'Hope is essential for all things in the sweep of existence.' Baccharus stared at the flickering candle flame. It is common currency, too often in short supply.' He looked up at Shavi. 'And to give hope is the greatest gift of all.'
'Oh, don't. His head's big enough already.' Laura rested on Shavi's shoulder. After a moment she said, 'So what are we going to do? We can't sit here forever.'
'I fear we have been removed from the conflict,' Baccharus said. 'Unless my people can fight their way through to us, or one of the others achieves something remarkable that changes the situation, there is little we can do.' His voice suggested he didn't expect it to happen.
'But it's so pathetic,' Laura protested. 'We didn't do anything! We barely got into the city!'
'No,' Shavi said. 'I have to ensure the cauldron is there for the final battle. Laura and I both need to be there. We have to find a way.'
Baccharus held out his hand in equanimity. 'But there is nothing we can do. We are surrounded by a city of Night Walkers where we cannot move the slightest step without being cut down. The wise one accepts when events are beyond control.'
Laura looked from Baccharus to Shavi. 'So we sit here waiting to die?'
'Or,' Shavi said, 'waiting to live.'
At some point the quiet conversation became a distant drone and Laura's eyelids grew heavy, although a dim part of her was amazed that she could even consider sleeping. When she next stirred she realised the talk had stopped. Baccharus was lying next to the guttering candle, his eyes closed. Shavi was nowhere to be seen.
She stood up and stretched, although since her transformation her limbs no longer really ached. But she did feel the cold more, and her breath was clouding. She pulled her jacket tightly around her, the chill of the stone flags rising through the soles of her boots.
She found Shavi in an adjoining corridor lined with windows that looked out over the city. She might not have seen him in the pervasive gloom if not for a brief instant when the smoke and mist cleared to allow the moonlight to break through. Then he was limned in silver, like a ghost, leaning against the wall.
As Laura approached quietly, she was disturbed to see a strange cast to his face. It was heavy with dark thoughts and deep troubles, and she suddenly wondered whether his experience in the Grim Lands had affected him more than they thought. What if it had twisted a part of him, and even he didn't know?
She was considering retreating when he looked up to see her. His warm smile instantly dispelled all her doubts.
'Planning a suicide mission?' she asked.
He held out an arm so she could slide in next to him. 'I was thinking about the others.'
She felt warm and secure wrapped against his body. The smell of him brought back memories in a rush and she was surprised how happy they made her feel, but there was an edge of sadness to them as well. 'That time we did the monkey dance in Glastonbury,' she began, 'I was being a little manipulator.'
'I know.'
'Not in a bad way. I just wanted to get close to you. I thought nobody would do that if I didn't try to play them. Anyway, I'm sorry. I should have been more honest.'
'Why do you feel the need to tell me this now?'
She thought about this for a moment. 'If I screw up… if I'm not up to what you expected of me… I just don't want you thinking I'm all bad. Too bad.'
'I could never think badly of you, Laura.'
'Yeah, well, you don't know what lies ahead. I might run off screaming at a vital moment. Or something.'
'I have faith in you.' He gave her a squeeze. 'I wonder where the others are now. Ryan and Ruth should have realised how dense the Fomorii forces are in the city by now. I hope their regiment of the Tuatha De Danann had more success than ours.'
'The worst thing is that we might never find out, just be stuck here while everything winds down, not knowing if the people we care about are alive or dead.'
'And Church-'
'Church will be fine.' She nuzzled into Shavi's shoulder. 'He's got God on his side. Too damn decent to screw up.'
'It must hurt you to still love him.'
'Not really. Yes, I still love him. But I've got my head round the fact that we're never going to be together.' She put on a fake voice. 'It's just one of those terribly tragic love stories.'
'It is not the end, you know.'
She laughed silently. 'That's a good thing to say in this predicament. But if we're just talking about our stupid personal lives, then I know you're right. For the first time I feel optimistic about me. About what I could do. Which is ludicrous when there might only be a day left, and I've got green blood running through my veins. But, you know, I feel… hopeful. And I never thought I'd feel that in my life.'
Shavi rested his head against hers, smelling her hair, relishing the new aromas she generated since her change. Above all, he was happy for her, even if there were only hours left. 'What do you want to do now?' he asked quietly.
'I just want you to hold me here like I was some pathetic child. And I want to watch the dawn come up with you.'
Silence draped across them in the deep dark, with only the occasional soughing of the wind to remind them there was a world beyond their own sphere. And there was peace for both of them.
When dawn rose in intermittent bursts of gold and red through the shifting smoke, Laura was asleep on the floor in Shavi's arms. His thoughts had been too troubled to sleep himself, but the magical colour ignited in the corridor by the light through the stained glass was enough to lift his mood.
'A beautiful day.' Michell was standing in the doorway. 'I'm sorry-irony doesn't go down too well at this time in the morning.'
Shavi slipped out from under Laura without waking her and wandered over to greet the Professor.
'I just wanted to say thank you for what you said to everyone last night,' Michell continued. 'It did them the world of good. I'm a little too cynical to say I was affected by it myself.'
'I am glad I could be of some help.' Shavi glanced out of the one window he had left open the previous night. 'Has the food gone completely?'
'There's a little left. For emergencies.'
'Then I suggest you divide it up amongst them this morning.'
Michell searched Shavi's face and then nodded slowly, chewing on his lip. 'I'll arrange it. Do you have any plans for the day? Any sights to see? I thought I'd work on a few lectures myself.'
Shavi smiled. 'No. No plans.'
Behind them Laura stirred and yawned loudly, eventually making her way to them, still sleepy eyed. A racking shiver brought her fully awake. 'When do you think the end'll start coming down?'
'It should not be too long.'
'How do you know that?' Michell asked.
Shavi pointed to the open window. Laura and the Professor peered out together.
The Fomorii stood shoulder-to-shoulder everywhere they looked, packing the main drag of Victoria Street and every surrounding street to the dim distance. The entire cityscape gleamed an oily black in the wan sunlight. None of them made the slightest sound, nor did they move an inch: an army of sable statues. And all their faces were turned up to the window where Shavi, Laura and the Professor stood.
Waiting.
Chapter Eighteen
