Bugsy seemed to be waiting for him when he approached the aces. Marcus asked, “That woman, what happened to her?”

“Joey?” Bugsy asked. “Also known as Hoodoo Mama. Tesseract happened to her. Bit off her finger.”

“Hoodoo Mama, that’s right,” Marcus said. “And … Wait. Tesseract? You mean Mollie? The bitch that snatched the jokers and brought them here?”

Bugsy swiped his longish hair away from his face. “That would be the one. See how desperate we are?”

“Damn,” Marcus said. His eyes found Joey again. She was seated now, with medical aides buzzing around her.

“Too right,” Bugsy said. “She’s a real piece of work on the best of days, but from what I hear she’s pretty much batshit crazy. Which is a problem since she’s pretty much the only ace in this deck that Babel really had a plan for. Possible savior of the world, but she’d rather bite people’s fingers off. Joey’s not getting that finger back, either.”

Marcus kept staring at her, feeling the shape of an idea turning to face him. When he had it, he said, “Actually, I think maybe she could.” Without another word, he turned and slithered toward Joey and the swarm of activity around her. He got as near as he could, pausing to watch a doctor snap on his rubber gloves.

She said, “Let’s have a look.” She gently peeled the wrapping from around Joey’s hand, ribbon by ribbon until the bloody mess of it was revealed. One finger was cut clean away. The stump pulsed blood that immediately began to trail down her wrist. “Is there any way to get the missing digit?”

“No,” Joey said. “It’s fucking gone.”

The doctor inhaled. “Sorry to hear that. We’ll get this sterilized and—”

“Hoodoo Mama!” Marcus called. But that sounded weird, like it might be an insult. “Or, Joey … Look, this is going to sound strange, but you gotta come with me.”

She looked up and through the people attending her. Her face was raw and bruised, the flesh above her eye torn ragged and oozing. A nurse dabbed at it with a bit of gauze, but Joey yanked her head away. To Marcus, she said, “You’re IBT, huh? I been meaning to look you up. Next trip up to Jokertown, I thought, but no. Fucking Kazakhstan instead. Believe this shit?” She paused, her attitude slipping. “You ain’t exactly seeing me at my best.”

“I’ve got someone you need to meet. He’ll make you feel better.”

“Are you for real? Do I look like I’m up for it? Another time, sure, but—”

“No, I mean I know someone who could heal you. Like really heal you. Give you your finger back.”

Joey’s eyes narrowed. “Nigga, you playing with me? I don’t stand for being played. You got a pretty face, but I won’t hesitate to have some old shriveled up Russian zombie fucker eat your face off.”

“No, I swear it. I know a jo—I mean, I know an ace that can do it. I’ll take you to him.”