We passed Kevin and the hounds on the way inside Holly House.
“Josie waiting for me?” I asked him.
“Yeah.” He blushed at the sight of Holly and gave her a little bow. “Good evening, Councilor.”
“Good evening, young reaper. I hear you’ve joined Lana here as a tenant. I hope you find the accommodations pleasing.”
“More than pleasing. It’s a beautiful condo. You really have impeccable taste,” he gushed.
I rolled my eyes. God, he was such a suck-up. I wondered if that had anything to do with him graduating at the top of his class. At least it was better than Craig Hogan’s tactics. A small smile came to my lips at the thought of our last encounter. Karma had taken her sweet time, but she made good in the end. I was just glad I got to be there for the show.
Chapter 30
“A true friend never gets in your way
unless you happen to be going down.”
-Arnold H. Glasow
Josie was waiting at my dining room table when I came through the front door. She had changed out of her work cowl and into a pair of jeans and a gray, long-sleeved shirt that accented her steely gray eyes. Her short black hair was gelled into stiff spikes. A few angled inward and framed her face. It was an aggressively sexy look that I usually liked on her, when I didn’t feel like putting a boot up her ass. Her expression was neutral, but her pissy attitude was still obvious. Her legs were crossed and her arms folded tightly under her breasts. It didn’t look like an apology was in my future, but I didn’t see one in her future either.
“Josie.” I threw the leather folder with my fancy new certificate on the table.
“Lana.” Josie’s expression stayed icy, but I knew her well enough to know curiosity would get the best of her. “All finished with Bub?”
“Yeah. I’m officially certified to protect myself against demons. So maybe I’ll be able to leave my own home from now on without being tranquilized in the process.”
“Christ, Lana.” Josie sighed. “Of all the nights to go out, you managed to pick the worst possible one. I would have darted you myself if I could have. Lucky for you, Warren had already heard what was going down and knew more than anyone that your stubborn ass should have been content to stay in.”
I shook my head. “I’m done playing hide and seek with the rebels. I’ve made it through the training Cindy requested. If you can’t accept that and still feel the need to boss me around, I don’t know how this whole roommates thing is going to work out.”
“Roommates?” Josie blinked at me, and then the corner of her mouth tugged up into a lopsided smile. She quickly hid it with a frown. “I’m not apologizing.”
“Neither am I.”
Josie narrowed her gaze at me. “It was for your own good.”
“I’ll decide what’s good for me from now on, thank you.”
She snorted and snatched the demon certificate off the table. I hadn’t really looked at it yet, but she read it aloud for me. “This certificate hereby certifies reaper Lana Harvey as a Demonology Specialist, now proficient in knowledge and skill to identify and defend against aggressive demon threats. Validated by the Lord of the Flies himself.” She looked up at me. “Well now, isn’t that special.”
I winced at the mention of Bub. “Yeah.”
Josie’s eyes widened at my pained expression. “Oh my god. You slept with him!”
I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t get the words to come out. So I pulled out a chair and slumped down at the table across from her. I couldn’t tell if she was more impressed or appalled.
“What about Maalik-“
“We broke up,” I grumbled.
“Before or after you boned the prince of demons?”
“Before.” I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead to the table. “Right before. As in a couple of hours.”
“Wow, Lana.” Josie gave a short laugh and then cleared her throat. “Are you two an item?”
“No. I don’t know. We haven’t really talked since.”
“Who’s the tart now?” She laughed and then paused thoughtfully. “I never really figured you had a type, but it appears you have one after all. You’re a sucker for men from Hell.”
“Sure I’m not just a magnet for men from Hell?” I asked with my head still pressed to the table. “I mean, it’s not like I’m being pursued by anyone else.”
“What about Craig Hogan?”
I groaned my disgust. “Swine doesn’t count.”
Josie giggled and hopped up from the table to go fetch a couple of Gabriel’s Ambrosia Ales out of the fridge. She dropped back in her seat and slid one of the beers across the table to me.
