Whether the thing was dead or not, we made it to the kid’s house. Such as it was. If there were parents, they weren’t in evidence.

“I’m getting out of here,” he informed me as soon as he arrived. “Out of DC. Take the greyhound, get off wherever.”

I wondered if it would help him. “There are worse plans.” Staying here certainly wouldn’t. Staying here hadn’t helped him so far. “Go somewhere where there aren’t as many people.”

He nodded, heading inside. Thea pulled up next to me, no doubt clued in by her friend. “I’ll make sure he gets to the station.”

“Your friend killed it.”

“Nah. Those things don’t die. She slowed it down. For long enough for it to lose him. Then we’ll work out how to send it back. Need a witch.”

“Is that all we need? I think I know where to find one.” Bruce. I hated to involve him, but I bet he knew somebody who knew how to banish fairies.

“Just be careful.”

I smiled at her. “When am I not?”

“Most of the time.”

I scowled at her, but it wasn’t that serious. What did she expect? I was a kid, for all that I was accusing other people of that. “I’ll make sure it’s somebody we can trust.”

“That’s all I ask.” And then she was offering the back of her bike to the junkie. He accepted, and the two roared off.

He had to be desperate. Taking rides from strange women. But then, Thea was easy to trust. She gave off that air of being a woman who wouldn’t hurt anyone. I now had to get out of the hood without being beaten up for being the wrong color.

Couldn’t blame them, really. They could honestly blame so many of their problems on white people. I put on my best ‘don’t mess with me’ walk and headed back towards the Green Line. It worked, at least to start with, but it kept me from relaxing. My muscles stayed tense.

People did get shot in this neighborhood. Bad things happened here, and very few good things, and at least I was better off than them.

Better people trying to kill you than the sense of no prospects that flowed around me. Small wonder there was violence, and drugs, and kids younger than me getting pregnant. What else did they have?

Nothing, that was what. At least Kanesha was trying. Or maybe she was just luckier. She’d called herself lucky. Lucky to be away from her parents.

I made it safely to the metro, but didn’t really breathe easily until I was on the train.