Garrett for Hire by Glen Cook

Author:Glen Cook [Cook, Glen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101608951
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2013-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

•••55

Cat landed in Brookside Park The snow there had not yet all melted. I told her, “Cat, I’ve had all the fun I can stand with you and your mom and your friends. Suppose you all carry on without me? The Shayir and Godoroth shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

She dismissed the horses. They trotted into the darkness. Fourteen stayed with Cat. He was about as active as a twelve-pound brick. Cat stuck with me. So did Lila and Dimna. Maybe they just didn’t know where else to go now that the Shayir pantheon was defunct. I can’t say I was thrilled, though it would be fun to walk into Morley’s joint with an owl girl on each arm.

At first Cat wouldn’t talk in front of them, but finally she grumbled, “If you add everything up, you have to believe my mother and her cronies engineered what happened.”

“That bothers you?”

“Because it looks like they didn’t think about the consequences. They wanted rid of some deadwood, so they put Imar and Lang in a spot where they would betray themselves for the duds they were. I don’t think Mom realized that could damage the barriers between the worlds.”

I reserved my opinion, naturally, but that told me Mom was as much a dud as her husband. She just hadn’t had as much chance to show it.

“Cat, you glance over history, you’ll see that females, on average, aren’t brighter or better than males. They can be stupid or wise, foolish or crafty, too. They can be petty or magnanimous, and blind to the blazingly obvious. One thing some religions push that I agree with is that people ought to be trying to improve themselves as a whole. But I’m a cynic. I see no evidence that it’s ever going to happen.”

“You may be a realist, not a cynic. I’ve been closer to more gods and goddesses than anyone who ever lived.”

She did not seem inclined to expand upon her remarks.

• • •

I didn’t get to bed. I didn’t even get to eat right away. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the Dead Man pushing Dean, I wouldn’t have gotten in until morning. The old man had all the chains on and was sound asleep.

I gave it to him good.

An hour later I was in the Dead Man’s room. Cat and Fourteen were with us. The owl girls were in the small front room with the Goddamn Parrot. I was barely awake. Dean was sulking in the kitchen, fixing something to eat, I think he was waiting for it to grow up so he could butcher it. I thought about siccing the twins on him. He needed an attitude boost. Unfortunately, only the Dead Man, Cat, and I could see them or Fourteen.

His Nibs issued an opinion. Imara and several other goddesses engineered this thing. I imagine they just intended to rid themselves of stupid males who…

“Cat already told me that.”

…gave no thought to consequences.

“And didn’t listen, no doubt.”

He ignored me, began spinning out a storm of dreamlike images and speculations.

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