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“You think the man cut up the bodies?” says the Shonin.
“Him and his friends, yeah. My guess is those meat piñatas were volunteers. More Angra zealots.”
“They wanted to be cut up like meat?” says Candy.
I nod.
“Yeah, but they didn’t see it that way. The feeling I got from Hobaica—that’s your dead man—is that he and his pals wanted to be hacked up like those bodies. They thought if they sacrificed themselves right they’d be reborn as bouncing baby Angras.”
The Shonin laughs at that.
“They’re even dumber than you.”
“Did he actually tell you he cut up those bodies?” says Wells.
“I wasn’t taking a deposition. These are all just impressions I got from a shell-shocked dead man on his way to Hell.”
“Is that all?”
“Some of the body parts clumped together and made new bodies. There were caves they might have drifted into. Everything was on fire.”
“It sounds like the realm of the Flayed Heart,” says Shonin.
“It was.”
“Zhuyigdanatha likes underground places,” says Shonin to Wells. “If there’s a larger Angra group, you might find them there.”
Wells shifts his weight from one foot to the other.
“What caves are we talking about? Carlsbad Caverns? A salt mine in Louisiana? Lascaux?”
The Shonin pours out the muck he gave me. Puts water and green tea into the pot and places it back on the burner.
“These were California boys, so it will be a California cave that connects, at least on a spirit level, with the Flayed Heart’s dwelling place.”
I start to say something, but don’t. I know some caves nearby, but if the Vigil doesn’t know about them I’m not going to tell them yet. I need to check with someone first.
Candy is slumped on a metal stool on the other of the room, away from everyone. She’s pale and fidgety. I go over to her.
“You all right?”
“I’m fine,” she says. “Just let me sit here.”
“I can take you home if you want.”
“I’m fine. Okay?”
I nod.
“Okay.”
“Stark,” says Wells. “You know lowlifes. Any of your pixie friends like to spend their time underground?”
“What makes you think the Sub Rosa or Lurkers have anything to do with this? Angra worshipers are mostly lily-white civilians.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
I look at the Shonin.
