The Edge of Madness Cafe (The Sea and the Wasteland Book 2) by Mark Reynolds Read Free Book Online

Lucas said softly. “You’re full of shit.”
    “Do you know what it is
to spend your entire life trying to find a place then spend the next twenty
lifetimes trying to escape it?” Goose Man gestured sharply. “Don’t answer that;
it was rhetorical. There’s no possible way you could know what I know; see what
I’ve seen. You can’t stay alive for two thousand years and not pick up a few
tricks. The last time I walked this Earth—well, one of the Earths, anyway—I was
a messiah. Now I’m nothing but a damn peeping tom, a voyeur, an impotent wretch
trapped outside the glass, looking in.”
    “Got passed over for a
promotion once, too,” Johnny said, misunderstanding. “Went home, got
piss-drunk, and threw up. Called in sick the next three days straight. They
gave the job to some Cornell bitch ten years younger’n me so they could meet
quotas. An MBA doesn’t mean a damn thing. I was in the trenches. The job
shoulda been mine. ‘Stead, some bitch gets the job ‘cause I wasn’t born with tits,
an’ I’m supposed to feel guilty for that. Shit’s unfair.”
    Goose Man only smiled, but
Lucas knew. This wasn’t about a corner office or stock options. Goose Man really
figured he was a god , maybe even the God. And the fact that he
was a bum in a junkyard really, really pissed him off.
    “You been stalking that
girl from the bookstore,” Matty said with a sly look. “Hanging out on her fire
escape and staring at her while she sleeps. You’re just a perv.”
    “I’m her protector, her guardian !”
Goose Man said, offended. “God’s a romantic and a caffeine junkie with a bad
sense of humor and no sense of fashion, so I’ve inherited the job from the
guardian I had killed.” He issued a brittle laugh that sounded only partially
sane. “But she’s the key, you understand. The one that opens every door and
every lock. That’s why I have to protect her. I wonder if he even knows I’m here.”
    “Who?”
    But Goose Man ignored him.
“I’ll bet he thinks he killed me. Probably has forgotten I even exist anymore.
But he hasn’t forgotten her.” Goose Man’s left hand tightened on the scrap of
paper held to his breast like a letter from a lost love, and almost to himself,
he murmured, “Oh no, he has definitely not forgotten her.”
    “And you think she’s
gonna help you?” Lucas asked.
    “No, definitely not. I
expect if she knew I was alive, she’d kill me herself. Put a screwdriver in my
throat or something. But she’s got the ticket to ride, gentlemen, and I have to
be ready the moment that whistle blows because when that train pulls out, I
intend to be hanging on like a June beetle stuck under the windshield wiper.”
    Lucas shook his head. One
moment, coherent; the next, a babbling lunatic.
    “No, she won’t save me,” Goose
Man went on. “But she’s my only means of salvation. I try to keep close to her,
keep her safe in this world so that she’ll be alive and well when Jack comes to
his senses and tries to rescue her. I’m sure he will; I just can’t tell when.
So there I am, day or night, rain or shine. I’m the goddamn postman. I watch
her when she works, when she eats, when she sleeps—”
    “Seen her naked?” It was
Cho who asked.
    “As a point of fact, yes,
but that’s unimportant. I’m above carnal impulses now. Until Jack saves her, I
have to save her from herself.”
    “Great. You’re a liar and
a pervert.” Still Cho. “Can we get rid of this fucker?”
    “Proof,” Goose Man
declared loudly. “That’s it, isn’t it? You need proof!”
    Lucas tipped his head,
feeling hot, his skin starting to itch. It was time to end this. “Sure,
asshole. You think you’re the motherfuckin’ messiah, prove it. Make a miracle,
or we throw your ass out.”
    Goose Man cocked his head
to one side. “What would you have me do? Wrestle the devil in a pigsty, feed
the masses with loaves and fishes, or maybe you have some gruesome notion about
poking your finger in the