Agents Of Light And Darkness by Simon R. Green

nasty asses up one side of the street and down the other. But they did still have serious financial backers. They might not have the Unholy Grail themselves, but they might well have been able to buy information on who did.
    Suzie looked at me suddenly. “Could you really have summoned up the light of Creation?”
    I smiled. “What do you think?”
    “I never know when you’re bluffing.”
    “Neither does anyone else. That’s the point.”
    “I notice you’re not answering the question.”
    “Ah, Suzie, don’t you want a little mystery in your life?”
    She sniffed. “The only mystery in my life is why I continue to put up with you.”
    And that was when a figure stepped imperiously out of the shadows ahead, blocking our way. A city gent in a smart suit, complete with bowler hat and rolled umbrella, stood smiling before us. Late forties, cold eyes and colder smile, charming and sophisticated and every bit as dangerous as a coiled cobra. Suzie drew her shotgun and aimed it at him in one smooth motion.
    “Relax, Suzie,” said Walker. “It’s only me.”
    “I know it’s you,” said Suzie.
    She kept her shotgun trained on him as he approached unhurriedly. Walker, to do him credit, didn’t seem in the least perturbed. It was part of his style that nothing ever touched him, despite the many fateful decisions he had to make every day. Walker represented the Authorities, the people in the background who really run things in the Nightside. Inasmuch as anybody does. Don’t ask me who these shadowy people might be. I’ve no idea. No-one has. Sometimes I wonder if even Walker knows for sure. Still, he spoke on their behalf, and his word was law, with any amount of force available to back him up. People lived and died at Walker’s word, and he’d never been known to give a damn. He came to a halt before us, leaned casually upon his umbrella and raised his bowler politely to Suzie.
    “I hear you’re looking for the Unholy Grail,” he said. “Along with practically everyone else in the Nightside who considers himself or herself a power or a player. I, on the other hand, have been instructed by my superiors to withdraw all my people from the Nightside. The word is that I am to let the angels from Above and Below fight it out among themselves. And if anyone here gets hurt, well, if they’re in the Nightside, they deserve everything that comes to them. I have the feeling the Authorities see the coming of the angels as an opportunity for a little spring cleaning. Take out the trash, so to speak. The Authorities don’t care about individuals, you see. They only care about the long view, and the big picture.”
    “And preserving the status quo,” I said.
    “Exactly. Their feeling seems to be that the sooner one side or the other acquires the appalling object, the sooner they’ll all leave and things around here can get back to what passes for normal. They don’t like upsets like this; it’s bad for business. It doesn’t really matter which side ends up with the Unholy Grail; the Authorities will work out some way to turn a profit. They always do.”
    “This is insane,” I said, keeping my voice level as my temper rose. “Don’t they realize how powerful the Unholy Grail is?”
    “Possibly not. Perhaps they are being overconfident. But I have my orders. Officially, none of my people can get involved. But of course, you’re not one of my people, Taylor. Officially. So such restrictions don’t apply to you, do they?”
    I nodded slowly. “So, once again I’m doing your dirty work, am I? Cleaning up the messes you’re not allowed to touch.”
    “It is what you do best,” said Walker. “I have every confidence in you. Of course, if you screw up, you’re nothing to do with me.” He looked at Suzie’s shotgun, still trained rock steady on him, and raised an elegant eyebrow. “My dear Suzie, as bloodthirsty as ever. You don’t really think guns are going to help you against angels, do