men are nailing a devilish witch mask to Barbara Steele’s pretty face. I’ve seen that done for real. I’m glad this version is in black-and-white. A couple of “okays” followed by a “yeah” and Kasabian hangs up. “Guess who that was,” he says. “Unless it was about me winning the lottery, I don’t care.” “Lucifer says for you to answer your damned phone.” “What did he want?” “He doesn’t need you today and maybe tomorrow, too. Ritchie and some bigwigs are coming to the Chateau for a meeting.” “Does he know them all? Does he trust them?” “He said you’d ask that and says not to worry. He owns all their souls. They wouldn’t dare cross him.” “Those are exactly the people who are going to cross him.” “He says he’s got it under control.” “I hope he has fun and only agrees to tasteful nudity.” “You know, you’ve been drinking a lot lately, even by your standards.” “‘There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the devil’s thirst. The law they swore they’d get him, but the devil got him first.’ Robert Mitchum wrote that for Thunder Road, the year of our Lord, 1958.” “You’re not Robert Mitchum, this isn’t Cape Fear, and the devil is pissed at you. You might think about spacing out the Jack with, I don’t know, anything that’s not Jack.” “You heard anything new about Mason?” “Nope.” “Ever hear of a guy named Spencer Church?” “Should I?” “Probably not. He’s a rich junkie who’s turned up missing.” “There’s a first.” “What about the Sub Rosa. The families. Are they in the Codex?” “Everything is in the Codex.” “Except what I want.” “Try asking the right questions.” “It’s my fault, then. You’re not holding out on me.” Kasabian ignores me and watches his movie. “What does it say about the families?” “It’s boring. It’s mostly histories. Family trees. Who begat who. There’s one fun fact to know and tell. Whenever a lot of families are in the same geographic area, each family specializes in a different kind of magic. It’s like a franchise. Supposed to keep down the hillbilly feuds.” “The Springheels were blue bloods, so I suppose they’d have first dibs. What kind did they do?”
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