“The Three Fates Factory. What do you know about their incoming deliveries?” Bub said, tucking a file back in the box.
I plopped down in the chair beside him and shrugged. “Not much really. I know the afterlives occasionally deliver a few of their older souls for reinsertion.”
I thought of the time Asmodeus intervened and saved me from the clutches of the Fates when they’d thought I’d stolen Atropos’ shears. He had been making a soul delivery, if I remembered correctly. Atropos’ grasp on my throat had cut off the oxygen to my brain, so my memory was a little fuzzy.
Bub nodded at my comment. “Yes, some souls bore of their afterlives after so many centuries, and they petition their deities for a chance at reincarnation. A lottery drawing of sorts takes place, and those souls are transferred to the factory. The damned are often returned to the factory too, after they’ve served their due time.”
“Have any of those souls gone missing?” I asked.
“Oh, no.” Bub laughed. “Gods rarely allow their most valued residents to depart, so they’re in no danger from the poachers. But a soul transfer would make a convenient cover, don’t you think?” He pursed his lips.
I took a long drink of coffee and thought on his suggestion. Something about it didn’t fit. “That would only allow them to get souls into the city, not out.”
“Or—” He raised a finger. “It would allow the culprit to move souls around the city without as much scrutiny.”
“Why wouldn’t an abducted soul resist?” The answer hit me hard between the eyes. “Unless a deity with power over the dead was in on the heist.”
Bub lowered his voice. “Or a reaper with soul hypnosis training, perhaps?”
Paul Brom, the captain of the Recovery Unit, also taught the soul hypnosis class at the academy. The skill was a relatively harmless one, although, it made retrieving souls from bodies that had been crushed under debris from natural disasters a little easier, making it a prerequisite for the Recovery Unit.
“I’ll check with Grace Adaline and get a list of everyone who’s taken the soul hypnosis class. If I cross reference them with the list of renegade reapers, maybe we’ll get a better idea of who we’re dealing with,” I said.
Bub smiled and pushed the legal pad my way. “This might help too.”
The notes he’d made were divided under headers for various afterlives and the dates of their deliveries to the factory over the past three months. He’d found the pattern. The soul traffickers were only doing their snatch-and-grabs on days when big deliveries were being made by multiple afterlives. It meant that they also had an intimate knowledge of the factory schedule, and knowledge of the employees, seeing as how they were nabbing the most valuable ones.
“I think I can work with this. Maybe set up some interviews at the very least.” I breathed out a heavy sigh, letting the dread I’d been carrying around for the past few days go with it.
Bub gave me a devilish smile and lifted my hand for a kiss. “You’re welcome. Now go get a shower, love. If small children were allowed entry into Limbo, you’d certainly scare them all away with that coiffure. Are you sure you’re not part demon?”
“Such a sweet talker.” I rolled my eyes and fingered back a curl that had escaped my ponytail, vaguely wondering if I’d even bothered with conditioner during my drunken bath.
I downed the rest of my coffee and headed for the shower. Kevin’s door opened as I passed his room, and he let out a little gasp.
“Morning, boss,” he said, struggling to maintain eye contact without laughing.
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.” He pressed his lips together and shook his head.
I raised an eyebrow at him as I opened my bedroom door, and the hounds came stampeding out into the hall. The sound of kibble echoed from the kitchen, and they took off.
Kevin trailed after them, waving his hand without looking back. “Happy grooming!”
I hurried into the shower, noting the hour I had left to make myself presentable for the council. Hopefully, a bottle of conditioner and a half-baked plan would be enough to get me through the morning.
Chapter 9
“I always arrive late at the office, but I make up for it by leaving early.” —Charles Lamb
Despite being better prepared, my hands trembled as I punched the elevator button for the seventy-third floor at Reapers Inc. The sudden ascent made my heart flinch, assaulting my equilibrium as if I were on a rollercoaster. It made me wonder if the elevators had always moved this quickly, or if my anxiety was causing me to hallucinate.
I wanted to believe that Jenni would give me a heads-up before the council took their final vote on my fate, but the transition since Grim’s spontaneous departure still seemed to be underway, and the new rules hadn’t finished their game of musical chairs yet. For all I knew, the council was polishing the guillotine while they awaited my arrival.
The elevator stopped suddenly on the thirty-seventh floor, Grim’s former interrogation level. The taste of acid hit the back of my throat as my morning coffee tried to make a run for it. I breathed through my nose, struggling not to hyperventilate as the doors slid open.
Jenni’s tired face greeted me. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said, crooking her finger to urge me out of the elevator. I hesitated, and she gave me a berating look. “I want to talk to you before the meeting. Torture free. Promise.”
“Why here?” I asked, crinkling my nose as I stepped out into the faux construction zone. The settling dust was real enough, and it made me sneeze three times in quick succession.
“It’s probably the safest place in the entire building to have a private conversation,” Jenni said, eyeing the sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling in place of walls. They were dirty but transparent enough to see if we were truly alone.
I rubbed the goosebumps climbing up my arms and tried not to think about all I’d seen take place on this floor. “What do you want to talk about?”
