by Box Set
I sat on the couch. Elizabeth stood silently by the door, watching us, but she kept her distance from the man who'd held her soul in his skeletal hand.
"Jesse has failed the program. I'm recommending she be returned to your possession effective immediately."
"Oh? I thought she was very eager to join your program."
I nodded, picking up one of the little tea biscuits Death had set out. I nibbled on a corner, resisting the urge to moan in ecstasy. Death could bake. Well. "She was very eager to join my program. But since then, I have continually had to reprimand her for lackluster performance, and just the other night I sent her after two escaped asuwangs before they made it into society. They escaped and took four of my souls with them, but Jesse hasn't been seen since."
"And she wasn't taken by the sea witch?" Death's skeletal fingers steepled under his chin and the red eyes watched me.
"We don't believe so, no. My souls have said they can still feel her nearby."
"If you revoke her access to the program and she refuses to come back, she will join limbo. You realize this, correct?"
Limbo was the space between our world and the afterlife. Souls in limbo can't move on. They're trapped in a certain area. Basically, the ghosts that people see haunting buildings and terrorizing the general population? Those aren't my ghosts. Those are limbo souls. They can't communicate unless they're super powerful. They can't eat, they can't feel. All they can do is wander in their area for eternity. And yet, many souls choose that path because they're too afraid of the other side to move on, or they're too tied to something here to let go. It's a very sad thing, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Even Jesse.
I glanced at Elizabeth. She nodded once and disappeared, fading in and out of the Death's domain as easily as she did my own.
"Any other reports to make?"
I nodded, eager for this one. "Yes. A good one. Don was critically injured in battle. I freed him from the demon, and he raced right back in to fight. He was then taken by the asuwangs when Jesse failed to stop them, and when I freed him from its shell, he helped kill it. He is always one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. I believe when his period of probation is up, he should be allowed to move on to the other side." I nodded toward the light over Death's shoulder. His home stood in the crossroads of the gates of hell and the stairway to heaven.
Death's eyes brightened. He liked it when souls were saved. It didn't please him at all to send people to an eternity of suffering. I wouldn't mind our meetings at all if it wasn't for the screaming in the background and the stiff formality I had to take on when I talked to Death. He took his Soul Agents very seriously.
Elizabeth returned just as the dogs did. I could feel the little cottage shaking with each giant step. "Navi," Elizabeth murmured as I went to follow Death outside. "Jesse has not been taken, but she refuses to come in."
Death paused, looking over his shoulder at her. This close, I could see the skull hidden in the folds of his robe. It was clean and bright white. "She knows the consequences of her actions?"
I felt Elizabeth tremble beside me, the air quivering around her. But she raised her chin, my brave warrior. "Yes."
He nodded sadly. "I will send the hounds. If she refuses them, I have no choice but to remove her access to the otherworlds."
The hounds would be busy today.
My potential new recruits waited outside, some standing nervously, hopefully at attention, watching me with eager eyes. Some lounged about, and some glared at me with an inexplicable fury. Ghosts can't hide their emotions. Especially not here. They don't have enough energy. "You, you, you, and you. You may leave. Enjoy your stay in hell." I dismissed all the angry ones right away. They were a waste of my time, and I could feel that the sun would be rising soon.
After they left, I faced the remaining souls. Probably about thirty of them, which would really help my flailing army. But I knew not all of them would work for my program. It was a sad thing.
"My first question for you: Who here is interested in my program? Please show me by raise of hands."
All of them but two raised their hands. I nodded. "You two may go." I watched as they turned and wandered off, lost souls in every sense of the word as they tried to follow the big hound leading them back to their cells. "For the rest of you. I will explain what your probationary period will entail. Then I will explain what is possible if you do well versus what will happen if you do not do well. At that time, I will take any questions you may have and then offer the position to those of you who I feel are right for the program."
