The Getaway God (Sandman Slim 6)

“You have any sake around here?”

“For rituals. Not for you to guzzle.”

“Too bad. A drink would help me think better.”

“Look what you did to my room. You think I want to see you drunk?”

He picks up and drops a shattered alembic.

“Some say I’m charming that way.”

“Then you should go and work with them. I don’t think I like your methods.”

“I don’t like anything about any of this,” I say. “I don’t know any more about the 8 Ball than when I came here. You ­people said you knew how it worked, but you were lying. As usual, the Vigil is full of shit.”

“I don’t know why I ever tried correcting your speech,” says Wells, coming into the room. He stops by the door and looks around.

“What did you do to my laboratory?”

I drop the cup with the Malediction butt into a trash can before Wells can see.

“We pulled a Qliphoth out of one of Saint Nick’s little Frankensteins. It kicked up a fuss about it.”

Wells looks past me to the Shonin.

“Is that true?”

The Shonin nods and adjusts his conical hat, which is sliding off to one side.

“He extracted and dispelled it using the Qomrama Om Ya.”

“That’s a breakthrough then,” says Wells.

I pick up a chair and sit down.

“It would be if we knew how we did it. I just picked up the 8 Ball and it did the rest. I wasn’t in control at all.”

Wells goes over to the magnetic chamber where the 8 Ball floats. He checks the lock on the chamber door.

“You took it out?”

“Yep.”

“Knowing how dangerous it is.”

“I just said yes.”

“I could terminate you for that.”

I pull the na’at from under my coat.

“You think any of your choir boys wants to come for me after what they saw me do yesterday?”

“Always looking for a fight, aren’t you?” says Wells. “Put that away. I only meant terminate your employment.”

I study him. His heartbeat is normal. Up a little, but that might be because I drew down on him. His eyes aren’t dilated, another good indicator that he’s telling the truth. I slip the na’at back under my coat.

“You’re going to watch that kind of behavior for the next few hours,” Wells says. “I’m pulling you off the Angra case for a while. You need to come with me.”