The shelled beast cleared a path for us straight through caverns in a way nobody had ever entered. I tumbled along blindly. No reason to fight it. I gave in to the current, and, in my state, it was actually kind of peaceful in a messed-up way. Could have taken a nap. My weary mind needed a furlough.

Oscar punched through, sliding out across salty marshes and through a mushy slab of peat and grass. We roared through the mud in its wake, a sopping wet mess of skin and cloth and, of course, scales and spikes.

Then came the light.

With my eyes supernaturally attuned to the darkness, I found myself blind, unable to see a damn thing as rocks sloughed around us. But that was nothing compared to the agony Tourmaline was about to endure.

There was a brain-melting shriek accompanied by a distinct sizzle. She quickly retreated into the mouth of the cavern we’d broken through to escape the agony. Vampires and the sun don’t get along much. Cooks them like lobsters, only twice as fast. Already, she was crisp and blackened, her elegant red dress in tattered ruins.

All that air of superiority was gone with her unable to reach me. Dark veins twitched on her neck as she grimaced, fangs brought to bear. My Peacemakers remained in their holsters, shoved there just before the chaos ensued. Now I’d get to test if I could outdraw a vampire lady.

Pulling my right hand’s iron, I tried to stand. But I’d forgotten the silver that tore through my leg, embedding pieces on its way out. Abnormal pain flashed and I dropped to a knee. She hissed, fangs extending farther, and her formerly beautiful face contorted into something inhuman.

Then she surprised me. Further risking the sun, she lowered her head and dashed at me—a blur.

My gun went off three times. Missed her completely with each, but I damn sure taught the hunk of gray stone behind her a lesson. Before I could blink, she gripped my wrist with one hand and my throat with the other, dragging me back into the shade. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone move so fast in my life. It was like a bolt of lightning: there one second, gone the next. And somehow, as haggard as she looked and after all that swimming and falling, her hair remained neatly pinned.

“This dress is older than you, Hamsa!” she bristled. Then she looked up at the ceiling. “Are you listening, up there? You dare come for me?”

“I ain’t here for you,” I got out, my throat crushed beneath her claw-like grip.

She pulled her already healing face close to mine, eyes wild and fangs begging for blood I wouldn’t give. “They all say that. Who’s your handler, eh? Ingram? Amael? Don’t tell me it’s Kjelgaard.”

“It’s the goddamn truth. I’m after the Betrayer. Your maker, apparently.”

Her head tilted, grip loosened. For whatever reason, that completely caught her off guard. Before I could make my move, Oscar roared so loudly and stomped with such force that more rocks fell from above. Blades of sunlight pierced the newly formed holes, a direct shot on the side of Tourmaline’s face. She shrieked and gripped her cheek as it melted through enough to reveal her back teeth.

She retreated, and Shellhead stomped ever closer, casting us in his enormous shadow and barricading us in the cave with no way out. I raised a flat palm and stood. This time, there was nobody else to antagonize it.

“Calm down, Oscar,” I said in a tone I used with Timp early on. “Settle down. I ain’t gonna hurt you.” I gestured to the surroundings. “See all that light and open space?”

He stomped again, oversized claws digging abysses through the mud. I didn’t know turtles could growl, but something guttural rumbled in his throat. Better than another roar, I reckoned. He flicked his head up and back as if he had an itch he couldn’t quite reach.

That was when I realized my silver-coated knife remained embedded in his skull. Poor murderous thing.

“That must hurt,” I said. “Sorry. Meant nothing personal. Just, we were both stuck in there.” Then I poked a thumb back at Tourmaline. “Because of her.”

Tourmaline spat obscenities. I’ve mentioned that most of my experience has been with rabid, feral vampires that barely resembled humanity. She was sounding like them now, a soft click in the back of her throat growing louder as time went on. I limped away from her, closer to Oscar. My leg protested, but I had no time for such trivialities.

Fact is, most animals are the same. They just want to feel safe. And trust me, they can tell when a man views something as nothing but food or fodder. As a man with a best friend for a horse, I’ve got some experience in these things.

Oscar snorted.

“How’s about this: I’ll take that thing out, and you can get on out of here. Swim wherever you want. Be free.”

