Skeleton Crew (17 page)

Mine was the seventh name to be called. All of the betting had so far gone to the same Xolo, the one that was as close to a sure thing as you could probably get. The wagers had escalated quickly, but I could see why the other players would prefer to risk a large bet on a heavy favorite. Maybe I didn't want to play that big or maybe I just
have a thing about the underdog, but I put my juice on the nearly catatonic Xolo. I knelt beside him, stroked his sides and scratched behind his ears. He flinched the first time I touched him and then lay still.

He didn't stir when I leaned in and showed him my throat. I heard a scattering of laughter from the spirits in the stands. I bent down until my lips were next to his ear. “We both have to do this, puppy,” I whispered. “We have to get through this, we have to stay alive, and then very soon I will make it better. I don't know if you can understand me, baby, but I promise this to you.”

I heard a soft whine and felt a tongue on my face. My vision blurred, though I didn't have any tears in the Between. “Do it, puppy,” I said. “You won't hurt me.” And it was true. It didn't hurt. The Xolo was gentle and he lacked the strength to take very much. When it was over, I kept petting him for a few moments. He didn't feel like a dog—touching him was like touching warm sunshine. “Stay alive, puppy,” I whispered. “Remember what I said. Just stay alive.”

I returned to my seat in a daze and shut down my mind for a while. I was aware enough to hear the sounds the Xolos made when they hurt each other. I knew when it was over and my dog lost. It didn't take very long. The players weren't happy with the meager sport, and I heard their curses. I knew what was happening when the winners went down to claim their take from my Xolo. They did it just as the dogs had taken the bets from us, only with far more cruelty. I remember thanking a God I didn't really believe in that I hadn't won.

I'd done a lot of bad things in my life. I wasn't an innocent. I didn't dwell on it, I didn't cry about it, but I knew there was evil inside me. Maybe it had always been there
or maybe I'd had a choice somewhere along the line and I'd done it to myself. It didn't matter—it was there all the same. I'd thought I could give my life some meaning, some purpose, by turning that darkness against a darkness greater still. I couldn't change what I was but I could be the lesser of two evils. I could be the devil you know.

But here's the thing about doing battle against the forces of evil. It's not always a clean fight against a cackling villain or fanged horror. Sometimes fighting the darkness means you have to get all the way down in it, and it clings to you like tar, it stains you, and it never goes away. There might be a reckoning later. You might exact some measure of justice. But once you go down into that pit, you leave a little bit of yourself there and you bring some of the pit back out with you. I could live for six thousand years, just like my boss, and I knew I'd never be able to forget what I saw that night.

Adan and I both placed our bets carefully and we managed to go oh-for-three on the night. When the games were finished, there was more champagne and casual mingling. I fed on my hate, and the spirits took the light in my eyes and the evil smile on my face for enjoyment. They consoled me on my losses and congratulated me on always playing the long shot. They said I had style.

The players were beginning to depart when La Calavera came to us. “How did you enjoy the evening's sport?” she said.

The fire inside me flared and my smile sharpened. “I can honestly say I've never experienced anything like it,” I said.

“It was…inspiring,” said Adan.

La Calavera threw back her head and laughed. “It does have that effect, doesn't it? I suspect the mortals will sleep
uneasily tonight and they'll suffer worse than nightmares if some of our players manage to break through to the other side.”

“When will you hold the next one?” I asked. “And is it always the same six dogs?” I tried to sound more eager than curious.

“Three nights hence,” said La Calavera. “And no, my kennels have become quite substantial. We have about a hundred beasts in all. The training is quite arduous, you understand, and attrition is high once the beasts are ready to campaign. Still, our stock should be sufficient for quite some time. And, after that, we shall simply have to think of something else.”

“Kennels for a hundred dogs? I didn't see anything like that around here.”

“Not here, no, but rather close. The kennels are at my estate. You must come and visit sometime, it's quite spectacular. It was Jayne Mansfield's home in Beverly Hills.”

The Pink Palace had been torn down years ago in my world, but the Mocambo club was proof enough that didn't mean much in the Between. I knew exactly where it would be. “I'd love to visit,” I said, “very soon.”

