At the end of the hall resided a nurses station with a bunch of glass-fronted rooms in a kind of circle around it. I felt a subtle tug, leading me in the direction of my charge’s room. One of the nurse’s at the station watched the room like a hawk. I was glad I was invisible to her.
When I stepped through the door into the room, I had to pause. Ava lay with tubes and monitors everywhere. The sight hit me like a physical blow. Bad enough I’d watched my mother waste away with wires and tubes everywhere. Seeing a young child that way was almost more than I could take. I didn’t know why she was dying. The list didn’t say.
A haggard man and woman hovered wearily near the bed, their hands clutching those of the little girl. Neither were aware of me nor of the white-cloaked man floating above the bed with his eyes closed, one hand on the little girl’s brow.
The life window. The brief period of time when the charge balanced on the edge of life and death when the guardian would do their best to tip the charge back to the side of life.
Swallowing hard, I moved farther into the room. There was nowhere to sit, so I leaned back against a wall to wait, hoping the guardian was successful in his efforts. Time ticked away slowly and still, Ava’s name remained at the top of my list. With a sinking heart, I watched her energy fade, even with the aid of the guardian. And then the monitors went wild with alarms. The parents began to sob. The hawk-nurse seemed to materialize out of thin air. Close behind her were several others.
Life-saving measures were being taken in an effort to get Ava back. I knew they would be useless because the guardian was gone. Standing out of the way of the rush of people was the little girl, her form translucent. I glanced at Rowen and he motioned me forward.
I walked over to Ava, and remembering what the girl on the elevator said, knelt on one knee. “Hey, I’m Jo.”
She looked at me with solemn brown eyes. “Why is everyone upset?”
I struggled to control my emotions, shoving them behind my mask of fine. “You are so loved by them, they are sad to see you go. But you have other places to be. I can take you there.”
“Did I die?” She looked back at her body. “I heard the doctor tell Mommy and Daddy I might.”
“Yes. You died.” There was really no way to sugar coat this.
“Am I going to Heaven to be an angel?”
“I’m sure you will go to a beautiful place.” I was pretty damn sure she would be going to the Heavens, but it wasn’t my place to say that. “I’m here to make sure you get where you need to go.”
Her eyes were filled with more wisdom than any child her age should have. “I can’t say bye?”
“They won’t be able to hear you now. Trust me, they know you love them.” I stood and offered my hand. “Shall we go?”
She hesitated for a second before placing her small, icy hand in mine. Together with Rowen trailing us, we walked back to the elevator. Thankfully, I didn’t see any eaters; I can only imagine how that would have terrified her. The doors to the elevator slid shut and we started down.
It was a short ride and then the doors opened on the wide bank of the River Styx. Soft, black and gold sand spread out all the way to the water. Light filled the space, though the sky overhead was dark. The collector demons along the bank paid no attention to the little girl as we walked to where Charon waited with the ferry. His lined face was kindly underneath the cowl of his deep brown cloak and a dark gray beard spilled down the front almost to his waist.
When we reached him, I looked down at the little girl who looked hale and healthy now. “This is Charon; he’s going to take you across to where you are supposed to be. He will take good care of you.”
Ava reached up to me and I leaned down so she could put her freezing little arms around my neck as she whispered, “Thank you.”
I smiled, unable to speak while she took one of the ferryman’s hands and I dropped one of the ancient-looking coins into his other.
I turned and walked toward the open elevator with Rowen at my side.
Rowen studied me as we stepped into the elevator car. “You did excellent. Are you okay? It was a rough charge to get for your first.”
“I’m fine.” I unrolled the list, looking at the next name for something else to do. The elevator closed and I told it the next name. According to Rowen, after the first rush of shift, I would have the elevator to myself for the most part. Everyone got their own during shift. It made no sense, but what did in this world?
