Page 28 of The Girl with a Thousand Faces
The young triad queen is the only daughter of the man who once ran the Snakeskins. Her rise to power began when her father died during the war, which might have been considered suspicious under other circumstances. Everyone had bigger problems during the occupation, though, and she seems mostly to have gotten away with her coup.
Mei Chi offers a clumsy bow. “Good morning.”
Cobra Lily leans her elbows on the table. “So you’re the neighborhood exorcist. I heard a lot about you in the war. Is it true, what they say?”
“I don’t know, Madam,” Mei Chi says, carefully. “What do they say?”
“That you are not like other exorcists. You deal with ghosts differently, and have no fear.”
Mei Chi’s mouth speaks before her brain can stop it. “Of course I have fear. Ghosts are fucking terrifying.”
Cobra Lily raises her eyebrows. “Yet you still deal in spirits.”
“Men are afraid to die, but still become soldiers,” Mei Chi says. “I like money and I want to eat, but I don’t want to sweep streets, or work in brothels. My only talent is for talking with ghosts, so that’s what I do. Whether it’s scary or not.”
“Motivated by money, then,” the triad queen muses.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Mei Chi says, a tad shortly. “Poor people know the true value of money better than rich people.”
“Wise words, for a street scamp.” Cobra Lily’s smile is predatory. “I’m here because I’m looking to expand my… operations, now that the war is over. I have need of new employees for my plans to take off.”
“I see,” Mei Chi says, neutrally. “May I ask what it is you want with me?”
“The people of this city need order and protection, especially from all these ghosts, and I can give it to them. If you want to be a part of that, I think we could work together.”
“Do I have a choice?” The question slips out before her common sense can rein it back.
“Do any of us? Or do we just walk the path laid out for us, by fate?” The triad queen tilts her head. “A word of advice, little girl. Don’t ask questions likewhat will happen if I refuse. Instead, ask me questions likehow well can you pay.”
Mei Chi shrugs. “Okay. How well can you pay?”
“Very well. You’ll have a place to live, luxury goods, and you’ll never be hungry again. What do you say, little ghost talker?”
10RED BIRD
August 21, 1975
Mercy knew at once she was dreaming.
The room was Erika’s, the furniture unchanged. She herself was crammed on a small couch, having left Erika her own bed. This was normal.
But the walls of the flat were gone. In their place, beginning where the floor ended, was a long stretch of ghostly sand on all sides. Some distance away, a turgid ocean stretched.
She sat up, already knowing what she would find.
Sea Sister waited by the shore, sodden and storm blown as ever.
“Shit on everything,” Mercy said. “What now? Haven’t I seen enough weird things lately?” Not real, she reminded herself vehemently. This wasn’t real. Somehow, that comforted her not at all.
The apparition opened its mouth, the muted screaming distorted and faint.
Sea Sister!
“Yes,” Mercy said. “I know! The same thing you have said for over thirty years! What about it? Are you choosing to be extra annoying just because it is Hungry Ghost Festival soon?”
Sea Sister lifted something: Cobra Lily’s jacket. The sleeves bore the same snake patterns as other triad members’, but with the addition of entwined lilies on the shoulders, and a large white lily over the heart.
“That’s not yours,” Mercy said. “Where’d you get it from?”
