by E. A. Copen
It took them the better part of an hour to scour the concession stands and storage areas in the stadium to find snack cakes. Eventually, Nate came out with a whole box, and Emma followed with a partial one. They’d apparently found vending machines somewhere and dumped all their cash to buy as many as they could.
Nate and Emma dumped the Twinkies at the fifty-yard line, and we waited for Remy to return with a cigar. They didn’t have any in the stadium, so she’d had to go find a twenty-four-hour gas station.
She returned and tossed it to Samedi, saying, “Best I could do.”
He opened the package and ran the cigar under his nose. “Mass manufacturing flavored with a hint of petroleum. My favorite.”
I crossed my arms. “You asked for a cigar. Next time, specify a brand if you want a specific kind. Now let’s make with the god-summoning. I’m already on a tight schedule as it is.”
Samedi tucked the cigar into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
“You’re just going to call him? Like, on a phone?” I asked.
He looked at me as if I were an idiot. “Of course not. Only a rude person would call at this hour. I’m going to send a text.”
Huh, so that was how the Loa kept in contact with the gods. I’d always figured there was some secret ritual or something, and here it was just a wireless connection.
Samedi typed out his message and lowered the phone. “And now we wait to see if he chooses to respond.”
“You’re kidding,” Emma exclaimed. “We can’t just stand here all night waiting.”
Samedi raised an eyebrow at her. “Even I do not command the gods, sha. They act according to their own reasoning in their own time. I am but a humble messenger who does as he is commanded. But Odin is a notorious night owl, and he was active in our apocalypse group chat eighteen minutes ago, so it shouldn’t be long.”
His phone buzzed.
“You see?” Samedi said, lifting it. He scanned the message.
“How come I’m not part of your apocalypse group chat?” I asked. “That would’ve been helpful when I was averting an apocalypse every other weekend.”
“Because it’s strictly for gods and their messengers. Besides, nobody likes you enough to invite you.”
Ouch. What a burn.
Odin’s response was near-instant.
“He’ll be here presently.” Samedi tucked the phone away. “I suggest you back away from the pile of Twinkies. He seems particularly excited about them.”
Thunder rumbled through the arena, moving from one side to the other in a wave. With a boom, the turf near the Twinkies pile exploded in brilliant blue light and Odin appeared, decked out in armor and gripping a big, round shield. He eyed the pile of snack cakes with a twinkle in his eye. “So, Baron Samedi tells me you wish to reclaim your shadow.”
“You misheard.” I slid between Odin and the Twinkies. “I want to trade for it. You give me my shadow back, and you get all these Twinkies.”
Odin narrowed his eyes. “And if I choose to take the Twinkies without giving you your shadow first? What’s your plan to stop me?”
“Um, excuse me.” Nate cleared his throat. “I don’t think that’s how this is supposed to work.”
Odin turned his head and regarded Nate with a glare that could’ve set the grass on fire. When Nate didn’t shrink, the god threw his head back and laughed. “Ah, I see. I approve of your choice, Lazarus. You want your shadow? Very well. We can trade for it. However, as much as I appreciate the offering of snack cakes, I would be a poor god if I simply traded a soul for food.”
Of course, he wanted something else. Why would this be easy? I sighed. “Please tell me I don’t have to fight you for it.”
“Not at all,” he said, waving his hand. “I would crush you in moments. No, let’s do something more fun.” He tapped his beard a moment before clapping and filling the Superdome with thunder. “I’ve got it! A deceptively simple game of wit and strategy. Should you defeat me, you can have your shadow. If I win, I get to keep your soul. Your entire soul.”
Odin waved his hands and a table appeared beside us, complete with two chairs and a table cloth. A red and black board unfolded itself while a stack of red pieces towered on one side and black on the other.
Checkers. I was going to win my shadow back in a game of checkers.
Chapter Twenty
We flipped a coin to determine colors. It was decided I should play black and he should play red, so we took our respective seats.
I hadn’t played checkers since middle school, but it was like riding a bike. Once you know the rules, it’s impossible to forget. Unlike chess, which I was awful at, checkers was an all-or-nothing game. It was still possible to win with one piece on the board, even if it was unlikely. My kind of game.
Odin put his finger on a piece toward the middle and slid it to the next diagonal square. “When you surrendered your shadow, you traded it for the Gjallarhorn. Tell me, did you think it was a worthwhile trade?”
I’d be stupid to think opening moves didn’t matter in a checkers game, but looking over the board, it seemed every move was equal in risk and reward. I picked one of the middle pieces and mirrored Odin’s move. “The horn helped me stop Typhon and save the city. Of course, it was worth it.”
“Another way to look at it,” he said, placing his thumb on another piece and sliding it forward, “would be to say trading your shadow for the horn cost you a great deal more. Beth died as a result of your actions, even if it was indirectly.”
I forcefully slid another piece forward. “She died because of a choice she made. I won’t wear that guilt.”
“Fair enough.” He moved his piece.
I moved mine. We were running out of easy moves to make.
Odin paused before making the next move, scratching at his white beard. “Of course, if you hadn’t traded your shadow to me, you wouldn’t be playing this game right now with your soul on the line. You might very well die today because you chose to make that trade.”
“I could’ve died then too.”
He nodded and moved his piece, leaving a space for me to jump it, which I had to do. In checkers, if you can jump, you must. Jumping his piece let him take one of mine, which allowed me to take another of his.
I held up the piece I’d just taken. “I could do all this, get back into my body, and then get brained by a frozen turkey that fell out of an airplane while just walking down the street. I might live to be a hundred and die in my sleep. Anything could happen. But if I spend my days preoccupied with what might happen, I’m going to miss what does.”