“Splendid! There's no need for formalities—drop by anytime.”

“It's a promise.”

“I'll bid you good night, then,” she said, and kissed me on both cheeks. I was sure I felt the scrape of bone against my skin. She walked us to the door of the pit room, where two ghosts met us and escorted us from the empty club.

A Xolo's howl filled the night as Adan and I walked across Sunset Boulevard into the mist.

“I've never wanted to kill anyone as bad as I want to kill her,” I said when we were back in my condo. “I mean, I'm willing to make it a cause. I'm ready to dedicate my life to doing that evil bitch.”

Adan went into the kitchen and came out taking a long pull from a bottle of tequila. He passed it to me and then looked at his hand. It was shaking. “I want in,” he said. “I was ready to give it a shot when she told us where the dogs were.”

“I'm glad I didn't know what you were thinking. It would have been enough to push me over the edge. She had too much security and that fat, snaggletoothed creep Valafar was still hanging around. It's better if we come up with a plan and make it count. We get the dogs out first, then we go back and make things personal with La Calavera.”

I called Lowell and Chavez and brought them up to speed. I told Chavez to brief Oberon, but to hold off with the other outfits. I was pretty sure La Calavera had informants on our side of the wall and I didn't want anyone cluing her in that we weren't going to be BFFs.

“What's going on?” Honey said. She flew in from the
Enchanted Forest with Jack at her side. “Did you find the dogs?”

I looked at Adan. We didn't exchange any words, but I knew we'd never tell anyone about what we'd seen that night. What we'd done. “We found them, Honey. We're going to need your help to get them out of there. You, too, Jack, if you're up to it.”

“He's up to it,” Honey said, and giggled. “He recovers fast.”

I smiled. “That's good, Jack. You were the fucking man in that fight.”

He inclined his head. “A wee fighter takes a big beating,” he said. “You get used to it.”

We all shared a laugh at that. I brought shot glasses from the kitchen and Honey fetched weed from the balcony. We drank and smoked and talked about nothing in particular, and we forgot about the darkness outside our doors for a while. We made a racket and must have sounded like we were having a pretty good time, because some of Honey's sisters even came out and joined us. I noticed Honey kept them well away from Jack. I didn't blame her—you never want to share the good ones.

By the time we were finished we were all pretty well loaded. I was going to need Alka-Seltzer and a purification spell if I expected to kick any ass in the morning. The sisters had buzzed unsteadily back to the Enchanted Forest, and my friends and I sat quietly together on the sofa, lost in our private thoughts. “Let's get some sleep,” I said finally. “We do this tomorrow. Honey, Jack, I can't know all the battles you've fought. But for my part, this is going to be the most important thing I've ever done. It matters to me.”

Honey looked like she wanted to ask me something, but she just nodded. “Then it matters to us, Domino.” Jack
touched his hand to his heart and nodded once. Then the piskies flew away and left me with Adan.

“I guess we've got the couch again,” I said. “Mrs. Dawson's going to be camped out in my bedroom for a while.”

“I like your couch,” Adan said. He reached across the distance between us and brushed a lock of hair from my face. “Tomorrow will be a better day, Domino. Take hold of that and don't let her into your dreams.” Then he smiled at me and stretched out on his end of the sofa, turning onto his side and tucking a throw pillow under his head.

I tried to do as he said. It didn't work.

 

When I woke up the next morning, Honey and Jack had built a scale replica of the Pink Palace on the table in the dining nook. The Mediterranean villa sat on more than three acres of prime real estate in Beverly Hills. The house and the brick and stucco walls surrounding the estate had been painted a soft pink mixed with powdered sandstone. That had been Mansfield's touch—she and her new husband had given it the nontraditional paint job when they bought the place in the late fifties. Long after it had been demolished in the real world, this seemed to be how the shadow world remembered it, and the Pink Palace it remained.

“You did some recon,” I said when Honey and Jack flitted into the room.

“Yeah,” said Honey, “we were bored. You and Adan were still sleeping, and we figured this would help us make a plan.”

