Amora's nightclub was just within the outskirts of downtown, where the high-rises began to give way to mid-rise and low-rise construction. It made the approach easy and meant we could stay off the street by following the network of bridges that linked the city's more prominent buildings.

So there we were, in some middle manager's corner office, looking down at the nightclub and the vehicles parked out front. There was a black painted school bus, a few sports cars, oh, and one of Simon's magic propelled wagons.

Val slammed her fist against the glass, "That whoreson."

"Strange," I muttered.

"Is it?" Val demanded, "You thought to give Simon the benefit of the doubt, and now it seems that was a mistake."

"Maybe, I just get the sense there's another game being played here. Simon's got to know these guys aren't going to cut it. I always figured that if it came to blows between us, that it would go immediately from zero to ten, with no slow build-up along the way."

"I will message Cassius and Phoebe," Amity promised, "But the question remains, what to do now?"

"Amora has already attempted to appear in our dreams once," Regina rumbled, "It reasons that she may attempt to do so again. After all, she has no way to know the arrangement we've made with Agamemnon and the others."

"I don't know, is a dream-fight a thing? Could we do that, use mind-magic to link us together and overpower her?"

"To what purpose?" Val asked, "Even if we are victorious, what do we gain?"

"Probably nothing," I admitted.

"Better then to bolster our mental defences and leave it at that."

"What is it, zinc and lead for Protect and Mind?"

Amity, who unlike the rest of us, didn't need to refer to notes, nodded in agreement, "I can strip out some metal on our way back, though zinc I believe we have among our coin collection."

"Alright. Well, let's get back. We need to fill in the others and decide what to do about Val's friends."

"They're still working on a deal."

"How can you know that?" I frowned.

"I'm the fucking god of commerce, trust me, I know."

"Did you see how many of the fey were there?" Agamemnon asked.

"No, there were a couple of humans outside, guessing those are Amora's guards, but I didn't see anyone blue, purple, or yellow."

"You're sure they were all humans out front?"

"Yes," Amity provided.

We were back at the restaurant's big table, with Val at my right and Regina and Amity standing behind me.

"I can reach a high degree of optical zoom with these eyes. They were human," she finished.

Castle wrinkled his brow, "There are three parties at the negotiation," he said finally, "Though that's not the same as there being three people."

"Well, the vehicle did not look large enough to carry more than eight or so passengers," Amity provided, "And I saw no horses stabled outside."

"Eight of these fairies, is that enough to be a problem?" Brock asked.

"It depends on how many of them use magic," I replied, "When we last went up against them, there were only two casters and a bunch of guards on horseback. The guards were kinda useless, but those two spellcasters nearly got us, all on their own. Granted, now I know they've got Body magic that can stop your heart, but they'll have more tricks."

"Well, I'll instruct my people to be on guard," Agamemnon shrugged, "But it seems to me that you now know where to find the fey."

I nodded, "We'll hit them tonight. I'll leave Amora out of it if we can, but I can only be so forgiving if she's sided with them."

"Deal with the fey quick enough, and Amora won't put up much of a fight," Agamemnon recommended, "I'd prefer not to see her hurt if you can help it. As for contingencies-"

"Amity and I will provide you with all you need to know," Val agreed, "Thankfully, you already have ready-made observation towers."

Val and Amity stayed to fill in Agamemnon while I left with Regina to go prepare for tonight.

It was a risk, asking Clyde to alter the weather for us, but a necessary one. The Father would be in the sky all night, and while the fey would have difficulty, Amora's people were human and had no such weaknesses. So while it might have tipped them off, Clyde promised to give us what cover he could.

And that's how the four of us came to be lying in a ditch by the side of the nightclub's parking lot, all the while getting soaked by a torrential downpour. The rain came down so hard that even without the fog, and there was plenty of fog, I doubt that I could have seen the front door of the club.

The hush of falling rain also masked any noise we might have made as we rose and began filtering through the parking lot. Regina and Amity went from cover to cover, making their way towards the club, while Val and I went for Simon's wagon.

I knelt by the front wheel on the side opposite the club and tried the latch. It wasn't locked, but then, ours didn't lock either.

I gingerly swung the door open, my free hand ready with a handful of coins should someone be waiting for us inside. But it was clear, and I boosted Val up into the driver's seat and backed away to the nearest car.

She gave me a wink and shut the door. A moment later, the cart began to roll.

The magical engine, if it could even be called an engine, made no sound. There was no engine noise, not even the whine of an electric motor, as Val guided the wagon out of the parking lot and down the street. The falling rain more than enough to obscure what little noise came from the iron-banded wheels rolling along the asphalt.

I waited for a few minutes, crouched by the hood of the car before Val hurried through the rain to rejoin me. She hadn't taken the wagon all the way back to the mall, but we had found an underground garage to hide it in. Not a permanent solution, but it would be enough just to delay the fey's flight. Amora might feel inclined to lend them a car, or they might steal one, but I doubted that any of these sports cars would have an easy time making the trek back to Pelignos. Hell, most of them looked like they'd have a hard time making it over a speed bump.

