“It’s not that.”
I could see the tips of Josie’s ears redden as she turned to face me. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s just, Horus has been hinting that I might be offered a new position, and now I think he had it all wrong. I think he meant you.”
“When were you going to tell me?” I snapped. I told her everything and as soon as I could. Now I was feeling foolish and wondered what else she didn’t feel the need to share with me.
“He said I should keep it to myself, that it was confidential.”
“Right, and you don’t bend the rules like I do. I forgot.”
“Oh, Lana. I’m sorry. Really, I’m happy for you. Tomorrow’s poker night. We can celebrate.” She shrugged and went to pull up another sail.
“Lana Harvey?”
I turned around to find another reaper on our deck, Coreen Bendura. She was a second generation reaper and proud of it. The last time we had spoken had been at Saul’s memorial service.
Saul Avelo had been my mentor and a first generation reaper who didn’t carry the holier-than-thou attitude around like most of the older reapers did. He was also the only reaper to ever die during a harvest. Coreen had been his first apprentice, and that was the only reason I had a shred of respect for her.
“Can I help you?” I would play nice. I was being watched, after all.
“Grim sent me to supervise you for the day,” she said with a smile and lifted her chin. I don’t know why she bothered. Being half a foot taller gave her plenty of distance to look down at me from. She was waiting for me to refuse so she could lecture me on her seniority. I was glad for my meeting with Grim now. Had he not told me I was up for a promotion, I would have told Coreen to hitch a ride to Hell with someone else.
“Of course,” I replied, mirroring her nasty grin.
“Docket please.” She held out her hand, and I dropped my clipboard in it.
I would control my temper. She was going to press every button I had. It was okay though. I knew where her buttons were too. The fact that I was up for promotion had to be eating at her far worse than Josie. That alone kept me in check.
“Where do you keep your souls?” Her short, cropped curls stayed perfectly flat as she darted her head from side to side, looking around our ship with a disapproving eye. She could make all the faces she wanted. I knew we had a solid ship.
“Nine in the sea, twenty onboard, and seven in the hold,” I answered.
She looked down at me and frowned. “Do you mind if I verify that?”
“Be my guest.” I fought the urge to point her overboard, and instead waved my hand towards the sailor’s quarters. She hurried off with her nose in the air.
“Lana, you haven’t broken any rules that I don’t know about, have you?” Josie whispered as soon as we were alone.
“Do you think I’m that stupid?” I snapped. “Grim told me I was being reviewed. You think I would do something that might get you in trouble when I know I’m being watched?”
“You really want me to answer that?” Josie laughed.
Coreen came out of the sailor’s quarters and opened the hatch to peer down in the hold. She hadn’t brought any souls on with her, so I figured either Grim didn’t give her any for the day, or she had someone else take them. It was also possible that all her souls had gone into the sea. She was heartless enough to handle that much despair.
“Everything appears to be in proper order,” she announced as she poked her narrow nose down in her record book to scribble a few notes. “We can depart whenever you’re ready.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” I gave her a salute and freed us from the dock. My mind was already racing with a dozen ways to make her wish she had never stepped foot on our ship. This was going to be fun.
Chapter 4
“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
-Thomas Jefferson
The streets of Limbo were peaceful come Tuesday morning. After Coreen’s visit, I was thankful for the day off. The quietness of the city was mostly due to the fact that the Three Fates’ employees were working. The stores were open and empty of people. I had to force myself not to skip. When you’re immortal, life’s little joys tend to lose their kick over time. Shopping is one of the few things I still cherish, along with over-sweetened coffee and John Wayne movies.
A Roman god was out walking a lion and a small parade of angels ducked inside Purgatory Lounge. Athena swept the stoop outside her shop, while next door, Artemis set up a display of leather quivers overflowing with bouquets of magnificent arrows, the fletching on each one unique and artfully detailed with polished gems and feathers of rare birds.
“Josie would love these.” I sighed and brushed my fingers over their soft tips.
Artemis smiled. “They would make a lovely Samhain gift.”
I had to be careful around the goddesses. They were old and wise, but their beauty made me forget sometimes. The average soul didn’t stand a chance against them. They could sell holy water to a demon if they wanted.
“You know we don’t celebrate your holidays.” I stepped away from the arrows and ran my hand down the length of a leather hunting cape.
“Oh, that’s right.” Artemis paused and tucked a golden curl behind her ear. “What do you reapers celebrate?”
“Not much, really. The only annual event of importance we have is the Oracle Ball,” I said, thinking how nice it would be if gift-giving became a part of the affair.
The Oracle Ball was a glamorous event in Limbo. It was like the Oscars for deities, and since it was hosted by my boss, I got an invitation every year. Grim’s office was the tallest building in Limbo, and every year the ball was held on the roof.
Limbo hasn’t always been a charming and orderly city, and Eternity’s territories and borders haven’t always been defined. Despite what religions teach, it was actually humans, or their souls rather, that created the gods.
The soul is a powerful and mysterious thing. It’s so powerful that it emits a substance that is the very stuff that created not only the gods, but Eternity itself.
