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And I didn’t think he’d felt like that too often in his life

"I had no idea--" He looked atto sneak into sohtail it out--"

"Which is e did"

"That is not e did! We--" Caleb stopped and stared around again, but the bland, beige lobby didn’t see back "This place, the hells, the size--" He broke off, staring froer, half in wonder "There’s whole worlds down here"

Pritkin gazed at his friend, and his face changed Fro Because maybe he’d felt like that once, too Overwhele universe that he didn’t understand at all

"Yes," he said sier and then turned away abruptly, leather coat swinging

And I finally got it

I’d been dealing with stuff like this for more than three months now And it had been hard And scary To the point that,and never stopping And the truth was, if there’d been anybody else to stick with this job, I probably would have

Like Caleb would probably love to run out of here But he hadn’t And he wouldn’t, because he was a decent guy And because a lifetime of duty and discipline stood in the way And because there was nowhere for hiround hi he kne to do Even if it was just soa hand on his shoulder "If there’s nobody else in there, I’ll leave the door open"

Chapter Thirty-two

"Are you really going to eat here?" Caleb deht," I said, h it was about the size of one It was a sed between the courthouse and a bunch of shops The shops appeared to be closed, although there were some across the street that were open Cars passed on the still-busy highway, zipping along with headlights that blurred slightly in my tired vision and doubled in the mirrorlike sheen of the street

I looked up, and soht have been an illusion, too, for all I knew, but it felt real Everything did Just a dark blue, rainy street, closer to winter than su their way

And a brightly lit slab of Forefroriddle in back that had ht in wonder, I was actually going to get dinner

Maybe

I glanced around furtively, waiting for the haetting any food And it wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of candidates

I couldn’t tell what time of day it was, since it always seemed to be dark here But there were plenty of people on the streets And I knehere I was; I knehat they were, or most of them, anyway But none looked all that sinister towoman came by, with a shock of pale purple hair that could have coenetics She was carrying a bag of groceries and talking on a cell phone with the preoccupied, slightly annoyed look of so rained on She passed within a few feet of lance She also didn’t attack me

I stared after her for a moment, faintly surprised I knew from experience that the Shadowland had plenty of people ould try soiven half a chance But then, that was true of most human cities, too, wasn’t it? Was this really so different?

Okay, yeah, it was different, but--

"Are you going to order?" Pritkin asked, dragginglooked good

And then the short, squat guy in a grease-splattered apron handed Pritkin so out ofapproaching awe

"This street belongs to the potion sellers, and this cart has a fair areasy bundle of awesomeness "But elsewhereyou have to be careful Not everything here is safe for human consu suspiciously at the towering mound of meat and melty cheese and peppers and onions and mushrooms and--

"I’ll have one of those," I told the cook quickly Right now I didn’t care as in it

"The usual" Pritkin shrugged "You kno hard it is to glaht: looks, smells, tasteIt’s easier and cheaper just to cook the real thing"

"You sure?" Caleb asked, looking longingly at his buddy’s meal "What about that old rule, eat in hell and you never leave?"