Morley walked half a block with me before he said, "Tell me straight. Not with your heart. Can it be done?"
"I was in there the other day. There isn't any internal security. They flat don't expect anything. They don't think they have reason to expect anything. I'm not worried about doing the job." Liar. "I'm worried about pulling it without anybody finding out who did it. I don't want every member of the Church after me for the rest of my life."
"You're up to something."
"I told you that."
"No. I know you, Garrett. You're not just going to steal something. You're going to make it look like something it isn't."
If I could. I didn't deny that. I didn't agree, either. I had some ideas. Maybe they'd work out, maybe they 2I2 wouldn't. The way my life was going they wouldn't. Morley didn't need to know what those ideas were.
"You play them too damned close to your chest, Garrett. What's the other target?"
I shook my head, which he couldn't see in the dark, so I said, "We don't worry about that till we've handled the first one. If I don't get what I need from Peridont's office, I can't make another move anyway."
"Too close to your chest, Garrett."
"Did you let me in on anything that time we ended up going after those vampires?"
"That was different."
"Sure it was. It was you moving me like a pawn without ever telling me you were doing it. You in or not?"
"Why not? You're a pretty dull guy yourself but interesting things happen where you're at. And I've never been inside Chattaree. They say it's magnificent."
He'd never been in because his kind were banned. According to Church doctrine he had no soul despite having human blood which was not a smart stance in a world where nonhuman races added up to half the total sentient population. And the Church didn't talk it up much here in TunFaire, where so many would be quick to take offense.
"Yeah," Morley said, evidently thinking about that. "I'd like to get into Chattaree for a while."
"Let's don't go grinding any axes."
"Right." We walked away, toward the Dream Quarter. Then he said, "You're taken with that Maya gal, aren't you?"
"She's a nice kid. She got herself in trouble because of hanging around with me. I owe her."
"Got you."
I glanced at him. He was grinning.
"She's just a kid I know, Morley."
The trouble with Morley is, he does understand.
46
I'd been hustling so much lately the weather had had little chance to gain my attention. Sitting in a deep shadow opposite Chattaree, watching, getting a feel for the night, it got plenty of opportunity.
"Damned cold," I muttered.
Morley glanced up. It was too dark to tell anything except that there were no stars out. "Might snow."
"That's all we need."
There'd been something going on at Chattaree when we arrived, just breaking up. It was a holy day but I couldn't remember which one. Morley didn't know. He didn't keep track of human superstitions.
I asked, "Think we've waited long enough?" We'd given them an hour to settle down inside.
"Give it a while yet." He wasn't comfortable with the adventure anymore. He was trying to recall if anyone had invaded the temple recently. I'd never heard of anybody trying. People in there ought to be lax. But Morley suspected safeguards that fixed it so invaders were not heard from again.
I said, "Any guy who can go into a vampire nest shouldn't have problems with this."
He snorted. "That was do or die."
We gave it fifteen minutes. Morley stared at Chattaree with obsessive concentration. I wondered if he was mongoose or cobra. His night vision was better than mine. If there was anything to see he'd see it.
"Give me the layout again," he said. I did. He said, "Let's do it."
It was a good time. There was no one in sight. But I found myself reluctant to go. I went anyway.
I was puffing when we reached the temple door.
Morley looked at me and shook his head. He raised an eyebrow, barely discernible in wan light from inside the temple. Ready? I nodded.
He walked through the doorway. I ducked out of sight.
"Hey! Where the hell you going?"
I peeked. Morley had darted past the guard, who was awake. I wondered if that was a common occurrence. Morley turned to face the man, who was as wide as he was tall.
I wound up two-handed and stepped into it, whacking him behind the ear with my stick. He went down.
I let out a big breath. "I didn't think I could put him down."
"I worried too, the way you've let yourself go."
"Let's get him put away."
We used materials at hand, bound and gagged the guy and tucked him out of sight inside his post. Hopefully anybody who came by would figure he'd gone AWOL.
I led the way. We'd chosen our time well. They'd closed up shop except for one sleeping priest at the main altar. Passing through in the far shadows we didn't disturb his slumber. Morley made less noise than a tiptoeing roach. I found the stairway descending into the catacombs.
"We have a problem," I whispered, halfway down. It was tomb-dark. We hadn't brought a light. I didn't think I could negotiate the maze without one.
"I'll go steal a candle, " Morley said.
He could be a ghost when he wanted. He went right up to the main altar and lifted a votive candle. The priest on duty never missed a snore.
He came back grinning. He'd been showing off. He hadn't had to snatch a light from disaster's jaws.
We descended into the catacombs. They seemed more claustrophobic than on my previous visit. A dwarf would have felt at home, but humans weren't made to inhabit mole holes. I worked up a bad case of the creeps.
Morley did, too. He didn't have anything to say, just tagged along quietly, so alert you could smell it.
The old memory was cooking. I made only one false turn and corrected that before I'd gone a step. I marched right up to Peridont's door.
"This place gives me the creeps," Morley whispered.
"Me too." It was as quiet as a grave in there. I would have been happier if there'd been some guy howling down the way. Thinking just made the creeps worse.
The door was locked but the lock was of ancient vintage. It didn't take me half a minute to open it. We stepped inside.
The room was unchanged, though there was more litter on the big table. I told Morley, "Light a couple of lamps."
"Hurry," he suggested.
"It shouldn't take long." I moved to the cabinet from which Peridont had taken the bottles he'd given me. Morley fired up a couple of lamps and posted himself beside the door.
The cabinet doors weren't latched, let alone locked. Sometimes you have to wonder about people. I mean, the stuff stored there was as dangerous as you could get, yet it was just sitting there waiting to be taken. Just because you don't want to think somebody would rob you doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions.
I used the votive candle for light. I saw green and blue and red bottles (only one of the latter), plus lemon, orange, amber, indigo, turquoise, lime, and clear, and one that looked like bottled silver dust.
The temptation was to take the lot, a fortune in useful tricks. But I had no idea what would happen if an unfamiliar bottle was used. You don't mess with the unknown when you're dealing with sorcery. Not if you want to stay healthy.
I wasn't shy about grabbing all the green and blue bottles. I dithered over the red one, then recalled how effective it had been at Chodo's. I might run into that ape again. I pocketed the bottle, but this time with more respect. I padded it with cotton I found on the bottom shelf of the cabinet.
"What're you doing?" Morley asked.
The look in his eye said he had a damned good idea. And he'd love to lay hands on some of those bottles. "Putting tricks up my sleeve. I don't know what these others will do so I'm not taking them."