I pushed my hair over my shoulder and faced them. One of the men who had been lingering near the back spoke up. "You're awful young and small and"—his eyes roved up and down my body—"pretty to be leading an army. Why don't you leave that to the men?"
I sighed. There was always one. "I've been doing this for over ten years. I have never lost a battle. Furthermore, it is not left to the men because men can't see demons unless someone opens their eyes for them. If we waited for that to happen, we would all be dead. On top of that," I growled, "if I left this up to the men, we would never win this battle. Only women can wield the swords of the soul and sing the call. I will thank you to keep your questions until the end."
He snorted. I looked over at Death and shook my head. Sad, I was losing too many recruits and I hadn't even told them the scary part yet. Death motioned to his hounds, who nudged the man away. No one argued with the giant hell hounds, especially when they had the power to tear a soul to shreds.
Because souls were already dead. So they couldn't die again, they would just endure the pain. For eternity.
"Okay, Basically my program works like this. We are assaulted on a regular basis by demons known as asuwangs. They're controlled by a sea witch who has taken the lives of many, many humans and not a few Agents. My army of souls fight off the demons before they can make it through the gate and into town. If a soul is taken by the asuwangs, he or she is kept by the sea witch until the time she uses the soul as a shield to come to shore and attempt to make her home in the sun to feed off the flesh of the innocent. Before the sun rises, the souls can be rescued, but once the sun hits them, they form a nearly impenetrable shield and are unable to be freed at that time."
I met each of their eyes. Yep, I'd scared them all quite a bit. I brought out my big, innocent puppy dog eyes. "However, with a strong enough team, the chance of getting taken is slim, and if a soul performs well during the probationary period of three months, he or she will be released to move on. No more fire, no more brimstone."
Indecision warred on each and every face. And this is when I brought in my secret weapon. "This is Elizabeth. She has been fighting by my side for many, many years. She was given her freedom after her three month probationary period for outstanding service, but she chose to remain here and fight alongside us."
Now they gaped. If the situation wasn't so tense, if I didn't need them so much, it would have been amusing to see all the translucent mouths hanging open. "And I would choose this path again," she said quietly, but loud enough that they all heard her.
"Any questions?" I asked brightly.
An hour later, I escorted twenty-seven souls back to the surface to meet the rest of my team.
I stood on the beach and stared down at the water. "Sea witch," I murmured, "I'm waiting for you."
Chapter 35
"Where are you going all..." Terrie gave me a once over. Reese, from her spot at the computer, rolled her eyes and went back to work. "Dressed up?" Terrie finally finished.
I was exhausted. The meeting with Death had taken all night long, and after that I hadn't slept well.
Stupid Alec.
But. I reminded myself there was a but. I had done this before. I had missed sleep and had nightmares and cried. And I had gotten thought it. I would do it again.
So, yes. I was tired and I looked like crap. These things couldn't be helped. "Has... has anyone called or... or anythin
g?" I asked, feeling my cheeks redden. Obviously, we all knew who anyone was.
"No, Navi. And honestly, if you look like that, I don't know why you'd expect them to." Terrie didn't even try to soften the blow with a smile or anything.
Well. Ouch.
Reese sighed. "Konstanz was talking to someone for a few minutes last night but I didn't see who. Seriously, Navi, where are you going in sweats that don't even have cute words across your butt?"
I abhorred sweats that had cute words across my butt. They made me uncomfortable. "I'm having lunch with Bryson," I called over my shoulder as I practically scampered down the hall to my room. Konstanz was lying on her bed, neatly made while mine, across from hers, was still a disastrous mound of tangled blankets.
"Hey. Did..." My voice failed me, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "Did Alec stop by last night?"
Konstanz didn't look up from her tablet. "No, honey. I'm sorry."
My shoulders fell. I hadn't even realized I was so tense until she didn't give me the answer I was hoping for. I let a breath out in a strangled whoosh. "Okay. I just wondered... Reese said someone stopped by."
