“Any last words, Gandalf?”
Crew Cut looks past me at Vincent.
He says, “How is he up and walking around?”
“How is who?” I say. “Tell me his name.”
“Death,” says Crew Cut. “How is he alive?”
“What does it matter? He is. We know you were at the Murphy Ranch ritual with Tykho and at least one necromancer—”
“Three,” he says. “It took three to get it right.”
“Get what right?”
“To bind him in that body.”
“What happened to the other body you killed? Where is it?”
Crew Cut’s eyes move to meet mine.
“Somewhere safe. A place of reverence.”
“Hell, with you geniuses, that could be a mayonnaise jar next to the chunk-style Skippy.”
“What does it matter where his body lies in state? He’s the real Death now. Not this prick. Yesterday’s garbage.”
I lean on the dagger a little to remind him to be polite.
“We know Edison Elijah McCarthy has replaced Death. I guess he didn’t read the handbook before he went over. It’s taking him a while to figure out the job.”
“But he’s doing it,” says Crew Cut. “More people are dying all the time. Soon it’s going to be a tsunami. All the mongrels and mud people, faggots and assholes like you.”
“Is that it? You went to all this trouble for a hit man? You could have gone to any of the old Sub Rosa families still practicing baleful magic and cut a deal with them.”
“I told you,” he says. “We’re men. White human men. We don’t cut deals with pixies and fairies.”
“Owning Death, you can reach out and kill anyone you like anywhere in the world.”
“Goddamn right,” he says.
“You won’t even need blue-yonder contracts after that, will you? Death’s the one who takes the souls away. He can hand the choice ones over to you.”
Crew Cut smiles.
“Maybe. Let me go and I’ll tell you.”
“I’d rather cut you up.”
He laughs.
“Go ahead, asshole. Do it. I dare you. Edison’ll reach down and pluck your bitch soul like a daisy and blow you away.”
“I’ve been dead before.”
“Not like this you haven’t.”
Candy reaches over Crew Cut and uses a fingernail to draw a Valentine around the swastika tattoo over his heart. He can’t take his eyes off her hand as she works, like she’s tattooing him with a blowtorch.