I could get into Midtween through any doorway; they were the threshold of change, always shifting. Any natural arch, or moving object, would work as well. But all souls went to the river by elevator. In older times, they went by carriage. Souls hadn’t been delivered to the river through doorways almost since the invention of the wheel. While the car moved, I idly wondered what might transport souls to the river a couple hundred years from now. Maybe they would get beamed to the river. Or maybe this side would decide elevators were good enough.
***
“She would be used, fought for, fought against. Her mere existence set things in motion.” ~Caius
Chapter 7
When the doors opened in another hospital, I went in search of a Robert Sanderson; age sixty-five. Rowen fell back, letting me go ahead to the new charge. Following the tug on me, I turned the corner and walked straight into someone. Surprised, I jumped back.
The man who had helped Rowen that night at my house flashed a sardonic smile. This time, he wore a dark crimson cloak that hung open in the front revealing a tight black t-shirt and good fitting black jeans. His eyes, like liquid gold, were a stunning contrast to his bronzed skin and inky black hair. He towered over me. The top of my head didn’t quite reach his shoulder. He was sexy as hell in a hardened warrior kind of way.
He dried my mouth and not because of his looks. Power exuded from him, like an invisible cloud he carried with him. I knew who this was now thanks to six months of intensive, catch-up learning. Caius, son of the Archdemon, Eisheth. Sinmar was the Head of Demonborn and this man was his second. He could kill me before I could even consider defending myself. Why he’d helped Rowen that night was beyond me.
“Wandering alone already, Reaper?” He took a step closer, crowding my personal space, and inhaled sharply. “I’m surprised Rowen doesn’t have you on a shorter leash. I could smell you all the way down the hall.”
My hackles rose at his tone. In spite of the fear that shot through me and sent my blood racing through my veins, I met his gaze with a defiant one of my own, refusing to back up a single step, even if that left me having to look up to keep eye contact. The earthy, spicy scent that was such a lure to mortals wafted around me. I remained unfazed.
“Dangerous of him to leave you all alone, being so new. So defenseless. Such…easy prey.”
“Go ahead and try. I know how to defend myself.” I hoped standing toe to toe with him, letting my mouth make me sound braver than I was, didn’t backfire.
As the son of an Archdemon, I would never be strong enough to take him on. If my father was an Archangel, that would’ve been different. But Elijah was only a Soldier Angel.
Caius chuckled low in his throat and something seemed to light behind his eyes. “Is that so? Want to test that?”
He bared his teeth, showing off the way his eye teeth had sharpened into slight points. I wanted to swallow to ease the dryness in my throat, but didn’t in case he saw it as a sign of fear. I just stood my ground, ready to bring out my staff in a last-ditch effort to not die.
“What are you doing here, Caius?” Rowen asked as he rounded the corner, his voice tense. “I thought you had other things to do besides lurking on reaper routes.”
“Relax, Rowen. You know I’m not here to take a nip of your newest reaper,” Caius said, his voice smooth. He put some space between us. I swallowed the sigh of relief that wanted to rise. “I just wanted to get a better look at the other one who is causing such an uproar. She couldn’t look more different from her sister than if they pos
sessed at least one different parent.”
“Watch yourself, Caius,” Rowen warned.
Though terrified, I drew myself up and glared at Caius as he walked slowly around me like I was a horse up for auction.
“Get an eyeful?” I growled.
Ignoring my remark, he said to Rowen, “Awful tiny for a reaper. Better make sure this one is capable of handling an eater before you turn her loose.”
I ground my teeth and bared them at him. “I can handle myself just fine.”
He looked me in the eye for the first time since Rowen showed up. “Once you have some training under your belt, I have no doubt you will be quite formidable, despite your stature.”
He glanced at Rowen before bringing his attention back to me. “Sure it’s a good idea to have her out here already? Especially with the high concentration of angel blood in her veins flooding the entire hall with a scent that will drive young demonborn into a frenzy?”
“I’m quite capable of protecting my reapers.” Rowen’s face was hard. “You would do well to remind those young demonborn of that fact. I’m not a reaper to trifle with.”