"Oh. Yeah, it was the delivery guy but he had the wrong house. I had to argue with him about it for, like, ten minutes."
I heard the knock on the door and caught sight of Reese leaping over the coffee table to answer it. "Okay. Ready for lunch with Bryson?"
She rolled and shoved herself to her feet. "Yep. Aren’t you going to get dressed?"
"I am dressed."
Her eyebrows both shot up and a faint pink tint colored her cheeks. "Oh. I... I didn’t even look."
Right.
Bryson's sports car was small, and every time we hit a pothole the bottom scraped, and he had to slow way down for little teeny bumps. I wasn't a sports car girl. I was a truck girl. Or, ya know, a jeep girl, since that's what I drove.
"How was your meeting last night?" he asked, steering carefully over the gravel on the road.
I tried not to wince. "It was good. Lots of new recruits. Exhausting though. I'm not sure I'll be very good company."
"It’s okay." Konstanz patted me on the head from her cramped space in the back. "That’s what I’m here for."
Bryson smiled at her in the rearview mirror.
"So I guess you stayed home from school, huh?" He glanced at my sweats that didn't have cute words across the butt. I tugged self-consciously on my sweat shirt and shook my head.
"No. No, I went. I haven't been to bed yet." And holy snowballs, bed sounded so good.
"Wow. You must be tired." His face lit up. "Don't worry. I made something amazing for lunch. It'll wake you right up and then we'll go have some fun."
"Don't you work?" I asked without meaning to. Apparently when I was this exhausted, I had no filter.
"Yeah. I took today off."
Of course he did. And I didn’t know why. He seemed fine with the whole friend-zone thing, but why on earth would he take the day off to spend it with me and Konstanz?
Boys. They’re so confusing.
"I just think I’m going to swear off all men for the rest of eternity," I accidentally muttered out loud.
Umm. Awkward much?
Bryson didn’t miss a beat. "I know you think that now." He lowered his voice like he didn’t want Konstanz to hear, but she was right there with nowhere to go. "But how am I going to change your mind if I don't spend time with you?"
Well, he had a point there, didn't he? "It's just that I don't feel like this is fair to you at all. You know I'm in lo—that I'm having a hard time getting over him. I just think—"
"Navi." He stopped at a red light and turned to face me. "I know. I know how you feel about Alec. I know how you feel about me. I don't care. I'm here to change your mind."
Chapter 36
Alec
I walked into the apartment and was immediately assaulted by lilacs. Or, the scent of them, anyway. There was a vase full of them on the table that we never used. And that smell...
"Was Navi here?" I asked, hating the way hope made my voice shake. Please say she was here. Please say she was here.
"What? Why?" Bryson asked, focusing really hard on the dishes he was washing so he didn't have to look at me.
The way he'd answered was suspicious. Like maybe I should stop hoping so desperately that she'd been there recently. "I smell her lotion." Yeah, I was pathetic. I recognized the smell of her lotion the second I walked in the room.
"Oh. Right. Yeah, we had lunch together. I made fettuccine."
"You... you had lunch together?" My stomach twisted and the dryness in my mouth made it hard to swallow. "Why?"
He didn’t look at me. "She’s hurting, Alec. Konstanz and I are trying to get her through this. It wasn’t a big deal."
I ran a hand over my face and stared at his back through my fingers. "What are you saying, Bryson? That's two days in a row. Are you guys, like..." I couldn't even say it. Three days after she and I had that fight, and she was dating my roommate? She said she hadn't been able to get over me in the four years we'd been apart, but three days later and she forgot I existed and dated my roommate.
The world did not make sense.
Bryson finally emptied the sink and turned to face me. "No. We’re not together. It’s really hard to date a girl when her best friend won’t let her out of her sight. I’m just trying to be a friend. That’s all."
I dropped my keys on the table and shrugged out of my jacket, fighting to get the sleeve over my cast. "Fine. Fine, so you’re bosom buddies now. That's awesome. Why in the hell are you bringing her here when you know how I feel about her?"
