"Why won't you let me have it?" Half of Darm's mind was lost in the gentle warmth of the noon sun. The other fumed. The daemons insisted that the book belonged to him. But was he allowed to have it? To read what he wanted? No. Only what they wanted him to look for and then they took it away. Had any of his questions about it been answered? Big n-o. How many times had he been told he had to hurry, it was urgent, it was -

"You'd expect me to lead you through a minefield with a bag over my head, wouldn't you? Waiting isn't a waste of time. You'll see. Now. You say you were able to float that thing out of your path. Tell me how you did that." Sleg got up off the massive tree stump outside the hole in the cliff that led to Lunam's warren, rubbing his arse.

Yeah, he sure didn't ask much. "How can I put it into words? Easier to explain how I breathe. Can you tell me how you fly?" Darm felt a twinge of misgiving. "I shouldn't have been able to lift the guy?"

"Well - maybe the time you've spent with Lunam has raised your bar." His lips were twitching. "That didn't come out quite right."

Sleg expected him to be serious, but what did he get back? "I didn't ask to come here. And you didn't come to rescue me. You left me here! Defenseless. You can't blame me for -"

"Stop! You have it all inside out and upside down - as usual. Lunam rescued you. Pay attention. He's no slouch. If he says you shouldn't be able to move anyone without a spell, then listen to him."

"That preacher, I shouldn't have been able to move him?" Moving objects was just a matter of wanting to - he'd only lifted something living once. A skunk ... hadn't wanted to get too close.

"You didn't use a spell, so, no. And you know it isn't what it appears to be."

"Yes, but I still don't get what it really is. Lunam pushed and pushed for me to look things up in the book, and he didn't answer my questions, and -"

"Slow down!" Sleg sighed and sat back on the stump again, tucking a fluttering strand of fine, red wire behind his ear. "There's evil in the world. Knowing what that ghoul is matters a lot less than knowing how to eliminate it. Lunam's anxious to find that out - and he has good reason to be in a hurry!"

"What does it want? And you can change your shape -"

"I can change my appearance. I don't destroy other spirits to do it!" he snapped, on his feet again. "That ghoul is nothing but a seething pit of greed!" A gold ring appeared in his hand and he held it out. "You can wear this. It'll stop the thing from getting its hooks in."

Darm shuddered. "Hooks?" he asked, taking the offered gift.

"Ghouls compare nicely to parasites. Brain worms. About as bright and infinitely more destructive. Their appetite for religious clerics is legendary. And they give us a bad name - blaming daemons for possessing the humans they feed off."

"Why don't the daemons kill them?"

"What isn't alive can't be killed. They can alter the continuum in a way that allows them to thrive, as long as they have human corpses to take over. Then they attract more of their kind to their victim's relatives, friends - anyone near."

Darm slipped the ring onto his right middle finger. A little snug, but it wouldn't fall off. It reminded him of the ones Sledge wore - "Are there shapeshifters in El Grande?"

Sleg looked at him, his eyes glittering.

No, he didn't need an answer - he recognized now what he'd occasionally sensed in the past. The memory of that creepy feeling - he shoved it away. "You - when you're Sledge - you protect people from those things."

"A never-ending battle of a job. But someone has to do it."

"Do I - am I supposed to do this?"

"We don't know yet."

Darm listened to the crunching sound Sleg's feet made as he went back inside. Then he soaked up the comforting sunbeams until they couldn't warm him against the early winter chill anymore.

***

Staying at Lunam's had settled into a familiar pattern. At first, he felt oppressed, stifled. He didn't see the freedom, the freedom of mind, it was winning him. Yeah, well, his little fits of frustration didn't come so often now. And now, when they did, he thought to question them, take them as signs of misunderstanding.

The only thing that was really getting to him was being cooped up. There was enough sun to be outside today and he'd hiked along the creek almost to Sleg's then back. Not wanting to go in, he settled down on the cold stump, but his arse was numb in no time.

As he set his hands down to push himself up, a body, well-wrapped in a gray wool coat plopped down beside him. "Kiata! How are you?"

"I'm fair. I'd be better if that ghoul was locked up, though. The fear keeps me from sleeping."

"Didn't Sleg get rid of it?" The daemons never told him what was going on. "It's the shapeshifter you're talking about -"

"Yes, the shifter. It's still hanging around. I worry for the people in the village. That's why I've come. To ask Lunam for a hand."

The idea of the big daemon and Kiata - it was impossible! "Aren't you afraid of him?" The look on her face! He shouldn't have asked -

"He's our protector! And the kindest soul I've ever had the good fortune to meet. Why would you think I'm afraid of him? You aren't, are you? Oh. You are ..." A little frown pulled her lips down. "Could you have misunderstood something?"

Darm's laugh came out more of a snort. "What don't I misunderstand?" It was none of his business. But every time he was reminded ... Lunam had to be lying. There was no way he could've done it with her. He was hung like a ... an elephant! "You and Lunam are lovers?" he blurted.

"You're jealous?"

He hadn't expected that - he scrambled to wipe the surprise off his face. "It's none of my business - but I just don't get it. He's so much bigger. I can't believe it could be possible. I could never do that - I mean ..." He sank into the pit of embarrassment he'd dug for himself, no way to stop the burning flush he knew had turned his face beet red. Her eyes danced with amusement. He deserved her derision. He -

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it," she said, then laughed, patting his shoulder as she got up. "Really, Darm, he's the gentlest spirit. Endlessly accommodating." Leaning down, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You worry too much." She headed for the caves.

He stared at her retreating form. The long coat swayed as she walked, then she was through the door. You can't cope with the one you're stuck with, dope. Forget it!

He'd done a lousy job of sizing up Sledge and Lunam. The knots in his stomach told him that kind of error might not be so easily resolved in future. And that the future was coming at him like a ziptrain ...

***

Sleg still wasn't back. Darm gave up waiting and crawled into the big four-poster bed in the guest room. He stared up into the darkness, trying again to figure out where the light came from - and where it went every time he decided to sleep.

Kiata and Lunam's voices hummed, low and incomprehensible, as he'd made a hasty supper. She still hadn't come out by the time he'd gone back to his room.

He did want to talk to her ... But, then again, being alone was a rare treat these days - if his fears would leave him be. An intense, but welcome, exhaustion filled him, and his thoughts wandered.

The fresh air and sun had lifted the claustrophobic weight of the warren right off him. The creek's flow played across his mind and he drifted down it, warm and lazy. The backs of his eyelids glowed red and they snapped open.

The light hurt but it made a pretty halo around Sleg's outline standing beside the bed, his wings spread wide ... Darm smiled, sleepy, happy. Her. Wings. "Come to bed. It's scrumptious. So, so soft and warm and -"

"Get up. We have to go."

''Noooo, I want to stay here. It's so nice right here."

"Get up and pack. Here's the book. Bring it too. Stop wasting time. We don't have it."

The urgency in Sleg's voice finally busted through the mist in his head. Nuts. Something was wrong. Again. He forced himself up. No point in asking. He'd find out too soon as it was. Never was too soon to suit him.

He hung the pack so it sat on his chest. The straps bit into his shoulders with the extra weight of the book. It wouldn't matter for long. He followed the daemon outside, then he was carried up into the dark, star-filled sky.