about

Merlin; he was your teacher. In a way he was the father that you never had,

but

the point is that he's dead."

"He isn't dead. You heard Sebastian explain how—"

"He might as well be dead," said Kira, interrupting him.

"His body is. All that's left of him is his personality, his soul, his ego,

whatever the hell you want to call it. The fact is, he's a ghost. And if he

gets

himself in over his head again, he can always flee his body, just like he did

the last time. Only where does that leave Billy?"

"No," said Wyrdrune, shaking his head. "I can't believe he'd do that. He

wouldn't needlessly expose Billy to a risk like that."

"Oh, no? What do you call coming here? A grade-school field trip?"

"Well, for one thing, Billy's not exactly a grade-school kid. He's more

mature

and he's got better survival instincts than most adults I know. What he

didn't

have until Merlin came along was a future. What kind of life did he have to

look

forward to? Living in the streets, sleeping in garbage, stealing, getting

arrested..."

His voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying. He might just as

well

have been describing Kira's childhood.

"Yeah," she said, looking back at him over her shoulder. "I know something

about

that sort of life, remember?"

He suddenly understood where her concern was coming from. It wasn't just

maternal instincts. She identified with Billy. And Billy identified with her

as

well. They recognized each other, two different people cut from the same

mold.

Street people. Hustlers. Survivors. People nobody else ever game a damn about.

"I see," said Wyrdrune. "He would've been happier the way he was, is that it?

The way you were?"

"Maybe," she said.

He reached out and took her by the arm, stopping her for a moment. "Listen,"

he

said, "I don't know about you, but all my life I've wanted to do something

that

mattered. Not necessarily something that would make me famous or rich, but

something that would make a difference. The man we came here looking for, me

one

you've got all these feelings for that you don't want to talk about, he

understands. And he's willing to die for it."

"And that's supposed to be noble?" Kira said. "Look where it got him."