Closer still. One dumb move and those massive jaws take my arm at the elbow. The key is to act calm, even if you aren’t feeling particularly serene. Animals, they can sense anxiety, and my having a heart that doesn’t beat helps.

“Good boy. Easy now.”

Oscar lowered his head, and I still had to get onto my tippy-toes to reach. I gripped the knife. “It’ll only hurt for a second. Like a big old splinter.” The scales were dense, so the blade barely moved at first. I rocked it back and forth a few times to loosen it up while Oscar cried softly.

“You think me a fool?” Tourmaline cried, ramming into my side.

Her attempts to hurt me only yielded the results I was looking for. The knife came free, and the beast roared in fright, scurrying back and away from us. The shelled beast thundered away, finding deeper water in the Mississippi where it wound ever onward to the east. Good for it.

But I had other concerns at the moment. I found myself flat on my back with Tourmaline straddling me. Her hands around my neck again, those long nails were ready to rip out my throat. And would you look at that, her hair finally fell free. Half her face, framed like a hood under those thick locks, still bubbled from the sunlight. Not a pretty sight.

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I grinned.

That might have set her off, but she quickly realized I had her. In the chaos, my knife found its way into her belly. A healthy dosing of silver for something as unholy as a vampire lady.

The half of her face she still controlled corkscrewed. Few things worse than a stab like that for her kind if you don’t intend on staking them through the heart. Silver has an adverse effect on all supernatural beings, but there’s something special about how it interacts with a vampire. Couldn’t tell you why, but right now, I wasn’t looking for answers.

I twisted the blade. Then I pushed her over, switching places and jamming the knife deeper. Her back arched as the pain made her choke.

“Your boyfriend really pissed me off.” Giving Tourmaline my full attention, I wrenched the knife to the side. “So, now that we’ve all been acquainted, you’re gonna tell me what I wanna know.”

She groaned first, and then that turned to a blood-filled cackle—a mad, sadistic laugh. The sight of her face full of uncapped joy was only made worse by her burns and pocked skin.

“I ain’t joking,” I said.

“You must be, if you’re going after him.” More cackling. “You’ll end up like all the others. Like me.”

“Nah, I’m resourceful. Turned this little mix-up around, didn’t I?”

I accentuated my point by redrawing my pistol. Brushing aside a fancy gold pendant on her chest, I pressed the barrel right against her pitch-black heart. She had an old scar down her sternum, a thin line I hadn’t noticed in my Divining. Like she’d been opened up for surgery sometime past. Likely before she was turned.

“You think I’m afraid of that?” she asked. “Trust me, Hamsa, I have lived long enough to fear nothing.”

“Except not living, I’d wager.” I looked up toward the beam of sunlight only ten feet or so away. “How about a sunbath? You ain’t looking much like yourself. Maybe you should exfoliate.”

“Try and get me there,” she spat. “See what happens.”

I exhaled slowly. “I haven’t been asked to kill you, Tourmaline, despite that Hell club you and Wolfman started. I try not to stray when it does me no good. So, tell me where to find your maker, and we can be done here. No blood spilt.”

“You don’t find him,” she sniveled. “And if he were here, I’d know.”

“Oh, he’s here.”

“Why, because your angel told you?” she sneered. “To be young and naive again. It’s adorable, really. My advice, tell your handler you couldn’t get the job done. Move on. Eternity like this isn’t worth it.”

“Looks a whole lot better than blinking into nothing, don’t it? Besides, you seem to have your fun. I saw what you do to your prey.”

“Hamsa, are you spying on me?” Her lips pulled back into a smile. This time, it wasn’t a sneer, like she genuinely found happiness in the thought.

“Wish I hadn’t.”

“A peeping Tom? Did you like what you saw? Mmmmm. Well, boredom after centuries does have a way of refining certain… tastes.”

“Enough.” I pressed my pistol down harder. “This city might’ve changed, but I’m done playing tourist.” With my free hand, I removed my lasso from my belt and dangled it over her face. “The White Throne will judge you now.”

She snickered. “So many sins; where will they start? Do your worst, Hamsa. Make me feel alive!”

Keeping her at bay with silver, I hog-tied her with my blessed lasso, using a special knot that allowed the rope to cross her mouth and shut her up too. Light blossomed around us, the weight of God’s judgment coming into effect like a thousand iron bars set on her chest. She groaned into the rope. I could see the strain in her eyes.

