The Demon and the City

did I do this? The dowser panicked. He should have done what that bitch Tserai had suggested and risen above it, let it rest. Hate had blinded him to consequence. In fright, he clutched at the old broker's arm.
    "Can I stay here tonight in the temple? Will that be permitted?"
    The broker detached himself with distaste.
    "I imagine that for an appropriate consideration . . ."
    "Of course!"
    Paravang rummaged in his pockets. He gave the broker a handful of notes. The old man looked at the money as though Roche had handed him something old and dead.
    "I suppose this will have to do. But what will you do after tonight? You can't stay here forever, you know."
    Paravang nodded mutely. Senditreya save me . . . He turned a pleading gaze to his goddess, bowed his head to the floor and spent the first and only night of his life in prayer.
     

Thirty-One
    It took some time for the permit to enter the Night Harbor to come through, during whichZhu Irzh fretted and chafed. Chen remained closeted in Sung's office for almost an hour, leaving the demon in the company of the precinct's indifferent coffee and the badger, which stared unblinkingly at Zhu Irzh with a gaze like a winter's night.
    "What's the matter with you?" the demon asked.
    "I watch, only. You are a creature of Hell," the badger said in its thick, slow voice.
    "What of it? You hardly hail from the Celestial Realms yourself."
    "I am a creature of Earth," the badger said.
    Zhu Irzh frowned at it. "You really care what happens to Earth? To the human world? They haven't treated you very well, have they? You have to stay as a teakettle half your life."
    "It is my nature," the badger said. "Earth and metal. I was forged from the elements of human world. It is as it is. I do not complain."
    "You don't normally talk so much," the demon said.
    "There is not normally much that I wish to say," the badger replied.
    A moment later, to Zhu Irzh's relief, Chen returned.
    "Well, the captain's taken care of," Chen remarked. "He was all set to send you straight back to Hell."
    "Sung is always set to send me straight back to Hell." The demon grimaced.
    "This time more than usual. You're not proving to be the model cop, Zhu Irzh."
    "I had numerous citations in my previous job!" Zhu Irzh said, stung.
    "Quite so. And now you and I are going to the Night Harbor. The permit's arrived."
     
    Zhu Irzh had no feelings either way about the Night Harbor. He neither liked it nor disliked it. He saw its necessity, whilst considering it something of a nuisance. Everything to do with it seemed so drawn out and tedious, compared with the comparative ease of shifting between Hell and Earth. However, he was compelled to admit that the majority of humans and, indeed, entities did not enjoy his own family connections and thus there was some need for a kind of clearing house for the majority of the world's population. And the Night Harbor did have its charms. You saw some interesting sights—particularly those unfortunates who had recently departed their bodies and retained the semblance of their last moments of life. Zhu Irzh had once glimpsed someone who had been entirely flat: some kind of industrial accident, no doubt. But he could never get to grips with the place; it shifted about even more elusively than Hell itself.
    "At least we know what Deveth looked like," Chen said, as they entered the long, low building that housed the entrance to the Harbor.
    "Not if she's still got her final appearance in the body. Still, as I think I said to Ma, all we'll have to do then is to look for someone who's minus their face."
    "There can't be that many people in such a condition," Chen remarked.
    "Who is to say? The Night Harbor is an odd place."
    The young man at the reception desk of the Night Harbor had the air of one who is convinced that he is meant for better things. The sulky, handsome face congealed with disdain as he set eyes on Chen and the badger, mixed with wariness when he saw Zhu Irzh.
    "We have a permit," Chen said, and handed it over. The young man stared at it grudgingly, as though hoping to find something wrong with it. But the paperwork was in order. At last the young man gave a martyred sigh and said, "You'd better go through, then."
    Zhu Irzh could feel the young man's stare as they stepped through the double doors into a kind of airlock that led to the Night Harbor itself. "What's his problem?" he muttered to Chen.
    "Minimum wage, probably. Hell doesn't pay very well. Not if you're a