Val shadowed me as I half-ran, half-crawled nearer the door, strafing to either side to keep at least one car between myself and where the guards stood.

We stopped at the point where I could just barely make out the shape of the guards through the rain and fog, and I didn't have to wait long.

Regina had more than enough power in her limbs to leap clear to the roof of the building, and Amity's many claws meant she made short work of the climb.

I didn't see the guards' faces as they went down, but I imagined the sudden strike from behind was a little startling. Amity waved and then bent to pull the two men inside while Regina kept watch.

Val ran to keep up as I jogged the remaining distance to the entrance, and I took a knee just within the threshold.

Before me was a long carpeted hallway, and on my right, a room open to the hall and kept separate only by a tall desk. Likely where IDs and such would have been checked and cover would have been paid.

Amity rose from behind the desk and came through a small door at its side, the two guards hid away.

She approached close enough that I might have felt her breath, had she possessed lungs, and she murmured in my ear, "There's hardly anyone else here, come on, she's through here. There's only two fey with her."

Before we saw them, we heard them, their voices carrying through the high-ceilinged space within the club proper.

Amity pointed, and I followed the line of her finger up to a raised area in the far corner. Complete with velvet ropes and brass poles, the three of them were seated in the VIP area. The height difference served to conceal our approach, though all four sets of eyes were darting around as we neared the steps up.

I'd never been one for clubs, too many people, too much noise, and all too close. But sneaking across a dance floor that should have held hundreds of people just felt off, like being in school after dark.

With the front doors open, as they had been before we'd arrived, there was a bit of noise from the weather outside, but it was minimal. However, the stairs up to the VIP area were carpeted and kept the sound of our footfalls to a minimum as we crept up to the first landing.

"How long will this take?" A man's voice asked.

"Impatient?" a woman's voice smouldered, "Ah, it's a shame my apostles are away with your people. I'm sure they might have kept you occupied till Lady Valentine went to rest her head. No matter, the moment she and the sphinx begin to slip into a dream, I will know, and we may strike."

I shrugged and held up a finger to the others. If they were gonna talk all about their master plan, then we may as well listen.

"You're certain you can keep them asleep?" a second man asked, "The rest of them I can take or leave, but we need Lady Valentine alive."

"With your aid, yes. Nothing short of the building falling down will wake her. Lady Death and your friends will be able to clear the building with little interference from the girl- or sphinx for that matter -and you may capture her at your leisure."

That was all I needed to hear. I gave Val a nod, and I stood, a fistful of coins in each hand.

The steps up from our landing to the sitting area were just about chest high, so when I stood, only my head, shoulders, and arms were exposed.

Two great thunderclaps beat the air, and both fistfuls of coins went flying. Each fey took over a dozen wounds, dead before they even realized they were under attack.

Amora shrieked and went tumbling backwards over the couch in her haste to get clear, but Amity and Regina were already bounding forwards, having leapt even as I'd fired.

"Stop, stop, or I kill them," Amora shouted, even as Amity got ahold of the woman and hauled her back in front of the couch.

"Kill who?" I demanded.

"My followers, there are dozens of them. Let me go, or they all die," Amora spat, ineffectually trying to pull her arm free of the gynoid's steel grip.

"Oh yeah, and how are you going to manage that?"

"Heartbreak, if I withdraw my boon without the proper care, the shock will stop their hearts."

"You're so full of shit."

"Am I?" she insisted, "Will you take that chance? Lady Death would only raise them as her own. Would you condemn them to that?"

I stole a look at Val, and she nodded.

"Fine, you can go," I lied.

Amity raised her eyebrow but let Amora's arm go. The love goddess had just made it to her feet when her eyelids fluttered, and she collapsed.

"Ah?" Amity wondered.

"Sleep spell," Val replied, stepping forwards and looking for something in her pockets, "Just a clever application of Weaken Body, ah, here we are."

Val withdrew a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs and shackled Amora's wrist to the balcony railing.

"Won't she just kill her followers when she wakes?" Amity asked.

Regina shook her head, "There would be little reason without us present to threaten. And I doubt, as Lord Wallace does, I imagine, that the threat was credible."

"Val, remind me to ask you later about the handcuffs. Everyone else, let's go. They're gonna need our help back at the mall."

We ran as fast as we could- or at least, as fast as I could -heading back for the underground car park. Sports cars were nice but lacked room for giants and sphinxes, not to mention we were short of keys. But the stolen wagon might just do the trick and would be a damn sight faster than walking.

In those precious minutes that burned away as we ran back to the garage and piled into the wagon, the weather changed, and when we left the garage and came out into open air, it was like stepping into hell.

Some of the fog lingered, but it was more black than grey, and the air was thick with the smell of smoke and burning plastic. Oh, it still rained, but no longer was it water. Instead, tiny droplets of fire fell from the sky, streaming off buildings and gathering in the gutters like rivers of lava.

The wagon was made of hardwood, and it had gotten a good soak before we'd put it in the garage, but it was already beginning to smoulder.

And somewhere in the distance, I could hear the lightning, each stroke less than a second after the last, and each bolt lit up the skyscrapers like a flashbulb.