Cybermancy by Kelly McCullough

always worked for my older sister when we got in trouble. But I hope it won’t come to that.”
    Boy did I hope it wouldn’t come to that! Lyra and I had never had to run from anything fatal, but she had gotten me into a world of hurt on occasion.
    “Uh, Boss,” said Melchior.
    “Yeah.”
    “There’s three of him and two of us. I know no one has a better opinion of you than you do yourself, but despite that remarkable and wholly misplaced egotism, I don’t think he’s going to need to devote more than one head to the Ravirn Squeaky Toy Project. That leaves two free.”
    It was just about then that Mort spotted us. Bob and Dave swiveled to look our way an instant later.
    “Back so soon?” asked Bob.
    I pulled the cards out of my bag. “Want to play?”
    “We won’t gamble for your lives,” said Mort. “All that dicing with death stuff is a myth.”
    “Technically,” I said, “so are you. That’s not why I’m here. No normal person bets on bridge. They just play it. You said we could have a game or two once I died. Now that I’ve seen what death does to people, that seems unlikely. The shades of the dead aren’t exactly high-quality opposition material.”
    “Too true,” said Dave with a sigh. “They’re worthless. We just wanted to cheer you up.”
    “Thanks for the attempt,” I said, uncasing the cards and stepping up to the very edge of the gate. One foot more, and I’d be through it. “Since my imminent demise is going to render my value as a fourth somewhat suspect, I thought we could go a couple of rubbers before you chewed me to pieces.” I flipped the cards from one hand to the other in a fancy cascade I’d learned while getting fleeced at poker by Eris and Tyche. “What do you say?”
    “Sounds good,” said Mort. “It’s going to be ages before we find someone else willing to come down here and play, and it’s not like we ever get time off.”
    “I don’t know,” said Bob. “He’s planning something.”
    “Of course he’s planning something,” Dave said in exasperation. “You can be such a yap-dog sometimes. I’m all for it.” He turned his gaze on me, and there was a knowing twinkle deep in its black depths. “Still think you can pull an Orpheus?”
    “Nope,” I said, smiling at the twinkle. It said I really might have a chance after all. “I’m planning on pulling a Ravirn.”
    “Who deals first?” asked Bob.
    “High card?” I asked, holding out the deck.
    Cerberus’s right paw reached forward to draw but was foiled by the narrowness of the gate.
    “That could be a problem,” I said. “Do you want to step in here?”
    “Can’t,” replied Mort. “Against the rules. We’re still alive. Hades is very specific about that.”
    “How about I come out there?”
    All three throats began a low growling. It made my bones itch, but I kept smiling.
    “Don’t be like that. I’m not talking about going all the way down to the river or anything. Just give me three steps. No, two. You’ll still be between me and escape. How much harm can there be in two steps?”
    “Once you’re on this side, you could hook up to the mweb and gate out,” said Mort.
    “That’s ridiculous,” I said. “A gate takes a good minute to form and another to cycle. You’d rip me to shreds before the spell was half-finished.”
    “Oh, what can it hurt?” said Dave, and I thought I heard a wink in his voice. “He’s right about the gate.”
    There was some grumbling, but soon the trio backed up. When I stepped through the arch, I was careful to go no more than the two steps I’d specified. Running was not going to do me any good. Cerberus would be less forgiving than Bob, Mort, and Dave.
    Mort pulled an ace and dealt the first hand. When the bidding came around to me for the second time I went seven no-trump, the toughest contract in the game . Bob whistled, Mort snickered, and Dave swore. He was the one who was going to have to help me pull it off.
    After I took the second