Read Online Victories by Mercedes Lackey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mercedes Lackey
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should say?” Addie demanded.
“It’s the Sword.” It was Burke who answered. He held up his prize. “Because I have the Shield, so that makes all four.”
The Shield Hallow of Britain was a set of men’s rings tied together with a scrap of pink yarn. They were both cheap pot-metal, with a gold plating that was mostly worn off. Their squared tops had symbols on them, picked out in rhinestones that were miraculously all still there: one an ace, and one a diamond.
You’re nothing but a pack of cards, Spirit thought giddily.
“Well, that was … suspiciously easy,” Loch said, sounding puzzled.
“Nice that something is,” Addie grumbled.
“Anybody want the rest of this stuff?” Burke asked, nodding toward the box.
“Not unless there’s a large, well-equipped army in there somewhere,” Loch said. He poked at the box hopefully. “I don’t suppose any of you action figures come to life when I call you? No? Right then.”
Burke nodded again and opened the back door. He climbed out with the box and set it on the ground next to the nearest garbage can.
“Anybody feel any different?” he asked when he came back.
Spirit saw the others shake their heads. She shrugged. Except for knowing the object she held was the Sword Hallow, nothing was any different.
Burke climbed back in and pulled the door shut. “Well, maybe later,” he said. “At least we found them.”
Spirit couldn’t figure out quite how she felt. Finding the Hallows seemed almost like an anticlimax. And yet … it also felt like it was the beginning of something, as if this was right before a tornado, and she had looked up and the sky was turning green.
“Yeah,” Loch said. “Too bad Vivian didn’t mention the booby trap.” He made a face. “It’s a good thing nobody noticed us playing statues back there, or we could have found ourselves locked up or something.”
“Maybe she didn’t know,” Spirit said. “But … imagine what would have happened to Mark if he’d found them? Or Teddy? Or Madison?” She thought about that. She kind of wished it could have happened.
Clearly, so did Loch. “Or Ovcharenko,” Loch said with a dark smile. “Too bad there’s no way to know. I’d pay real money to watch.”
“I think we can guess, though,” Spirit said. “It wasn’t a booby trap, not really. It was a test. Of worthiness. The grey place turned all our best qualities inside out. It showed us our dark sides, to see if we could rise above them—or had risen above them, ever. And, you know, that makes me wonder—now that we’ve all seen that—why does anyone become a Shadow Knight? Or really, stay a Shadow Knight once they know what’s involved besides fancy limousines and penthouses, or whatever they get? Because—oh, I don’t know!”
“I do,” Addie said. “Who wants to be the bad guy, knowing they’re the bad guy? I mean, usually there’s a certain amount of … rationalization going on in the mind of your average supervillain. You know.”
“So to speak,” Loch said. “But yeah. The whole ‘this hurts me more than it hurts you’ thing. My— My father said once that the secret to success in business was knowing that nobody is the villain in their own story. And this isn’t exactly that, but.…”
“Some people just like knowing they can always get their own way,” Burke said quietly. “They don’t think about other people enough to care what they’re feeling.”
Loch frowned. “Actually … some people just can’t see other people as anything other than props. There were more than a couple of CEOs like that. They’d laugh about firing people, as if other people just weren’t real to them. Then they’d run out and drop five hundred bucks on dinner. Maybe that’s it. Maybe in order to be a Shadow Knight—everyone else is a shadow to you.”
Burke nodded. “So, nobody else matters because nobody else has feelings or importance except you. No reason why you can’t just shove them
“It’s the Sword.” It was Burke who answered. He held up his prize. “Because I have the Shield, so that makes all four.”
The Shield Hallow of Britain was a set of men’s rings tied together with a scrap of pink yarn. They were both cheap pot-metal, with a gold plating that was mostly worn off. Their squared tops had symbols on them, picked out in rhinestones that were miraculously all still there: one an ace, and one a diamond.
You’re nothing but a pack of cards, Spirit thought giddily.
“Well, that was … suspiciously easy,” Loch said, sounding puzzled.
“Nice that something is,” Addie grumbled.
“Anybody want the rest of this stuff?” Burke asked, nodding toward the box.
“Not unless there’s a large, well-equipped army in there somewhere,” Loch said. He poked at the box hopefully. “I don’t suppose any of you action figures come to life when I call you? No? Right then.”
Burke nodded again and opened the back door. He climbed out with the box and set it on the ground next to the nearest garbage can.
“Anybody feel any different?” he asked when he came back.
Spirit saw the others shake their heads. She shrugged. Except for knowing the object she held was the Sword Hallow, nothing was any different.
Burke climbed back in and pulled the door shut. “Well, maybe later,” he said. “At least we found them.”
Spirit couldn’t figure out quite how she felt. Finding the Hallows seemed almost like an anticlimax. And yet … it also felt like it was the beginning of something, as if this was right before a tornado, and she had looked up and the sky was turning green.
“Yeah,” Loch said. “Too bad Vivian didn’t mention the booby trap.” He made a face. “It’s a good thing nobody noticed us playing statues back there, or we could have found ourselves locked up or something.”
“Maybe she didn’t know,” Spirit said. “But … imagine what would have happened to Mark if he’d found them? Or Teddy? Or Madison?” She thought about that. She kind of wished it could have happened.
Clearly, so did Loch. “Or Ovcharenko,” Loch said with a dark smile. “Too bad there’s no way to know. I’d pay real money to watch.”
“I think we can guess, though,” Spirit said. “It wasn’t a booby trap, not really. It was a test. Of worthiness. The grey place turned all our best qualities inside out. It showed us our dark sides, to see if we could rise above them—or had risen above them, ever. And, you know, that makes me wonder—now that we’ve all seen that—why does anyone become a Shadow Knight? Or really, stay a Shadow Knight once they know what’s involved besides fancy limousines and penthouses, or whatever they get? Because—oh, I don’t know!”
“I do,” Addie said. “Who wants to be the bad guy, knowing they’re the bad guy? I mean, usually there’s a certain amount of … rationalization going on in the mind of your average supervillain. You know.”
“So to speak,” Loch said. “But yeah. The whole ‘this hurts me more than it hurts you’ thing. My— My father said once that the secret to success in business was knowing that nobody is the villain in their own story. And this isn’t exactly that, but.…”
“Some people just like knowing they can always get their own way,” Burke said quietly. “They don’t think about other people enough to care what they’re feeling.”
Loch frowned. “Actually … some people just can’t see other people as anything other than props. There were more than a couple of CEOs like that. They’d laugh about firing people, as if other people just weren’t real to them. Then they’d run out and drop five hundred bucks on dinner. Maybe that’s it. Maybe in order to be a Shadow Knight—everyone else is a shadow to you.”
Burke nodded. “So, nobody else matters because nobody else has feelings or importance except you. No reason why you can’t just shove them
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