For the Birds

by Angela Roquet

  I wasn’t usually a jealous lover. A long and sordid past is to be expected of an ancient demon, but still. I was only a three-hundred-year-old reaper. I couldn’t help but wonder how I measured up to Bub’s other conquests. We had only been together for a few months, since the beginning of summer, and I was already guessing at how long it would take before he tired of me.

  Soon, the hum of the party below began to fade, and Bub quietly slipped into the bedroom with a bottle of wine and two glasses. He gave me one of his devilish grins and came over to sit next to me on the edge of the bed. He handed me the glasses and one-handedly loosened his red tie.

  “You’re already undressed. I wanted to do that,” he pouted.

  “I know. I just really like that dress. Couldn’t risk you ravaging it.” I grinned and held our glasses out as he uncorked the wine bottle.

  Bub filled them to the brim and then set the bottle on the night table before removing his loafers and jacket. He was slower about removing his dress shirt and pants, unabashedly enjoying my ogling. He knew exactly how to accelerate my pulse.

  I didn’t blush as much as I used to, but it was something I had to work at to achieve. My last lover, Maalik, had been more subtle and modest. Of course, he had been an angel. Dating a bad boy was definitely more exciting, but as the saying goes, the light that burns the brightest usually burns out the quickest.

  I wasn’t under any delusions about our relationship. It wasn’t going to last. I wasn’t looking forward to the end, but I wanted to be prepared for it. I was too old to be sobbing over lost love, if you could even call what we had love. We were very much in lust, but beyond that, I couldn’t really say. We had a good time, mostly in the bedroom. And we had stimulating conversations, usually after our bedroom adventures. I found myself looking forward to our late night pillow talk more and more.

  Bub finished undressing and slipped under the covers, but instead of his usual innuendo-laden banter, he let out a heavy sigh and snuggled in next to me, wrapping his arms innocently around my waist.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He frowned apologetically. “I’m exhausted. These parties aren’t as easy as they used to be.” He laid his head on my shoulder, letting his breath rush over my skin. “I didn’t find out anything useful tonight. My meeting with Cindy is not going to go well tomorrow morning.”

  It wasn’t like Bub to unload his work worries on me. I rubbed a hand down his back. “What were you trying to find out about?”

  “Hades’ manor was broken into last week.”

  “In Tartarus? Just down the way from your place?”

  “Yes,” he said softly. “Another reason for the party locale tonight. I’d like to know whether the rebels are targeting Tartarus, or if the attack was random.”

  “Are Hades and Persephone alright?”

  “Yes. They weren’t home. Their vault was broken into and several valuables were taken though. Everyone in all the hells knows that I’ll be here tonight, so my estate would be a perfect target. I had Jack put out several replicas of the valuables I keep there, so we’ll see if anything is missing tomorrow.”

  “Did you suspect any of your guests?”

  He groaned. “Everyone I invited with a grudge against Hades or with a history of thieving showed up, and furthermore, they all seemed genuinely surprised and concerned when I mentioned the incident. Unless the culprit makes a go at my place and is caught by a surveillance camera, I’ve got nothing.”

  “I’m sorry.” I ran my hand over his back a few more times, and he was soon snoring.

  I grinned to myself and closed my eyes. So much for tearing my dress off. This was definitely a first. I couldn’t say that I minded much. It was nice to see that he could let his guard down around me. No one likes to be the only vulnerable one in a relationship. Besides, I had a big day coming up too.

  There was a tsunami that had just hit an oblivious yacht club off the east coast of Australia earlier in the day. Come morning, about a hundred souls were going to be floating around in the ocean, waiting to be harvested.

  It sounded more like a job for the Recovery Unit to me, but Grim had issued a permit to take the ship over, so I felt a little better about it. It seemed like a good job to take Kevin on too. He didn’t really need my guidance very often, but it was still best to give him the easy jobs this early in his apprenticeship. It would also keep Grim from blaming any of Kevin’s mistakes on me for not spending enough time training him.

