28th January

12:09 GMT -5

I look at Ms Bowen's… Shrine. The centrepiece is the skeletal remains of a snake with a wigged mannequin head replacing its skull.

"Shit."

"It's just that the book said that she was the Queen of the succubi-."

"How long?"

"Ah..?"

"How long ago did you make your pact with Triskele?"

"A little over a year ago..?"

And the angels went after me in preference to her, for.. reasons. No, reassure her, then stick her in a.. heavily warded box somewhere… What is Triskele doing these days, anyway? I don't remember seeing her last time I was in Hell, and that was a grand mustering of everyone important. I'll need to check, and I suppose that she's a little above Ambrose's challenge rating. Welsh John? Yes, he'll be the man to talk to.

"Then we've got a little time."

"W-what do you mean, a little time?"

I don't want to interfere with this setup. I'll need an actual expert in demons to examine it. I hope that John doesn't mind making a trip.

"Triskele is impatient. She'll give you things, but never for longer than five years."

"So… So I'll just forget everything I learned about magic?"

"No, you'll be pulled bodily into Hell. I don't suppose you remember the exact day, do you?"

"Pulled-? W-? Day?"

I turn away from the shrine and face the clearly terrified woman. "You've done something very stupid, but we might be able to fix it."

I can see the tears start trickling from her eyes. Not regret, just fear, nearly drowning out everything else.

"I'll-I'll-I'll do anything!"

"Good show. That might actually be enough. So here's what you need to do right now: give me the contact details for everyone you've given doses of Devil Jizz to. Get the book, get any of your staff still on the premises to hand themselves peacefully over to the police and to cooperate fully. Now."

She nods, then hurries back up the stairs towards the offices.

I raise my left hand to my ear.

"Ring, call Welsh John."

"Compliance."

Now that I'm inside the building, looking through the walls at the emotional resonances of the other people here is easy enough. Ms Bowen's fear is swiftly shared by her employees, while her own dims slightly as she begins to organise them.

"John here."

"Good afternoon, John."

"Paul. Hope you don't want to take another trip into Hell."

"No, I'd like to avoid that. But I do have a related problem."

"Angels again?"

"An idiot who sold themselves to Triskele."

There's a brief pause. "Triskele, 'Worm Queen of the Succubi' Triskele?"

"That's the one."

"Well, they're fucked then, aren't they?"

"I hope-."

"Yeah, okay, I'm mostly thinking as a street magician rather than the owner of the Tower of Fate, but… Shit."

"Yeah. Do you mind coming and taking a look at what she's been up to?"

"I suppose I better. Where are you?"

"Leesburg, Virginia. If you report to the local police, they'll be able to point you in the right direction. I'll let them know that you're coming."

"Did you know that I'm authorised to use the League's zeta tubes?"

"I.. didn't, but since they're still in cover-up mode regarding Nabu I suppose that it makes sense. They're pretending that you're your predecessor."

"As long as they don't want me to show up to meetings."

"They've got Doctor Balewa for general magic advice. But don't be surprised if someone raises the subject eventually."

"I don't think it's up my street."

"Then say 'no'. But they still need high-end magic users."

"I don't know I'd call myself that. I'm better informed than I was, but I'm not all that much more powerful."

I frown. "The helmet-."

"It's a powerful talisman of Order. And I don't have to tell you how well dealing with Order has worked out before. I'm getting stronger, but it's going to be some time before I'll feel comfortable joining a body like the Justice League."

I nod. "I've been meaning to ask. I've been thinking of you as 'Welsh John'-."

"Despite the fact that I'm not Welsh."

"Do you know how many blond magicians I know? Anyway, if you can just tell me what your surname is, I can-."

"Quinn. It's Quinn. It's a bit funny, actually: I was born in Liverpool and moved to London, the same as Constantine. I ended up leaving rather than settling like he did, but our careers actually have quite a lot in common."

Wait. Does that mean that he's a near-reboot I just missed? A character I didn't read about? They did something like that with Captain Atom when they created Breach, and Ambrose and a man named Willoughby Kipling were Constantine stand-ins. There might well be more I haven't heard of.

That makes a surprising degree of sense. It would also open the possibility of moving him out of Vertigo; a proper John Constantine would be far too unheroic to be put in a television series or film or a mainstream comic. Though they did do that stupid Keanu Reeves thing…

"I.. hope you've got a smaller body count."

"Yes, but I've had more resources to draw on than he has. You know, speaking to a few of his friends, I've actually started to.. understand far better the sort of man he is." There's a momentary pause. "Okay, Leesburg. Got it. I'll be with you within half an hour."

"See you then."

I hang up on him, then connect back into the police and team channels.

"Okay, the woman in charge is surrendering, and she's agreed to talk."

"What did you offer her?"

Chief Clayborne sounds like he's waiting for me to drop a bomb on him. Which I suppose that I am, but not in the way he expects.

"Protection from her own stupidity. She's agreed to hand over all records in exchange for us -by which I mean my team- breaking the pact she made to learn how to make Devil Jizz."

"She was the source?"

"So she says, though we won't know for certain until an expert takes a look at her setup. I've already called him in."

"Is he a priest?"

"No." I smile. "Doctor Fate. You did want a Justice League member."