by D. C. Gomez
“Please, don’t apologize.” Katrina patted my arm. “They were out for blood, literally, and we were on the menu. I was very impressed you managed to stop.” Katrina smiled when I angled my head toward her. “Most of the time, when your peers get to that point, they become worse than Kamikaze soldiers. They go straight berserk and kill everything in sight. I’m surprised they never attacked me, honestly.”
“Oh, trust me, you have nothing to worry. You stick out in that crowd,” I told Katrina. Granted as I looked at her again, I realized she would stick out in a group of super-models.
Do I want to know what you saw?” Katrina asked me in a serious tone.
“That would be a no, at least if you ever want to do business with them again. You would never see them the same way again.” I wished I could erase the memories from my head.
“Should we go?” Katrina asked me, pointing towards the car.
“Not yet, I still have my real job to do,” I told her, pointing to the souls. I knew she couldn’t see them, and that was probably a blessing because they just kept coming. “I need to get ahold of Death.”
“Oh wow, how?” Katrina asked me, a little too giddy for my taste.
I pulled out my cell phone and waved it in front of her. Her bottom lip actually stuck out. Was she disappointed? It sure looked like it.
“Your texting Death? That is so boring,” Katrina said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m actually texting Constantine since I can’t contact Death directly,” I told her. Talking while texting wasn’t as easy as it looked.
“How long would it take her to get here?” Katrina asked me.
“Not long, I promise,” Death answered from behind us.
Katrina jumped at least three feet off the ground. I had to give her credit, she didn’t scream. I guessed I should have warned her that when it comes to work, Death answers immediately. Not sure how Constantine got the message to her so quickly, but it worked.
“Good evening, Katrina,” Death said, her voice as soft and sweet as I had ever heard her.
“Hi Death,” Katrina replied back, not looking at her.
I was kind of glad Death was a woman for Katrina, too. It really helped when we were having conversations about her.
Greetings were cut short when three souls came over to Death. They were young, maybe pre-teens and they looked like siblings—two girls and one boy, all very thin. Death walked over to them and extended her hands towards them. The tallest of the three stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Death’s waist. The other two followed and grabbed her hands.
“I should be grateful they just died from lack of blood and weren’t turned,” Death told me over her shoulder. “You know what to do, Isis. Let’s move quickly.” Death didn’t wait for my confirmation before she disappeared with the three kids.
“This might take a while. You should wait in the car,” I told Katrina, who still stood gaping at the empty space where Death had been standing a moment ago.
“Sounds like a great plan,” Katrina said, and I heard the relief in her voice. “Sorry I can’t help, but this part gives me the creeps. Good luck.” She gave me a soft shoulder tap and hurried to the car.
I couldn’t blame her. It was overwhelming watching Death’s work.
I inched my way forward towards the lady who had warned me before I went into the vampire club. She still hadn’t stopped smiling.
“You came back,” she said.
“I told you I would,” I replied, but I understood her concern now. It had been close downstairs in that club. There were too many of them for just me to handle, but she didn’t need to know that. “Are you ready to go home?” I had no idea how long she had been wandering this street, but I was sure she was ready.
“I can wait a little longer,” she told me as she scanned the crowd. “Did you know as part of the treaty with the vamps, Death is not allowed to come within fifty feet of any of their buildings?” I shook my head and she continued. “That’s what they tell us when they are draining us. If we refuse to be turned, they leave us by the door of the building to die. They told us it was our punishment for being stupid. Most of us were too lost and confused by the time we died to walk the fifty feet to reach Death. And every night, like clockwork, Death stands at the edge, waiting and crying for us.”
I had tears running down my cheeks. Anger boiled inside me. They weren’t punishing the dead, they were torturing Death. How could they make her watch her children wandering each and every night, helpless? And she could do nothing to help.
It made me feel a lot better about what I had done to those vampires back there, although a small part of me still felt horrible. The thing was, they weren’t human, and the Lord knew they weren’t alive. Even with all the facts stacked against them, I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. I just couldn’t because every time I thought of those monsters, it made me want to run screaming.
“Please don’t cry. We are going home now,” the soul told me as she wiped away my tears. “Go on. Take them first. I watched over them for decades and it will make me happy to see them set free.” She released a contented sigh. “I will wait right here for you.”
If I tried to answer her, I’d start crying again, so instead, I just nodded and went to work. Whenever I reached a soul, they extended their hands, which meant I didn’t have to work too hard. These souls knew they were dead and were ready to move on. Every time I grabbed their hands, tears of joy filled their eyes. As soon as I grabbed them, they relaxed, like their whole body sighed in relief, and then Death appeared to take them away. We worked fast, but it still took us at least an hour. Every time I thought I was done, more appeared.
“Are you ready?” I asked my new friend. “You are the last one.” I smiled at her.
“I would like to stay,” she told me.
I took a step back. “Why?” Had she lost her mind?
“As soon as you leave, things will go back to the way they were,” she told me. “The vamps granted you amnesty for this night, so Death could cross the threshold because of you. When you are gone, she will go back to standing on the sidelines. I can help now. I know there is hope. Please let me do this. I was useless in life. At least I can make a difference in death.” This time she was the one crying.