  Chapter 4

  “While I thought that I was learning how to live,

  I have been learning how to die.”

  -Leonardo da Vinci

  Bub was all apologies in the morning. He brought me breakfast in bed, with gourmet coffee, fresh strawberries, and the promise of a spectacular makeup date that didn’t involve hoards of cutthroat demons. I started the day off with a spring in my step and even caught myself humming on the way down the dock to my ship.

  Saul and Coreen trotted on either side of me, their tails wagging in time. They were going to have a blast today, herding the hundred-plus souls onboard. They had really been an asset on the Posy Unit so far, and they loved their work.

  I dished out the harvest jobs without acknowledging Kate Evan’s grunts of disapproval. I didn’t say out loud that I knew about the complaint she had filed, but I’m sure she could figure that out for herself, considering I gave her all the shit jobs for the day. Mass food poisoning, anyone?

  Josie was a little bummed that she wasn’t going on the harvest with Kevin and me, but we all agreed to meet up for lunch at the Phantom Café in Limbo City.

  Josie and Kevin seemed to be doing well together. I had really expected their age gap to become a problem over time, especially with Josie’s superiority complex when it came to reapers younger than herself. I guess Kevin didn’t mind letting her boss him around. Of course, he was a goody-two-shoes like her, so maybe he didn’t require that much bossing.

  Once everyone had coined off to their harvest sites, Kevin and I prepped the ship for crossing over to the Pacific Ocean. The permit was actually a spelled slip of paper with an incantation written on it. It was designed to open up a portal, and it held just enough juice for one round trip to and from the mortal realm.

  “Anchors aweigh!” Kevin shouted from the bow of the ship.

  I made my way to the forecastle deck and pulled the permit from my robe pocket, clearing my throat. Incantations made me nervous, especially ones that I only had one shot at to get right. If I screwed up, the best case scenario would be that the permit became void, and I would have to get a new one, throwing our whole schedule off. In the worst case scenario, the ship could be split in half, and then we would have to decide which realm we wanted to sink in. I took a shaky breath and sent up a tiny prayer to whoever was listening, before painfully tackling the Latin verse.

  “Patefacio porta quondam mihi in mortale saeculum,” I said to the vast nothingness before the ship.

  The air was suddenly full of static. My hair crackled in my ears as it lifted upward, and a seam opened in the emptiness, giving me a view of a similar setting just outside of Eternity. A wind that hadn’t been present before filled our sails, and we were propelled forward.

  Kevin appeared beside me, looking a little green around the edges. Sailing was his least favorite part of the job, but he managed to keep his breakfast down this morning.

  “Have you done this before?” he asked, frowning at the narrow opening into the Pacific Ocean.

  “Nope.”

  The ship slowed and creaked as the hull rubbed against the edges of the portal.

  Kevin turned to me. “Are you sure you did the incantation right?”

  “Nope.”

  “Fuck.” He looked back at the portal and held his breath as it widened to accommodate the size of the ship.

  It occurred to me a little late that Grim might have issued me the permit in order to sabotage my perfect record as a unit captain. As the widest part of the hull slipp
ed free of the portal and into the Pacific, it also became feasible that he simply did it to scare the bejesus out of me. Either way, my pulse slowed as the portal closed behind us. I sighed a breath of relief as Kevin retched over the side of the ship.

  “I hate you,” he groaned.

  I patted his back. “You wanna open it on the way back through?”

  He retched again. “I think I’ll pass.”

  “Suit yourself.” I shrugged and went to ready the ship tenders, which were just a couple of small motorboats, large enough to hold maybe a dozen souls each if we crammed them in. If everything went smoothly, we would be able to gather everyone up within a few hours.

  The sky was overcast and the air was salty and thick with the smell of wreckage and regurgitated sea life. A gust of wind circled the deck, tugging at the hem of my robe and blowing my black curls over my face. Another storm was brewing. I just hoped it held off long enough for us to finish our harvest.

