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Tho before more of them show up"

He hit the control that lowered the passengerIt coughed and rattled a little before it jerked intodown Wizards and technology don't get along so well To high-tech equiper I stayed in Thos that could go wrong, would go wrong

I lifted the leaf to chuck it out, but so made me hesitate "No," I murmured

Thomas blinked "No?"

"No," I said withot a better idea"

Chapter Ten

I finished the spell that I thought would keep the gruffs busy and cli by the fireplace My big grey dog, Mouse, lay beside hihts of reddened silver in the firelight, watching Thomas's ith interest

My brother sat cross-legged on the floor, withdisassembled on a soft leather cloth upon the hearth He frowned in concentration as he cleaned the pieces of the weapon with a brush, a soft cloth, and a small bottle of oil

Mister, my hyperthyroid tomcat, bounded over the minute I opened the trapdoor to the lab, and hurried down the folding staircase into the subbasement

"Go get 'eement "Make them run their little hooves off"

I left the door open, heaved myself to the couch, and collapsed Mouse's tail thuently

"You all right?" Thomas asked

"Tired," I said "Big spell"

"Uh-huh," he said, working industriously on the weapon's barrel "What building did you burn down?"

"Your apartment, if you don't lay off the wiseass co"

Tho look "I needed another minute or two anyway When's the last ti?"

"Uh Who's the president now?"

Thoun "Let me knohen you're ready"

"Just give me a minute to catch my breath," I said

When I woke up there was di from my mostly buried basement s, and ether by a badly trained contractor The various beatings I'd received the night before had for a hostile takeover of roaned and looked around

Thoainst the wall beside the fireplace, as relaxed and patient as any tiger His gun, mine, and the bent-bladed kukri knife he'd favored lately lay close at hand

Down inclattered to the floor from one of the shelves or tables I heard Mister's paws sca over the metal surface of the center table

"What are you grinning at?" my brother asked

"Mister," I said

"He's been knocking around down there all o round hi, but the skull told me to leave him alone"

"Yeah," I said I creaked to my feet and shuffled to ot out the bottle of aspirin and downed theets upset when soets between him and his packet of catnip"

I shuffled over to the lab and peered down Sure enough, the little cloth bag containing catnip and the silver oak leaf pin still hung froe rubber band I'd snipped and fixed to the ceiling directly over Little Chicago As I watched, Mister hopped up onto a worktable, then bounded into the air to bat at the cloth bag He dragged it down to the table with him, claws hooked in the fabric, and landed on the ainst the bag for a moment, then released it and batted playfully at it as the rubber band sent it rebounding back and forth near him