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Off todown the e its plastic and chro fro shrapnel flower

Then I hit the street and start tuuely re down a bike, butoff asphalt and manhole covers and I’m way beyond technique at this point I just roll up into a ball and hope that I don’t break anything important

And I don’t I just cos Chalk one up to Kevlar scar tissue My leather jacket is nicely scarred, which is fine bythan new bike leather However, my jeans look like they were attacked by a pack of wolverines The bike is a total loss I drag what’s left of it and leave it between a couple of stripped cop cars I’m only a couple of blocks from Vidocq’s, so I walk the rest of the way

AT THE DOOR Vidocq hits ned look of a father who knows that notoatas the father, but finds it funny and not pathetic

"Are there any of ht be some in one of the cabinets Wait here and try not to bleed on anything"

"I showed Eugene that fire ic at all More of a trick And I didn’t teach you anything I charave you about oneet hurt"

Vidocq co pair of beaten-up jeans

"Thanks," I tell him I take off my shredded pants, toss them in a corner and put on the clean jeans, then reh demand in Hell, you’re not necessarily supposed to do that kind of thing up here But they’re both still looking at me like I stepped off the short bus, which is pretty much what I just did

Vidocq leads us into the hall, stops, and looks at ra is with us now," he says "She needs to see and understand the things we do You’re too drunk to safely steal another car tonight, though I know that’s exactly what you’d like to do Instead, you need to show this girl your true gift and prove to her that you do things besides hurting yourself and other people"

"Where are we going?"

"Third Street and Broadway The Bradbury Building"

I hold out ?"

"What is it?"

"This isn’t an asking situation This is a doing situation Either you’re ready or you’re not"

A moment of hesitation, then she takes my hand "Show me"

Vidocq takes her other hand, and I pull them both into a shadow and into the room

"What is this place?"

"The center of the universe"

"What does that o anywhere you want Any street Any room Anywhere Across town, the o anywhere you want anytihosts walk through walls People drive cars"

"Mr Muninn is waiting," says Vidocq "We should ra’s hand as Vidocq touches her shoulder and we all step out onto Broadway together We’re right next to the Bradbury Building It’s late enough that the only people who ht see us are a couple of winos and some master-of-the-universe business types so in love with their cell phones that a nuke could go off in their pants and they wouldn’t notice

Allegra looks around and punches h that I can tell she ht, but instead you made me stab you"

"I didn’t think you were ready for it"

"Like I said, if you want girls to hurt you, there’s plenty of professionals in the phone book"

The inside of the Bradbury Building is a giant Victorian diorama It looks like aliens dipped one of Jules Verne’s wet dreaeles The place is all open space in theto offices and shops

We step into an iron elevator that looks like a cage for an extinct bird the size of a horse A couple of guys get in behind us Grim expressions Dark suits Shades that look like they’ve never been taken off and, in fact, have been soldered to their faces They wear those things in the shower and when they’re fucking their best friends’ wives Mostly the guys in the suits buga little extra ht be off duty, but a cop is always a cop and being caged up with them makes me want to cheay out of this stea is that while their presence is sending my blood pressure to Mars and back, their heartbeats are rock steady So is their breathing Cops make me nervous at the best of ti off people and cars every couple of hours for days, and I’un, it brings out the bad side of my personality Vidocq hits the button for the fifth floor One of the men in black presses the button for three If either of these guys even blinks funny, I’ the walls with livers and spinal cords

But nothing happens The elevator hits three; the cops get out and walk aithout even looking back The fucked-up part is that I’ht that now that it hasn’t happened, I feel like I’ve been tricked Teased and let down I desperately want to break soht still be a little drunk and that the only thing that will cure liliest furniture in the known universe

There’s a hoh-end Pier I night faux-exotic crap for dot-com cokeheads with too much money and no shailt eyes Fake antique Chinese furniture Plasticine Buddhas Paint-by-nuht of the place is the kind of horror that will kill you or sober you up Fortunately, I’m hard to kill

Vidocq closes the elevator door and we start up to the fifth floor Before we get there, he pushes the stop button and the car rattles to a halt Using two fingers, he pushes the one and three buttons on the elevator keypad

"What did you just do?"

Vidocq says, "We’re going to the thirteenth floor"