She took another sip, grimaced, drank some more. Taking her time. She didn’t know how long it would take Charlie to find it, if he found it at all. And even if he did, would he know what to do? Everything was a long shot now. All guesswork. The odds, she knew, were not in her favor.

“That’s it,” Nabler said. “Over the lips, past the gums, look out stomach, here it comes.”

Very slowly, she drank the contents of the glass and handed it back to Nabler.

“How does it feel?” he asked.

“Very . . . cold. It wasn’t cold when I drank it, but now that it’s inside me, there’s like this freezing that’s spreading all over the place.”

Nabler nodded. “That’s good. That’s what you’re supposed to feel. Do you feel sick to your stomach at all?”

Annie thought a moment. “No. Just cold.”

She was feeling something more than that. A clarity of vision, as if all her senses were slowly sharpening, becoming heightened. It was ever so slight, but she was becoming aware of every part of her body, right down to her toenails. The din of the running trains—

ChuffchuffCLICKETYCLACKclicketyCLACKwooWOOchuffCLICKETYchuffCLICKETYchuffWOOchuggachuggaclackclicketyCHUFFCHUFFclicketyCLACKwooWOOchuffCLICKETYchuffCLICKETYchuffWOOchuggachuggaclackclicketyCHUFFCHUFFclicketyCLACKwooWOOchuffCLICKETYchuffCLICKETYchuffWOOchuggachuggaclackclicketyCHUFF . . .

—lulled her into an almost trance-like state.

“Let’s give that a minute to work its magic,” Nabler said. “I have a little of that every day.” He grinned. “Not available at Costco.”

There was a lightness, too. Was this how it would feel if you were on the moon? Annie thought. Not weightless, but as though there was less of you than there was before.

“Okay,” Nabler said. “Come to me.”

“What?”

He opened his arms wide. The vest filled with railroad patches was gone. It was hard to tell whether he was actually wearing anything at all now. Was there a trench coat, as she had imagined? If there was, it was melding with the thin, bristly fur that covered him. She took note of his leathery hands, the long fingers with black nails.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s just a hug. No more and no less. Don’t worry.”

She allowed herself to drift into his arms, and as her body touched his she felt overwhelmed with the stench. That fruity potion she could handle, but as he slowly folded his arms around her she was reminded of that first apartment she and John shared. There were rats in the building and the super had put out poison. The creatures had feasted on it and then died in the walls, the stink of their decaying corpses coming through the drywall and the paint, and there wasn’t enough Air Wick in the world to get rid of it.

Annie began to gag.

“It’ll pass, it’ll pass,” Nabler said reassuringly. “Think about what’s to come. Think about the powers you’ll have.”