yeah, but there were guards outside. Keeping you in.
For our protection. We were free to come and go. We chose to stay. The city was dangerous when the Book was loose. Jack and I are very grateful for Mr. Ryodans help during those difficult times.
I scowl at Ryodan, whos wearing a smug-ass smile. He probably worked some kind of spell on them, like the kind of thing he did to me in the Hummer when he forced me to take the candy bar from him by muttering strange words. He makes people puppets. Empty-headed slaves. Not me.
Do you know hes forcing me to work for him by holding Jo hostage? I tell Rainey. She needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
You mean that lovely young waitress? Ive seen the way she looks at him. Shes crazy about him, Rainey says.
And that pisses me off even more. Macs mom can tell Jos stupid crazy about this psychopath just by looking at her? Gah! Just gah! On top of it all, said psychopath has Rainey so fooled theres no point in even talking to her anymore! Not that lack of a point would shut me up. Do you know he has private clubs under Chesters where
I just spoke with Barrons, Ryodan cuts me off. Macs on her way to meet you, Mrs. Lane. She should be here any second now.
I give him a suspicious look. Hes probably lying. And he knows perfectly well Iwont risk finding out.
Rainey gives me a warm smile. Dani, shell be so glad to see you! Shes been looking for you for weeks.
Im sure she has.
I lock down my mental grid to freeze-frame, make like folks on Gunsmoke and get the feck out of Dodge.
TWENTY-FIVE
I dont know who he is behind that mask
What are you doing.
Why do you care? I got belligerence stuck in my craw and I dont even know why. Sometimes just standing next to Ryodan makes me feel that way.
Because if theres no point in what youre doing, youre wasting my time.
Dude, got eyes? Im collecting evidence. Finally! I been trying to get out for a second look at the exploded scenes for just about fecking ever but things keep coming up, like me almost getting killed. Oh, and me almost getting killed again. Theres never a dull moment in the Mega-verse. The Ice Monster would freak me out a lot more if my world hadnt been jam-packed with monsters of all kinds since pretty much my birth: big, small, human, not.
In Ziploc bags.
I think theyre Glad.
They look impartial to me.
I start to snicker then stop myself. This is Ryodan. I hate Ryodan. Lying deceitful dickhead. Tricking folks into thinking hes really nice so I look stupid. Think my swords unfrozen yet?
No.
I stoop and scoop. I know a thing or two about myself. I see a lot. But sometimes there are small things going on that even I miss. Ergo my impartial ziplocks. Ill fill one at each scene. Go deep into the frigid center of the exploded debris, scoop up handfuls of icy detritus, stuff it in, and label it all neat and tidy-like. Later, me and Dancer will sift through the ziplock bags and look for clues. I pull a Sharpie from my pocket and write on the white strip Warehouse, North Dublin. Then I tuck it carefully away in a backpack slung over my shoulder. Collecting my ziplocks makes perfect sense to me.
It doesnt make sense. You could examine the detritus thoroughly right here at the scene.
Dude, do I ask you to explain yourself?
Kid, are you ever not prickly.
I root around in the rubble, making sure I got some of everything, keeping my back to him because sometimes looking at him is more than I can stand. Sure. Like, when Im not around a prick. We investigating or having a conversation all personal-like? Cause I got business to take care of today and youre wasting my time. Its going to be dark soon.
Observations.
I got two. The scene blew to smither-fecking-reens and everythings still cold.