“It's great,” I said, circling the table and studying the model. “Nice work.”

“You should see the inside,” Honey said. “Her bathroom has wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling pink shag carpet!”

“Truly evil,” I said. “These are the kennels?” There was
a kind of shantytown built of scrap wood and corrugated metal sheeting along the back wall of the estate.

“Yeah,” Honey said. “The place is a warren. They just kept adding on when the ghost-hunter brought in new dogs. There are at least a hundred of them there.”

“And you were able to get inside? No problems with wards or anything?”

“There are no wards,” Jack said. “The place doesn't need wards. It's evil. It hurts to be there, and not just because of all the pink.”

“We'll need to do this fast, Domino,” Honey said. “We'll be weak there. If we stay too long, it would probably kill us.”

“Let's do it. Where's Adan?”

“He went home to change clothes,” Honey said. “And anyway, we can't go during the day.”

“Why not?”

“Vampires,” Jack said. “She uses them as security. We saw two of them on the grounds and one in the house. There are worse things there, too—La Calavera and her ilk. At night, the vampires will be gone and most of the spirits will be at the club.” Vampires were active in the real world at night and in the Between during the day. They were tougher in the shadow world and it would be best to avoid them if we could.

“So we'll only have to deal with ghosts,” I said, nodding. “Okay, I guess it can wait a few more hours.”

The front door opened and Adan walked in wearing black military fatigues with a sword belted at his waist. “Did you run off and join a SWAT team while I was sleeping?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It's practical. It would be easier if I could cross over like you, but I have to do it the sidhe way. Did
they tell you about the vampires?” he said, nodding at the Pink Palace.

“Yeah, so we're going tonight. There's no dogfight, so all the Xolos should still be in the kennels.”

Adan nodded. “How do we get the dogs out?”

“I haven't really thought about it. According to Caesar, the Xolos can cross to the Between and back at will. I figure if we let them out of their cages they'll hightail it out of there.”

“Maybe, but something is holding them. They don't try to escape. They don't try to leave the dogfighting ring. Some of them probably aren't in very good shape. It might not be as simple as just opening the cages.”

“Well, what's holding them, then? It doesn't do much good to poke holes in my plan unless you have a better idea.” Right about then, my cell phone beeped. I had a text message.

“What is it?” Adan asked when I finished reading.

“Someone's telling me we need to clip La Calavera,” I said. “She's holding them there, somehow. It doesn't really matter how—if we take her out, we'll be able to free the Xolos. So we hit the place after dark, when the vampires are on this side, but before La Calavera heads out for a night on the town.”

“Who sent the text?” Honey asked.

I checked the call log but the number was listed as “Unknown.”

“Could be three Pakistani women in federal custody,” I said. “Could be Hecate.”

“The goddess?”

“That's what the Feds call her.”

“A goddess is sending you text messages?”

“I don't know it's a goddess. It's like a signal in the ectoplasmic flow.”

“That doesn't make any sense, Domino,” Honey said. “What the hell is an ectoplasmic flow?”

“Magic. It's what the government nerds call magic. Look, it's hard to explain. I don't know what Hecate is. I don't know why it's sending me text messages.”

“But whatever it is, it's telling you to kill La Calavera, so that's what you're going to do.”

“It's not telling me that, exactly. ‘The elegant skull turns the center.'”

“It's gibberish,” Honey said.

“Yeah, that's what I thought at first, too. But it was right about the Xolos.”

“It told you about the Xolos?”

“Sort of. ‘Claimant and messenger, lost. Stone circle, grasping the harmonic motion.' Hey, the stone circle bit could be talking about the dogfighting pit.”

“What's a harmonic motion?”

“I don't remember. Something about a pendulum, maybe.”

“It's gibberish, Domino!”

“What about ‘death's lightness bound in brittle spite'?” I said. “It's clearly talking about the Xolos and how La Calavera has them bound in her…brittle spite.”

Honey arched an eyebrow and looked at me.

