at first.”

Ness thanked him and divided his attention between the list and the cards Verin had dealt him. He was supposed to make a valuable pattern from what he had been given, much of which had to do with chance, though there were definite probabilities involved. The cards included three red ones and two black, the red ones all displaying the same symbol, the parallelogram up on its point, and the black ones both showing different symbols, the clover sort of shape and the one that looked like a stumpy tree. Bottom lip caught between his teeth, Ness removed the two black cards and slid them toward Verin.

“Two, please.”

“See, that sort of expression, cupcake. You look worried. Tense. Other players will read into that,” Shax murmured as hepocket, whistling. It was the principle of the thing.

Location: Elistrus, Downtown GomorrahTime: Before the final scene of Hell for the Company

Ness checked the shop numbers on either side of the street and conceded he was lost again. It had all looked so easy on the map, but somehow the nice, orderly lines of streets didn’t translate to walking the route. Spatial translation issues. It was why he’d been a simple angel foot soldier and not a pilot.

Admitting temporary defeat, he found a concrete divider wall on which to perch, out of the way of foot and small vehicle traffic, and pulled out the little bag Ivana had given him. Jellied candies for his excursion, she had said, so he had something to snack on. He supposed he could