I follow him up the steep stairs to the second floor. The door to Jimmy’s is closed, but it opens when Jack gives the wood panels a push and then we step into the pool hall.

Jimmy’s turtle-blood. I’ve heard it said that he carries the world on his shoulders—you know, like he’s that turtle, took on the weight back in the long ago, when Raven brought everything into being. Maybe it’s true. Maybe the good-natured owner of the pool hall was actually there when time and the world began and accepted the responsibility from Raven. I don’t know. What I do know is that for as long as I can remember, there’s been a pool hall, an inn, a tavern—some establishment where the cousins can gather that’s called Jimmy’s. And waiting inside, there’s always this same thick-set man with a half-smoked cigar sticking out of the corner of his smile.

He says hello to us with a nod, like he just saw us yesterday, and starts to draw two pints without our having to order. But that’s not magic. This time of night, what else would we be here for?

“There’s my friend Joe,” Jack says. “Remember I told you about him?”

He nods toward the other end of the room where a tall man in jeans, cowboy boots, and a leather vest is talking to a half-dozen men who all have the dark skin and sleek, jet black hair of the corbae clan. A long black braid hangs down to about the middle of his back. Most of the men he’s with are crows, although one’s a rook, a little shorter than the others but wearing the same black shirt and jeans as the rest of his companions.

Jack reaches into his pocket to pay for our beers, but Jimmy waves the money off.

“First one’s on the house tonight,” he says.

“Thanks,” Jack tells him, then turns to me. “Let me introduce you to Joe. Hell, he might even have some information for us. Sooner or later he hears about pretty much anything that happens in this city.”

So I follow him to the back of the room where we come in on the tail end of something his friend Joe’s saying. We’re too late for the details, but it’s enough for me to pick up that he’s looking for someone, too.

“Who’d you lose?” Jack asks.