“Thanks,” I said pulling my face off the table and propping my chin in my hand.
Josie cracked open her beer and took a drink. “So you really want another roommate?”
I nodded grudgingly. “I may need two more, considering how god-awful expensive it is here. I’ve already told Holly that Maalik is not to pay my rent anymore. I know I’ll be getting a bump in pay when I start on the Posy Unit, but not that big of a bump.”
“About that.” Josie looked a little sheepish. “I don’t have the council sponsoring me, but I do have quite a few credentials making me eligible. So I was thinking about joining the Posy Unit with you and Kevin. Is that cool with you?”
“Yeah. Definitely.” I was surprised.
Josie didn’t generally seem to enjoy working with me, whether we were delivering souls on our ship or taking a class together. She usually regarded me with mild annoyance and lectured me on the rules. That could present a problem if she caught me doing Horus’s little side job. Of course, she was probably joining for Kevin’s sake. Maybe he would be distraction enough.
Josie folded her arms over the table and tilted her head to one side. “Who else are you considering as far as roommates go?”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Well, Jenni’s going to have to find another roommate if I leave, unless you want me to extend the invitation to her as well?”
“Hmmm. Yeah. If you and Kevin plan on sharing a room, that could work.” I frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Gabriel’s going to be stuck on the couch again.”
Josie shrugged. “He’s used to it.”
I scrunched up my nose. “I just hope he’s gentle on the furniture. How much do you suppose one of those white sofas cost?”
“Good point.”
We finished off our beers just as Kevin came back with the hounds. He gave us a cautious look as he took off Saul and Coreen’s leads. They both brushed by me for a mandatory ear-scratch greeting before curling up on the living room rug for a nap.
Josie stood to wrap her arms around Kevin’s neck and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Looks like Jenni and I are going to be following you here.”
He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with a smile. “Wow. That’s great. We should celebrate.”
“I’ve got one final left tonight.”
“Afterwards,” Josie said. “Jenni and I already passed our last finals, so it can be a celebration for all of us. I’ll give Gabe and Amy a heads up too.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I grinned.
Things were starting to feel normal again. Well, aside from my little situation with Bub. At least my circle of friends was nearby, and I’d be back to work soon. I was actually looking forward to it. How pathetic was that?
Chapter 31
“May God have mercy upon my enemies,
because I won’t.”
-George Patton
Words could not express my elation. Not only had I managed to pass my mentoring final, but I got an A. It was a miracle… or possibly a mistake. Either way, I’d take it. It was all I could do not to skip down the sidewalk on my way to meet Josie and the rest of the gang at Purgatory to celebrate.
I didn’t want to waste one minute of the evening, so I had found an outfit that worked for class, but still managed t
o be festive enough for Purgatory. I didn’t want to have to go home and change after my final. A black pencil skirt fit the bill. I added a white, sleeveless blouse, a black and white checkered scarf, and some strappy black heels. It was genius. All I had to do when I left the academy was add some red lip gloss, and presto! I was party worthy. I was sure that passing my last final had given me a nice glow of achievement as well. I walked down Council Street with a smile, wondering what could possibly make this night any better.
My moment of joy staled once I caught the scent of sulfur. The news of the rebel arrests had really diminished my caution. I tried to relax my shoulders and increased my pace as much as possible without looking too obvious. I secretly hoped it was Bub trailing me, but I should have known better. The rebels had just taken a large blow. They were sure to retaliate, and of course, I would be their target. I was three blocks away from Purgatory when a familiar figure rounded the corner and headed my way.
Craig Hogan’s casual attire hadn’t change much in three hundred years. He was in jeans and a black polo. The short stubble on his head was so thin that it looked more gray than black. With his splash of gray freckles and pale skin, he looked washed out and more like a soul than a reaper. His eyes locked on me, and he immediately donned one of his fake grins, the kind that said he thought he was made of awesome.