Bryson frowned, coming around the kitchen counter. "You called her a whore, Alec. You said she was a demon. I figured you were pretty much done with her."
"I didn't mean any of those things!" I yelled. I stared at the ceiling for several long seconds before I could force myself to look back at him. "We are done. Navi and I won't ever be together. But that doesn't mean you need to bring her back here." That doesn't mean I'll ever get over her.
"Okay. Sorry. I didn't know it would bother you. We'll hang out at her place. Hey, have you eaten yet?"
I glared at him, trying to comprehend what had just happened. There were future plans? I didn’t want him to have future plans with her.
"It’s just awkward at her place, you know? We have no privacy. She doesn’t even have her own bedroom. Did you know that?" Those words nearly sent me to my knees. I fought to stay on my feet as the room spun. I did know that. I didn't want to know how he knew that, though.
He continued without waiting for me to answer. "And again, I ask. Are you hungry?" How could he be kind and considerate after he just blew a hole through my chest?
I jerked away from him. "I'm gonna go take a shower."
"Wait!" Bryson called as I stormed across the room. "I have leftover fettuccine!"
"No thanks," I muttered as I shut the bathroom door behind me.
Chapter 37
After that, I saw very little of Bryson. He spent every waking moment with Navi and Konstanz. He came home late and left early. Normally, that would thrill me—less time with the roommate who seemed to live to torture me? Hell yeah. But when I knew he was gone because he was with her, it drove me absolutely insane. Not seeing her, only hearing bits of conversation between them or smelling her lotion when I walked in, and I still felt the same agonizing pain I had the first day I'd lost her. I was instantly sick—like a migraine and the stomach flu and maybe a couple knife wounds all rolled into one. It wasn't getting any easier. In fact, it was worse every single day. So I threw myself into work. I didn’t know what else to do.
"Alec, you back here again?" My boss looked over his desk as I strapped on my tool belt.
"Yep. Just stopped for dinner." If I kept this up, I would make so much money I wouldn’t even need a roommate. I'd be able to move out of my apartment and buy a house.
"You worked over eighty hours each the last three weeks. Did y
ou know that?" Did I know that. Of course I knew that. I knew it because the week before, I’d gone home at night, and Bryson was gone, and I knew where he was. Then I’d come home the next night and had just walked out of the shower, and Navi was at the door, telling Bryson she would wait for him in the car. Another day, I’d happened to walk past the window to see her jeep in the parking lot below. This was after the week of trying to drown my sorrows in alcohol—and been arrested for being drunk in public. I’d also thrown up in Josh’s car, so he wasn’t very fond of me. Finally, I’d just decided to stay at work. It was easier here. The weekend was coming, though. I wasn’t sure what to do with that.
My phone buzzed. I glanced down, praying it would be her, knowing it wouldn’t be. "Hey Mom," I said, putting the phone to my ear.
"Hi Alec. We haven’t seen you for a while. Thought I’d better check on you."
"I’m good, Mom. Just working a lot. How are things there?"
There was a couple seconds of silence—enough that I knew she was dissecting my words and tone to see if there was anything to worry about. "Fine, fine. We’re just busy. Dad is trying to coach Jack’s little league team, but between you and me, he’s not much of a sports man." She chuckled and even I couldn’t help but smile. "And Jack has his first baseball game this week. Do you want to come?" If my mom had been closer, I would have kissed her.
"Of course. Hey, maybe Dad needs an assistant coach?" I could hear the hope trembling in my own voice, so I knew she picked up on it. Mother’s intuition and all that.
"Or maybe he needs to be the assistant. Hey Jack, how would you feel if Alec coached your team?"
I heard him whoop in the background. For the first time in several weeks, I could feel a smile trying to crack its way through. "I’ll be there Friday night, as soon as I get off work." Suddenly, the weekend couldn’t come fast enough.