Contents
Part I
Chapter One
Jazz swirled through the room, competed with my heartbeat and…
Chapter Two
I stumbled out the door, my feet numb, my vision…
Chapter Three
It was late, but an unrelenting crowd of bohemians, gutter…
Chapter Four
Angelique leaned against my shoulder, babbling softly, staring into space.
Chapter Five
Night brings peace for some, for those who can sleep.
Chapter Six
The Mississippi churned with froth and mud, and here, on…
Chapter Seven
Angelique slept on her right side, curled in a tangled…
Chapter Eight
I was eleven years old the first time I saw…
Chapter Nine
Pete Laskin leaned over his laptop, thick bangs tousled on…
Chapter Ten
Chaz said that I should start writing things down, that…
Chapter Eleven
Sun splattered the near empty streets. Only a few drowsy…
Chapter Twelve
Sometimes my arguments with Russ were universal, no different from…
Chapter Thirteen
The tests looked easy at first. And they were. Then…
Chapter Fourteen
The marker lay on the table between us, a small…
Chapter Fifteen
I hadn’t seen Mom for about a week. I guess…
Chapter Sixteen
We drove through the mid-evening gloom, daylight clinging possessively to…
Chapter Seventeen
I’ve been here before. A whisper memory rushed over me,…
Chapter Eighteen
She stood in front of a full-length VR mirror, adjusted…
Chapter Nineteen
The spicy fragrance of crawfish gumbo and dirty rice steamed…
Chapter Twenty
I used to think I was special. Not walk-on-water special,…
Chapter Twenty-One
Some moments freeze forever in your mind, turn into icicle…
Part II
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nothing was the same after I walked through Russell’s front…
Chapter Twenty-Three
We went downstairs again, the three of us, Chaz, Isabelle…
Part III
Chapter Twenty-Four
The bayou shivered at my back and the house fell…
Chapter Twenty-Five
I was standing right beside my father the night he…
Chapter Twenty-Six
That lizard monster, that human-esque creature that stalks my nightmares,…
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sunlight poured through the lab windows, casting stark black-and-white patterns…
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I thought I saw black shadows running toward the bayou,…
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The dog ran through the rain, paws striking pavement, then…
Part IV
Chapter Thirty
Flames sizzled and flickered, the bathroom door buckled and groaned.
Chapter Thirty-One
Everything went black for a long, awful moment. Like the…
Chapter Thirty-Two
In typical mug fashion, I got slammed together with all…
Chapter Thirty-Three
Shadows melted; clouds shattered; stars fell from the sky. The…
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sometimes the big, tough-guy image shatters. Like a fragile, handblown…
Chapter Thirty-Five
In my mind I’m walking through a foreign city, following…
Chapter Thirty-Six
I have a theory that we all carry a secret…
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Somebody was pounding on my head with a jackhammer. Another…
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I hate watching the news. Hate watching the world shrivel…
Chapter Thirty-Nine
There are moments that echo with beauty, like notes in…
Chapter Forty
Day faded into night and then back into day. I…
Chapter Forty-One
Some days have no right to be beautiful. The sky…
Part V
Chapter Forty-Two
The funeral service began in all its horrible glory, black-cloaked…
Chapter Forty-Three
There weren’t many times when Russ asked for my opinion,…
Chapter Forty-Four
The crowd began to move—somnambulistic—zombies walking through a desolate wilderness.
Chapter Forty-Five
I think I always liked breaking the law. Even back…
Chapter Forty-Six
Rain soaked the pavement. City sounds echoed through the forest…
Chapter Forty-Seven
Twilight bled into morning. Sunlight whispered through the city canyons.
Chapter Forty-Eight
New Orleans used to be known for its jazz funerals,…
Chapter Forty-Nine
A blanket covered me. A blanket of dark sky and…
Chapter Fifty
Silent as an empty midnight mass, the silver-and-black chopper thumped…
Chapter Fifty-One
The world flowed past my window, like a river of…
Chapter Fifty-Two
My legs trembled as I ran down the stairs, as…
Chapter Fifty-Three
All around me the world thundered with laughter and energy.
Chapter Fifty-Four
I slammed on my brakes and my car screamed in…
Chapter Fifty-Five
I watched that blasted dog video, over and over. Until…
Chapter Fifty-Six
One of Neville’s gutter boys was after me, I could…
Chapter Fifty-Seven
The hotel lobby was a scramble of bodies; arms and…
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Marguerite flew over the edge of the balcony, a blackbird…
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The world faded and changed; all the color bled into…
Part VI
Chapter Sixty
I have to confess there are things about this world,…
Chapter Sixty-One
I waited forever, waited for the elevator doors to open.
Chapter Sixty-Two
The orange light faded. In its place, dark water rolled…
Chapter Sixty-Three
The hospital lights were turned down low and everyone spoke…
Chapter Sixty-Four
Midnight poured down into my gut, cold and stark. The…
Chapter Sixty-Five
My boss stood bathed in his own circle of light…
Chapter Sixty-Six
The dart shot poison through my system. My flesh burned.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
The hospital came alive with a clatter and a rumble,…
Chapter Sixty-Eight
He wasn’t going to make it. I had to go…
Chapter Sixty-Nine
They dressed her in harlequin diamonds of black and white,…
Chapter Seventy
A VR video was waiting for us when we got…
Chapter Seventy-One
Sometimes you die all at once. It’s over before you…
Chapter Seventy-Two
A sea of broken-down cars glistened in the noonday sun;…
Chapter Seventy-Three
Light fell like sparks from heaven; it grazed sun-bleached tombs,…
Chapter Seventy-Four
I’m supposed to be a big-picture guy, supposed to see…
Chapter Seventy-Five
The sun disappeared and