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?”
“Because I’m a thief.”
“Because you steal their shit.”
“Only because they want what each other has, but are afraid to do it themselves. They need me to take it and Muninn to sell it back to them because the wealthy and powerful have always preferred to pay their lessers to commit their crimes for them.”
Allegra looks back at me.
“Take me with you tonight. I want to see the crazy people you two are always talking about. I’ll brush my teeth and wear underwear and everything.”
“Trust me, neither of those things are mandatory with this crowd. But you can’t be my date. I’m Lucifer’s date.”
“Bull. He wants you there to intimidate people. I’ll be Lucifer’s date. You can loom behind us like a teddy bear with a Gatling gun.”
“I’ll introduce you to Lucifer when Hell freezes over and Jesus opens a sex shop on Melrose.”
“Don’t be such a grandma. Vidocq would introduce me if he could.”
“No, he wouldn’t.”
“It does no good to hide the world from those determined to see it for themselves,” Vidocq says.