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everything is normal again – or at least as normal as it ever gets in my life.
    This time was no different. The three of us stepped out of an open doorway not much different from the one we’d entered. Transitioning between dimensions is disorienting for humans, but less so for Incubi, at least when it comes to arriving in Nod. They always know where they are there. So the instant I closed the Door behind us – which was set into a wall of a large brick building – Jinx said, “This is an alley in Soma Street. We’re in Newtown, about…” He considered a moment. “Four blocks from Oldtown.”
    I gave a small sigh of relief and sent a prayer of thanks to the First Dreamer. Nod is big , and we might have ended up a lot farther away from the Rookery, so that delivering Quietus into the Shadow Watch’s custody would have been more problematic.
    “Let’s go,” I said.
    We both still had hold of Quietus’ arms, and I kept my M-blade pressed against his side. We moved cautiously out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. The negators were as effective in Nod as on Earth, but I wasn’t about to relax my guard around a master assassin.
    Incubi don’t have to sleep, so Nod is busy all the time. (I was going to say 24/7, but since it’s always night there, measuring time isn’t one of the Incubi’s priorities.) Pedestrians – mostly Incubi with a smattering of humans here and there – thronged the sidewalks.
    Some Incubi are human-looking in appearance, but most are creatures straight out of the deepest, darkest, most twisted levels of humanity’s collective unconscious. The sort of distorted monstrosities that would make the toughest Earth cop or soldier mess his or her undies. Hell, I’ve worked for the Shadow Watch for years, and I still get squicked out by the sight of the more hideous Incubi. It’s times like those when I’m glad to have a psychotic nightmare clown for a partner. He’s enough to give even the scariest-looking Incubus pause.
    Most of the Incubi we passed were bare-necked, meaning they weren’t wearing negator collars and so were free to use whatever special powers they might possess. But around one in five were collared, and not with the temporary field negators like the ones we’d slapped on Quietus. These were permanent collars, made of thick silvery metal and welded closed. These were criminals, Incubi who’d broken the laws set down long ago by the Nightclad Council, and as punishment had their powers negated for varying lengths of time, depending on their sentence. And if that wasn’t punishment enough to prevent them from committing further crimes, they then would be sentenced to Deadlock Prison. I might not always be comfortable with sharing the streets with the more nightmarish Incubi, but I’d gotten used to it, more or less. But I don’t think I’ll ever become accustomed to seeing criminals walking around free. I’m always on edge when I’m in Nod, senses alert and ready for danger. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I’m still alive.
    There are few vehicles in Nod, so the streets tend to be used as pedestrian overflow, especially by those Incubi too large to fit comfortably on the sidewalks. Occasionally, a rider on horseback, a carriage, a car, or some unidentifiable contraption created by the dreams of a mechanically inclined Ideator will go by. But in general, most people get around by what Shakespeare called shank’s mare – unless they have special abilities that allow them to travel in more convenient ways.
    Most of the Incubi shot us dark looks as we passed. As you might imagine, the Shadow Watch isn’t the most popular institution in Nod, and it didn’t help that I recognized some of the Incubi as criminals that Jinx and I had captured.
    The atmosphere of Nod is breathable, thanks to the unceasing efforts of the Unwakened, but the air has a thick ozone tang that I find unpleasant. Jinx refers to it as eau de électrique chair, and I had to admit