They came around a corner, where a large truck had pulled up to the curb beside a bookstore. A couple of guys were unloading bricks of the morning’s Tribune.

“You ever save the world, kid?â€? Blake asked. They stopped next to a stack of newspapers on the sidewalk. A guy was unlocking a newspaper vending machine in front of the store while another guy was getting a trolley ready to take stacks of newspaper inside. “We just did something epic and odds-defying, and there won’t be one word of it on the front page. But we’ll know we did something tonight.â€? He turned his head to the kid he was propping up. Simon was looking at the stack of newspapers, his face turning a funny color.

“Gh – wh – fuhwa –“ he said.

Blake smiled. “C’mon kid, you can hardly expect the papers to report that a succubus was prowling the streets of Chicago and opened a door to Hell.â€? The kid’s naiveté was amusing. Had he ever been that young, Blake wondered.