I nodded and searched for a cigarette. 'They could jack up the rents for that reason alone.'
The apartment building possessed its own charm aside from the mysterious protection it offered. Christmas lights hung between the two parallel apartment blocks, imparting a festive mood to the surroundings. It sure looked more cheerful than Old Downtown.
'It's only two blocks to Hollywood,' I said. 'If we just concentrate on the fact that it's all imaginary, I think we'll make it easily.'
Ann looked at me as if I'd asked her to jog up Everest. 'Do you know what those cramps felt like?'
I shrugged. 'I've been fondled with brass knuckles in the same locale a couple of times.' I stepped out onto the sidewalk. 'Besides, the rain's gone away. Come on.'
Sirens whined somewhere east on Sunset.
She reluctantly followed me, keeping so close to my side that I could smell her perfume as well as when I was carrying her. The mysterious showers of blood had done nothing to wash it away.
We passed a small clump of tenement buildings on Carlton and reached Hollywood Boulevard in a few minutes. Traffic flowed at its normal slow pace. Old hulks and long sleek limos mixed together in automotive democracy. Too late in the day for bums to be sleeping on the sidewalks, yet still too early for most of the hookers, the street boasted a blend of tourists, business people, and shoppers.
Some still watched the sky, shrugging their shoulders and trying to explain what they'd seen to those who hadn't had the pleasure. We passed by a young couple trying to comfort an old woman who sat on the sidewalk tugging at her rosary.
'Sanguinis Virgine,' she muttered over and over. Blood of the Virgin.
It was as reasonable an explanation as any.
'Another block,' Ann said, walking carefully to avoid stepping barefoot into any of the trash and crud lining the Street of Dreams. We headed east until she nodded to her right.
'In there.'
The building was a modest storefront, not connected to any of the other building by shared walls. On the plate glass-in large, ornate script-was the name
Trismegistos
and in smaller, less flowery letters
Candles
Incense
Oils
Spells
And Other
Tools
'Oh, no.' I grimaced.
'It's all right, Dell. I know the woman who runs the place.'
'How?'
She stopped, halfway opening the door, to put her shoes back on.
'Well, if you must know, Bautista Corporation owns the building. I drew up the lease.' She went inside.
A bell tinkled merrily to summon a pretty young woman from the back room. She wore a full-length violet peasant dress of a style that might have been popular a generation ago. Black hair trailed down her back in one thick, intricate braid. She smiled at Ann.
Ann smiled back and sashayed over to her. They spoke quietly.
Since I wasn't invited in on the tete a tete, I took the opportunity to nose around.
The store didn't look spooky or witchy. Three aisles of glass display cases sat under two banks of fluorescent lights. They, and the shelves along three walls, composed the entire shopping area.
Candles and vials of colored stuff constituted the majority of the sale goods. The contents were typed on Avery labels. No pretense of the supernatural tainted the place. It was as straightforward and businesslike as a corner pharmacy. More so. It lacked the garish display ads that promised miraculous cures.
One case contained an assortment of knives labeled
