Drag Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page B

standing on tiptoe, like a meerkat on the lookout for predators. Then he made a beeline for Coyote. His face scrunched in confusion, he handed him the phone.
    “It’s for you.”
    Coyote looked at him and took the offered phone.
    “Hello?”
    “Has he found you?” It was Eshu.
    “The Englishman?” He glared over at Richard. “Yes.”
    “Don’t lose him.”
    “Why now? I don’t have time. Someone has stolen my penis. I’m going to find who took it and make them pay.”
    Silence.
    “Then keep the Englishman with you. His name’s Dick. He’ll do until you find your own. Meet me in the diner. You know the one. Don’t forget your Dick.”
    As Coyote hung up, he could have sworn he heard Old Man Shu laughing.
     
     
    C OYOTE SAT DOWN in the booth next to Richard, who was looking at a large burger, fries and a malt shake that the waitress had just delivered at Shu’s request. Richard had been surprised to see Shu, but mollified by the offer of food. He still regarded the two men with suspicion, but he hadn’t eaten since yesterday and he was starving.
    “What the hell am I doing here?” said Richard. “Who the hell are you people?”
    Shu pointed to his plate. “Eat. You will need it. It will anchor you.”
    Richard found himself tearing into his meal.
    Coyote ate nothing. Normally he could be quite a glutton, but he was preoccupied.
    “Is this important, or did you just want to stuff your faces?” he asked, arms folded. “I have things to do.”
    Shu sighed.
     
     
    S HU LOOKED AT Richard. His old life had been stripped away. He’d unwittingly undergone a symbolic death and now here he was sat before them with nothing. He was ready to be reborn into their world, one that was a shadow of its former self, a twilight world of gods and monsters. Richard now stood on the edge of a precipice—a Fool, with a coyote at his heels. The image amused him.
    First, though, Richard needed to experience the shock of a rebirth. There was nothing like being dropped in at the deep end for that.
    “Richard?”
    “Huh?”
    Shu clapped his hands in front of Richard’s face.
     
     
    I N A MOMENT , Richard’s world was unmade. The cosy consensual reality that humanity had constructed to protect itself was ripped asunder to reveal the things that circled just beyond its perception. Gripped by a vertiginous terror, Richard experienced the world as it truly was, a place of the unknown and unknowable. There, outside his comprehension, things moved, and an unintelligible roaring filled his ears.
    Just as suddenly, the world righted itself. The roar dissolved in a clatter of cutlery and chatter as Richard’s default awareness reasserted itself.
    “The fuck!”
    Richard found he’d scrambled up into the corner of the booth, as if someone had just lit a firecracker under him, his heart pounding against his ribs. Muscles tensed, fight or flight. Fear etched on his face. The rest of the diners were staring at him.
    Shu gave him a reassuring smile and coaxed him back down onto the seat. “Sit. Sit down. Eat. The food will ground you.”
    Hesitantly, Richard slipped down onto the leather bench.
    “What... what the fuck did you do? What was that?”
    “A metaphysical jolt. I shifted your perceptions momentarily. I showed you a glimpse of our true aspects, our power, of the world as it is. Some call them emanations, others frequencies. I just turned your dial. If it helps, think of it as a weave, a tapestry. Most of the time, mortals just see the pretty picture. I showed you the underside: the stitch work, the knots, the ties that hold it all together. ”
    Richard clutched the table, his knuckles white. Condiments rattled on the table as he shivered violently. “What... what the fuck are you?”
    Coyote cocked his head and looked hurt. “I’m Coyote,” he said, as if that explained everything. He sighed. “I’m a being of the creation myths. You call us gods, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
    Richard shook his