| |
“If you age with somebody, you go through so many roles - you’re lovers, friends, enemies, colleagues, strangers; you’re brother and sister. That’s what intimacy is, if you’re with your soulmate.”
—Cate Blanchett
UNLIKE THE PROPERTY around the manor, Hades’ palace was a good three miles from the nearest coin-travel zone. A luxury chariot driven by a pair of black horses had been sent to pick us up, a veiled lampad at the reins. The same chariot took us back to the gate after we’d said our goodbyes.
I waited until Bub and I had coined back to our front yard before having my meltdown.
“Did you know about the hellcat attacks?” I demanded, kicking my heels off the second we reached the stone steps leading up to our front door.
“Vaguely,” he admitted, offering his arm for balance as I rubbed my aching toes. “A lampad at the farmers market last week mentioned a hellcat crashing one of their parties in the grove. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It’s a rare occurrence but not entirely unheard of.”
“And you didn’t think to say anything to me about it?” I snatched my hand away from him to gather up my shoes by their stabby, stiletto ends.
Bub grumbled under his breath. “You were already uptight about tonight’s dinner. I didn’t want to make things worse.”
I huffed and stalked off ahead of him, climbing the stone steps to the porch. Rupert opened the front door. His eyes widened at my skewed expression, and he pressed his back against the foyer wall as if trying to blend in with it as I stormed inside.
“Maybe we should consult the Pythia and see if she’s had any visions about where Tantalus might be found,” Bub suggested as soon as he caught up to me in the living room. I spun around and pointed my shoes at him.
“Absolutely not. It’s December. She’s more Maenad than oracle right now.”
“Then talk to Morgan,” he said, opening his hands as if it were that simple.
“That’s not an option either.”
“It’s not about restoring the throne anymore—”
“I know,” I hissed. Rupert peeked around the corner but darted back out of sight at my tone. I wouldn’t have thought twice about having this discussion in front of Jack, but our new butler was still adjusting to Bub’s ire. He didn’t need mine right now, too.
“I know,” I repeated more evenly before heading for the staircase that led to our bedroom. Bub followed a few careful steps behind. He wasn’t done with me yet.
“You do know what happens if Hell is unleashed on the mortals, don’t you, love?”
“Why, are you going to demon-splain the apocalypse to me?” I glared at him over my shoulder and ducked inside my walk-in closet. Bub stopped in the doorway, leaning against the jamb as he watched me undress.
“I just think you should understand the risks of your hesitation,” he said casually as if he weren’t accusing me of wanting to watch the world burn.
“Hesitation?” I wadded up the silk dress and threw it in his face. “I sought out every soul on the Fates’ list today! I danced and sang and acted like a complete ass to satisfy Hecate—who they clearly sent to supervise rather than assist, seeing as how not even her witches can see her without doing the midnight hokey pokey and turning themselves around their altars. So don’t preach at me about hesitation, mister.”
“You’re doing exactly what’s expected of you. No less, but certainly no more,” he countered, pausing to hook the expensive dress over a hanger. “If you really care about solving this, you should be seeking assistance from your most knowledgeable allies—like Morgan.”
“I can’t go to Morgan,” I insisted, throwing my arms wide. Standing in nothing but my lacy undergarments made it sound more as if I were complaining about having nothing to wear.
“And why not?” Bub’s brow scrunched in confusion. “You saved her life—her soul. Is a little advice too much to expect in return?”
“I can’t go to Morgan because it would violate the terms of my sworn boon to Una,” I confessed. “Do you remember the deal I struck with the faerie queen the night Winston and I rescued you from the rebels?”
Bub swallowed but nodded his head. “I hadn’t realized you’d fulfilled your favor to her yet.”
“It was right after Grim attacked the throne realm. I was only able to save Naledi and Morgan.” My breath quivered at the memory of the carnage. “When I took Morgan back to the faerie coast off the Sea of Avalon where she’d be safer, Una said that we were even so long as I never returned.”
“I see.” Bub’s jaw flexed, and he snatched a wool coat from his closet. “Well, I made no such promise. If Una can’t be arsed with you, she can have a kerfuffle with me until she sees reason.”
“You’re leaving now?” I opened my arms again, my racy underthings spelling out a completely different complaint this time. Bub gave me an appreciative once-over even as he tsked.
“There will be time for all that after you save Eternity.” He pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead and then slipped out of the room, where I couldn’t follow unless I wanted to give poor Rupert heart failure.
I reached for my robe. If I were quick, there was a chance I could stop him before he reached the coin zone out front. But then a better idea came to mind. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a pullover sweater instead.
Bub was right. I could be doing more.
Not that he’d like my idea of what more entailed, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
––––––––
TASHA HENRY SPLIT HER time between a haunted beach house in Miami and a memorial park in the Bahamas. Not as low-key as I would have played things had I been on the lam, but she was sneaky enough to pull it off. It was also how she’d reconnected with me after going underground when Grim went on his killing spree.
