And I don't. I just come away with some road rash on my hands and legs. Chalk one up to Kevlar scar tissue. My leather jacket is nicely scarred, which is fine by me. There's nothing more embarrassing than new bike leather. However, my jeans look like they were attacked by a pack of wolverines. The bike is a total loss. I drag what's left of it and leave it between a couple of stripped cop cars. I'm only a couple of blocks from Vidocq's, so I walk the rest of the way.
AT THE DOOR Vidocq hits me with the resigned look of a father who knows that no matter how much he tries, this son probably isn't going to make it to thirty. He shows me mercy by letting me in without saying a word. Allegra is grinning at me like the little sister who's thinking the same thing as the father, but finds it funny and not pathetic.
"Are there any of my old clothes around?"
"I think there might be some in one of the cabinets. Wait here and try not to bleed on anything."
"I showed Eugene that fire magic you taught me," Allegra says.
"That was barely magic at all. More of a trick. And I didn't teach you anything. I charmed your hand and gave you about one molecule of what I can do. That's not the same as learning magic. You need to remember that or you'll get hurt."
Vidocq comes out of the bedroom with a familiar looking pair of beaten-up jeans.
"Thanks," I tell him. I take off my shredded pants, toss them in a corner and put on the clean jeans, then remember that while modesty isn't in high demand in Hell, you're not necessarily supposed to do that kind of thing up here. But they're both still looking at me like I stepped off the short bus, which is pretty much what I just did.
Vidocq leads us into the hall, stops, and looks at me.
"Allegra is with us now," he says. "She needs to see and understand the things we do. You're too drunk to safely steal another car tonight, though I know that's exactly what you'd like to do. Instead, you need to show this girl your true gift and prove to her that you do things besides hurting yourself and other people."
"Where are we going?"
"Third Street and Broadway. The Bradbury Building."
I hold out my hand to Allegra. "You ready to do the next thing?"
"What is it?"
"This isn't an asking situation. This is a doing situation. Either you're ready or you're not."
A moment of hesitation, then she takes my hand. "Show me."
Vidocq takes her other hand, and I pull them both into a shadow and into the room.
"What is this place?"
"The center of the universe."
"What does that mean?"
"You can go anywhere you want. Any street. Any room. Anywhere. Across town, the moon or Elvis's romper room."
"If you can go anywhere you want anytime you want, why are you always stealing cars?"
"Because ghosts walk through walls. People drive cars."
"Mr. Muninn is waiting," says Vidocq. "We should move along."
I take Allegra's hand as Vidocq touches her shoulder and we all step out onto Broadway together. We're right next to the Bradbury Building. It's late enough that the only people who might see us are a couple of winos and some master-of-the-universe business types so in love with their cell phones that a nuke could go off in their pants and they wouldn't notice.
Allegra looks around and punches me in the arm hard enough that I can tell she means it.
"You shit! You could have done this last night, but instead you made me stab you."
"I didn't think you were ready for it."
"Like I said, if you want girls to hurt you, there's plenty of professionals in the phone book."
The inside of the Bradbury Building is a giant Victorian diorama. It looks like aliens dipped one of Jules Verne's wet dreams in amber and dropped it in Los Angeles. The place is all open space in the middle, with masonry walls and wrought iron catwalks leading to offices and shops.