  For about half a mile in all directions, bloated human remains and chunks of fiberglass littered the Pacific. It was the peak of summer, so the bodies were already decomposing. I noticed one of the closer victims was missing a leg. This day was traumatic enough without having to navigate through shark-infested waters, but I couldn’t think of another fish that might take a bite that big. With all the storms plaguing the area, I was honestly surprised any fish would be brave enough to risk life and fin for a snack.

  Kevin finally pulled himself together and joined me at the first tender. His brow furrowed as he took in the davits and pulley system that suspended the boat a good twenty feet above the water.

  “You know how this works, right?” I asked.

  “Not really. Have you used these before?”

  “Nope.”

  “Great.” He looked green again.

  I sighed. “Look, it’s not brain surgery. Hop in the boat and use the winch in the center platform to lower it. Once you’ve reached the water, unhook the ropes at either end, and you’re good to go. How hard can it be?”

  Kevin’s jaw clenched, and for a minute, I thought he might retch over the side again.

  I rolled my eyes. “Let’s do this first run together, and then you’re taking a boat out on your own. We don’t have a lot of time before the next storm is supposed to hit.”

  “Thanks, Lana.” His shoulders sagged and he waited for me to board the boat first.

  It was almost as easy as I made it sound. The ropes hanging from the davits were stiff and crusted with decades of salt buildup. They caused enough concern that I made a mental note to have them replaced soon. The motorboats were electric, which was a good call on Josie’s part. She had insisted that we forgo gas-powered tenders, since the fuel could stale and leave us stranded. She had also been the one to install the boats, and I never got around to testing them out myself.

  Kevin’s confidence surged again after we reached the water. He steered the boat over to our first catch. It was the legless body I had spied from the deck. She was facedown, like everyone else. Her skin looked like a wrinkled sheet that just barely kept her innards from spilling out into the ocean. She was missing her bikini top. The bottoms were leopard print, and they matched the strap of the wedged heel attached to her remaining foot. Kevin nudged one of the boat oars under her arm and flipped her over in the water.

  “Oh, good god,” he groaned, taking a step back in the boat.

  Our catch was missing more than a leg. Her lips and eyes lids had been nibbled away by smaller fish. I had a feeling most of the bodies would have similar B-movie qualities about them. Kevin’s shoulders heaved, and I wondered just how much he had eaten for breakfast. I gently pushed him aside and reached down, pressing my fingertips through the doughy flesh of our catch’s chest.

  Her soul shuddered free, and I gasped as she reached up with a ghostly hand and took my arm. I pulled her aboard the boat. Kevin found an abandoned towel and threw it around her shoulders. It was an odd concept, but whatever clothing a person happened to be wearing when they died, copied over to their soul once we harvested it. From the looks of things, we were going to have a ship full of half-naked souls by the time we were done. I could think of a few towels and some spare clothes in mine and Josie’s cabin, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

  The new soul blinked a few times, which was easier to witness now that she had eyelids again.

  “Some party,” she giggled and then sobered as she took in her surroundings. “What the—”

  Kevin placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re safe here.” He led her over to a bench at the back of the boat while I used an oar to poke at another floater.

  This one was missing half of his toes and a good chunk of his face. I could see the edges of his eye sockets. Death was never pretty, but drowning in the ocean had to be near the top of the list for worst post-mortem makeovers.

  After another twenty minutes, we had a full boat of disoriented souls. Most of them were still trying to convince themselves that they were just too hung-over to make sense of what had happened. A portly little redhead kept commenting on how God must have heard her prayers, since there were so many survivors. I didn’t have the heart to break the truth to her just yet. Plus, she seemed like the type that could inflict mass hysteria.

  After we herded the first lot down into the ship’s hold, where the hounds took over guard duty, Kevin found the nerve to take a boat down by himself so that I could make use of the second tender. Since the souls were friendly with one another, we were able to pack them in even tighter, reducing the harvest to three additional trips, using both boats. The assortment of sofas and picnic tables scattered around the hold were filling up fast.

