"Oh, for God's sake! He couldn't have summoned up the entity in the back of the car with Velez sitting

there!" Paul asked.

"Oh, for God's sake! He couldn't have summoned up the entity in the back of the car with Velez sitting

there!" Paul asked.

Kira watched from the window as they got into the car and drove away, then she ran back downstairs.

Broom was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.

"What was all that about?" Broom asked.

"Somehow, that reporter managed to sniff out that Modred wasn't who he claimed to be," said Kira.

"She's going to be trouble. Ramses . . ."

"I didn't move, just like you said. Did I do okay?" asked the enchanted sculpture.

"You did just fine," said Kira. "Only now I need you to find Wyrdrune and Billy. Look here . . ." She

unfolded the map of the city on the coffee table. "They'll be somewhere around here," she said, indicating

the area they were supposed to be covering tonight. "Tell them that Loomis was here with a reporter,

named Ginny Fairchild. I don't know if she's just nosy or if Modred slipped up somehow, but she

checked him out with somebody at Scotland Yard, bypassing Blood, so he couldn't cover for him. She

knows there's no record of anyone named Cornwall working for the Yard and that means she'll probably

check him out with Bureau registration next, if she hasn't done it already. Loomis is suspicious and wants

him to come in for questioning, which means that Loomis is going to do some checking on his own. And

as soon as he sees that Bureau agent, it's all going to fall apart. Paul passed me off to Loomis as his

girlfriend, but we're not going to be able to use Modred anymore. His cover's blown. What's more,

Loomis and Paul have gone back out again to interview adepts. Now have you got all that?"

"I've got it," Ramses said.

"Good. Now hurry."

She went to the door and opened it. Ramses launched himself in a low glide off the coffee table,

swooped through the open door, and started flapping his brilliant metallic wings, gaining altitude quickly.

"So what happens now?" asked Broom.

"I'm not sure," Kira replied, closing the door. "But knowing cops as I do, you can bet that the minute

Loomis gets past Modred's cover story, as that reporter did, Modred will become his number one

suspect."

"So what's the problem?" Broom asked. "So long as Wyrdrune keeps on being Wyrdrune, Lt. Loomis

will never find Modred."

"That's not the point," said Kira. "The point is he's liable to wind up looking for the wrong person. It

looks as if our plan has backfired. Instead of helping the police, we're going to wind up sending them off

on a wild goose chase. And meanwhile, the real necromancer is still on the loose somewhere."