The Night Beat

undead you don’t have a lot of pet options.”
    “True. For some reason, werewolves and hellhounds find others having dogs as pets somewhat demeaning. Daemon cats and feline familiars feel the same way. Undeads aren’t big on horses -- most of us can move faster on our own, and those who can’t usually prefer a smoother form of transportation. And so on. So, yeah, white worms are popular pets.” So were spiders, snakes and bugs, but only with Dirt Corps and their ilk.
    “Is it true that animals are afraid of werewolves?”
    “When faced with a hungry werewolf? Yeah, they should be afraid. But it’s like zebras and lions. If the lion’s full, the zebras are wary but not panicked. Same concept.”
    We reached the cemetery and drove through slowly. It was quite large -- Prosaic City wasn’t small, housing several million souls, and the National Cemetery was the main cemetery for the city. It was placed on top of Necropolis’ Evangelical Quarter. I was pretty sure someone on the undead side had influenced that decision. It made the cemetery a much safer place to be than it would have been normally. It also made undead transitions for those interred there easier. Not all humans who died became undeads, but Monty was always looking for talent and really, ghosts created themselves.
    Jack’s questions were causing my migraine-inducing double-vision. So I saw a solemn, lovely, well-kept cemetery sitting on top of the roofs of every kind of religious shrine known to human-, undead-, and all otherworldly-kind. If they were a good god still unalive and kicking, they had a shrine in the Evangelical Quarter.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. “Jack, you need to slow down on the questions. I have to concentrate on our problem at paw. Hand. Whatever.”
    “Okay. Is that you concentrating or are you seeing both worlds at the same time again?”
    “The latter.”
    “Sorry.”
    I opened my eyes. Good. I could only see the spires from some of the larger shrines, temples and churches sticking out of the ground. I could also see Ken and the others gathered around the largest tomb in the place.
    “It’ll pass. Let’s really focus on the human stuff for right now. Because potentially the Prince and/or a wide variety of his stronger minions are wandering around in the human plane with intent to destroy and conquer.”

Chapter 23
     
    We reached the group and I did a quick nose count. In addition to everyone I was expecting, Black Angel Two was with us as well. I got the impression they’d replaced Martin’s escorts because they gave the impression they were more than willing to exterminate with extreme prejudice should anyone look at him cross-eyed.
    “Who’re the chicks?” Jack asked in a low voice.
    Great. I knew I didn’t want female angels around him. “Black Angel Two.” I bit the silver bullet, gave them a smile, and made the introductions. “Miriam, Magdalena, this is my partner, Jack.”
    They both eyed him. “Externally…I approve,” Miriam said, right before she turned away, presumably to watch Martin’s back.
    Magdalena gave him a longer look. Then she smiled at me. “I think he’s a keeper. If you can keep him alive, that is.”
    “Ah, nice to meet you both,” Jack said. Then he sidled away to stand next to Monty and pet Rover.
    I followed. “What’s up with you?” I didn’t really want to hear about how hot and awesome Miriam and Magdalena were, but I figured it was better to get it over with now.
    “Are all female angels Amazons?” He didn’t make it sound like a good thing.
    “Well, no, but when humans become angelic they alter. Not just the wings and all, but there are other changes.”
    “Those two were humans? Ever?”
    “Yeah. From what I’ve been told, they weren’t quite that hot when they were alive.”
    He shook his head. “Define ‘hot’. If you mean scary and emasculating, they’re smokin’. If you mean someone a guy would want to go to bed with, ah, not really.”
    I tried to sniff surreptitiously. If someone was telling a whopper of a lie, there were usually telltale signs, and their body odor was one of them. I didn’t smell lying on Jack -- I smelled fear. He was afraid of Black Angel Two? I was both pleased and concerned. “Angels are normally considered the most attractive undead species in existence.”
    “Really? Well, I’ll be sure to keep an eye on you around Martin and any other male angels.”
    “Martin remained pretty much himself. He had the