“I don’t know,” I said. I didn’t know if I could live with her being stuck there.
“Death,” the soul said, peering over my shoulder. “Please let me help.”
I turned to find Death walking toward us.
“This is normally an Interns work, Anastasia,” Death told her softly. “As long as Isis is okay with you helping her, I will respect your wishes.”
Both of them met my eyes, then.
“No pressure, thanks,” I told them, shaking my head. “I don’t have a problem with it, but what if they catch you?” If the vampires hurt her, or any more people for that matter, I was ready to burn down the building to make them pay.
“I’m already dead. What else can they do?” Anastasia answered, shrugging her shoulders.
She had a point, but I wasn’t telling her that.
“In that case, it is settled,” Death said with a smile. “Meet me every night at sunset at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Bring any soul you find. From now on, they will all make it home.”
“Thank you.” Anastasia leaned in and hugged us both. Then she ran down the street like she was on a mission from God. Maybe she was.
“That was kind of you,” Death told me as I watched Anastasia disappear.
“I didn’t do anything,” I told Death as I turned around.
“Most humans don’t like sharing power, especially a territory,” Death said as she looked around the city.
“Oh, trust me. It is not going to hurt my ego to have somebody else ushering souls home,” I told Death and I meant every word. I needed all the help I could get. Besides, I was pretty sure this was Anastasia’s redemption road. Who was I to deprive her of that?
“I’m glad,” Deat
h said, and then she turned serious. “Isis, be careful. This is a lot bigger than anything War imagines. I don’t want a war, but I don’t want you dead, either. Be careful who you trust. The elves and the vampires only care about their own interests. Don’t let them use you.” Death didn’t sound mad, just concerned.
“I will.” It was one thing if Constantine didn’t trust them. He didn’t trust anybody. If Death said to be careful, I knew I was in trouble.
“You better hurry. You are running out of time,” Death told me as she walked forward in the same direction Anastasia had gone. She stopped a few paces away from me and turned. “Isis, thank you.”
I had to smile. This time in the city had been better than last time, but not by much. Another man was dead because of me, but this time, it had been in self-defense. I knew I’d thought it before, but I really didn’t like New York City very much. On a good note, this horrible trip hadn’t been a complete waste of time. Some souls had finally made it home, and that was worth the suffering on my part.
I ran back to the car and jumped in the passenger’s side. “Ready?” I asked Katrina.
“That was totally creepy,” Katrina said. “One minute you’re standing alone, and then you’re holding people. By the way, even after all these years, Death still scares the hell out of me,” she finished, not making eye contact with me.
“She has that effect on people, but at least you’re not working for Pestilence,” I told Katrina.
“Oh! You are so right,” Katrina replied, and I could tell she was calming down. “Does she still make her Interns call her mistress?” She smirked.
“Unfortunately,” I told her.
Katrina started the car and chuckled. “She is one crazy bitch.”
That is putting it mildly, I thought to myself.
“Where to?” I asked her.
Katrina adjusted the mirrors. “Heading to sunny California,” Katrina told me.
It couldn’t be that sunny. It was the middle of the night.
“We have a date with an elf. George is ready for us,” she said. With a smoothness one only acquired from years of practice, Katrina pulled onto the road.
After a few moments of building up the courage, I spoke. “I have to ask, what’s up with War? I don’t know why, but I feel like I know him.” It was a creepy feeling. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
Katrina laughed before speaking. “He is going through his Rock phase.”
“What?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
“He is infatuated with the wrestler, The Rock,” Katrina told me, doing a perfect imitation of the Rock’s famous eye brow raise.
“Oh my God. He does look like The Rock,” I told Katrina and it finally clicked. “That is nuts. Does he do that often?” I guessed if Katrina could become any soldier she wanted, it made sense War could become anyone he wanted to.
“Not as often, fortunately,” Katrina answered, not taking her eyes off the road. “His favorite look is Sean Connery as James Bond. He goes back to that one often. At least the accent is fun.” Katrina shook her head.
We talked all the way back to the plane about the idiosyncrasies of the Horsemen. I didn’t realize how much fun it was to have another girl around for a change. Some things didn’t need as much explanation with Katrina—unlike with the boys back home—which was something I could get used to.
Getting spoiled while traveling in style was amazing. Unfortunately, even our luxury plane had to follow the laws of nature, and the flight took over five hours. I had been hoping for a nap, but instead I talked the whole flight with Katrina and our friendly crew.
My body was sticky and gross, and my hair felt chalky, probably from the ashes still in my hair. After hours of sitting there feeling disgusting, I turned to Katrina. “I need a shower. No, I crave a shower.”
Katrina just laughed and shook her head.
“I can make that happen,” our super helpful flight attendant said.
I raised my eyebrows towards her. What I needed was a real shower with lots of running water, not some strange version that she could create in a plane. Honestly, there was only so much water a plane could hold.
Although her offer moved me more than I could say, I declined and settled for checking in with Bartholomew to get the address for our safe house in Cali.