  We were on our last run when the clouds shifted. The sky fell dark and the wind whistled across the water, rousing the waves. It almost sounded like a girl was singing in the distance. Maybe the redhead had switched from prayers to hymns. The small circle of souls on my boat huddled in against each other. I had one more to collect.

  Kevin was already lifting his last lot out of the water. He turned his face into the wind, letting it blow his hair back as he frowned at the encroaching storm on the horizon. “Shake a leg, boss lady!” he shouted over the rumbling thunder.

  My boat bumped the last body, a lanky kid who probably wasn’t even drinking age yet. I reached out for him, but just before I could make contact, a slender hand shot out of the water and coiled around my wrist. My resolve shattered, and I let loose a screech that could be heard for miles.

  A bubbly laughter boiled to the surface, and a head soon followed. The mermaid was not of the storybook variety. Her dark hair was tangled and matted with seaweed, and her teeth were green and caked with muck. It looked like she had just eaten a mud pie.

  “My mistress would like a word, child,” she said in her haunting, siren voice.

  “W-what?” I croaked.

  Three more mermaid heads broke the surface of the water, but paused halfway, revealing only their tangled hair and glassy, fish-like eyes.

  “Eurynome, daughter of the ocean,” the mermaid announced, just as the sea bubbled and sprayed a mist into the air.

  Eurynome, the Grecian mermaid goddess, rose from the water, suspended on the back of a wave that continued to crest without actually moving from its fixed place beneath her. She was more or less the vision most little girls conjured when they thought of mermaids, with glistening scales and golden hair, topped with a white coral reef crown.

  “Y-you’re not supposed to be on this side,” I said, almost in a whisper.

  The goddess frowned at me. “And why is that? Because some new rule was implemented? And you really suppose I, a deity of the boundless sea, would be confined by such rules?” She smirked.

  “What do you want?” I asked, taking my eyes from her long enough to frown down at the mermaid still squeezing my wrist.

  “Nothing much. Your consort has been sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. I thought I might discourage that behav
ior by sending him a little message.”

  “Message?” I echoed.

  She nodded to the mermaid holding my wrist, and the sea hag yanked me from the boat. I barely had half a breath in my lungs before she pulled me under, wrapping her arms around my torso as we sank deeper. I kicked until the muscles in my legs burned and my chest felt like it might explode. The water grew colder and darker, and just as the light began to slip away, an arrow zipped past me, slicing through the mermaid’s pale shoulder and releasing a purple cloud of blood into the water. Her grip didn’t slack at first, but then a second arrow torpedoed past me and lodged itself in the thick of her tail. She screamed under water, and it was beautiful. The siren pull of her voice was magnified, and I was almost tempted to drown, right then and there, for the chance that she might speak again. Instead, she pushed away from me, wincing at the arrow stuck in her tail as she hurried to put distance between us.

  I mustered what energy I had left and kicked for the surface. Kevin’s hand shot through the water and grabbed my shoulder. He had coined himself from the ship to my boat in record time. Josie’s spare bow was strapped across his back. He pulled me up and into the boat, just as another mermaid surfaced, screeching in his face. Kevin curled his hands up over his head and squeezed his eyes shut, and then I saw the blood in his ears. His moans echoed out over the water, vibrating in tune with the nearing thunder.

  Eurynome was gone, but her mermaid minions were still lying in wait. I could hear them whispering beneath the waves. They weren’t finished with us yet.

  “Kevin!” I choked up water and gasped for air. “Kevin! Can you hear me?” I pulled him back away from the edge of the boat, and fired up the engine.

  My last catch bobbed in the water, just a few feet away. I clenched my teeth, knowing that a mermaid was probably waiting for me to take the bait. I’d be damned if some sea wench was going to ruin my perfect harvest record as captain.