“Is this another one of your tall tales? Going to Hell? Hanging around with God?”
“This is your new employer?” says Samael. “She doesn’t seems to have a lot of faith in you.”
“What we are and what we do is hard for sane people to accept.”
“You’re serious,” says Julie. “This man is an angel.”
“Why is that so surprising?” he says. “It’s Christmas. L.A. must be full of angels.”
Samael reaches into his coat and pulls out a bottle of Aqua Regia and sets it on the table.
“You are a God,” I say.
“No. But I’ll do in his stead.”
Julie looks at us.
“You two are so full of shit.”
Samael says, “This man fights monsters for you. He fought a serial killer who couldn’t possibly be a mere human. He killed ancient evils and is sitting here right now with bullets in his chest, and you can’t take his word for it that I’m an angel?”
Julie blinks.
“No one’s ever asked me a question like that before.”
Samael gives her his ten-thousand-watt smile.
“Of course we’re joking, my dear. There’s no such thing as angels. They’re an old folktale, like leprechauns and virgins.”
He gets up from the table. Puts his finger on top of the Aqua Regia bottle.
“I’ve left a case of this and some Maledictions at home for you.”
“Merry Christmas, Samael.”
“And to you. Nice meeting you, Julie.”
“How do you know my name?”
“It’s just a trick I can do.”
“Stark said that to me when we first met.”
“I guess all us angelic frauds know the same jokes.”
He turns, weaves his way through the crowd, and heads out, slowing for just a second to look at the blonde with Brigitte.
“Will Samael be coming around the office when we’re working together?” says Julie. “He’s kind of cute, in a vaguely sinister way.”
“And that’s your type?”
She looks at me.
“Unfortunately, it is.”
I start to get up and walk to the bathroom when I notice Brigitte heading our way. She comes over and hugs me.
“Merry Christmas, James.”
“Merry Christmas to you.”
She points to the blonde. She’s Japanese. Young, in a shaggy pink fake-fur coat.
“Have you two met?”
“Hi,” she says. “I’m Chihiro.”
She puts out her hand and I shake it.
“Like the girl in Spirited Away.”
“What’s that?” she says.
“It’s a movie.”
She smiles crookedly.
“I’ll have to watch it sometime.”
“I think you’d like it.”
“May we join you?” says Brigitte.
“Of course.”
Brigitte brings over a chair. She sits next to Julie and Chihiro sits where Samael was, next to me.
Julie does a small wave.
“Hi. I’m Julie.”
I can’t take my eyes off Chihiro.
“Sorry. This is Julie. My new boss.”
“New boss? What kind of work do you do?” says Chihiro.
“I used to work for the government. But now I run a detective agency.”
Chihiro nods.
“This is a good town for it. Things go missing all the time.”
“It’s our job to bring them back home again,” I say.
“You any good at it?” says Chihiro.
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Don’t wait too long. It might get away.”
“Then I wasn’t supposed to find it in the first place.”
Chihiro raises her eyebrows.
“You’re a philosopher.”
“No. Just drunk.”
“That sounds like a very good idea,” says Brigitte. “Let’s all have too many drinks. I’ll get us more glasses.”
Chihiro presses her leg against mine under the table. I want to kiss her and I know she wants to kiss me too, but we’ll have to take it slow. Let the idea of Candy being dead settle into everyone’s mind.
She has a new name and she’s blonde now. To the ones who can’t see past the glamour. Having Julie here was a good test. She didn’t spot Candy at all. It took my hoodoo, Vidocq’s alchemy, and Allegra’s herbs and potions to come up with a glamour strong enough to fool even most Sub Rosa. I don’t know how long it will last, but we have the formula now, so we can reapply it when we have to. Too bad we’re the only ones who can ever know about the stuff. We could make a fortune selling it.
“What do you do for a living, Chihiro?” says Julie.
“I’m a guitarist.”
“Are you in a band? Would I have heard of you?”
“We broke up, unfortunately. But I’m putting a new one together.”
“Good luck,” says Julie.
“Thanks.”
Chihiro looks at me.
“Aren’t you going to say good luck?”
“I don’t think I have to. By the way, I have a guitar at home that no one is using. It’s red . . .”
“Sold,” she says. “When can I come by and see it?”
“Tomorrow. Around one?”
“A late riser? Me too. I’ll be there on the dot.”
Brigitte comes back with glasses and a bottle of vodka.
“I know the whiskey and I’ve heard of the vodka,” says Julie.
She picks up the Aqua Regia.
“But what’s this?”
“It’s not from around here. And it’s kind of strong. You wouldn’t like it.”
She sits back in her chair.
“That sounds like a challenge.”
“It isn’t. Trust me. Only very bad people drink this swill.”
“You talked me into it.”
Julie downs her Jack Daniel’s and points to the empty glass.
“Hit me.”
“Okay. But first I have to piss. Don’t touch the stuff until I get back.”
I give the bottle to Chihiro.
“You’re in charge. Keep this away from her. If she’s going to taste it, I want to be here to see.”
She salutes me.
“I’m on it, sir,” she says. “None shall pass.”
I head to the bathroom in the back of the bar.
Okay. We met. But that’s it for now. It will take awhile to get used to calling her a new name, but I should have guessed that if she had to pick a disguise she’d go for a kogal pinup.
Tomorrow I’ll give her the guitar. That will have to be it for a while. Then, sometime after New Year’s, we can accidently run into each other at the bar and buy each other drinks. Of course, Chihiro won’t be able to use any of Candy’s stuff. She’ll need everything new. Clothes. Music. Lots of Hello Kitty, robot, and anime tchotchkes. It will all cost money. The last thing I want to be is a half-baked Mike Hammer, but until I pay off my debt to Julie for helping me fake Candy’s death, it’s what I’ll do.
I wait until the last guy clears out of the bathroom and shove the trash can under the doorknob, blocking it. I need a moment to myself.
I go into one of the stalls and close the door.
It hurt seeing Candy even playing dead. It’s nothing I ever want to see again. I’m just glad none of the Vigil assholes got close enough to tell that what she was bleeding was blood from my chest wounds cut with some Karo syrup, all taped to the body armor under her coat. It was all so close to falling apart. Mason. The Angra. Tossing Chaya and Deumos. Killing Candy. One wrong move could have brought the whole thing down on top of us. But we got away with everything. For once.
I want to live small for a while. No Gods, good or bad. No angels or Hellions. No ghosts or zombies. Just divorcées and insurance scams. That sounds like paradise. Like two weeks back at the Chateau Marmont with twenty-four-hour room service.
I light a Malediction and draw the smoke slowly into my lungs. It hurts so good.
There’s a light knock on the stall door. Great. The place wasn’t clear after all.
“Go away. Sorry I blocked the door. Just move the can.”
He knocks again, so light it’s almost inaudible.
“Please go away.”
No one says anything. I wait to hear the sounds of the trash can being moved.
“Mr. Stark?”
“Yeah?”
“May I speak to you for a moment?”