“Good. I was worried about the Latin part.”
Vidocq leans forward on the sofa.
“Don’t be shy. Show him the rest.”
Allegra dumps all the ingredients in a silver bowl and sets it on a tabletop brazier.
“Remember that fire trick you showed me?”
“The one you used on Parker? You saved my life, so, yeah, I remember.”
Allegra smiles like a girl with a secret.
“Watch this.”
She blows across her fingers the way I showed her back when she was just another civilian. Flames flicker to life on her fingertips, but she keeps blowing, moving her hand in a slow circle in front of her lips. In a few seconds, the flames have moved from the tips of her fingers to burn all the way down to her palm. She puts her hand under the silver bowl with the ingredients. As she blows, the flames rise and the storax begins to boil. Steam comes off the amber, filling the room with the smell of burned pine. The powder and other ingredients quickly dissolve. She holds her hand near her lips again, blows lightly, and the flames shrink and disappear.
“Damn. I showed you a party trick and you took it and turned pro. You’re practically Evel Knievel.”
“I’m McGyver, baby. Stick around. I’ll make you a philosopher’s stone from Barbie dolls and spark plugs.”
Vidocq says, “She’s a brilliant girl. She’s learning much faster than I did.”
“What do I do with the snake oil, doc?”
She pours the thick liquid from the silver bowl into a beer stein and hands it to me. The liquid has darkened from amber gold to something more like maple syrup.
“Slam it back. Every bit of it.”
“You sure? I think I still see some of the salamander moving around in there.”
“Drink.”
It tastes every bit as good as you’d guess lizard and tree bark would. It’s thick enough that I have to upend the glass to get the last dregs.
“Is that it? Am I cured?”
“Not even close. But it should keep you where you are for a while. Eugène and I’ll keep looking for a long-term fix.”
“Thanks. Both of you. I mean it.”
“If you’re really that pathetically grateful, take me as your date to the party tonight.”
Vidocq is up getting more coffee.
“Did you put her up to this?”
He fills his glass and leans on the kitchen counter.
“Allegra is one of us now. She should see everything.”
“I want to see everything,” she says
“A while ago, Vidocq could have taken you to the soiree. You know why he won’t now? ’Cause the Sub Rosa don’t like me, but they don’t like him even more.”
She looks at him.
“Because you’re not Sub Rosa?”