Adan spoke up. “Even if we can't be sure about the reliability of the intelligence,” he said, “it's still not a bad plan.
Maybe killing La Calavera won't free the Xolos, but freeing them will be easier with her out of the way.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at the cell phone screen. “She's a ‘dead stone in the city of smoke.'”

“That could be a reference to the Pink Palace,” Adan said, looking over my shoulder. “Or it could be talking about the dogfighting pits again.”

“Why is it mortal sorcerers are always so eager to swallow anything some old spirit dishes up?” Honey said.

“They're gullible,” Jack said, and shrugged.

I looked at them and scowled. “Spirits aren't
always
lying, Honey,” I said. It was mean, but I was losing patience with all the second-guessing.

“Only when our lips are moving,” said Jack, grinning. She probably hadn't told him about our history. Not all of it, anyway. Not the part about how she'd lied to me, betrayed me, to protect her family.

“Some spirits are your friends, Domino,” Honey said softly. “You don't even know what this one is or what it wants.”

Now she was going to guilt-trip me. I probably had it coming. I smiled at her and nodded. “I'm not going to trust this Hecate—or whatever it is—like I trust my friends. Maybe it's playing an angle. It makes sense to hit La Calavera either way.”

“It's like déjà vu, Domino,” Honey said. “This spirit may not be that easy to kill. And you still can't fight worth a damn in the Between.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But this time we've got Adan and Jack backing us up.”

“How do you want to do it?” Adan said, walking over to the Pink Palace.

“The gangster way,” I said. “We're not going to assault
the castle, Adan. You want to hit a guy, you wait until he comes out and you gun him down on his front porch or in the street.” Actually, nine times out of ten when you clipped a guy it was someone you knew, probably someone in your own outfit. Getting close wasn't a problem. This wasn't that kind of situation. I pointed to the front wall of the estate where the private driveway opened onto the street. “I think we wait for her here, at the gate. There are no cars, so she'll come out on foot when she goes to the club.”

Adan nodded. “Like the vodyanoy. I like this terrain better. More places to hide.”

“And no ocean to worry about,” I said. “We just have to put her down before she can get into the mist.”

“All this scheming and plotting and ambushing,” Jack said. “It reminds me of Avalon.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not a knight in shining armor, Jack. I'm a gangster.”

The piskie shook his head. “That is only a choice. To fight with honor—that is also a choice.”

“Weren't you an assassin, Jack? Seems like you wouldn't have any objection to a nice ambush.”

Jack shrugged. “Sometimes assassination is the right choice.”

“Exactly. My choice is whichever way is most likely to end up with La Calavera dead. Honor isn't going to set the Xolos free.”

Jack just shrugged again, having apparently run out of words, but Adan picked up the argument. “Are you sure, Domino?” he said. “The Between isn't Arcadia. La Calavera's evil binds the Xolos to that place. We don't know exactly how. It may be necessary to defeat that evil, to challenge it, confront it, and ultimately to overcome it, in order
to free the Xolos. Ambushing the spirit at the front gate may not break that evil spell—it may only feed it.”

“So what am I supposed to do exactly? Call her out for a showdown at high noon on Sunset Boulevard?”

“No, we should still wait for sundown,” Honey said. “If the fight doesn't go her way, she'll double-cross us. We can handle the minions, but we may as well wait until the vampires have returned to the mortal world.”

“Honey, the last time this came up you tried to talk me out of fighting a spirit. You said I'd probably get my ass kicked.”

“This is important, Domino. That time, you were just trying to protect Adan and I didn't think he was worth it.”

“Hey…” said Adan.

“It wasn't really you, Adan,” Honey said. “The changeling was a loser.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“I just think Jack's right about this, Domino,” the piskie continued. “In Avalon or in the Between, fighting isn't just about violence. It has power. Think of it as a ritual. You can't just skip ahead to the last step. You have to do it right.

Maybe that's what this Hecate is trying to tell you.”

I knew the truth when I heard it and I wasn't afraid to face La Calavera. I was afraid I'd fail. Nothing much had changed since Honey had tried to train me in the kung-fu magic at the L.A. Coliseum in the Between. I still sucked at it. How would it help the Xolos if I called out La Calavera and she put the beat-down on me?