"What did you do that was so reckless and stupid?"
"I'll tell you that when you let me get those bullets."
"I was in Hell," I say, and I have no idea why, except that there's something about Kinski that reminds me of my father. He's bringing out some weird, little-kid part of me that wants to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness. Only I don't want forgiveness, from anything or anyone. But right now I can't stop myself.
"I was in Hell for eleven years. Most Hellions had never seen a live human. I was the most exciting thing happened to them seen since they were booted out of Heaven. When they got done with me, when the torture and freak shows and rape got boring, I killed things for them. I was really good at it."
"I knew there was a reason you are the way you are. I guess a season in Hell is a better excuse than most."
"Vidocq told you?"
"Relax, boy. It's L.A. We've all got secrets around here. And we know how to keep them."
"Who are her people?"
"Excuse me?"
"You said Candy gets pissy about unexpected, late-night calls. What does that mean?"
"Oh," he says, and opens the clinic door. "She's a Jade. But we're working on it."
Candy walks Allegra out of the clinic while I open up the Escalade. We both help her get inside and stretched out in the back.
"Thanks," I tell Candy.
"You're welcome."
I start the engine, but she keeps standing there. She gestures for me to roll down the window. I push the button and the glass slides away. She steps up onto the running board and leans into the car, just a few inches from my face.
"Doc told you about me. I can tell. I want you to know you don't have to be afraid of me. Eugene likes you. Doc likes you. That means I like you. We're all family now. All the funny little people who live in the cracks in the world."
People say that Jades are like vampires, but really they're more like human tarantulas. When you get bit, you don't swoon in Bela Lugosi ecstasy; you're paralyzed while something in the Jade's saliva dissolves you from the inside. Then they drink you, leaving you as hollow as a chocolate Easter bunny. I haven't been this close to a Jade in a long time and it's freaking me out a little.
I say, "I used to kill your kind."
She grins.
"I used to kill yours. See? We already have something in common."
"Is the doc a Jade or something?"
"Doc? Wow. In the history of wrong guesses, that was about the wrongest wrong guess since ever."
"You're not like the other Jades I've met."
"What? I'm not all slinky and seductive?"
"No, you're cute enough. You're just not much of a monster."
"That's okay. I think you're monster enough for both of us."
Allegra sits up and looks around.
"Are we home yet?" she asks.
"I should go."
"Yeah, you should," says Candy. She gives me a peck on the cheek and jumps down off the van. Kinski comes outside; she runs over to him and slips under his big arm as he holds it up for her. She waves as we pull out of the parking lot.