Jenni stepped over a pile of painting supplies and leaned against the raw edge of the receptionist desk. “The council is really pushing for a verdict soon. This assignment could be the tipping factor for you. Please tell me you have a solid plan.”
“I don’t know about solid, but I have a plan anyway.”
“Well?” she asked, shaking her head impatiently.
“Shouldn’t I be telling you at the same time as the council?” I asked slowly. “This doesn’t count as conspiring against them or treason, right? I’m a little hazy on the subject after all the finger pointing I’ve been at the wrong end of.”
Jenni clenched her teeth together and rubbed a hand over her forehead. “I’m not asking you to keep the plan from the council. I’m offering to be your sounding board and help you fine tune it. That’s all. Look, if you don’t want my help—” She took a step toward the elevator.
“I do! I do,” I said, holding my hands up to stop her. “I just want to make sure I’m doing things by the book. I’ve gotten myself in enough trouble to choke a hellcat, and at least half of that trouble was unintentional.”
Jenni sighed and folded her arms, waiting for me to get on with it. I gave her the short version, going over Bub’s theory and the interviews I had in mind.
“Don’t mention the Lord of the Flies to the council.” Her eyes widened pleadingly, and I stifled a scoff.
“Naledi zapped my soul vision, not my common sense.”
“Some might argue whether or not you had any of that to begin with,” she said under her breath.
“Hardy har.” I gave her a humorless smile. “Anyway, you think that’s enough to keep the council off my ass for a while?”
“Ehhh.” Jenni shrugged one shoulder. “A couple days at most, I’d say.”
“Super.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She held her closed fist out to me, shaking it when I hesitated again. “Morgan asked me to give you this, for good luck.”
I opened my hand and Jenni dropped a f
amiliar stone in my palm. It was the hollowed out necklace Morgan had given Winston last fall for protection. He’d given it to me in return. With half a twist, the necklace rendered the wearer invisible. Morgan was as worried as I was about the council’s intentions.
I swallowed and slipped the necklace over my head, tucking the stone under the collar of my robe. If things went sideways at this meeting, I had a way out now. Maybe Bub and I could steal away to the mortal realm, live out the rest of our days in human territory, at least until council or rebel assassins caught up with us. It didn’t sound so bad at this point.
“Come on. Don’t want to be late,” Jenni said. She glanced down at her watch and pressed the elevator button.
We ventured up in silence. I went over my plan again in my head, while Jenni faced the mirrored walls to fix her hair. There was a lot more I wanted to talk to her about, but now wasn’t the time. Maybe after the assignment was finished, if I managed to keep my head.
The doors opened on the seventy-third floor, and we exited into the lavish foyer of the Afterlife Council headquarters. The conference room doors at the end of the main hallway were open wide, and a scramble of divine voices fought for supremacy. The meeting had begun without us.
Jenni took a deep breath and walked toward the room with long strides. Confidence had always been a strong suit of hers, but as the new CEO of Reapers Inc., she’d had to amp up her game to stay in league with the council. I trailed behind, attempting to mimic her poise. If I could make it inside the conference room without curling into the fetal position, I’d be content.
The noise became clearer as we approached. Maalik and Ridwan were at the forefront of the squabble, their angelic voices clashing like heavenly symbols announcing judgement day.
“Your needless cruelty is unbecoming, brother,” Maalik said. His disapproval always had a patronizing tone to it. I hated it when he used that voice on me, and I could tell Ridwan wasn’t a fan either.
“Your bias is not welcome here,” Ridwan hissed back. “I have a mind to petition for your vote to be nullified due to your previous relations with the fugitive—”
“The accused.” Maalik cut him off sharply. “No vote has taken place yet, so fugitive is a careless and false label. Who’s biased now?”
“Gentlemen,” Parvati interrupted. Her silky voice quieted the feuding angels. “We are gathered here today to discuss a more pressing matter.”
They all turned to watch Jenni and me enter the room. So many eyes, all filled with different intent. Maalik and Ridwan were the most obvious, having just aired their opinions to everyone. Maalik’s expression was equal parts worried and hopeful, while Ridwan emanated pure loathing.
I noticed Horus was still absent from the table, and I wondered if he too planned on jumping ship—or rather, jumping on a ship out of here—if his verdict was as unfavorable as I feared mine would be.
Cindy and Holly pasted on fake smiles. Their veiled hostility wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all me. Holly was holding a grudge for an accidental slight, and Cindy for a more intentional one—exposing her involvement in Bub’s illicit undercover mission.
It was a wonder she hadn’t been suspended from the council along with Horus. I had a feeling she was also put out with me for stealing Bub away from her cabinet of go-to warriors. Her reluctance to help clear his name had not endeared her to him, and he was currently on a permanent hiatus.
Kwan Yin and the Green Man sat at the far end of the conference table. They both viewed me with neutral expressions. Either they were indifferent about my fate, or they were just that good at hiding their views on the matter. Of course, their views couldn’t have been that strong if they were willing to blow their votes to further their other agendas. How comforting to know where my life fell in the grand scheme of things.