I contemplated walking across the street to avoid him, but I had the shrinking feeling that was the direction my demon stalker was approaching from. I dug a coin out of my pocket, but before I had a chance to do anything, the streetlights flickered and died. A familiar and chilling doom engulfed me, and I couldn’t help but notice that Craig didn’t seem affected as he neared me.
The impact of the dread spell hit me like a blow to the chest. I hunched over and clutched the front of my blouse, struggling for my next breath as I tried to keep my panic at bay.
“You look terrible, Lana.” Craig said with an entirely fake air of sympathy. “Here, let me help you.”
I put my hand out to keep him back, but he turned sideways, taking my arm and steering me into the nearest alley. There were a few other reapers out, making their way home from the academy, but I imagined it just looked like Craig was helping me up from a fall. Every ounce of energy was drained from my body. I couldn’t even find my voice to call out to them. This was not how my night was supposed to end.
Craig pulled me a ways down the alley, until we reached a recess in one of the buildings that formed a small area for dumpsters. He pried the coin out of my hand and pushed my back up against a brick wall, leaning into me. I turned my face away from him.
“Demon got your tongue?” He laughed, and I could smell the sulfur on his breath. He wasn’t gambling with demons. He was sleeping with one. Not that I had any right to point fingers. I was sleeping with one too.
From the corner of my eye, I watched the hell bitch Tisiphone emerge from the opposite alley. The Tinker Bell dress had been replaced by leather pants and a black tube top, and her knee length locks lay in a single braid over her shoulder. She looked more appropriate for the city tonight, and she could have almost blended in, if not for the sticky, black blood running from her eyes. The small concrete courtyard felt even smaller as she fanned her batwings open into a fear inspiring display behind her.
“Miss me?” she purred.
I took a deep breath and focused, trying to remember what Bub had instructed me to do if I found myself at her mercy again. The exercise had been easier in the comfort and safety of his home. My mind grasped for the details. It had something to do with visualizing blue light over certain chakras. I had been visualizing something a little less innocent while he had been pressed up against my backside, running his hands along my body to identify my power points.
Craig reached up my skirt, and I yelped in surprise as he ripped the strap of throwing stars from my thigh. Several bit into my skin, and I felt warm blood trickle down my leg.
“You won’t be needing these,” he sneered.
I swallowed and closed my eyes, forcing myself to picture the blue light swallowing my chakras.
“What’s she doing?” Tisiphone snapped.
Craig pushed me harder into the wall. “I don’t know.”
“Well, make her stop. I don’t like it.”
Craig reached up and jerked the scarf from my neck. I opened my eyes when I felt his hand close over my throat.
“Play nice, Lana. We just have a few questions for you.”
“Questions?” I asked.
He eased up but kept his hand around my neck.
“Where’s the soul Grim assigned you to collect last fall?”
“I collected a lot of souls. You’ll have to be more specific.”
Craig let go of my throat, and before I had the chance to exhale my relief, he backhanded me across the face hard enough to throw me back against the wall. I stumbled in my heels and slid to the ground.
“Let’s not play games, Lana. I’ve seen the reaper logs.”
I looked up at him with wide eyes. “You? You broke into the records office?”
I clenched my teeth together and punched him in the balls. It was a straight shot from my position. Craig bent over with a grunt and placed a hand on the wall behind me. I took that as my opportunity to make a getaway and crawled out from under him. He seized one of my ankles and flipped me over onto my back, dropping his knee into my sternum to pin me to the gritty blacktop while he caught his breath.
“That’s right, I took the reaper logs. I tried doing this the easy way first. We could have been in this together, but you just couldn’t help but be a bitch. God, you haven’t changed a bit.” Craig pressed his knee in deeper, forcing the air from my lungs. He snatched my wrists and squeezed until my hands went numb. “This could have been nice. I could have fucked the information we needed from you.”
“You wish.” I gasped in enough air to spit in his face.
“Now I have to let Tisiphone beat it from you instead.”
