Just how much I shouldn’t trust Morrow became clear a couple of days later. I suppose I should have realized.

It became clear when they tried to arrest Thruor. Of course, she knew what she was doing and talked herself out of it within a few hours – with Mike’s help – but apparently Morrow now thought she was the culprit.

Which wouldn’t have been impossible, but I knew the culprit was a man. And there were sure as heck no male valkyries. Plenty of male einherior, but some females too, from what Thruor had said.

Women had always fought when they needed to or wanted to, always, perhaps since the beginning of time. Or since humans had been humans and I felt that the gods reflected humanity as much as creating it.

Or maybe it…the idea that came into my mind was that seeing it as one thing or the other was narrow folly. That everything was part of one thing. Men, gods, demons, fairies, animals, plants, the Earth.

Thruor, again, talked herself out of it, but she was in an utter fury. “That…that…”

“It’s partly my fault.”

She shook her head. “No. I told him I’d demonstrate just what a bad shot I was if he kept pressing, though.”

I held a hand to my mouth to keep from laughing. Thruor was, as it happened, quite terrible with a gun and had no real interest in learning. I was definitely better.

“You really should fix that one of these days.”

She shrugged. “If I really need a ranged weapon, I’ll find myself a crossbow. Much more civilized.”

I disagreed. Maybe you could make that case for a straight bow, but the difference between a crossbow and a gun. “Well, she was shot with a gun.”

“With, I happened to overhear, cop issue bullets.”

“That does it. Just like Mr. Clem.”

“It’s not that hard to get hold of the same kind of bullets for civilians, though,” Thea pointed out, thoughtfully.

“No, it’s not. And if you wanted everyone to think it was a cop.” We turned down the street. “It’s a guy. It’s somebody with a motive to take out Mr. Clem and her Ladyship. I think I have an overzealous protector.”

“Or somebody trying to impress you.”

“If it was that first of all, he’d tell me who he was. Second of all, he wouldn’t have apologized for shooting Mr. Clem.”

It wasn’t a suitor. I was fairly sure of that. But who would be so keen to remove my various irritations…but restrict themselves. “And who only kills humans.”

“…you’re right. Only the human irritations. They didn’t touch the demons, the fairies…”

“Whoever it is is human. And whoever it is…no, that would be crazy.”

But sometimes a crazy idea was the thought you needed.