Chapter 8 — Player of Pawns on Chicago Chronicles

The Knight Moves — Tuesday, January 29, 1991, 5:01 PM

Tue, 29 Jan 1991 17:01:00 +0000

Gold Coast / North Michigan Avenue / Succubus Club

Chicago, Illinois

Twenty-five degrees on Astor Street and the brownstones absorbed it into their limestone without complaint, and the trees along the median were black calligraphy against a blacker sky, and Sable walked the last half-block at 7:45 PM with her coat pulled tight and her breath visible (which was theater, because she didn’t need to breathe, but a woman who didn’t produce vapor in January attracted the wrong kind of attention).

The Wrath of Dimitri — Tuesday, January 29, 1991, 5:01 PM

Tue, 29 Jan 1991 17:01:00 +0000

Succubus Club

Chicago, Illinois

The Succubus Club ran warm on Tuesday nights. Half the usual crowd, mostly regulars who knew the upstairs was quieter midweek and came for it. Twenty-five degrees outside. Trace snow against the Wabash Avenue windows, the kind that made the street lights look bruised but never accumulated.

Annabelle was already seated in the private booth when Darius arrived. White wine in front of her, untouched. Pearls. The particular stillness of a woman who had been calculating something before he walked in and would resume calculating something after he left.

The Vampire Shaman — Tuesday, January 29, 1991, 5:00 PM

Tue, 29 Jan 1991 17:00:00 +0000

Erie Street, the Gap District Chicago, Illinois

The block between Erie and the car was narrow, hemmed by garbage cans and a shuttered optical shop, a fire escape overhead that had not moved in years. Thirty-eight degrees and falling. Wind off the lake pressed through the Gap District with weight behind it. Darius had the collar up. Two blocks between him and the car, on foot, a habit older than Chicago.