personality.'
'So I have to cock it before it will fire.'
The Burning Man nodded. 'You can also thumb-fire and fan the weapon, if speed is more important to you than accuracy. You'll find that the action is very smooth and the gun enjoys such treatment.'
'But it doesn't need reloading?'
'That is correct, Miss Riley.'
'How much?'
The Burning Man spread his burning hands and sighed. 'As I said, the Dead Man's Gun is a unique and valuable artifact. It is very difficult to put a price on it.'
'But you're going to, just the same.'
'Indeed, Miss Riley. My price is an exclusive arrangement with your outfit. If, in the future, your people need weapons in the Between, you will do business with me. Do you have the authority to make such an arrangement?'
I nodded. 'Assuming my boss doesn't have an existing agreement with a supplier, sure.'
'He does not. It is my business to know these things, you understand. Very well, Miss Riley, do we have a deal?'
'Yeah, we have a deal. I'll need some kind of rig for this thing.' The Burning Man nodded and went back into the cage, returning with a black leather gunbelt. He handed it to me and I took it. The initials WBSE were tooled into the leather in silver.
'I must place one condition on this sale, Miss Riley. You understand that different rules must, of necessity, apply to property in the Between. On the event of your death, ownership of the Dead Man's Gun reverts to me, so that I might pass it on to another worthy warrior. This is its nature.'
Well, what's one more spirit that wants me dead? I was assembling quite a collection. 'Not on the event of my death,' I said. 'On the event of my passing into the Beyond, permanently, the gun goes back to you. It's mine as long as I have business in the Between.'
The Burning Man stared at me. His skull burned and an eye popped. I didn't blink. Finally he nodded and smiled. 'You are a shrewd negotiator, Miss Riley. I believe that weapon will make you a formidable opponent indeed. Very well, then, we have reached an agreement.' He extended a blackened claw to me and I shook it. The bone was cold and charred.
I stood up and buckled the gunbelt around my waist. I thought it would be way too big for me, but the last hole on the belt was a perfect fit. I slid the Peacemaker into the holster, then nodded at the Burning Man, winked at Vampirella and left.
Honey was waiting for me when I got back to the condo. She looked at the Peacemaker swinging on my hip, back at me and then back at the pistol.
'I didn't know you were going to buy a cannon,' she said.
'Wyatt Earp's gun.'
'The cowboy in the movies?'
'He was a lawman, not a cowboy. In the movies, at least.'
'Well, did you know his gun was cursed?' Honey was staring at the Peacemaker, frowning.
'They call it the Dead Man's Gun. I guessed it probably was. Anyway, I call it Ned.' I turned sideways and showed her the engraving on the grip.
'It doesn't bother you that it's cursed.' Honey was staring at me in disbelief.
'Well, it beats toting a gun some psychotic teenager used in a school shooting. Anyway, I think it likes me.'
'It likes you.'
'Yeah,' I said, patting the Colt. 'I guess it'll put a big enough hole in Fred.'
'Well, it looks a little ridiculous.'
I looked down at the holstered gun. It reached most of the way to my knee. 'It doesn't really go with running shorts,' I allowed. 'I'll have to change into something more somber next time.'
'It's a little…oversized, don't you think?'
'No,' I said, 'watch this.' My right arm blurred and the Peacemaker came out of the holster like it didn't even notice it was there.
'It's very impressive, but that's not what I meant. Don't you think the length is a little pretentious?'
'I didn't put a foot-long barrel on it,' I grumbled.
'Freud would have loved you, Domino. Are we going after the vampire now, or do you need some time to practice with that thing?'
'I'm ready. I did some target shooting on the way back here.'
'What did you shoot?'
'Stop sign. There's no traffic here, so you might as well shoot one.'
Honey and I traveled south and the mist delivered us to Watts. It was a short walk to the salvage yard. The loitering ghosts were no more hostile than the living in the juiced-up ghetto.
We advanced through the yard. It was quiet. It was still a junkyard, but it was easier to look at it in the Between. The faded colors and vague light softened it and smoothed it out. It was almost peaceful, like an old cemetery.
I was sure Terrence had cleared the debris and dug out his gangbangers in my world, but the work hadn't gotten done in this one. The path I'd created with the repulsion spell was still there, and we followed it into the open lot. The Vampire Fred was polite enough to come out and meet us before we made it to the building.
He stepped outside and stood watching us, his hands at his sides. He left the door open behind him. I guessed the spirit was back there somewhere in the darkness.
I stopped about thirty feet away. Honey hovered at my side, pixie dust falling from her in agitated clouds. The sword was back and she held it in both hands, the blade dipping toward the ground in front of her.
It occurred to me to shoot Fred and cut the visit short. I decided not to, because I thought he might say something worth listening to. I heard metal shift and grind against metal behind me. I turned. The ghosts of the gangbangers I'd killed were pulling themselves out of the twisted and tangled debris. They weren't much to look at, with shattered bones, torn flesh and caved-in skulls. There were only eight of them, so Terrence must have gotten a few out alive. I turned back to Fred.
'You are extremely persistent for a woman,' he said.
'I'm easily distracted when I don't stay focused.'
Fred gave an exaggerated sigh. His shoulders humped and then collapsed like someone put a lead chain around his neck. 'What precisely have I done to attract such devoted attention?'
'You know why I'm here.'
'Yes, I suppose I do. You believe I had something to do with the murders of your men. The question is, why?'
'One of them told me.' It was an irritating game, but I had to play if I wanted to learn anything.
'Ah, that is unfortunate. We had hoped the ritual would preclude such an eventuality.'
'How's that?'
'My…client was confident that their souls would be cast into the Deep Beyond and lost forever.'
I laughed. 'Your client didn't want you to know how expendable you are. It needed to keep an easy target in front of me.'
'You are right, of course. And, so, here we are.'
'Here we are. How's it going to go?'
The vampire arched his eyebrows in surprise. 'Is it up to me?'
'You're not the one I want. You're just in my way.'
Fred chuckled. 'Two things,' he said. 'First, I see that you have brought a weapon this time, but the outcome of any confrontation between us is hardly a foregone conclusion.' I could hear the ghosts spreading out behind me at the edge of the lot.
'It's a really big gun,' I said.
The vampire nodded and smiled. 'Second, what makes you think I could give you my client, should I be inclined
