I rub my chest. She's right. There's an almost-healed burn near my heart, right where the sword went in.
"It's a good one, too. I think I'll be immune to nukes after this." Candy's heart has slowed, but her pupils are still wide. "Listen. I was an asshole the other night. I had no call to talk to you the way I did. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Jades freak out a lot of people."
"Not me. I know better than that. When I was Downtown, I met Hellions more honorable than ninety-nine percent of the people I have to deal with up here. And I met human souls as vicious and treacherous as any Hellion. So for me to say that stuff to you, that was double shitty. My father would have smacked me and I'd've deserved it."
"I forgive you. We'll all be freaks together. A bloodsucker who doesn't suck blood. A human who thinks he's a Tasmanian Devil driving a tank. And a two-armed witch doctor with only one working arm."
I ask Kinski, "Why don't you use the glass to fix yourself?"
He shakes his head.
"They don't work the same way on everybody and they can't fix everything. I've got my herbs and my ice packs. I'll be fine."
"It's funny, you got mugged by people who didn't know what they wanted and I sort of did, too."
"You mean the angel?" asks Candy.
"Yeah. One minute, she's doing the hard sell and then she's coming over all beatific and Mother Teresa. Then she suddenly goes batshit psycho. Screams, 'Abomination,' and stabs me."
"You're sure she said 'Abomination'?"
"She was screaming it right in my face. I'm sure."
Candy makes a face and says, "Angels can be such pricks."
"That they can, darlin'," Kinski says. "Listen, you're going to have to watch your back. Just because Eugene stopped Aelita today doesn't mean he'll be able to do it again."
"You think she'll come after me?"
"Angels don't use the word Abomination lightly. You're the lowest of the low to her. Worse than a Hellion."
"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."