'You're not still sleeping in your office, are you?'
'No, now I'm getting regular work here, I can afford a decent place again.' I checked the money I'd taken off Tate. 'In fact, it may be time for an upgrade.'
'Stick to the real world,' said Alex. 'Now you're back on the scene again, there are a lot of people out there looking for you with bad intent in their hearts. Some of them have looked in here. You'd be surprised how much certain people are willing to pay for hard information on where you rest your head. I take their money and give them all different lies.'
'I sleep more soundly in the real world,' I admitted. The Harrowing are always out there, somewhere. It was why I'd stayed away from the Nightside for so long.
'Glad to be back?' said Alex.
'I don't know yet. It's good to be working again. I do my best work here. It might even be where I belong. But...'
'Yeah,' said Alex. 'But. This is the Nightside, the dark side of everyone's dreams.' It was hard to tell past the sunglasses, but there was an expression on his face that in anyone else I would have said was concern. 'Word is, a lot of people want you dead, John.
'Thanks,' I said. I was touched, but knew better than to show it. It would only embarrass him. 'I'll bear it in mind. So, what's new?'
Alex considered. 'Surprisingly, not a lot. Jessica Sorrow, of course, but you know about that. Don't know if it's connected, but a lot of the usual players have dropped out of sight just recently. Keeping then-heads down and hoping not to be noticed. Or it could be connected with the latest hot rumor, which is that angels have come to the Nightside.'
I had to raise an eyebrow at that. 'Angels? Really?'
'From Above and Below, apparently. No-one's reported any actual sightings as yet. Probably because no- one's too sure what to look for. It's been a long time since any angel manifested in the material worlds. Demons, yes, but they're not in the same league as the Fallen ...'
'I encountered ... something, at St. Jude's,' I said thoughtfully. 'Something very nearly as upsetting as the Unbeliever herself... Angels in the Nightside ... That's got to be a Sign. Of something.
'They'd better watch their step around here,' Alex said briskly. 'Some of the scumbags in this locale will steal anything that isn't actually nailed down, electrified, or cursed. Wouldn't surprise me if I looked out of here one morning and found St. Michael himself propped up on bricks with his wings missing.'
I looked at him thoughtfully. 'You don't know much about angels, do you, Alex?'
'I do my best to steer clear of moral absolutes,' said Alex. 'They tend not to approve of establishments like this. And they leave lousy tips.'
He didn't mention his own ancestry. He didn't have to. Alex is famously descended from Arthur Pendragon on one side, and Merlin Satanspawn on the other. Merlin himself was buried somewhere under the wine cellar. He still manifested on occasion, to lay down the law and scare the crap out of everyone. Being dead doesn't necessarily stop you being a major player in the Nightside.
'Forget all your usual notions about angels,' I said patiently. 'All the usual images of angels as nice guys with wings, long nighties, and a harp fixation. Angels are God's enforcers, his Will made manifest in the world of men. The spiritual equivalent of the SAS. When God wants a city destroyed, or the firstborn of a whole generation slaughtered, he sends an angel. When the Day of Judgement finally comes, and the world is brought to an end, it will be the angels who do all the dirty work. They are powerful, implacable beings. I don't even want to talk about the Fallen kind.'
And then there was a voice behind me. Polite, well-spoken, and tinged with an accent I couldn't place.
'Excuse me, please. Would you be John Taylor?'
I took my time turning around, careful not to look startled, even though my heart had just missed a beat. There aren't many people capable of catching me by surprise. I pride myself on being very hard to sneak up on. In the Nightside, that's a survival skill.
Standing before me was a short, stocky type with a dark complexion, kind eyes, and jet-black hair an beard, both carefully shaped. He was wearing a long flowing coat of a very expensive cut.
'I might be,' I said. 'Depends. Who might you be?'
'I am Jude.'
'Hey, Jude.'
He frowned slightly. It was clear he didn't get the reference. I smiled patiently.
'I'm Taylor. What can I do for you, Jude?'
He glanced at Alex, then took in the other beings lining the bar, all pretending not to listen with varying amounts of skill. Jude turned back and met my gaze steadily. 'If we could talk in a private place, Mr. Taylor. I have a commission for you. It pays very well.'
'You just said the magic words, Jude. Step into my office.'
I led him to one of the private booths at the back of the bar, and we sat down facing each other across the table. Jude gazed around the bar. It was clear this was all unknown territory to him. He didn't look like the kind of person you'd find in a bar, though on the other hand I wasn't sure where I would place him. There was something about the man... He didn't fit any of the usual patterns. He looked like someone with secrets. He fixed me again with those warm brown eyes, as though willing me to like him, and leaned forward across the table to address me, his voice low and confidential.
'I represent the Vatican, Mr. Taylor. The Holy Father wishes you to find something for him.'
'The Pope wants to hire me? What happened? Somebody steal his ring?'
'Nothing so trivial, Mr. Taylor.'
'Why didn't he send a priest?'
'He did. I'm ... undercover.' He glanced around the bar again, and didn't seem at all pleased or comfortable with what he saw. It wasn't so much that he looked judgemental, more ... mystified, and perhaps even uneasy. He looked back at me and smiled almost shyly. 'I don't get out much, these days. It's been a long time since I was out in the world. I was chosen to approach you because I have . . . some special knowledge of the missing item. You see, normally I'm in charge of the Forbidden Library at the Vatican. The secret, hidden chambers underground, where the Church stores texts too dangerous or too disturbing for most people.'
'Like the Gospel According to Pilate?' I couldn't help showing off a little. 'The translation of the Voynich Manuscript? The Testimony of Grendel Rex?'
Jude nodded slightly, giving nothing away. 'Things like that, yes. I am here because an object of great power has suddenly resurfaced in the world, after being missing for centuries. And, of course, it has turned up here in the Nightside.'
It was my turn to nod and look thoughtful. 'This object of power must be something really important, if the Vatican's getting personally involved. Or ... something really dangerous. What exactly are we talking about here?'
'The Unholy Grail. The cup that Judas drank from at the Last Supper.'
That stopped me in my tracks. I had to sit back in my chair and consider that for a few moments. 'I never heard... of an Unholy Grail.'
'Not many have,' said Jude. 'Luckily for us all. The Unholy Grail magnifies all evil by its presence, encourages and accelerates evil trends and events, and utterly corrupts all who come into contact with it. It is also a source of great power... It's passed from hand to hand down the centuries, previous owners are said to include Torquemada, Rasputin, and Adolf Hitler. Though if Hitler had possessed all the mystical items rumor has gifted him with, he wouldn't have lost the war. Anyway, the Unholy Grail is currently on the loose and up for grabs, somewhere in the Nightside.'
I felt like whistling loudly, impressed, but I didn't. I had a reputation to maintain. 'No wonder there are angels in the Nightside.'
'Already?' Jude leaned forward sharply. His eyes didn't look kind any more. 'Are you sure?'
'No,' I said calmly. 'So far it's only talk. But the word is, we have visitors from Above and Below.'
'Shit,' said Jude, startling me just a bit. You don't expect language like that from a priest and librarian.
'Mr. Taylor, it's imperative you locate the Unholy Grail for us, before agents of the Lord or the Enemy
