The Getaway God (Sandman Slim 6)

Mason closes his eyes. A minute later I hear the door to the cell open and the Shonin comes in.

“What did you do?” he says.

Mason laughs when he sees the Shonin.

“This is mankind’s savior? You’re like third prize at a backwoods Halloween fair.”

The Shonin says, “What did you do?”

“I proved I know how the Qomrama works.”

The Shonin starts to say something, but I hold up my hand and he quiets down.

I say, “What did he do?”

“The Qomrama opened the magnetic chamber and left it,” the Shonin says. “It’s floating in the center of the room, a ball of fire and ice. Boiling the room one minute and freezing it the next.”

I look at Mason’s beaming face. “Why should I believe you’ll teach us anything?”

“You have my word,” says Mason. “Every time you win a game I’ll tell you something about the Qomrama. I want you to learn it. I want to see you use it. And I want to see you fail so that in the end, you’ll know that I was always the better magician.”

“If I said I’d play, how would it work?”

“Simple. I call the games and we play. Every time you win, I tell you a secret.”

“And when you win?”

“I get to hurt you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Anything I want.”

“This is just between you and me. You can’t hurt anybody else.”

“I can do anything I like.”

“Don’t take the bait,” says Julie. “He’s crazy and he’ll never tell you the truth.”

“She’s right. I’ll continue my work,” says the Shonin.

Mason looks at him.

“Do you know the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans?”

“I know many spiritual books.”

“Chapter four, verse seven. Recite it.”

The Shonin thinks for a minute.

“ ‘Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven: and whose sins are covered.’ ”

“Very good. Now, recite that backward in Hellion and you can make the Qomrama do the little trick I did a moment ago. You can also use it to return it to its original resting spot.”

“That can’t be all,” says the Shonin. “A spell of that power would require meditation on a sacred object. A mandala or angelic sigil.”

Mason holds up his hands from the table. Using the sharp edge on one of his cuffs, he’s cut an inverted cross in a hex circle into his right palm.