"This worth your life, kid?" Tom said in a lower voice to the sack of skin and bones at the bottom of the stairs. He felt cold and sharp, very distant. It was hard to make the Realm feel real enough to care about.

"I'm gonna ask your friend to back down one more time," he said, not taking his eyes off the dark corner of the cellar as he eased down the stairs, feeling Mike as a source of strength behind him.

"And if he doesn't cooperate, things are going to get difficult for everyone."