Free Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth by Simon R. Green Page B

leaving the dead and dying behind. I couldn't feel angry at them. None of this was their fault, really. It was just that my mother made such a powerful impression on people. Suzie lowered her shotgun and reloaded. Eddie reappeared at my side, his razor dripping blood. Sandra let the dead lie down again. A shivering acolyte in an Aztec feathered headdress approached her timidly.
    "If you can raise the dead, could you perhaps… ?"
    "Sorry, no," said Sandra Chance. "Raising dead gods is beyond me. Besides, if he stays dead, he probably wasn't much of a god to begin with, was he?"
    The acolyte burst into tears, and we left him sitting there on the shattered steps of what had once been his temple.
    "Ms. Tact," said Suzie, to Sandra.
    "You'd know," said Sandra.
    "Where's Walker?" said Eddie. "I don't see a body anywhere, and you know what they say in the Nightside—if you don't see a body, they're almost certainly not dead."
    "I think I can help you there," said a sad-eyed priest. "You'll find him over there, under what's left of my church."
    We thanked him and approached the remains of what might once have been a pretty impressive edifice. Half of it was still on fire, burning sullenly in the still night air. In the end, we had to dig through a pile of rubble, hauling it away brick by brick, to uncover Walker. His suit was tattered and torn and soaked with blood, but he still opened his eyes the moment I leaned over him. He even managed a small smile.
    "John," he said faintly. "Late, as usual. I've been having a few words with your mother."
    "So I see," I said. "You can't get on with anyone, can you?"
    We dug him out, and sat him up with his back against a wall. He never made a sound the whole time. Suzie checked him over with brisk efficiency. Suzie knows a lot about wounds, from both ends. Eventually she stood back and nodded to me.
    "He's damaged, but he'll live."
    "Oh good," said Walker. "For a while there, I was almost worried."
    "You should be," said Sandra Chance. "You trapped us all in the cemetery dimension and left us there to die. We had an agreement, and you broke it. No-one does that to me and lives."
    "You can't kill him now," I said.
    "Why not?" said Sandra, turning the full force of her cold, angry gaze upon me. I looked back at her steadily.
    "Because he was my father's friend. Because I don't kill in cold blood. And because I have a use for him."
    "Practical as ever, John," said Walker.
    Sandra frowned. "This plan. Will he like it?"
    "Almost definitely not."
    "Then I'll wait," said Sandra Chance.
    I crouched down before Walker so I could look right into his face. "She's back," I said. "Lilith. My mother. Back to tear down the Nightside and replace it with something that will have no room in it for Humanity. And if I try to stop her, just maybe she'll bring down the whole world. I can't do this alone, Walker. I need your help."
    He smiled briefly. "We're finally on the same wavelength. Pity it took such dire straits to bring us together."
    "Don't kid yourself," I said. "All we have in common is a mutual enemy."
    "Yes. Someone who's worse than either of us."
    "You should know," I said. "You brought her here, through the Babalon Working. You, and the Collector, and my father."
    "Ah," said Walker. "So you worked it out, finally. I was beginning to think you were a bit slow. You'll have all the support I can raise from the Authorities, but it'll take more than an army of warm bodies and everyday magics to stop Lilith."
    "I have a few old friends and allies in mind," I said. "And a plan I can practically guarantee no-one's going to like." I turned to Suzie. "Take Sandra and Eddie and get Walker back to Strangefellows. Alex can fix him up, but make sure he doesn't try to put it on my tab. Then you wait there, till I get back."
    "Hell with that," Suzie said immediately. "Wherever you're going, you'll need me to watch your back."
    "Not this time," I said gently. "I need you with the others. You're the only one I can