something to him. Though the distance was too great to

make out the words clearly, it was obvious to me that

they were threatening to shoot him down if he tried to

take to the air.

"We may have a murder case yet," Kirby murmured,

squinting to watch the rooftop drama unfold.

"Murder?" I exclaimed, turning on him. "How can

you call it murder if they're only trying to keep from

escaping your justice? "

"That wasn't what I meant," the vampire said, never

taking his eyes from the action. "Check it out."

I looked ... and my heart stood still.

Aahz had been trying to ease up the roof peak closer

to Vic and his hostage. Vic must have seen him, because

he was now holding Luanna out over the drop as he

pointed an angry finger at my partner. The threat was

unmistakable.

"You know, eet is people like zat who give ze vam-

pires a bad name, eh?" Pepe said, nudging me.

I ignored him, lost in my own anxiety and frustration

at the stalemated situation. A noticeably harder jab

from Massha broke my reverie, however.

"Hey, Hot Stuff. Do you see what I see?"

I tore my gaze away from the confrontation and shot

a glance her way. She was standing motionless, her

brow furrowed with concentration and her eyes closed.

It took me a few moments to realize what she was

doing, then I followed suit, scarcely daring to hope.

There it was! A force line! A big, strong, beautiful,

glorious force line.

160 Robert Asprin

I had gotten so used to not having any magical energy

at my disposal in this dimension that I hadn't even

bothered to check!

I opened myself to the energy, relished it for a fleet

moment, then rechanneled it.

"Excuse me," I said with a smile, handing my sun-

glasses to Kirby. "It's about time I took a hand in this

directly."

With that, I reached out with my mind, pushed off

against the ground, and soared upward, setting a course

for the cornered vampire on the roof.