Part 35 (1/2)
”Maybe normal isn't the right word.” Tony paused and frowned at the screen. ”Here it is. Finding.”
”What? Nemo?”
Tony double-clicked the icon. ”There're a few files in here. Finding Living Creatures...”
”The demons are living.”
”Yeah, but we're not trying to find demons, we're trying to find where demons will be.”
”Time travel?”
”Not allowed.”
Jack finished his coffee and crushed the cup. ”Too bad.”
”Finding Inanimate Objects.”
”I've lost my TV remote.”
”It's in the sofa cus.h.i.+ons.”
”I am in awe of your power. Nothing on finding your way to h.e.l.l?”
”Wrong reference material.” Tony grinned as Jack snorted. ”Here it is. Finding a Power Source.”
”You need to be plugged in?”
”I don't think so.” He scanned the instructions. ”I need a map.”
”I've got one in my truck.”
The wardrobe department needed more s.p.a.ce. Which was pretty much true of every department but finance; they had plenty of s.p.a.ce but needed more money. Wardrobe made it obvious with a leaning tower of shoe boxes, shelves six deep in hats, and bolts of fabric piled by color and weight. Since most of the fabric had been bought as remainders, some of the colors were a little frightening. A huge chart delineating what costumes were needed and when covered one wall. Sketches had been pinned up to every nonmoving surface as well as a couple of surfaces that weren't moving now but would be later. The actual clothing hung out in the hall.
When Tony came in with Jack's map, he found Alison Larkin on her knees in front of the thinnest of the staff writers adjusting the length of an ap.r.o.n over a full peasant skirt. Dana, her most recent a.s.sistant, sat bent over one of the three sewing machines.
”I need to iron a map.” ”We're busy,” Alison snapped without looking up.
”I don't need you to iron it,” Tony amended, wondering if she'd ever swallowed a pin. ”I need to iron it.”
”Why? Never mind. Don't touch that dirndl on the ironing board! Toss the sheet of white felt down on the cutting table and do it there. And Roger...” She slapped a hairy calf. ”... stop f.u.c.king moving, or I'll stick you on purpose. We've got another eight of these to get through.”
Be sure the map is free of creases.
Ironing the map, not a problem. Not much of a problem anyway. Getting it back to the soundstage without folding it was a little trickier. Tony shuffled sideways through the costumes, arms outstretched, swearing softly under his breath and wondering why they had half a rack of silver lame jumpsuits.
The door out into the production office opened as he pa.s.sed and only a last second, desperate lunge to the right kept Leah-and Lee right behind her-from slamming new creases into his map.
”Tony! Good news!”
He continued shuffling toward the soundstage. ”I could use some.”
”It's possible that because of the way the energy is being used this Demonic Convergence won't go on as long as it has in the past.”
”According to?”
”According to the book that your friend Henry provided last night.” Following close behind, she waved it in his general direction.
Tony peered at it over the upper edge of the map. It didn't look much like a book. It looked more like a lot of loose, yellowing pages crammed inside a worn, brown leather cover.
”While you were sleeping,” she continued, ”I was working on a translation.”
With first Jack and then Lee in the office with her, Tony doubted that was all she'd been doing. A glance past her at Lee showed the actor was looking a little ruffled. And wizards saw what was there, didn't they? Hey, more power to him. Tony was all in favor of everybody getting some. A happy Demonlord was a... well, he was a happy Demonlord, that's what he was, and a happy Demonlord was probably less likely to send over demons to slaughter his favorite handmaiden. More's the pity.
”Are you grinding your teeth?”
”No.” He stepped over a pair of old steel-toed work boots painted in patterns that might look like urban camouflage on a thirteen- inch TV. In HDTV, not so much.
”Ryne Cyratane is using the energy up.”
That was enough to stop him. The ironed paper rustled. ”What?”
”The Demonic Convergence produces a limited amount of energy. Usually, it's spread out more and the world is dealing with small s.h.i.+t for months. One or two demons show up near the end.”
”Because the energy burns through the h.e.l.ls like acid rain,” Lee expanded. ”As time pa.s.ses, stronger drops burn right through the upper layers and end in deeper, nastier places.” From his tone, he'd been the one to come up with that bit of description.
Before or after the two of them tested the strength of CB's coffee table? They wouldn't have used the couch, or the floor, or the desk... it had to have been the coffee table. Why am I thinking about this? he asked himself as he started moving toward the soundstage again-which meant moving away from Leah and Lee. Giving them room. They, of course, followed. So much for symbolism.And hang on...
Another look at Lee. ”She told you?”
The actor nodded. ”End of the world as we know it.”
Was he blus.h.i.+ng? The light in the hall was so bad Tony couldn't tell. Not that it was any of his d.a.m.ned business. ”So all this means the Demonic Convergence is going to end... when?”
”Sooner. We're not talking months; a month maybe. Maybe not even that if he keeps up this pace. Which raises the question, why is he going to all this effort? If demons always show up at the end of the Convergence-which, according to this...” The book was waved for emphasis. ”... they always do.”
”Always?” Tony interrupted.
”According to this book.”
”Didn't you tell me they sometimes show up at the end of the Convergence?”
”That was before I had a first-person account to read. And they happen more often than I thought, too.” She smiled. It was a remarkably sarcastic expression. ”So now I've proved I'm not infallible, can we move on?”
He shrugged, careful not to crinkle the map.
”Ryne Cyratane is not big on...” Dark brows drew in. ”Why are you carrying a map of the lower mainland and why you are carrying it like such a spaz?”
”It's for a spell.”
”Oh. All right, then.”