Then a Nahual beast man steps up.
“Trust me. I’m working on new and better keys all the time. And with Lucifer taking a powder, it makes my work that much easier.”
A civilian in a T-shirt with a software company logo on it crowds in.
“I hear you fed a whole family to golems the other night. Good for you. We were always more alike than you and Alice wanted to admit.”
The girl in the leather jacket that Spencer Church tried to bite the other night opens her mouth.
“I wish I’d been there to watch you feed Mommy and the boy to the zeds. How long did it take to eat them?”
I grab the girl.
“Druj or not, I’m going to kill you. Hard.”
Marshal Julie again.
“You know where I am. I’ll leave a light on for you.”
They walk away, some to the restroom, some back to the bar, like nothing happened.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t ask you to do something boring and normal,” says the marshal.
She smiles at me. I stare into her eyes, looking for Mason. She stops smiling.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’ve just had too much to drink. I’m going outside.”
“Give me your number before you go.”
I tell her and head back to the bar.
“I’ll call you if something comes through.”
“Do that. Good luck with the agency.”
I go to the bar to get Kasabian, but when he sees me he shakes his head and turns his eyes back to the Lamia chatting him up. I leave him to his succubus and go outside.
I bum a cigarette from a couple of young drunk Valley guys with asymmetrical haircuts and fake IDs in their pockets.
“Are you the guy?” one of them asks.
“Which guy is that?”
“The Sandman guy. You’re skinny and you’ve got all those scars.”
“So did the neighbor’s kid back home. He had an eating disorder and kept falling off his bike.”
The Valley boy bursts out laughing, the excited nervous laugh of a kid not sure if he’s having a good time or not. The other boy grabs him and whispers something.
“Can we see your knife?”
“We heard it’s really big.”
That cracks them both up.
“Shouldn’t you youngsters be home and in bed? Isn’t it a school night?”