His eyes widened as his pupils dilated. The thought of killing me was just as exciting as the thought of bedding me. He was an even bigger bastard than I had realized.
The weight of him on my chest started to take its toll, and my vision went spotty. I stopped struggling, because I needed all my strength just to breathe. Craig took that as his cue to jerk me to my feet and pulled me around to face Tisiphone. He slid one arm across my throat and looped the other around my arms, pinning my back against his chest.
Tisiphone didn’t look as happy to see me as she had the first time. Her pride had been wounded, and I was sure she was disgusted by the fact that she had to work with a lowly reaper like Craig. She paced in front of me, her barbed whip coiled in a tight loop in one hand. I did not want her to use that thing on me again.
She stepped in closer, sneering mere inches from my face. “You won’t be so lucky this time, reaper.”
I held my breath and leaned away from her, only to find Craig leering at me from behind. “What are you getting out of this Craig?”
He laughed. “You mean other than the satisfaction of seeing you suffer for being a bitch?” He pressed his face into my neck, breathing in the smell of my hair as he insulted me, like a true psychopath. “In exchange for helping the rebels secure Grim’s secret weapon, they’re turning over Reapers Inc. for me to manage.”
“They really think you could do half as good a job as Grim?” I said, trying not to tremble in his arms as Tisiphone’s hot breath brushed against my neck.
“Someone has to run it,” she hissed. “Grim will never agree to submit to our ruling. He will have to go.”
“And you chose Craig?” I laughed. Craig tightened his arm across my throat, nearly lifting me off my feet.
“I graduated with higher honors than you,” he snarled.
“And we all know how you managed that. Guess old habits die hard,” I said, my voice strained from his grasp.
“Fuck you, Lana. You’re just jealous it’s not you.”
> “They didn’t choose you because they thought you were the most capable.” I turned in his grasp to look him in the eye. “They chose you because they knew you had no morals. They saw you for the sniveling weasel that you are.”
I knew that one was going to cost me. Craig lifted me off my feet with a grunt and turned to slam me face first into the brick wall behind him.
“Oddly enough, we didn’t bring you back here to discuss my rise to power,” he said through gritted teeth.
“No, we did not,” Tisiphone injected. “We brought you here to find out where Grim’s been hiding the soul he sent you to collect last year.”
“How should I know?” I lied.
Craig leaned into me, pressing my face against the brick wall. I tasted blood and wasn’t sure if it was coming from my mouth or nose. Everything hurt.
“Grim wouldn’t risk abandoning his secret weapon in the event of his death. He would at least share that secret with one other, namely, his new second-in-command.”
I wanted to laugh, but it ached just to breathe. “Grim can’t stand me. Why the hell would he make me his new second?”
Craig lifted me from the wall only to slam me back against it. I whimpered. It was a pathetic sound that I had managed to hold in up until that point. They really planned on torturing me until I told them what they wanted to know. I had a sinking feeling that I’d eventually be found in one of the restaurant dumpster after they were done with me.
“Let me have her, reaper.” Tisiphone was getting impatient.
I struggled against Craig, not wanting the black-eyed fury anywhere near me. As I did, I felt the small can of angelica mace in my pocket, crushed between my hip and the brick wall. I shouldn’t have been in this situation. I was trained to prevent this, although, Tisiphone was a little more demon than any reaper could handle, even one with special training. Craig was another story. I hadn’t been prepared to defend myself against my own kind, if you could call Craig my own kind.
Craig turned me around again to face Tisiphone. I held my breath, trying to formulate a plan through my panic. The black-eyed wench uncoiled her whip, and something in me snapped. My instincts went into overdrive, and I screamed. I lifted both of my legs, pulling my knees up to my chest before kicking Tisiphone full force in the gut. The impact slammed Craig against the wall behind us. His skull made a nice thud against the bricks, and his grip on my arms slacked. I pulled free and took off down the alley, running for all I was worth.
2 Pocket Full of Posies Page 18