11/03/2026 05:30

---

There was a knock on the door, and I realized that someone had been knocking for a while. Attached to the lintel of the door, at a slant, was a tubular ornamentof shiny brass. “Consider,” I said. He offered a hand to both Micah and me.

Jason must come with me, there was no outright pleading in his voice, Shang-Da did not beg, but there was a softness there, room to compromise. The front of a Jeep just wasn't made for lying across. I turned slowly, the way you do in nightmares. He, like me, thought sex was the lesser evil.