“Happens all the time,” the girl said.
I gathered together everything I needed, including a purse, and carted it all to the dressing room. I caught my reflection in the mirror on the way and my legs went rubbery. I looked worse than I’d imagined. New clothes would be a drop in the bucket. My face was filthy and my hair was freakshow.
Fifteen minutes later, Diesel and I walked out in nice dry clothes, our old clothes stuffed into plastic Gap bags.
Diesel was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a dark green cotton crew neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up.
“I like this look on you,” I said. “Casual and rugged but civilized.”
“I like your look, too,” he said. “Pretty. And I can see the outline of your nipples.”
We stopped in midstride on the sidewalk.
“Did I just say that out loud?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want to tell you what was left unsaid, but ripping your clothes off is part of it.”
“It’s the Lust Stone,” I said. “Where’s the stone?”
“It’s in my jeans pocket.”
“That’s probably not a good location. Maybe you should put it in my new purse.”
He took the stone out of his pocket and handed it over. “It might not be the stone. I’ve been thinking these thoughts ever since I met you.”
I was glad he was attracted to me, but I was trying not to be overly flattered. I suspected Diesel wanted to rip the clothes off lots of women.
“What are we doing next?” I asked him.
“I thought we’d drop the bags off at the car, beyond that I don’t know. I feel like there are too many loose ends. I don’t like Anarchy wandering around above or below ground with the tablet.”
“And Wulf?”
“I think it’s odd he walked away from Hatchet when he knew Hatchet most likely had the stone.”
“Maybe he’s hurt. Maybe he got stung by a bee, or chased down the street by a bear, or crushed by a garbage truck.”
Diesel smiled.
“Or maybe he had a run-in with Anarchy and came out the loser,” I said.
“Wulf is a lot like me physically. It’s not impossible, but it’s very hard to do real damage to us. It’s hard to imagine he’d come out the loser to Anarchy.”
“She has the advantage of being crazy.”
“I’m not convinced Wulf is entirely sane.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
We dropped the bags in the car and walked back to the Sphinx. Hatchet was there, circling the building like a kid looking for his lost cat.
“No sign of Wulf?” Diesel asked him.
“I didst look everywhere. I fear the worst. His car hath not been moved.”
“Maybe I can track him,” Diesel said, walking away from the back of the building.