He made derisive sound of annoyance rather than answer anything so inane; when was the last time he'd been sober long enough for withdrawal? his own mind ticked over, rusty clockwork stirring itself back into working order. Long enough ago for fixes to be purer than today's, more long-lasting, long enough hence for Lizzie Gryffiths to be bright-eyed, all-too-enthusiastic naive thing. Long enough hence for -- Laura. A roil of too-exposed intestines, of wanting to shit himself liquid or vomit, something between the two that sat and shuddered in the middle of his spine. Had she been there? Was that what was back-of-memory bright, supernova-lit by his own memory. She'd been there, she'd been somewhere.
"Let's pretend you've got something useful to say beyond the carping, mammary-laden shrewery you have up your sleeves," thrusting himself up on his elbows hurt like being splintered apart on the rack, on all medieval torture devices, like being confined in the Gem's basement with the woman whose smile was a shade too close to homicidal for experimentation's sake. "Was someone else there? Was," --she-- "Were they all right?" Urgency snaked into his voice like the Russians made vodka, obvious and blunt -- was Laura alive? Magic, had to be, anything that fucked you seven ways from Sunday was magic in this town, but magic could bring you back, couldn't it? Not that he wanted it.
Lizzie was slick-sick smile, was composure as if she were interviewing a fucking MP with scandal tucked up her sleeve to set down on the table like a case of cigars and hadn't anything useful in her bird brain to give. Saul tucked away, oh that's useful, magic had shivered its way inside his skull and veins, had been better than opium haze even in the early days (he'd been far-off somewhere, inky-dark and quiet, pleasure shaking out of his bones to bleed through all the awful places)
"Try asking better questions if you want the answers, Gryffiths, haven't you learned bribery's better than torture?" Acid spilled forth, old-familiar taunting bile and that was better, that was more familiar.