When the afterlives first appeared in Eternity, there was no order and they sloppily overlapped each other, causing a great deal of friction among the gods. It wasn’t long before everyone in Eternity was at war. Millions were slaughtered before the gods finally called a meeting and signed a peace treaty. Territories were determined, and Limbo City was founded in the center of Eternity as its governing point.
When the War of Eternity finally ended, the Afterlife Council was created to ensure peace. They worked together and found a way to concentrate and confine the excess soul matter so the established territories wouldn’t be disturbed by some new afterlife or god popping up unannounced. A yearly date was decided upon to remind everyone of the treaty and to distribute the accumulated soul matter, and the Oracle Ball was born.
“Too bad.” Artemis frowned. “You know, that’s this weekend. I haven’t even bought a dress yet.”
“I need to find one too.”
“I’m having a sale,” Athena shouted to us.
It was a perfect day for shopping. The dressing rooms would be all mine.
“Apollo, will be arriving tomorrow,” Artemis whispered with a grin. “Does Josie have a date for the ball?”
“I’m not sure.” I didn’t know how close she and Horus were becoming, but I didn’t want to make her the center of any goddess gossip.
“You should take her out to Purgatory tomorrow night. Don’t tell her Apollo will be there. Let it be a surprise,” she whispered lower to keep Athena from overhearing.
“Sure.” I wondered how Josie had become so popular with the old gods lately. Was there something I had missed?
“I guess I better go pick out a gown.” I looked over my shoulder at Athena, who blushed and ducked inside her store.
“If you see anything green and sparkly, tell her to hold it for me,”
Artemis laughed and went back to arranging her display.
It was cooler inside Athena’s Boutique. The air was thick with perfumes, lilac and rose. Mannequins wrapped in tulle and lace danced and waved at me from their pedestals. Athena’s sales had doubled after she enchanted them. I guess some customers liked to see how the gowns looked in motion. I found the models creepy and distracting. Last fall, I had commented on how soft a particular sweater looked, only to have the wooden dummy take it off and hand it to me.
Athena was busy hanging a sign in the front window to advertise her sale. By the time she closed, every dress would be gone.
“So, do you know if any more reapers will be coming in this year?” she asked as she stepped away from the window to inspect her sign.
“Four, under K.”
“To K already? It feels like just yesterday that you arrived. How long have you been here now?”
“Almost three hundred years,” I groaned.
Originally, Grim had been the only reaper, but since he played such a significant role in containing the excess soul matter, he was allowed to use a portion of it every hundred years to create more reapers. You could tell what year we were born, or made rather, by the first letter of our last names.
My last name was Harvey, meaning I was an eighth generation reaper. Josie’s last name was Galla, making her a seventh generation, born a hundred years before me. She pointed that out as often as she could.
“Any guess on who is being voted in?” Athena eyed me hopefully.
“Not a clue,” I answered. So my boss ruled Eternity. I was just one of his underpaid peons. Like he’d ever tell me anything that important. Five of the ten council members were at the end of their hundred year terms, and the new members would be announced at the ball.
“Do you have a date?” Athena was just full of questions. It didn’t surprise me. She seemed to know everything, and you don’t get to know everything without asking a few questions first.
“No. I’ve been too busy to even think about a date.”
“Maybe you’ll meet a nice boy there.” She always referred to us as though we were children. She had been around so long though, I could see why. I wasn’t sure of her exact age, but she was a goddess. Goddesses never seemed to age.
Athena’s own serene beauty revealed none of the hardship or wrathful nature she’d experienced in her prime, when she was known more for her war tactics than her weaving. Her legendary shield baring the head of Medusa leered at me from its glass cabinet, high on the wall behind the register. Even though Athena had relocated to Limbo and passed her days more peacefully now, she wanted to make sure that no one forgot she was Zeus’s first daughter and had a heroic past to prove it.
“How about something blue this year?” She turned to one of the racks and pulled down a dress. My breath caught. Thin black lace lined the strapless gown, above and below the bust, and then met in the back to form an elegant bow. An elaborate mass of vertical folds covered the bust, while the rest of the material flowed down to the floor in smooth perfection. A hint of black lace peeked out from under the gown. I had to have it. I could tell Athena knew from the pleased smile spreading across her face.
“Go try it on,” she urged, laying the gown in my arms. I choked down my excitement and turned to find the dressing rooms. They were upstairs.
At the back of the shop a spiral staircase led up to a balcony overlooking the dresses below. A dozen oak doors lined the wall behind the railing. I entered a room as big as my entire apartment and hung the gown on the door hook. The walls were a pale gold with a design of darker leaves in each corner. Beyond a jungle of mirrors, a plush couch rested against the far wall.
I slipped out of my jeans and tank top and pulled the gown over my head. Cool silk brushed my skin and came to rest just above the soles of my boots. It was a perfect fit. The royal blue brought out my slightly darker eyes and complimented the pearly undertones of my complexion.
I sighed in awe at my reflection, and then frowned, wondering how much it was going to cost me. Athena already knew I would buy it. She was a clever woman. I had to have this dress.
