Death's Apprentice: A Grimm City Novel by Gareth Jefferson Jones K. W. Jeter Page B

against the frame to keep from collapsing. Through the dull haze blurring his senses, he was vaguely aware of footsteps inside, heading toward him.
    “What—” Opening the door, the veterinarian, still in his bloodied lab coat, raised a hand to keep Blake from toppling in on him. Revulsion showed in the upcurled corner of the vet’s mouth as he surveyed the dirty figure, red pooling on the doorstep. “Get the hell out of here!”
    “Please … help…”
    “This isn’t a hospital—” The vet pushed the door against Blake. “If you’re in trouble, go find an emergency room.”
    “Can’t…” Wedging himself between the frame and the edge of the door, Blake rummaged in the pocket of his overcoat. “Here…” He pulled out a wad of cash. “I can pay…”
    Eyes widening, the vet took the greasy bundle from the beggar’s hand. “What’s somebody like you doing with this kind of money?”
    “That’s … not your business…” He could feel his head swimming, as though the last of his blood had been drained from it. “Just help me…” Digging inside the coat again, he pulled out another wad of money and pressed it into the vet’s hands. “That enough? I got more…” Another wad of bloodstained bills joined the others. “All you want … doesn’t matter…” He dug into the coat once more. “Don’t need it…”
    A small mountain of cash filled the vet’s cupped palms. He stared at the wads in amazement, then slowly nodded. “All right,” he said, holding the cash tight against the bloodied front of his coat. “I’ll get you fixed up. Come on inside.”
    From seemingly miles away, the building’s door closed somewhere behind him. Blake let the veterinarian steer him down a corridor lined with filthy cages. The stick-ribbed animals they held regarded the two men with mournful resignation.
    “Let’s get a look at you.” In the surgery room, the vet dragged a larger table under the fluorescent light. “Get up here.”
    “I can’t…” Blake gripped the edge of the chrome table. “Can’t … make it…”
    The vet got a hand under his filthy arm and strained to lift him. Blake got a knee up on the table, then rolled heavily onto his side.
    “You get into a fight or something?” The vet lifted one side of the blood-soaked overcoat, then dropped it. He staggered back into the wall, startled by the raw, red flesh he had just glimpsed. “Good God—you shouldn’t even be alive—not like that!”
    “Tell me … about it…”
    “It’s … it’s joined to you…” The vet leaned forward, staring in mingled revulsion and amazement at what he saw. With one cautious fingertip, he prodded what seemed like an open wound running down from Blake’s chest. The vet’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the bloodied flesh respond to his touch, quivering as it pulled the coat’s wet fabric along with it. “Like … it’s all one piece. Like it’s part of you or something…”
    “It is,” Blake said through gritting teeth.
    “How is that possible ?” A horrified fascination was evident in the vet’s eyes as he wiped his hand on his lab coat. “How’d you get this way?”
    “Long … story…”
    “It must be, I’ve seen corpses in better shape than you.” The vet recovered himself enough to be able to lift the edge of the coat once more and peer at what lay beneath. “Whatever it is … I need to get it cleaned up first.”
    “No…” The matted dreadlocks dragged across Blake’s shoulders as he slowly shook his head. “Just … sew it back together…”
    “But you’ll get septicemia if we don’t disinfect it—” The vet bit his own lip, hands tightening into knots. “If you haven’t got it already, that is…”
    “That … won’t happen…” The beggar shook his head again. “Just … patch me up…”
    “Okay, okay…,” muttered the vet. “But don’t blame me if you don’t pull through…”
    Blake hissed with pain as the veterinarian stroked