Even for all her preternatural strength, she was powerless against it. She clearly had a lot to atone for. The brilliant ray showered like the clouds had parted and nearly rendered her unconscious.

Once sure she wasn’t going anywhere, I rolled off her, plopping down in exhaustion. My leg still ached, radiating small pulses of agony I rarely felt. With a pat on her back, I said, “We’re gonna have a bit of fun.”

I took a deep breath, held my thumb and forefinger to my lips, then whistled. Timp and I had a bond that surpassed most things. I knew she’d come, no matter where she was or what she was doing. She’d find a way. Left me wondering if maybe Shar was up there, playing puppeteer and directing her to me.

While I waited, I took a look at my leg. The sharp pain had become a dull burn which I almost welcomed. It was nice not being numb for a change. But I’d need to be at my best for what came next.

The skin around the puncture hole was dark but not black. Looked like a three-day-old bruise. Luckily, the silver had indeed found its way out, making a clean tunnel through one side and then the other.

Using a plier from my satchel and water from the marsh, I got busy douching out any bits of silver, careful not to let them touch any more of me than need be. A more familiar sensation washed over me. My silent benefactor finally wanted to get back in touch. Also from my satchel, I retrieved my shaving mirror and placed it down next to me. I propped it up against some of the rubble, realizing that my face could do with a wipe. I practically looked made of mud.

“About time you showed up,” I said, beating Shar to the first word as she swirled about.

“Do you imagine I have no greater responsibility than keeping tabs on you, Crowley?” she replied.

“I’ll be honest. I imagine that’s all you do. You’ve always been a little hazy on details.”

“Quite a mess you’ve made already, throwing in with those wolf abominations.”

Half ignoring her, I used my sleeve to clear some of the filth from my brow. “Really? I think it’s been pretty smooth.”

“That’s always been your problem. Trust in the good nature of others. We do not deal with good-natured things.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a man of faith. But Roo got me here in the end.”

“You and your pet names,” she scoffed. “You would do better to find respect for those who can damn your soul.”

“We talking about you or him now, Shar?” As always, it was the wrong time to push buttons.

“You must feel rather good about yourself,” she said. “The wrath of the Almighty is not a frivolous tool at your every beck and whim. Look at her. At best, you have exterminated a pest, nothing more. Slay her, and others will rise in her place. She is irrelevant as compared to the Betrayer.”

I plucked out the last bit of silver, studying how it glinted in the reflection of that heavenly beam. All the while, Tourmaline writhed in torture within the light.

I chuckled. “From someone who sits so high above the rest of us, I’m surprised you’re missing the bigger picture.”

“And you’re pushing my patience, again. You have tilled this field. I just hope you’re prepared for the harvest. Release her and get her to talk. There is a bond between maker and child. She will know.”

I sucked through my teeth. I loved when I had a chance to make Shar seem foolish. All-seeing as she might be, but she’d never lived on this plane. Human nature is a consistent thing. And Roo was wrong. While we all might be something more than what we were, we all rose from the same dust.

“Waste of time,” I said. “You can’t coerce someone to talk who ain’t afraid. But Ace—bastard he was—taught me a few things in our time together. The best way to draw someone out of hiding is to be a son of a bitch.”

“Do you have not a shred of decency?” She never liked when I cursed, which was why I did.

“Hey, you chose me,” I reminded her. “I’d have been fine wherever you found me.”

“I found you in worse shape than your feeble mind could imagine,” Shargrafein said, a new emotion crossing her smoky features. Was that pity? “If I had my way, God’s Hands would be left with a glimmer of a memory of the place from which you’d been liberated. However, it is well within my power if you desire to return.”

I thought about that. I’d always wondered what happened to me during the years after Ace shot me dead. Had I been in Hell already? Was she telling the truth, or was this just another misdirection to get me to behave?

“Alright, alright,” I said. “I’ll play nice.” I shoved myself to my feet, thankful the silver wound in my leg had already mostly healed. “Gonna need to keep that rope on her, though.”

Without another word, Shar disappeared, and so did the stream of God’s judgment, leaving me and Tourmaline face-to-sneering-face.