Page 37 of Throwing Shade
“Yeah. I turn down their skin off their bodies and then leave a small chocolate next to their glistening intestines,” he said.
“Are you joking?” I said, uncertainly.
Laurent grinned evilly and dragged Rupert into the elevator. “There’s no chocolate.”
Refusing to smile, I ran a finger over the wall and fired off a price that was forty percent of the original.
Our haggling grew fierce, until we arrived at a number that was doable with some creative budgeting on my part.
“I can live with that,” I said. “Do we have a deal?”
“D’accord. I’ll do it. And you’re right that time is of the essence.”
“So, do you know where Jude is?”
“No, but I’ve got a reasonably good guess who took her. Successful golem making is a lost art.” He propped Rupert against the wall. “This may be the break I’ve been looking for on a different case.”
I crossed my arms. “You’re using my problem to solve something else you’re investigating and you have the gall to charge me? Mercenary jerk.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, then he shrugged. “You’re not the first person to think that. You won’t be the last.”
I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck, wondering if I should apologize. Why shouldn’t he get paid for what he did? I opened my mouth but he met my eyes for a brief second and then turned abruptly away.
Was this moody wolf really my best bet? I cleared my throat. “Why is golem-making a lost art? Can’t anyone with animator abilities make one?”
“Anyone with animator ability can make clay move,” he corrected, “but giving them sentience is a lot harder. That makes Jude a valuable commodity.”
“Not just sentience,” I said. “Emmett prophesized something.”
Laurent shot me a grim look. “You sure?”
“Positive. Why?”
Rupert plopped over sideways, and I knelt down to prop him up.
“You know the old myth about the Philosopher’s Stone?” Laurent said. “Turning metal into gold?”
“Sure, alchemists were determined to find a way.”
“There’s a similar desire around creating the perfect golem. Since they are alive and yet not born, some believe it’s possible to create one who isn’t locked into seeing only the present and past like we are, but the future as well.” He shook his head. “It’s foolish and dangerous.”
I shared that belief, but felt compelled to defend my best friend out of loyalty. No one got to dis her but me. “I’m sure she didn’t intend any harm.”
Laurent snorted and manacled Rupert’s wrists to cuffs that were attached to the wall by thick chains, long enough to allow someone imprisoned to pace inside the elevator car.
“Don’t do that. It’s barbaric.”
Laurent tugged on the chains. “There’s a dybbuk inside him.”
“I knew it!”
“But he’s not fully possessed yet.” Laurent sat down with his back against the wall and his legs outstretched. “Get it out.”
“How?”
He looked at me incredulously. “Work your magic.”
I shook my head, walking backwards out of the elevator. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know anything about dybbuks. Stop fucking around, help this poor man, and then let’s make a plan for finding Jude.”
