"So, if Parker or Mason or Hellions or Homeland Security don't get me, she will."
"Don't forget the Sub Rosa," says Candy.
"Thanks, sunshine. The Sub Rosa, too."
"You can always come here if things get too hot. I know people who can help get you out of town," Kinski says.
"I'll remember that." I slide off the table and try out my feet. What do you know? I don't fall over or want to throw up. It's the little things that make life special. "I should go. Do you know the number of a cab company?"
"I've got one in the desk. I'll go look." He goes out and Candy and I are alone in the exam room. She gets off the table and brings me a plastic bag full of what looks like mulch.
"Doc wants you to boil this stuff and drink it once in the morning and once at night until it's gone. Don't worry. It doesn't taste any worse than a boiled doormat."
"Thanks. Is this what the doc gives you to wean you off being a Jade?"
"My tea tastes a lot worse than yours."
"How's sobriety working out for you?"
"You know. One day at a time."
"Were you bitten or something? How do you become a Jade?"
"You're born to be a Jade. The gift, or affliction, depending on who you ask, descends through the female line in the family. I can trace all my Jade ancestors back to the First Crusade."
"If it's your nature to eat people, doesn't it feel funny to go against that? And against a thousand years of your family history?"
"We drink people. We don't eat them. And giving it up isn't so bad. Everything has to evolve, right? We're monkeys in trees one day and the next we're monkeys with dental hygiene and cell phones. Best of all, we don't throw shit at each other anymore."
"Speak for yourself," I say, and Candy laughs. Her heartbeat goes up a little. "Do you think that if the doc can get you off drinking people juice, you'll feel like a regular person someday?"
"Project much, Sandman Slim? What you mean is that if doc can make me less of a monster, can he do it for you, too?"
"I didn't say you were a monster."
"But I am. By any human definition, I am a monster. And I always will be, so, no, I don't think I'll ever feel like a regular person. I'll just be a monster who chooses to be a little less monstrous. Who knows? I might fall off the wagon and start drinking people milk shakes again. But I'm going to try not to. Are you asking because you want to see if doc can turn you into a librarian when all this is over?"
I'm walking circles around the table, trying to get my sea legs back. Candy cranes her neck around to watch me. It's weird being alone with her.
"I don't know exactly what I want. I know that no one outside of Hell can stand what I am. I'm not wild about it most of the time myself. But I can't picture being something else."
"Try. Just imagine it for a few days. See how it feels."
"Why not? But I'm lazy. When it's time, I'll probably go for a simpler fix."
"Like what?"
"Going back to Hell isn't the worst thing I can imagine. I know the place. I have a rep. I can probably get my old job back, fighting in the arena.">"I WAS DEAD."
"Pretty much," says Kinski. He's leaning over me, shining a light into my eyes as I lie on his exam table. "But Eugene poured a whole bottle of white nightshade elixir down your throat. It kept your soul from wandering away. After that, it was just a matter of kick-starting your body. How do you feel?"
"All right. Tired, but all right."
Several of Kinski's rocks are arranged around the wound in my chest. Others around my head, arms, and legs. The doc takes the stones off me, one by one.
Vidocq and Allegra are at the other end of the table. "I saw you there," I say. "I thought I was dreaming, but you were there."
"Yes," Vidocq says. "I'm so sorry for what happened."