I opened the dressing room door and stepped out on the balcony. “What do you think?”
“You look gorgeous,” a masculine voice called back. Maalik waited at the counter with a smug grin.
“What are you doing here?” The words spilled from me before I realized how hostile they sounded.
“Same as you, I imagine. Looking for something to wear to the ball.” He laughed and plucked a mint out of a dish by the register.
Instead of the white robe I was used to seeing him in at the gates of Hell, he wore a pair of navy jeans with a matching vest, split down the back so his massive wings weren’t smothered. They fluttered gently as his eyes flicked over me with amusement. He pushed a dark curl away from his face and began fingering through a rack of robes.
“Here we are,” Athena sang as she bounced through the doorway behind the counter. She carried a robe to Maalik. It was the same royal blue of my dress. Crap.
“Don’t you look lovely?” Athena sighed, turning her attention to me.
“How much?” I snapped. I needed to get out of there fast.
“Oh!” She frowned at my sour expression, but quickly recovered with a smile. “Let’s see. Its retail is six thousand, but with the sale I’ll cut it down to four, or,” she added, seeing me flinch, “if you could make a delivery for me to Summerland, I could take it down to three.”
“Deal.” I resisted the urge to tell her I’d pay the retail price if she would find Maalik something not in blue. I had been rude enough.
“And I’ll buy it for you if you’ll be my date,” Maalik called out as I turned around. Okay, maybe I hadn’t been rude enough.
“Sorry, I have a date.” I forced a smile at him over my shoulder.
Athena raised an eyebrow, and then understanding my sudden mood change, she grabbed an emerald robe off a rack and shoved it at him. “This robe is nice too, and it’s on sale as well.”
“I think I’ll go with this one,” Maalik replied, his eyes still glued to me.
I ducked back into the changing room and slammed the door. This was just great. I finally got a day off, and I had to run into him. What was he doing in the city so early anyway? The ball wasn’t until Saturday. He was probably expecting me to ask, but that wasn’t going to happen.
I quickly changed and put the dress back on its hanger. So what if Maalik bought a matching robe? The dress looked too good on me not to buy, and I really didn’t have time to shop for a different one, now that I had to find a date as well. I sure as hell wasn’t going with him. Maybe I could bribe Gabriel into going with me. Of course, the fact that Gabriel was on my ship half the time I made deliveries to the inferno was probably the reason Maalik thought I had a soft spot for angels in the first place.
I sighed, draped the dress over my arm, and stepped out onto the balcony. Maalik sprang out of the next room. I jumped and threw a hand over my heart while he did a quick spin.
“How do I look?” he asked, stretching his wings as far as they would go before folding them against his back.
I remembered to breathe. “I don’t think Athena’s capable of making anything that would make you look bad,” I said as flatly as I could manage.
“Is that your backwards way of saying I look good?”
“Of course you look good. You’re an angel, and you’re wearing the work of a goddess. How else could you look?” I darted past him and down the stairs.
Athena waited by the register with my bill. She gave a sympathetic smile as she charged my Bank of Eternity card.
Debit cards were a relatively new feature in Eternity. They made it easier to carry around more money, but you couldn’t travel with them like coin. Our coin is like nothing from the human realm.
At the beginning of each work day, when reapers are assigned souls to collect, we’re given one coin. The value of the coin can be seen not only in the co
lor, but also the tally marks along the coin’s edge. Each time we use the coin to jump between realms, the color changes and marks disappear. A jump from Limbo to the human realm ranges between thirty and eighty marks, depending on the exact coordinates. When a coin looses all its marks, it becomes a base coin and has to be returned to Bank of Eternity for respelling.
Athena handed back my card. “I’ll have Arachne leave the package on your ship Friday. It’s just a few things I’d like to take with me for Samhain. Dad says he’s gonna give my temple to Hecate if I don’t show up for the festivities. Arachne will be watching the store while I’m gone.”
From the myths, you wouldn’t think Athena and Arachne were friends. It was rumored that they entered into a fierce weaving contest, and when the goddess lost, she turned the boastful maiden into a spider to teach her a lesson. Athena claims it was only a practical joke, that she let Arachne win so she could take her to Summerland as an apprentice and left a spider in her place to tease the humans.
I signed the dress receipt and turned to find Maalik waiting behind me. He had changed back into his jeans and now carried the new robe over his shoulder. Confidence resonated off of him like a sticky, sweet cologne. He leaned in closer until I could smell the mint clicking between his teeth.
I took a shallow breath, trying to cool the heat creeping over me. This was why I hated pretty boys. He knew he looked good and that he was out of my league, but he rubbed it in my face all the same, even going so far as to assume I would fall over myself at the chance to be his date for the ball. The jerk. Staying a safe distance away and pretending not to notice him was the best I could do. But when he was this close, my common sense didn’t just take a back seat, it was gagged and thrown in the trunk.
“I guess I’ll see you at the ball.” I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace.
“Save a dance for me,” he purred.
He was far too cheerful to be the keeper of hellfire. I think I would have felt more at ease around him if he carried the solemn-servant-of-God aura around like every other angel I knew besides Gabriel.
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