“And ate them,” Diana agreed grimly. Odds were good she had known some of these people, so I had to admire how she stayed focused on those we could still save. “But it didn't eat my sister,” she mused, “even though it was probably still ravenous after its long sleep, so why . . .?” Her eyes widened.

I finished the thought out loud for her. “Worst case, because it's smart enough to see her as more than just another snack, maybe even smart enough to recognize her as a way it could wake the others.”

Diana nodded. “And the best case?”

“There is no best case,” I said flatly.

“Humor in the face of horror, is that it?” Diana asked with a wry quirk of her lips.

“More like bravado,” I corrected with a small smile, “but close enough.”

“So now what?” she wanted to know.

That was the question at hand, now wasn't it? “We track it,” I answered, then amended, “somehow.”

“'Somehow?'” Diana repeated with arched eyebrows. “You mean you don't know where it is? What happened to all your mystic mojo?” I tried not to take offense at her tone.

I failed.

“These things come from outside our reality,” I snapped, “and can be hard to track under the best of circumstances except by the disturbances they cause, and this one is hiding!” I wanted to leave it at that, but I knew by the way she looked at me that she could tell I was holding back on her. “Plus,” I added with a sigh. “There's . . . interference.”

You still haven't told her 'hi' from me, Gore.

You're going to a lot more than your usual efforts to block me on this one. Why?

You mean besides the usual reason of making your life as much of a Hell as you make mine? it chortled. Why ask questions you know I'm not going to answer?

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