According to Constantine, we had locations in every state. I had only visited a few of the safe houses since I made sure my trips were not long enough to require overnight accommodations. Fortunately, all our locations were fully loaded with everything you needed, so I was sure we would find Cali appropriate clothes there. Hopefully there would be time to stop by the house before the meeting.
“The safe house is in Encinitas. Will that leave time to stop by the house?” I asked.
“Absolutely not. We are meeting the twin brother of the princess at La Jolla’s beach at sunrise. It’s going to be close already.”
This had officially turned into the day that wouldn’t end.
We ate breakfast on the plane to maximize our time. I had no idea where they had a kitchen, but they had the best oatmeal with fresh fruit I had ever had. We even had fresh squeezed orange juice.
A white Cadillac was waiting for us at the hangar. Between the luxury plane and the fabulous cars, I imagined Constantine was in heaven. He loved buying stuff, and he usually went all out for things like this.
Katrina jumped in the Caddy and didn’t waste any time getting us to the beach. I wondered how she was so familiar with the area. Then I noticed the Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar. Working for War, Katrina probably knew the locations and surroundings of every military base in the world.
I googled the time for sunrise in San Diego. For October twenty ninth, sunrise was at seven a.m., which left us exactly eighteen minutes.
Katrina drove like a madwoman, trying to beat the rush hour traffic of commuters heading to work. It didn’t matter the city, traffic was always our worst enemy. I was starting to doubt we would make it until Katrina jerked the wheel and took us down some barren road. The bumps threw my head into the top of the car, but with less than three minutes to spare, we made it. Katrina drove the Caddy straight on the beach, too. No surprise there. She didn’t care much for rules.
Katrina stopped the car and draped her arms over the steering wheel as she took a few deep breaths. Then she turned to me. “Ready?”
Was she asking me, or herself? I gave her a nod, and we both climbed out of the car.
We plodded towards the water. I hesitated. The meeting wasn’t taking place in the water, was it? I had left my new trench coat on the plane, but I still wore my boots and leather pants. Those leather pants would not handle salt water very well. This could get ugly.
We stopped right at the water’s edge just as the sun came up. The sight took my breath away. I’d never seen anything that compared to it, at least until the most gorgeous man emerged from the water. It looked like the scene in James Bond when Daniel Craig came out of the ocean in that skimpy swim suit, except this man-made Craig didn’t have a scrap of fabric covering anything.
“Didn’t think you would make it,” the man told Katrina as he approached us, and his voice was like velvet running down your skin.
I couldn’t help it; my eyes were locked on him and they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I reached my hand up to make sure I wasn’t drooling on my chin, and still I stared at him. He had to be at least six feet four, with strawberry blond hair, a chiseled jaw line, and more muscles than The Terminator. It probably didn’t help that all he was wearing was a Speedo. When he smiled at me, I swore my heart rate tripled, and that was when I noticed his aqua eyes. He was unreal.
“Traffic,” Katrina replied, looking unconcerned by the half-naked man in front of us. “Iason, meet Isis. I’m sure you know who she is already.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Iason gave me another one of those disarming smiles. The guy’s looks were a lethal weapon all on their own.
“Hi,” I said, and it came out in a squeak.
I was transfixed with the man in front of me, I didn’t hear the other man sneaking up behind me. By the time I noticed him, he was handing Iason a towel. I guessed he was Iason’s servant, maybe his bodyguard. They spoke in a language I didn’t recognize. The prince covered himself with the towel and I felt like I could think again.
I made a mental note to never confront an elf when they have so much flesh showing. The bodyguard stepped behind us again. I peered over my shoulder and followed him with my eyes. I had no clue how he did it, but he blended in with the background like he wasn’t even there. It was amazing and worked so much better than the army’s fatigues.
“Ms. Isis, why do you believe my sister is actually missing?” Iason asked me as he started walking towards a lounge chair on the beach.
“It’s been three days and nobody has heard from her?” The words came out as a question, and I hated myself in that moment. I needed to find my confidence again, but this elf unnerved me.
“We are over half a century old. Time moves different for us.” The prince took his towel off and started drying his legs. I spun around and watched the waves. No way would I fall for that trick again.
He laughed, and it had to be the most melodious sound I had ever heard.
“What?” I asked him as I eyed him from over my shoulder. Maybe he was laughing at my clothes. I was sure they were ruined from the back.
“You learn fast,” he said in a gentle tone.
“Happy now? She passed your test.” Katrina almost growled. “Turn down the glamour.”
“You are doing that on purpose?” I asked in a high-pitched voice. A sigh of relief escaped me. I should have known. Nobody was that damn attractive naturally.
“Just a bit,” Iason answered with a mischievous smile. “If I can’t trust you to control your animal impulses in casual settings, there is no way you will be able to save my sister.”
That was a horrible logic, but I could see his point.
“You do think something happened to her?” I asked him without realizing I’d turned to face him. Iason must have turned down his glamour since I could now face him and form coherent thoughts. He was still hotter than the sun, but at least it was manageable.