Candy has her back to me when I reach the cell. She paces back and forth like a caged animal. Her hair is in tangles. Some of her nails are broken off at the quick. When she turns to face me one of her cheeks is swollen, like she took a rifle butt to the face. She’s mostly out of Jade mode. Mostly human-looking, but her eyes are still black, her pupils red pinpoints. I go up and grab a fistful of the net.
“You all right?”
She comes closer, but stops a few feet from the bars.
“I’m fine. Never better.”
“You look like hell.”
“Go peek in a mirror and then tell me how bad I look.”
She starts to pace again.
“They say you tried to kill a civilian.”
She puts a hand on her chest and opens her eyes all wide and innocent.
“I wasn’t trying to kill anybody. I was just hungry.”
I glance over to Julie. She has one hand resting gently on her gun.
I say, “This isn’t your fault. Something went wrong with the potion. Allegra will figure it out and you’ll be all right again.”
Candy stops pacing and comes right up to the bars.
“Fuck Allegra. Fuck the potion. And fuck you. You want me to feel all right? I feel great. Like I’m myself for the first time in years.”
“Like hell you do. Doc Kinski took you out of the killing life so something just like this wouldn’t happen.”
“Fuck Doc too.”
That’s new. I’ve never heard her talk that way about Kinski.
“You can’t run around taking down random people and you know it.”
She flicks the bars with one of her broken nails.
“Listen to you. All you do is kill, but no one else is allowed or you won’t feel special anymore.”
“I don’t kill random civilians in the street.”
“No. You kill other creeps no one cares about. I’ll have to remember that for next time.”
She smiles and tugs at the net. Julie comes closer to the cell, ready to pull her gun.
“You always did think you were better than me, didn’t you?” says Candy. “I was your pet monster. Something you could take home and feed and fuck so you could show your friends the wild girl you tamed.”
“If you really think that, why are we even talking?”
Candy goes over and sits on the cot.
“Go and rescue someone, hero. I don’t need you condescending to me anymore.”
She stretches out and rolls over so she’s facing the wall. I wait a minute to see if she’s going to say anything, wanting to say something else myself, but having no idea what.
“Come on,” says Julie, and leads me to the jailhouse door.
Before we go out I turn around.
“You might have gone crazy, but I didn’t. I’m going to figure a way out of this.”
From the cell I hear, “Go away, please. Just go away.”
Outside, Julie says, “She’s been like that since we brought her in.”
“Yeah.” Then, “Sorry about yelling at you. Thanks for what you did for Candy.”
“You’re welcome. See how easy it is to be nice?”
“I’m always nice. It just comes out funny sometimes.”
“Most of the time.”
“I know.”
Julie leads me to the break room. I spot Vidocq, nursing a cup of tea.
“What are you doing here?”
“Marshal Sola called me when Candy was arrested. She thought you might need someone to talk to.”
“I need someone to punch.”
His eyes go to my knuckles.
“It looks like you already found that.”
I look at my hand. The bleeding has stopped and a scab is forming. Still, it’s pretty ugly to look at. I pull a paper towel off the roll and wrap it around my hand.
“I’ve never seen her like this before, and I’ve seen her turn Jade plenty of times.”
“You’ve never seen it because she’s never been this way before. She’s been poisoned.”
I sit down across from him.
“Keep talking.”
“I tested the rest of the Jade potion Allegra had on hand. Not only has it been watered down, but there’s a toxin in it I can’t identify. I’m sure it’s responsible for her behavior.”
“Now all we have to do is convince the Vigil and the entire federal government that a murderous Jade didn’t mean it and is really sorry.”
“It’s a problem, I admit.”
I go over to the counter and pour myself some coffee. I want Aqua Regia, but this isn’t the time for a fuzzy head.
“If you make more of the real Jade potion, will the Vigil let you give it to her?”
He shrugs. Sips his tea.
“I have no idea, but giving it to her now would probably be pointless. Whatever she was given was meant to hurt her, not kill her. We need to wait until it clears her system before giving her anything else.”
I swallow some coffee. It’s some kind of sweet caramel blend that’s been burning all night, so it tastes like a candy bar someone left on an engine block. I push the cup out of the way.
“I can see someone poisoning me, but why her?”
“A distraction perhaps? You’re working on very important matters. There are people allied with the Angra who would love to see you not in a proper state of mind.”
“Between Mason and Candy, I guess they pretty much succeeded.”
Vidocq leans forward and whispers.
“Then it’s true? Saint Nick is Mason Faim?”
I nod.
“Don’t go telling anyone. I want to keep this quiet as long as I can.”
“I can understand why he would want to leave Tartarus, but why come back here?”
“That’s what I want to know. It’s sure as hell not to teach me the ABC’s of the 8 Ball.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” says Vidocq.
“Yeah, that.”
I look around to see if there’s any normal coffee. I can’t find any.
“You know, if it comes down to it, I could walk Candy out of here through a shadow.”
“It’s pointless to think like that. Right now she needs rest and medication more than she needs you.”
“She said something like that too, only louder.”
“Go home,” says Vidocq. “You must be exhausted. Waiting here like this benefits no one.”
I rub a knot of muscles at the base of my neck.
“Maybe you’re right. I need to talk to Mason again later and I want a clear head for that.”
“I’ll stay here. If anything changes, I’ll call you.”
“Thanks,” I say. Then, “How’s Allegra doing with all this?”
“Not well. She feels responsible for both the poisoned potion and Candy’s escape.”
“I still think there’s an Angra mole in the Vigil. Could there be one at the clinic?”
“The only people who work there regularly are Allegra, Fairuza, Rinko, and sometimes Candy. But patients go in and out all day. I suppose one of them could have done it.”
“We’re not going to figure anything out tonight. I’m getting out of here.”
“Rest easy, my friend.”
“Next lifetime.”
Later, when I’m asleep, I don’t dream about Candy. I dream about the Angra. I’m back in the cavern, but it’s not like the last time. Ten Thousand Shadows doesn’t talk to me. I just see the meat chapel and hear something faint and faraway, like noise from an old sitcom. The sound of someone laughing at me.
I’M TEMPTED TO go and see Mason early in the day, but I want him to stew for a while, so I stay in bed and don’t go in until nearly two. Kasabian has his door propped up over the entrance to his rooms. He’s built a little barricade around it with boxes of discs. A nine-year-old could get through it, but I guess it makes him feel better, so I don’t say anything.
I step through a shadow and come out in Vigil headquarters and head straight for Mason’s cell.
This time, before letting me in, a guard goes over me with a metal detector. It must be some special Vigil tech because not only do they find the Colt, but they spot the black bone blade. I don’t want to waste time arguing, so I hand over my weapons. It’s not like I can’t snap Mason’s neck with my hands, but it feels weird. I’ve hardly been without a weapon for going on twelve years. I feel a tad underdressed. Heading inside to see Mason, I’m feeling already a little fucked with.