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this, did you?”
    “It seems so.”
    “Well, you’re an idiot!”
    Mist laughed. She was right. Finally it dawned on him that he had been out of his mind. “I thought I was indestructible. I’m ashamed to discover, after all, that I’m as weak as any human.”
    “Don’t knock humans,” she replied tartly. “You’d be surprised what we can endure.”
    Her words reminded him that he’d no idea what harm Rufus might have done after Adam’s demise. Alarmed, he touched her forearm. “Where’s Rufus now?”
    “Oh, he’s long gone. Don’t worry, he’s not with me!” Juliana shrugged. The gesture was slight, but soaked with contempt. “He ran away, vanished over the horizon.”
    “He didn’t hurt anyone?”
    “Oh, no, my dear, not at all.” She covered his hand with hers, reassuring him. “After you, or rather after Adam died, Rufus went to pieces. He was insane with grief and no threat to anyone, so I let him stay for a few days. Then he perked up. Grief turned into anger, perhaps. He stole a car and off he went in a spray of gravel and exhaust fumes, sticking up a finger at the rest of us. Haven’t seen him since, don’t want to.”
    Mist sighed. He was trying to clear his mind, to engage with the new reality he’d entered. “So he’s been gone for … a few days? Perhaps a week, at most?”
    Juliana gave him a measured stare. “My dear, those events didn’t happen last week. They happened over two years ago.”
    *   *   *
    Some hours later, they were sitting in a coffee shop in the center of Glasgow, as crowds of shoppers passed the windows. Already the sky was growing dark again, but the streets were bright with Christmas lights, strings of sparkling red and gold stars.
    Juliana had gone out and bought Mist some new clothes: underwear, black trousers and T-shirts, a dark grey sweater and a warm, waterproof jacket, sturdy black boots. The doctors had wanted to keep him for a day or two. He’d discharged himself against their advice. They wouldn’t understand that, despite everything, his Aelyr flesh would heal fast.
    Once he’d consumed soup, toasted sandwiches, a large chocolate muffin and half of Juliana’s too, he felt … well, “human again” wasn’t quite the phrase, but substantially better. They sat facing each other, cradling fresh mugs of coffee.
    “Two years?” he said.
    “Nearly two and a half.”
    “It seemed only days … It was like a dream, though. Time can’t be relied on when you’re part-elemental and in the Dusklands.”
    “You must be in shock,” said Juliana. “Nearly as much as I am, finding you alive.”
    “Gill and Peta … they were such dear friends to me. Are they still with you?”
    She waved a hand. “Goodness, no. They buggered off backpacking together. But you were missed. Gill said something very telling: that she couldn’t stay at Cairndonan because, if she did, she’d always be watching the sea.”
    Mist felt a pang of human regret, so intense it stole his breath. “I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have wished that on her … She and Adam…” He had to stop until the pain abated. Softly he went on, “But I’m not him anymore. So please don’t tell her, or anyone, that you’ve seen me.”
    “I understand.”
    “It could be worse. I might have lost twenty years. I wonder what Rufus is doing?” Pushing aside any tender thoughts of Gill, Mist focused on his brother. “I need to know where he is.”
    “Well, I didn’t report the car stolen because we were so glad to see the back of him. He could be anywhere.” She touched his hand. Her fingers felt hot on his skin. “My dear, I’m sure you’re safe. He thinks you’re dead. He has no reason to return to Scotland.”
    “He’d head to the capital.” Mist smiled sourly. “He always liked crowds, places of power. Extremes of poverty and wealth. They were his playgrounds.”
    “London has a population of roughly ten million people. Plenty to play with. Or he could have even