“They will be warned.” The way Caius said it seemed to give a double meaning though I wasn’t sure what the second meaning was.
“Look, I really don’t care what you think or what you’re doing here. I just had to take a four-year-old to the ferry as my very first charge,” I brandished my rolled list in his direction, “and frankly I’m not in the mood for whatever crap you are trying to pull.”
“They all have to die someday.” His face showed no emotion.
“I’m sure you know all about that,” I snapped. Sometimes, in situations of stress, my mouth had a tendency to jump ahead of my brain. And my mouth had already said enough since first encountering him.
“I know enough.” Caius turned his attention to Rowen again. “She’s a feisty one, I’ll give you that. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep her alive.”
“That’s enough, Caius.” The warning was clear in Rowen’s voice.
Caius flashed perfect, normal white teeth at me in a smile, nodded to Rowen and wandered off down the hall.
“Well, that was weird and annoying.” I let out a shaky breath as I watched the demonborn walk away.
“Your charge,” Rowen said, reminding me of why I was here.
I took a deep breath letting my anger with Caius flow out with it. It wasn’t Mr. Sanderson’s fault a dangerous and irritating demonborn was stalking the halls. When I felt I had everything under control, I walked the last few feet to the room I felt pulled toward.
***
“Though the scent of her fear was thick in the air, she never backed down. Intriguing. Few demonborn would dare stand their ground with me, and no other reapers aside from Rowen.” ~Caius
Chapter 8
I tapped my foot while I watched through the veil and waited for James Parsons. I’d been officially reaping for six months, only the last two on my own, and I still couldn’t help hoping the names would disappear off my list though I was pretty sure Mr. Parsons would be coming with me.
“Josephine, stop tapping. It’s distracting.”
I didn’t stop, but I did shoot a glare at my sister standing patiently by the hospital bed, her hand clasped around Mr. Parsons’s. “I hate that name, and you’re wasting your time and energy. He’s still on my list.”
“Always the impatient one,” she replied with her attention still on the frail old man.
“Always the perfect one,” I shot back. “The man is a hundred-and-one years old, Vicky, how much longer do you think he’s going to live, even if you save him now?” I really didn’t wish Mr. Parsons any ill will, Victoria just had a talent sometimes for bringing out the bitchy in me.
This time, she did pull her attention away from Mr. Parsons, just long enough for me to see the slight frown marring her delicate features. “Victoria. No one calls me Vicky.”
“I do when you annoy me. Besides, it’s going to suck when you don’t have enough life energy left to save that preemie being born two floors up. She’s on my list too.” As much as I would like to see James Parsons disappear from my list, I would rather lead him to the ferry than carry tiny, newborn Olivia.
Victoria turned back to Mr. Parsons. “Every life is precious, even one so old as the one lying before you. If the preemie is meant to be, either I will still have enough energy left for her, or another guardian will.” She spared me another glance. “I know you still spend time on the other side of the veil, but must you keep speaking like that? Sucks, really? Hardly a fitting way to speak for one in your station.”
I rolled my eyes and refrained from pointing out that I had always spoken this way, that time spent othersiding didn’t have anything to do with it. Mr. Parsons’s time was almost up anyway, what was the point of an argument that would just get interrupted? Not that my perfect, golden-haired, angel-faced sister with her flowing white robes would ever truly understand my job. In lieu of an argument, I settled for another eye roll, this time accompanied by a dramatic sigh for no other reason than because it would irritate her.
I despised doing this when my sister was the guardian. Don’t get me wrong, I love her beyond everything. However, it was easy to see why, after our discovery a year ago, she’d been offered the position of Guardian and I had been offered that of Reaper. She’s patience, love, virtue, all that is good and perfect personified. And I’m, well me.
Mr. Parsons’s monitors went flat, setting off alarms on the other side of the veil. I pulled myself from my thoughts and got to my feet as Victoria left the room. The hospital staff rushed in, some passing right through where I stood.
