The Glass God Read Online Free PDF

why you’ve come to me!”
    “Besides the doughnuts…⁠”
    “Besides the doughnuts, yes. You’re an Alderman, aren’t you? You’ve got this whole… scary people with guns thing – though I’m sure you’re not scary,” she added. “I’m sure you’re very nice people and you use guns in a very safety conscious manner for the public good. But when I last checked, you were all about protecting the Midnight Mayor and the city and that, whereas we’re more about…⁠” She glanced for support at Rhys, who ducked behind his computer, pretending he didn’t exist.
    “⁠… about social evenings and group therapy,” she concluded with a sigh. “I don’t get why you’re here.”
    “Ms Li!” exclaimed Kelly, slapping the desk for emphasis, with depressing effect. “You’re far too harsh on yourself! You are a shaman, a knower of the truth, and a figure of immense respect. Why, Miles here was only saying last week how much he was looking forward to meeting you, weren’t you, Miles?”
    “It’s a pleasure, Ms Li,” he confirmed, with a half-bow of his head.
    “So really, you shouldn’t do yourself down!”
    Sharon glanced again towards Rhys, but a flurry of tissue was the only sign of life at his small, cluttered desk.
    “Okay,” she tried. “Not that I’m, like… ungrateful for the ego boost and that, but still, I’m just saying, the Midnight Mayor deals with dudes with guns, and you’re dudes with guns, and while I’m totally up for being mega-super-cool, which would be a nice change, Sammy hasn’t yet taught me how to walk through bullets. So, uh, thanks for the doughnuts, and um… good luck!”
    Kelly looked at Miles. Across her face mild embarrassment blossomed like the evening primrose. “Well,” she said. “There is of course the question of the umbrella.”
    Sharon’s gaze roamed over to it. A long blue umbrella, not new, but hardly an antique; someone had knocked the point off, so that now it seemed stubbier than it had once been, and rested on the surface where the ribs came together. “Is it a mega-mystic umbrella?”
    “I don’t think so – do you think so, Miles?”
    “Couldn’t say, ma’am.”
    “Maybe it is, then!” exclaimed Kelly. “I’m really not sure! But Mr Swift did ask that I give it to you, should something bad happen to him. And of course he requested that you be informed that you have now been made Deputy Mayor and that you were to, as he so charmingly put it, shift your bottom into gear.”
    Sharon’s eyes flashed up from the umbrella to Kelly. “I’m what ?”
    “Deputy Mayor.”
    “Since when?”
    “About forty-eight hours ago. I’m sure Mr Swift sent you an email…⁠”
    “He bloody did not!”
    “⁠… and if he didn’t, I’m sure he meant to.”
    “I can’t be Deputy Mayor!” wailed Sharon. “I’ve got paperwork to do! I’ve got a social evening to arrange, health and safety assessments to fill out, bookings for singles dating night for all those unable to flirt during full moon, bingo for retired witches! I can’t go around being Deputy Mayor! I refuse!” She thumped the desk, then flinched as the noise sunk away into the walls. The Aldermen were silent.
    Kelly gazed at Sharon. Across her brow there flickered a mixture of sympathy and, much worse, mild disappointment. “I understand,” she said, “that this must be difficult…⁠”
    “Difficult! Do you know how many Post-it notes this office gets through?”
    “⁠… and it’s a pleasure to see you taking such interest in your work, really it is! They say that the private sector motivates people more than the public one, but I’ve always felt that the public sector is where people with a genuine passion go to find their path, and you clearly have that passion and I think we should respect that, shouldn’t we?”
    “Absolutely,” chorused Miles.
    “And if you’re too busy to help us find out what fate has befallen the defender of the city, guardian of the night,