“And should you be calling it Poletown?” Zoe queried. “I don’t want to be the PC police here but that seems racist.”
“Poletown was named by the Polish inhabitants,” Cillian reassured her. “We have a lot of Polish immigrants in this area, especially in Hamtramck. The Poletown area was settled in the 1870s and saw exponential growth in the 1920s and 1930s because immigrants were flocking to the area due to the car plants.
“They settled in Poletown, created their own community, and then kind of got smacked in the face by the government in the early 1980s,” he continued. “They wanted to build a General Motors plant in an area where homes were located, and used eminent domain to take the houses.”
“That sounds lovely,” Zoe drawled. “I’m not certain why you’re giving me a history lesson, though.”
Cillian ignored her. I knew from his expression he was just warming to his story. There was little he loved more than a good historical retelling. “Some of the displaced residents sued the city but lost. The plant was built, some of the area businesses thrived, but there was a bitter taste left in the mouths of residents because it was one of the few white areas left in the city.”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “Why does that matter?”
He held out his hands. “It became a race thing,” he explained. “Given the way the auto industry is struggling now, it hardly matters. Poletown isn’t what it was and the streets there are pretty rough now, from what I understand.”
Luna nodded in agreement. “You’re kind of smart for a clone.”
He extended a warning finger. “I’m way hotter than my brothers. It’s an insult for you to call me a clone.”
“I can live with that.” Luna was blasé. “Here’s the thing — the house in question is around East Grand Boulevard and Chene. The neighborhood is ... not the sort of neighborhood certain women visit unless they’re conducting business.”
“And what sort of women are you referring to?” Zoe queried.
“Women like both of you,” she replied. “I’m not trying to say there’s anything wrong with being women like you. It’s just ... we’re going to get grief if you go in looking like that.”
“What if we glamour ourselves?” I asked.
“That would be better. It might be best to make yourselves look like men. That way the pimps down there won’t try to recruit you.”
I heaved out a sigh. “We can do that.”
Braden made a face. “I don’t want to see that. What if you turning yourself into a dude kills the romantic vibe between us? That seems like a big risk.”
I shot him a look. “Do you always have to be difficult?”
He shrugged. “Aisling isn’t here. I thought somebody should pick up the slack.”
“And obviously it has to be you.” I shook my head. “We can glamour ourselves when we get down there. That’s not a problem.” I focused on her. “Are you still willing to take us?”
She nodded without hesitation. “People have gone missing in that house. I wasn’t lying when I said I planned to check it out. Now I won’t have to go alone. This is a win-win for me.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
She held up a finger. “Just one thing.”
My heart sank. “What? Do you want money?”
“We can give her money,” Cillian said automatically. It was obvious he recognized Luna for what she was: a street kid with attitude. “If you need help, we can help you.”
Luna pinned him with a disdainful look. “I don’t need money. I take care of me and my own. I was just going to say that, when it’s time, I’ll be the one doing the killing if there’s anything bad in there. Some of my people have gone missing in that area over the past year. I owe someone some payback.”
In that moment, as she delivered the statement, she finally looked older ... and I was chilled to the bone by the glimpse of determined bloodlust I saw under her everyday façade. I recovered quickly despite the fear quaking through me. “If there are monsters in that building, we’ll all kill them. I can’t promise to leave them all for you because we have no idea how many creatures we’re dealing with.”
“I guess I can live with that.” Luna didn’t look happy as much as resigned. “We should get going. If we’re going to do this, sooner is better than later.”
On that we could agree.
WHILE I FOUND CILLIAN’S HISTORY LESSON fascinating on a purely academic level, the reality of what we found when we parked one street over from our intended destination was dire.
“Wow.” I looked around, my stomach clenching. I’d seen poverty in New Orleans — it was everywhere, including sleeping on street grates — but there was a menacing feeling to this location. My grandfather had insisted I not visit the “bad” parts of New Orleans, and although I was curious, I’d always listened to his admonishments. Seeing this part of Detroit made me uneasy.
“This used to be families,” Cillian volunteered as we exited Braden’s truck. “It used to be a nice neighborhood with happy neighbors and barbecues. It used to have personality.”
“It still has personality,” Zoe offered. She didn’t look bothered in the least to be in this neighborhood. “The personality is just ‘get off my freaking lawn or I’ll shoot you.’”
Braden shot her a cheeky grin as Luna snorted. The pink-haired witch was the only one who looked at home in the neighborhood.
“You guys need to glamour yourselves,” she insisted, reminding me of what we’d promised before we left. “It’s important.”
“Right.” I lifted my hands and pressed them to my face. “Men, right?”
“That would be best,” Luna agreed.
“What about you?” Cillian challenged as Zoe and I adjusted our looks. “How come you don’t have to glamour yourself?”
“Because I’m a badass on these streets,” Luna replied, matter-of-fact. “Everybody here is already terrified of me. Your women are strong, can take care of themselves, but nobody will believe that until they’ve proven themselves