There had only been a few sightings, but they were always somewhere near the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. Anytime a harvest found its way onto my docket for one of those regions, I sent Kevin and Eliza off on their own to do a morgue roundup. A hurricane salvage finally put Tasha back on my map. I’d been dropping off care packages ever since.
When I arrived, she was dozing in a poolside lounge chair. The underwater lights glowed a haunting blue and sent dancing shadows over the entire patio. A fluffy pair of black cats sprawled over Tasha’s chest and stomach, purring in time with her snores. My sudden appearance sent them into an alarmed frenzy, hissing and snorting as they clawed their way out of the nap mound and into the pampas grass surrounding the patio.
“Uhhhh,” Tasha groaned as she inspected the damage to her rag of a band tee shirt.
“Sorry.” I grinned innocently. “Isn’t that distressed look all the rage right now?”
“Fuck you.” Tasha rolled her eyes and lifted the shirt to check how well her stomach had fared after the kitty exodus. A deep scratch above her navel oozed blood. More stained her shirt. “Wonderful.”
“I’ll bring you some fresh clothes next week,” I promised.
There hadn’t been much time for planning, but I’d at least stuffed a few bags with nonperishables from the pantry—cuing a panic attack from Rupert. He’d be making an extra trip to the grocery store soon.
Tasha stood and accepted the bags from me. She dumped them onto the counter of a tiki bar sandwiched between an outdoor shower and a hot tub and began taking inventory, sorting the canned goods and boxes onto the empty shelves behind the bar. The homeowners were likely gone for the season, back to whatever big-city job afforded them the summer getaway.
“Prunes? Really?” Tasha made a face at the box and tossed it into the pampas grass, cuing another round of startled noises from the kitties.
“I don’t know how those got in there,” I said, wondering if Rupert’s fussing was more about me hijacking his snacks—unless Bub had a dried fruit habit that I was unaware of. “So, how are things?” I asked, changing the subject like a normal person before casually adding, “Come across any hellcats on this side lately?”
Tasha turned to gape at me, a candy bar hanging like a cigar from one side of her mouth. She had another clutched in her hand, but she stuffed it into her back pocket and bit off the end of the one she’d been trying to inhale before swallowing hard.
“Why? Do you see one out there?” She shot a nervous glance at the dark beach in the distance.
I shook my head, trying to soothe her anxiety. “No, I just meant—”
“Then what kind of fucked-up question was that?” she snapped.
“So you have seen them.” My heart kicked with dreadful anticipation. “The Guard is trying to eradicate the hellcats on the mortal side. The beasts have been slipping through gaps in the fringes of several underworld territories. It’s becoming a real problem. The nephilim have suffered dozens of casualties, and we even lost two reapers today.”
Tasha was clearly spooked, but she brushed it off as she did most things—with a shrug and a snide remark. “You wanted to make an omelet. Behold, the broken eggs.” She stuffed the half-eaten candy bar into her mouth and turned back to the dry goods.
“I don’t regret breaking the throne,” I said defensively. “I’m only sharing this information with you because I thought it might be useful. This could be your chance to petition for a pardon. Reapers Inc. is in desperate need right now.”
Tasha snorted. “Are we talking about the Reapers Inc. run by the backstabbing bitch who offered me a pretend pardon the last time I helped out?”
“That was different.” I grimaced, not fully believing the claim myself. “Jenni didn’t do that out of spite. She tried to convince the council to exonerate you.”
“But she didn’t help you bust me out, did she?” Tasha finished her sorting and folded her arms over the tiki counter. Her lethal gaze bore into mine, daring me to lie to her. I needed a different angle.
“Look...” I rested my hands on the back of a barstool and lowered my voice. The dead had ears—and, theoretically, even some of the living could hear me. “The council has me searching for original believers again,” I confessed, drawing a gasp from Tasha.
“You’re going to restore the throne?”
“No, they think installing resident sinners in the breached afterlives will fortify the borders. That’s the council’s Hail Mary plan, anyway. They have me working with Hecate. The Fates gave her permission to off the three chosen original believers early.”
“Whoa.” Tasha blew out a stiff breath. “That is serious. Which souls are you hunting?”
“Judas, Zaynab, and Tantalus.”
“Good luck with that, precious. They all sound like demon bait.”
“I could really use your help,” I said.
“No, what you could use is a grenade launcher.” Tasha cackled dryly, but then the humor melted from her expression. “These hellcats...they’re not the cute, fluffy kind that Caim and Seth played fetch with. They’re bigger and louder. Like dragons with lion heads.”
That was the second mention of hellcats that looked like lions. I filed the detail in the back of my mind for later and refocused my attention, doubling down on my current objective.
“So, you have experience with them. All the more reason you should help. We could take your petition directly to the council this time,” I offered. “Demand that they publicly acknowledge your pardon first.”
She loosed a grumbling sigh. “What makes you think I want to go back to Limbo City?”
“Come on, Tash.” I waved my hands around the patio. “Are you honestly enjoying this? I know you’re not exactly a people person, but don’t you ever get lonely?”
The corners of her eyes pinched, and I worried that I had struck a nerve. But she recovered quickly with a sad smile.
“I may get lonely, precious, but at least I’m free.”