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where he got the juice. Don’t know where he got the chops. It ain’t nothing I could do.”
    â€œAnd if he summoned one,” Adan said, “we have to assume he can do it again.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, “let’s work that angle. How the fuck did he do it?”
    â€œThere are rituals, of course,” said Oberon. “But I hadn’t thought there was yet enough magic in the world to sustain the Fomoire—nor for a man like Mobley to call one.”
    â€œI got a taste of the juice. I can try to reconstruct the ritual.” That still wouldn’t explain where Mobley got the craft or the juice to pull it off, but it was a start.
    â€œThat sounds real good, D,” said Terrence, “but Mobley ain’t even our only problem. Zombie motherfuckers is getting out of control.”
    Oberon shrugged. “Our concern is the Fomoire, not the zombies.”
    â€œHow do you figure?” I asked. “Looks to me like the zombies are everybody’s problem.”
    â€œYou may have noticed,” the king said, “that my people are immune to this plague.”
    â€œI have a theory about that,” Adan said. “The zombies are created when souls are unable to leave the body after death.”
    â€œSo why are the sidhe immune?” I asked.
    â€œWe don’t have souls,” Titania said.
    Awkward. I felt like I’d just told an off-color joke in mixed company.
    Oberon chuckled. “There’s no reason for discomfort,Domino. It’s not a matter of lack or misfortune. We are creatures of spirit wrapped in a thin veil of flesh. You are flesh that imprisons a small measure of spirit. Neither better nor worse, only different.”
    â€œOkay, so the Seelie Court won’t go zombie,” I said. “That’s good. But it’s still bad news for you if the rest of the city does.”
    Oberon didn’t say anything and the expression on his face made it clear he didn’t entirely agree. Was it possible he viewed a Los Angeles without humans—living ones, anyway—as an opportunity?
    â€œShe’s right, husband,” Titania said. “We need them.” The “for now” at the end of the sentence was no less obvious for being unspoken.
    â€œYeah,” I said, “you need us. Oh, and let’s not forget the moral tragedy of the whole fucking human race being wiped out by fucking zombies. Maybe we should consider that, too.”
    Oberon and Titania looked at each other and then back to me. They smiled in unison. “Of course,” they said.
    â€œWe are your friends, Domino,” the king said. “We wish you no harm. But our first obligation is to our own people. We would expect no less of you.”
    â€œI’m overwhelmed, King. Thing is, I need your help with the zombies. Someone has to contain this thing and your people are obviously better suited to it than mine. I send my soldiers out to herd zombies, some of them are going to end up swelling their ranks. I don’t like the math. Eventually, I’m out of soldiers and I’ve got more zombies than ever.”
    â€œAnd what of the Fomoire?”
    â€œWe can deal with Mobley. Anton and his crew should keep them busy for a while. Terrence, you help them out. Hit that motherfucker with everything you’ve got. Therewill have to be a reckoning with Simeon Wale at some point, but not now. We need him.”
    â€œConsider it done, Domino.”
    â€œIn the meantime, I’ll try to figure out how Mobley called the demon and what’s causing the zombie plague. Adan, I’d like your help with that.”
    He nodded. “I think they may be related.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œThe king is right—there shouldn’t be enough magic to pull the Firstborn into this world and keep them here. Not yet. The dead rising, though…the normal rules are breaking down. Whatever’s causing it, there are consequences