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“They’ll rebuild it,” Cole said. “That’s the nature of San Francisco. Earthquake, fire,<br />
economic depression, titanic battles between gods, no matter what, it rises from the<br />
wreckage and lives on.”<br />
“Maybe it’s not such a shithole quakemeat city, after all,” Marla said.<br />
20<br />
M arla sat in one of the comfortable chairs in her hotel room, looking out at the night<br />
skyline, her feet propped up on the windowsill. She was smoking a clove cigarette for<br />
the first time in years, because for the first time in years she wasn’t worried about<br />
cancer or diminishing her lung capacity.<br />
The door opened, and she didn’t bother to turn around, because even if it was an<br />
assassin, what did it matter?<br />
“Marla,” Cole said. He sat down on the edge of the bed behind her.<br />
“Hey,” she said. “How’d it go?”<br />
“It went well. I performed the psychic transposition—what do you call it? The Doorstep<br />
trick?”<br />
“The Thing on the Doorstep,” Marla said. “A guy named H. P. Lovecraft wrote a story<br />
with that title, about a bad wizard who stole a girl’s body. You should read it. The prose<br />
gets a little purple, but the story’s a good one.”<br />
“Mmm,” Cole said. “I’ll look for it. At any rate, I put the apprentice’s mind back in her<br />
own body. Nearly all the necessary components were available in the Celestial’s shop.<br />
He was still unconscious, deeply traumatized by seeing the spirits of his ancestors. Or<br />
the things he thought were the spirits of his ancestors. That friend of yours, B—he’s<br />
powerful. I don’t think he has any idea how powerful.”<br />
“What did you do with the Celestial?”<br />
“We gave him to Ch’ang Hao to dispose of, though he didn’t seem to relish the task, as<br />
his enemy was catatonic. Ch’ang Hao asked me to tell you that he looks forward to<br />
seeing you again.”<br />
“Not if I see him first,” Marla muttered. But soon, no one would ever see her again, so it<br />
was a moot point. “Do me a favor. Teach B, would you? Unless you’re going back to<br />
sleep.”<br />
“No. Not for a while. I want to enjoy being awake for a bit first. I suppose I can stay<br />
awake for a few years, and teach B what I can.”<br />
“Good,” Marla said. “He’s a good kid. I’d hate to see him go crazy or anything.” Cole<br />
was as fine a seer as had ever lived, and his ways were not particularly violent, unlike
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