Kane, gaunt and saturnine in his drab Puritan garb, glaring at everyone. Mistress Murmur, in a long pink ball gown, carrying a blood-soaked hatchet, as though she'd been interrupted in the middle of something. And many more besides, good and bad and somewhere in between, long gone and long thought lost. Not all of them Tommy's fault, by any means.
We'd brought them all home, every lost soul of them.
'All right,' said Tommy. 'Enough of the hugging, Larry! We were never that close. Thank you. I want to know what's happened while I was away. Where's Lilith, for starters? Did we win?'
'We won,' I said. 'She's gone; and she won't be coming back.'
Tommy blinked at me, heard something in my voice, and decided not to pursue it. 'How long have I been gone? Feels like years… Like being caught forever in one of those horrible dreams where you try and talk to people, but they can't see or hear you…'
'That's all over,' Larry said firmly. 'I'm taking you back home, to Mum and Dad. They've been worried. They'll look after you, put you back on your feet again.'
Tommy pulled a face. 'You know very well I hate being fussed over. Mum'll try and feed me up, and Dad'll nag me about getting a proper job.'
'All the comforts of home,' said Larry. 'You're back, so be grateful. Or I will slap you one, and it will hurt. Hadleigh? What about you? Think you could find time in your busy schedule for a home visit?'
'Why not?' said Hadleigh. 'Just for a while. I could use a little downtime.'
'Well, well,' I said. 'The Oblivion Brothers, together again for the first time. Let the Nightside tremble, and evildoers cower in their lairs.'
'I've got this slap in my pocket I still haven't used yet,' said Larry.
'Hold everything,' I said. 'What about all these other returnees? We can't walk away and leave them here. They're going to need a lot of help and support, fitting into their old lives again or making new ones.'
'Not my business,' said Larry.
'Or mine,' said Hadleigh. 'My work here is done. Thanks to you, John.'
And he looked meaningfully at me. I knew what he meant, and swore under my breath. In the past I would have contacted Walker, and he would have arranged care and comfort for these people. He might also have killed a few if he thought they needed killing… But there wasn't any Walker any more, thanks to me. Which meant… it was up to me to do something. Because there wasn't anyone else. The world has a way of arranging what it wants, and to hell with what we want. I'd have to take up Walker's old position, for a while, because I didn't have it in me to turn my back on people who needed help. That was why I'd become a private investigator in the first place, after all. Because there'd been no-one there to help me, when I needed it.
I'd take the position. Only until the Authorities could find someone better suited.
'I'll phone Julien Advent,' I said. 'Have the new Authorities send some people down here.'
'Where's Walker?' said Larry. 'Why isn't he here?'
'Walker has gone to the Devil,' I said.
EPILOGUE
When I finally got home, Suzie was in the kitchen, scrubbing blood and gristle off one of her gutting knives. She was supposed to be bringing them in alive these days, but old habits die hard. I came up behind her and gave her a hug, and she leaned comfortably back against me.
'I may have a new job,' I said. 'Though with any luck, I'll fail the interview. How was your day?'
'The usual,' said Suzie. 'I'm out of shotgun shells again. Oh, and there's some post for you. I put it in the living room.'
I went through into the next room-and there on the table was a long sword-shaped parcel.