Mr. Parsons slowly separated from his now useless body until his spirit form stood next to the bed. Time to get to work. I walked toward him and gently took his hand, which felt like ice in mine. “Mr. Parsons, it’s time to go.”
He looked at me with the confusion I’d grown used to seeing in my charges. “Am I dead?”
“Yes.” I’d found the blunt truth worked better than any platitudes.
“Are you dead?”
“In a sense, yes.” Not at all. I was immortal, but I wasn’t going to get into all of the questions an answer like that would spawn.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Jo, I’m a reaper. I’m here to escort you to the river.”
“You don’t look like a reaper; you’re far too young and pretty.” He patted my hand as if trying to comfort me. “If you’re an angel of death, where is your scythe?”
I ground my teeth and fought not to roll my eyes. A scythe, really? What was everyone’s obsession with the whole scythe thing? Why would I have one?
In fact, the only place I had ever seen a scythe while living in the mortal world was in costume shops at Halloween and, as a reaper, it wasn’t like I was here to cut hay or wheat or whatever it was one did with a real scythe. Pretty sure it was mainly for harvesting crops.
Since I didn’t have a proper answer for him, I settled for sarcasm. “We haven’t used scythes since they invented tractors and I couldn’t fit the tractor in the elevator, so you’ll just have to wait to see it. Now, if you will come with me please.”
“Where are we going?” The first hint of fear and uncertainty threaded through his voice as he followed me into the hall. “Am I going to Heaven?” His spirit form trembled and he whispered, “Am I going to Hell?”
We paused in front of the elevator while we waited for it to arrive. I looked at Mr. Parsons. “I don’t know where you’re going. My job is to protect you, guide you to the River Styx, and pay the ferryman. Nothing more.”
I would know as soon as we stepped off the elevator where he was going, but even then it wasn’t my place to tell him that sometimes I paid the ferryman and sometimes I didn’t. And sometimes I did pay and still knew the person wasn’t going to the Heavens right away.
I glanced down the deserted halls, keeping alert for eaters while we waited for the elevator. I
hated losing souls and after three earlier battles in which I held on to the souls despite the eaters, my vials of replenisher were used up. Now I was almost too drained of energy to hold on to Mr. Parsons if one did show up.
The air in the hallway rippled and I sensed the creature’s approach before it came around the corner. Apparently, the soul eaters didn’t care how much energy I did or did not have left. Thankfully, they weren’t terribly intelligent, so as long as I could hold onto my staff and keep out of its way, I should be able to take it down. It advanced down the hall toward us, the claws of its feet ticking against the white linoleum of the floor.
“What is that?” Mr. Parsons’s hand gripped my arm. I didn’t have to take my eyes off the eater to know Mr. Parsons’s face would be a mask of terror.
Like all soul eaters, it walked on two legs that resembled a wolf’s back legs, if wolf paws ended in talon-like claws, and stood a full two feet taller than me. Eaters had a tendency to inspire fear with their hulking shoulders covered in long heavy spines, thick necks supporting heads that looked like a wolf-bull mashup and mouthfuls of fang-like teeth.
“Don’t worry about what it is, just know you don’t want it to get you. Stay out of the way and whatever you do, don’t go anywhere near it.” I didn’t bother to mention I felt at least two more eaters somewhere down the hall. No sense scaring him. I would deal with this one then hope like hell I had enough left to deal with the others.
I held out my arm, clenched fist parallel to the ground and focused my energy. A four-foot staff of glowing white light appeared in my hand. The eater paused, flexing its talon-tipped, humanoid hands as it gauged the strength of the staff and by extension, the strength of my remaining energy.
Although I ran low, the staff glowed strong. Thanks to being a true half and half hybrid, my reserves ran deeper than any of the other reapers; this damn eater wasn’t getting Mr. Parsons. It crept closer, crouching and slinking as it neared. When it feinted to one side and then charged all in one blurring movement, my staff matched its speed, cutting cleanly through the eater’s spiny hide.
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 6