Susanne walked nervously into the Mori. She didn't feel Celly's presence here, but still... or Nyx's presence... or Remy's... at least, she didn't think so. She hadn't felt Remy's presence before. That was one reason she was so uneasy.

Another reason was that she knew that this was Celly's domain. Hell, Celly could pop out of HammerSpace at any moment. And Susanne wasn't sure if the person she wanted to talk to was even here, or if he could help if he were. It was a hunch, nothing more.

She sat at the end of the bar, trying to look relaxed as she watched the baseball game on the TV. The Padres were getting off to a good start... she'd been bummed when they'd lost the World Series two years ago, but then again, no one had expected them to win.

"Cherry coke," she said when the bartender hovered near her. He set the glass in front of her and went about his business.

After a few minutes, Dionysus entered the bar and looked around. He saw Susanne sitting at the bar and sat next to her. The bartender automatically set a vodka martini in front of him.

"You do know that Celly's not here?" he said.

Susanne nodded and spoke quietly. "I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind."

"What do you want to know?" He looked around. "And where's Roger?"

Susanne swallowed. "He, ah... what happened when the Council took you away from Celly?"

Dionysus looked at her with narrowed eyes. So that's what happened... "They gave her a new Guardian."

"But... she doesn't have a Guardian now, except you, and the Council won't recognize you as her Guardian, right?"

He nodded.

"So... what happened?"

"I killed him."

"Come again?"

"He was on his way to take over. I shot out his knee caps from three hundred yards with my sniper rifle, then I... finished him off," he said as he saw Susanne turning pale. He could tell her the entire story later.

"And the Council didn't do anything?"

"No, they sent another Guardian."

"And what did you do to him?"

"Same thing."

"Oh..."

"After five Guardians, they gave up. She has no official Guardian."

"You... took care of all of them? The same way?"

"Of course."

"And they didn't try to stop you?"

"They kicked me out. I'm out of their jurisdiction. There's nothing they can do. Literally." He took another drink. "Now, I get the feeling that you've got something to say."

Susanne set her glass down and took a deep breath. "I'd like to ask you a favor," she began.