I sit there like an idiot. My mouth won’t open. I know what will happen when it does.
Vidocq says, “Darling, things have changed a great deal while Stark was in Hell.”
Allegra’s hand moves halfway to her mouth. A gesture of fear or concern or maybe she’s just stifling a burp.
“My God. You didn’t sell him your soul to get out, did you?”
“No,” I say.
I keep looking across the street at Cairo’s place.
“I am Lucifer.”
I turn and Allegra is looking at me like I answered her in Urdu.
I say, “I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it. Lucifer, the one you know about, dumped the job on me. I had to protect Alice and the other souls down there. I didn’t have a choice.”
She sets down her chopsticks.
“So now you take souls and lead people into sin.”
“Mostly I just handle paperwork.”
She looks at Vidocq.
“You knew about this?”
He nods.
“It wasn’t my place. He wanted to tell you himself.”
She looks at Candy.
“You know too. So I’m the only ignorant one here. Why is that?”
“Because of how you’re acting now,” I say. “You said that all that stuff that happened between us before was over and forgotten, but it’s not. You liked it when I showed you how there was real magic in the world. But you couldn’t handle it when it got down to the hard stuff. Magic and Lurkers were fun and sexy, but Heaven and Hell? You never even tried to deal with them and they’re part of everything that’s happening.”
Allegra is quiet for a minute. She looks out the van’s window at the sky.
“Is that why the sky keeps changing colors? Or the sinkholes?”
“I hadn’t heard about sinkholes. And I don’t know anything about the sky. I was talking about my current employment situation. I’m half a person with half the universe on my back, and if you think that makes me a monster, then you can go to Hell yourself, princess. The door handle’s there and there’s a bus stop at the corner.”
She sits for a minute looking at the floor, then slides the van’s side door open hard enough that it almost comes back on her. She gets out and walks away.
Vidocq gives me a look he’s never given me before. Like he actually wants to hit me.
“Well handled, boy. As graceful as always.”
“You better hurry. Make sure she doesn’t fall and crack her halo.”
Vidocq gets out and slams the door closed.
Candy and I sit in silence for a minute.
“Well, that just happened,” she says. “I have a big mouth. I’m sorry I said anything.”
“Forget it. It was going to happen sooner or later. Wait here.”
Lula Hawks, tattoos and scarred face, is walking
