More than anything, I wished Jake hadn’t gotten involved, but I wasn’t sorry I’d met him or Alex. I don’t know what kind of relationship we can have, any of us, not yet. Alex and I are waiting to see what the Elders say, and Jake is in a Metairie hospital, recuperating from a “wild animal attack” that supposedly happened in the flooded wilds of St. Bernard Parish. He won’t speak to either his cousin or me. Alex says he’s trying to come up with a rational Marine Corps–approved explanation for everything that happened.
Good luck with that. We’ll have to talk to him before the next full moon. If he turns fanged and furry, he’ll need our help.
I wished Katrina had never happened, that the city I love so much hadn’t been so broken, its spirit so damaged, its naïve joy replaced by sorrow and cynicism and anger. Yet I know a lot of things I’ve come to love since the storm would never have been in my life without the pain.
Katrina took, and she gave.
I opened the box and said a prayer for Gerry as I flung his ashes into the calm, indifferent waters of Lake Pontchartrain.
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK
NEW YORK
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
ROYAL STREET
Copyright © 2012 by Suzanne Johnson
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Design by Ellen Cipriano
eISBN 9781429988476
First eBook Edition : March 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johnson, Suzanne, 1956–
Royal street / Suzanne Johnson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2779-6
1. Wizards—Fiction. 2. Serial murderers—Fiction. 3. Voodooism—Fiction. 4. New Orleans (La.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3610.O38335R69 2012
813’.6—dc22
2011025187
First Edition: April 2012
Royal Street Page 30