what evidence he created for Klamm's people to find.'
It was the look on Shamika's face that made me realize the truth. I remembered the way she and Klamm had looked at one another in Demon's Roost, almost as if they'd recognized each other.
I looked at Shamika. 'Klamm didn't need any evidence, did he? Because he's really Gregor in disguise.'
She nodded. 'I didn't know he'd taken another form until we were in Varvara's penthouse, and since you didn't know the truth about me then, I couldn't tell you about him. I'm sorry.'
'It makes good tactical sense,' Varney said. 'It's a lot easier for him to use war as a distraction when he can take a direct hand in guiding Varvara's strategy.'
'He's playing a dangerous game,' I said. 'He might be able to fool Varvara for a time, especially if her attention is focused on her war with Talaith, but she's a Darklord. He won't be able to fool her forever.'
'Maybe he just needs to fool her long enough to accomplish whatever his ultimate goal is,' Varney said.
'I hate to interrupt your theorizing,' Bogdan said, 'but have you forgotten what Scorch told you? Demons are on their way here to arrest you, Matt. You need to get out of here before-'
There was a loud pounding at the front door.
'-they arrive,' he finished.
The portable Mind's Eye set that someone had brought into the great room to watch Varney's 'improved' footage of me was still there. All the sets in the building were programmed to display images from the Midnight Watch's security cameras on command, so I activated this one and mentally commanded it to show us the view from the frontdoor camera. A squadron of demon soldiers had cordoned off the street and stood in ranks outside the Midnight Watch. They were all armed and had their weapons drawn and aimed at the front door. Which, I thought, was unfortunate for the poor sonofabitch who was currently knocking on it.
'That guy better hope his people don't have itchy trigger fingers,' I said.
The demon resembled a satyr – horned, bearded, with hairy black goat legs – except his skin was turquoise and he had a mass of tentacles growing out of his back. He looked supremely unhappy at having been chosen for the dubious honor of knocking on my door, almost as if he feared it was booby-trapped and would explode in his face. Too bad it wasn't. Maybe I'd talk to Devona about adding that feature.
The demon might have been nervous, but when he spoke, his voice was deep and steady. 'Matthew Richter! We know you're in there! In the name of the Darklord Varvara, we order you to exit the building and surrender to us for questioning!'
'Too bad Scorch didn't call a couple minutes earlier,' I said. 'We'd have had time to sneak out.' I commanded the Mind's Eye to show us a view of the back entrance, and the scene was the same – a squad of armed demons stood outside, weapons aimed at the door. I checked the alley cameras and saw demons there as well. The roof camera showed several greasy black spots where flying demons had attempted to land, only to encounter the defenses in place there. A dozen more demons hovered twenty feet above the roof, weapons out and ready, unwilling to come any closer and risk sharing their comrades' fate, but still determined to catch anyone who might try to use the roof as an escape route.
I commanded the Mind's Eye to display the front view once more. The turquoise satyr was still talking, but he'd taken several steps back from the door, and a number of demons in the squad were hurriedly assembling some kind of large weapon in the street.
'If you refuse to turn yourself over to us voluntarily, we will be forced to come in and get you,' the satyr said. 'You have two minutes to decide.'
Looking relieved to still be alive, the satyr turned away from the door and hurried to rejoin his fellow soldiers.
'What kind of weapon is that?' Bogdan asked.
I didn't have an answer for him, for I'd never seen anything quite like it before. There was an underlying metal framework that formed a pyramid shape, and into this framework demons slid metal panels with mouths attached to them. They were real mouths, not artificial constructs, surgically removed and affixed to the panels. It didn't take a genius to sense the maniacal hand of Victor Baron behind the device.
'It's a Blastphemer,' Shamika said. 'It's built from the bodies of dead sinners and focuses their negative energy for use as an offensive weapon.'
We looked at her, and she smiled. 'I know a lot of stuff, remember?'
Once the mouth panels were all in place, another demon came forward carrying a black sphere the size of an overinflated basketball, which he placed atop the point of the pyramid. Though there was no obvious parts to connect the sphere to the pyramid, it balanced on the point perfectly and remained there.
'That sphere contains distilled negative energy from the sinners' black hearts,' Shamika said. 'It's what gives the Blastphemer its power.' I turned to Bogdan. 'Have you ever heard of such a thing?'
'No. It's Demonkin magic, not Arcane, and it looks to have been technologically augmented as well.'
'Do you think they'll be able to breach the Midnight Watch's defenses with it?' I asked.
'I have no idea,' Bogdan said. 'The building is old, and its stonework was suffused with magic long before Devona bought the place, and she's improved the defenses since then. But if Klamm – I mean Gregor – is as smart as you say he is, I doubt he'd send the demons to fetch you unless he knew the Blastphemer would allow them to break through our defenses.'
'We need to assume they'll be able to get in then,' I said. 'There's no point in trying to stop them.' 'You can't give yourself up!' Shamika said.
'But if Matt goes along with them, maybe he can reach Varvara and tell her who and what Klamm really is…' Bogdan began.
Varney shook his head. 'Whatever Gregor does, he won't take Matt to Demon's Roost. He won't risk Varvara discovering the truth.'
'I can use my magic to conceal us all,' Bogdan said. 'I'll conjure an object that will make us invisible, then as long as we remain very still, the demons won't be able to find us once they break in.'
'They'll have devices both magical and technological to help them search the place,' I said. 'If we're here, they'll find us.'
'So we need to leave,' Shamika said.
'Right. But we can't take Tavi with us. He's not up to traveling yet, and frankly, he'd just slow us down.' I turned to Bogdan. 'Go to Tavi's room and use your magic to conceal both of you. I'll draw the demons away from the Midnight Watch, and with any luck, they won't even come inside. After all, it's me they want. If I'm not here, they should have no reason to come in.'
Bogdan looked as if he wanted to protest, but I added, 'Tavi's our friend. We have to take care of him.' Bogdan didn't look happy about it, but he nodded. 'Good luck, Matt.' He then hurried off to Tavi's room.
I didn't know how much time remained before the demons would start firing the Blastphemer, but I figured we didn't have long.
I turned to Varney. 'Devona and I added a secret passage to the building not too long ago. It leads to…' I was under a geis not to speak directly about the Underwalk, and so I said, '- an alternate travel route that few people in Nekropolis know about. Shamika should, though.' I looked at her and she nodded. 'Good. Shamika, I want you to take Varney and-'
The video feed from the front security camera was still playing on the Mind's Eye set, and I saw a figure step out of the alley across the street. A figure that looked remarkably like me.
He waved the stump of his right wrist and called out cheerfully to the demons, 'You guys looking for me?'
The demons all turned to look in 'my' direction, and one standing next to the Blastphemer spoke a command and pointed at 'me.' The devices' mouths began speaking words that were so unholy that the Mind's Eye refused to transmit them as anything other than harsh static. The black sphere atop the Blastphemer began to pulse with dark energy, and then a beam of power shot forth, streaked across the street toward the alley, and struck my doppelganger in the chest. He stiffened, let out an agonized cry as if his very soul was in pain, and then collapsed into a puddle of black goo.
The Blastphemer's beam winked out, and for a moment the demons simply stood and stared. Then one of the braver ones stepped forward and examined the ebon puddle that my doppelganger had been reduced to. He leaned down, sniffed the goo several times, then stood, turned back to his fellow soldiers, and gave them a thumbs-up.
