Kill the Dead

I STEP OUT of a shadow into the hallway by Vidocq’s apartment. Vidocq and Allegra’s. I need to start thinking about it that way. I love the old man, but the thought of him rattling around in there alone used to bother me. Now that he’s with Allegra, it’s different. I don’t know why. Yeah, I do. I don’t want that place to be something else Mason has ruined. I knock on the apartment door and Allegra answers. She looks at me. “Since when do you knock?” “Last time I was here, you said I only came over when I wanted a potion or needed to get sewn up, so I thought I’d come over and try to act like a person for a while.” She steps back and opens the door more. “Come in.” Vidocq comes over, wiping his hands on a black rag that I’m guessing didn’t start out that color. He grabs me in a bear hug. “Good to see you, my boy. And look, no blood. We need some wine to celebrate.” “Thanks.” As he grabs a wine bottle and glasses off the counter, he says, “Allegra was going to call you. Tell him.” She smiles at me. “The Cupbearer’s elixir is ready. We finished it maybe an hour ago.” Vidocq comes back with the bottle, hands out glasses, and pours wine for everyone. “Allegra figured it out. Often, when those old witches wrote their potions down, they would leave out a step or two to preserve their secrets. We worked all night, but the mixture wouldn’t hold together. Then Allegra intuited a solution. You want to preserve your body, so that’s what we gave it. I found one of your bloody shirts in the trash, cut a piece, and dropped it in. That’s the trick. The elixir must be made for each individual. And this one is yours.” He hands me a small amber-colored antique apothecary bottle. Like something Mattie Earp would use to hide her laudanum from Wyatt. “Thanks. I mean it.” Vidocq stands next to Allegra, puts his arm around her, and kisses her on the temple. “She will replace us all soon. And you, you’ll be back to yourself, as scarred and lined as Lucifer’s scrotum.” What can you say to that? I hold up my glass. “To the devil’s balls.” Allegra and Vidocq hold up theirs. He says, “Pour les bourses du diable.” Vidocq and I drain our glasses. Allegra sips hers politely. She says, “Speaking of the devil, is it true you’re working for him?” I put my hand over the wound where the bullet went in. “Looks that way. I saved the bastard’s life last night.” Allegra is looking at me like a disapproving schoolmarm, but Vidocq leans in for a close look at the bullet hole. “Saint Raphael’s silk. Les petites araignées do beautiful work, don’t they?” “I wouldn’t know. I had my eyes closed.” He laughs and pours us more wine. “I don’t blame you. They’re ugly little buggers.” Allegra shakes her head when he offers her some. “How can you work for him?” “I work for him because he pays me, same as the Vigil.” “Taking his money doesn’t bother you?” “Does taking mine when you get paid? Some of your salary comes from what he gives me. A salary for a job you don’t even do anymore.” “I’m no Bible-thumper, but I don’t think it’s right.” “A little while ago you were begging me to meet him. Now, all of a sudden, you’re Cotton Mather. What is this?” “Wanting to see him isn’t the same as working nine-to-five for someone who’s pure evil.” “He isn’t the one who sent me to Hell. He isn’t the one who wants to destroy the world and Heaven and everything in between. That’s Mason. Lucifer has always played pretty straight with me. It’s humans I worry about. Besides, he’s had me on retainer pretty much since I got back, so I owe him.” “Do you really think he would worry about what he owed you? You think he wouldn’t trick you so he could take your soul?” “I don’t care what he would do. I was raised to pay my debts. Besides, I’m Pinocchio, remember? Not exactly a real boy. No one knows if nephilim even have souls.” “That’s right, stick up for the old man, daddy’s boy.” “What does that mean?” “You said Lucifer helped you when you were hunting Mason and the Circle. Up till now he’s been paying you money for doing nothing but being a drunk. Now he’s here with a job he could easily get other people to do, which means it’s really an excuse for keeping you around.” “I pulled his ass out of the fire last night and I’ve got the holes in me to prove it.” “How many cops do you think Lucifer owns? How many politicians, soldiers, spies, and corporate billionaires just in California? And you’re the only one who can protect him?” “You think I can’t?” “Think about it. Your mother was a pretty, lonely woman and your father was an angel.” Vidocq sniffs the wine in his glass and shrugs. “Surely the possibility that Lucifer is your father has crossed your mind before.” “A lot of things cross my mind, but I let go of the stupid ones.” Allegra gets closer and puts her hand on my arm. I know she’s trying to be kind, but it feels like a cop about to snap on the cuffs. “The more you’re with him, the more he’ll suck you down into his world so that you start really acting like his son, and when you do that you’ll be like him and you won’t be Stark anymore.” “For someone who says she’s not a Bible-thumper, you’ve got a lot of opinions on the subject of the devil.” “I don’t care about the devil. I care about you. He’s going to manipulate you and trick you and make you into something you’ll hate.” I move my arm away from her hand and pour myself more wine. “You’re just jealous ’cause everyone knows my daddy’s name and no one’s ever heard of yours.” “This isn’t a joke.” “Everything is a joke if you come at it from the right angle and that’s the angle I’m coming at this conversation.” I swallow the wine and set down the glass. “I spent eleven years Downtown and you think Jake the Snake is going to twist me around in the few weeks it takes to make a movie? I don’t care if he’s my father. All that means is he fucked my mom. I grew up with another guy who fucked my mom and he wanted me dead every day of my life. Hell, in the world’s greatest dad contest, Lucifer wins just for not wanting me laid out with pennies on my eyes. Like I said before, he isn’t what keeps me up at night. It’s humans I worry about.” Vidocq steps between us and puts a hand on both our shoulders. “Why don’t we all sit down, have some more wine, and forget this talk of devils and fathers. Neither of those subjects ever leads to anything pleasant.” I look at Allegra. Her heart is going like crazy and her pupils are dilated. Her breathing is steady, but she’s having to work at it. “Thanks. But I’ve got to be somewhere.” “Please don’t go,” she says. She puts her hand on my arm again. I pull away and go to the door. “Thanks again for the elixir. What do I do with it?” “Just drink it,” says Vidocq. “But mix it with something first. It tastes a bit like turpentine.” “I’ll pick up some margarita mix and little umbrellas. Thanks.” “Come back soon, okay?” says Allegra. I open the door and go out into the hall. I don’t have anything to say to her, so I don’t say anything. Of course, it’s occurred to me that Lucifer might be my father, but how do you even begin to wrap your mind around something like that? Is he the secret to my whole sorry life? Why I had so much power when I was a kid and why I never did a damn thing with it when I got older? Is it that simple? Maybe it’s why it was so easy for Mason to send me to hell. And why I get everyone I care about killed or hurt on a regular basis. The worst thing is having to admit that maybe Aelita is right. Maybe I am an Abomination. Daddy’s boy, just a chip off the old brimstone.