At least Parvati met me with a smile. Her presence was openly warm, and she waved her two left hands, welcoming me to take a seat between her and Meng Po, who I was relieved to see had stopped wailing long enough to attend the meeting. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she twisted her aged fingers together over the table as I took the chair beside her.
“What news of my Jai Ling?” she asked, skipping right over the formal introductions and fancy commencement nonsense.
Ridwan looked like he might scold her for her haste, but Parvati spoke first. “Yes, please share what you’ve discovered.”
Jenni circled the room and took the chair near the window, the one usually reserved for Grim. Ridwan made another offended face, but I drew his attention away by clearing my throat.
“Nothing is certain without further investigation, but the reports suggest that someone with extensive factory knowledge is involved, and possibly a deity or a reaper with soul hypnosis training—”
“We went over those files ourselves.” Ridwan snorted and leaned back in his seat.
“For weeks,” Cindy added, her smile stretching just a little too far. “What makes you think you’ve found something we missed?”
“This is why I assigned Lana as captain of the new Special Ops Unit. She sees things others don’t,” Jenni said.
Holly’s wings fluttered. “I thought we fixed that little glitch yesterday morning,” she said in her sickly sweet voice. My back went stiff at the taunt. Jenni didn’t see the humor in her comment either.
“Naledi removed her ability to view a soul’s aura, not her acute perception or her outstanding track record when it comes to solving the council’s problems—or have you forgotten?” Jenni looked around the table, making eye contact with each of them. Then she looked back to me. “Continue.”
I sat up straighter and tried to remember everything Bub and I had discussed that morning. “The souls are being abducted on busy delivery days at the factory, presumably to use the heavy soul traffic as cover. Since no one has reported seeing a soul being transferred through the city against their will, they are likely under the influence of a death deity or a reaper who has been trained to hypnotize souls. I’d like to conduct several interviews before organizing a sting operation.”
“Sting operation?” Meng huffed and gave me a bewildered look. “I want my Jai Ling now.”
“We’ll find her,” I said. “But we also want to bring down the entire ring. If we don’t take out the top player, there’s a good chance Jai Ling could be taken again.”
“I lock her up,” Meng snapped. “She never leave temple again. I feed anyone who come for her tea so strong they forget every life they ever know.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously and I knew she would make good on her threat.
“We’ll find her,” I said again. “We’ll find them all. I promise.”
“You better,” the Green Man said. His voice was deep and smooth, and I realized how little I’d heard him speak before. “My vote for your fate will depend on your results. As I’m sure goes for others on the council.”
He glanced around the table, though he didn’t seem entirely convinced of his last statement. The green tint of his skin darkened to a brown, bark-like hue, as if he were bothered by the notion that he actually had to make a call of his own, now that Horus wasn’t available to counter maneuver.
It was mildly reassuring, and I wondered how my verdict would be determined if, by some stroke of dumb luck, I was able to snag the Green Man’s vote and get a hung jury. Would they flip a coin? That was less reassuring.
Parvati placed her four hands on the table. “I move that Lana go forward with these interviews and then conduct her operation.”
The Green Man nodded. “I second the motion.”
Maalik’s wings visibly relaxed, and I could tell he was relieved that someone else had taken control of the meeting besides Ridwan. “All those in favor say aye,” he said, speeding things along.
Everyone except Ridwan agreed, even Holly and Cindy, though I imagine they wanted to save face for the moment and keep their prejudice hidden until a better opportunity arose to smite me. The near unanimous vote didn’t even warrant a call for nays,
but Ridwan made up for it by glaring at me until I was excused from the meeting.
I left Reapers Inc. lightheaded and full of conflicting glee and dread. I felt like I’d just cashed in a get out of jail free card. Or more accurately, like I’d cheated death. It made me nervous, because I knew better than most that death was a sore loser.
Chapter 10
“I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.” —Al McGuire
The demon defense course I’d taught at the Reaper Academy last semester was now under the tutelage of Jack, Bub’s former butler and Meng Po’s current lover—a thought which always made me shudder.
Jack had taken up residence with Lady Meng after Bub went under cover with the rebels and the Tartarus manor was destroyed by rioters. He’d been caught unawares by the whole ordeal. Maalik and I had charged in at the last second to rescue him before the place went up in flames.
Jack had an unusually tender disposition for a demon. We’d left him in Meng’s care due to a cracked horn he’d suffered, and the pair hit it off.
Even after Bub’s name was cleared, Jack still refused to forgive him for departing so suddenly and without notice, and he was most definitely not returning to his previous position as butler for the Lord of the Flies. Not now that he was in love and respectably referred to as Professor Jackson by the students at the academy. The title suited him better than it had me.
The demon defense course took place Monday nights at the academy, so I wasn’t surprised when I ran into Jack on my way to speak with Grace Adaline.
“Lana, my dear, it’s so good to see you,” he said, taking his reading glasses off and propping them up above the two small horns that jutted from his forehead. He gave me a one-armed hug, since he was balancing a mountain of books in his other, and then smoothed his hand down the lapel of his tweed jacket. “What brings you to the academy? Do you have news about Jai Ling?” he asked in a hushed voice.
Ghost Market (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. Book 6) Page 7