“Interesting. One might even say wise.” He slid a piece forward.
I chuckled and took the piece. “Unlike that move.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes sacrificing a pawn early in the game is necessary to win the endgame. Look at your daughter, for example. It wasn’t so very long ago you were in Faerie, serving as the temporary Summer Knight. You foiled an assassination plot against her if I recall correctly, but lost Odette in the process.”
“Odette and I had our differences, but I’ll always regret that. Remy deserved to have a mother.”
“She did. But if Odette had been there to raise her daughter, it would’ve been Titania sitting on the throne when Mask took control of the Summer Court. If that had been the case, no expeditions into Shadow would’ve been launched, Finn would not have discovered the stones, and all of Faerie would’ve fallen to the creature and his armies.” He finally moved his piece.
“Yeah, but Kellas had no idea what he was doing. Wasn’t like he set all that up on purpose.” I slid a piece forward and immediately regretted it when I saw I’d set up a jump.
Odin took it and continued on to finish a double jump I hadn’t seen. Crap.
I looked over the board more carefully before sliding another piece forward. My end of the board had a big hole in the center now, and there wasn’t much I could do to stop him from sliding in. We traded a few more pieces, losing two on
his side and three on mine before he slid his first piece to the edge of the board. “King me.”
I grumbled and slapped another checker on top of the first.
“You see, Lazarus, it’s impossible to know if you’re a pawn or a king until sacrifices have been made. You began this game as a pawn. You became a king. At the height of your power, you defeated Titans and forced the entire underworld to bow to your will. And now the king wishes to become a pawn again. Why?”
“Not a pawn,” I said, taking another one of his pieces. We both had six left. “I don’t want to play the game anymore at all.”
Odin laughed. “Now that you are in the game, you’re in it. There’s victory or defeat. You cannot simply quit.”
“Yeah, well, they said one cannot simply walk into Mordor either, and two grubby little hobbits did. If there’s one thing you guys still haven’t learned about me, it’s that the surest way to get me to do so something is to tell me I can’t. King me, bitch.”
Odin arched an eyebrow. “I am not your bitch.”
“And I’m not the one with only four pieces left on the board.”
He looked down at the board. He’d gotten so distracted by our conversation he must’ve missed the double jump I’d just executed. He frowned and moved a checker forward, gaining yet another king. “And when you’re no longer a Horseman, then what? What will you do with yourself? How will you live knowing what could be going on all around you, helpless to stop it?”
I shrugged. “I’m not helpless. I guess I’ll just try to enjoy my life as much as I can.”
“So you’ll ignore the suffering around you as you did before? This did all start with you refusing to help someone. Remember Brandi LaVelle? You could’ve saved her too. Then you never would’ve become the Pale Horseman in the first place.”
“Yeah, I was a selfish asshole back then,” I said as he took another piece of mine. “The truth was, I was afraid to get involved in other people’s problems. I just wanted to get through life with my head down so I didn’t have to go back to prison.”
“What changed?”
“I did. King me.” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. “I changed, not because of the powers given to me, or because the world demanded it, but because I chose to. I saw what an asshole I was, how miserable it made me, how it made me push everyone away, and I had to make a choice. I could either keep crawling back into the bottle, ignoring all the problems of the people around me, or I could do something about it.”
He took another piece with one of his kings. “But don’t you ever feel as if you’ve made no difference? There’s still just as much evil in the world as there was before. People kill each other every day. Monsters, gods, and fae are always causing problems. It will be the same for your replacement. Why expend all this effort to make no discernable difference in the world around you?”
“It’s been said the only thing evil needs to triumph is for a good man to stand aside and do nothing. I won’t be that good man. Bad guys push. I’m there to push back. It’s what I do now, and I’m not going to quit just because I’m going into retirement. I don’t need my Horseman powers to change the world. I do that every day by not being an asshole, by paying it forward, helping a friend. If everyone in the world did the same, we wouldn’t need people like me. Even a pawn can kill a king.” I picked up one of my single checkers and jumped over both of his kings.
Odin’s eyes widened. He still had two pieces on the board, but it was only a matter of time before I took those too. He couldn’t win, no matter what he did now. He nodded and folded his hands. “Do you want to play through?”
“I think we both know I’ve won at this point. I’m willing to accept a concession.”
“Very well,” said Odin. “I concede defeat. I accept the consolation prize of Twinkies and agree to surrender your shadow.”
I hadn’t offered the Twinkies as a consolation prize, but it wasn’t worth arguing over. He got what he wanted, and I got what I needed.
With a snap of his fingers, the table and seats disappeared, along with all the checkers. I hit the ground with a grunt. Odin stood and held out his hand. The swirling black mass that was my shadow appeared in his palm and floated into the air. It hovered there for a moment before zooming toward me, then hit me like a truck, pushing me back several feet. I tore up some of the turf as I slid across it.
Afterward, I lay in the fake grass, trying to remember how to breathe. My limbs suddenly had weight, which I wasn’t used to. It felt like I’d just gained fifty pounds.
“I believe this concludes our business,” said Odin, adjusting his clothing. “And just in time, too. Your daughter’s duel of wills with Fenrir begins in less than five minutes. I would hurry if I were you. Don’t want to forfeit that.”
By the time I pushed myself to my feet, Odin was gone.
Remy rushed to my side, but it was Nate who helped me up since I still wasn’t solid enough for her to touch.
“We need to hurry,” she said.
Emma jogged up. “I’ve got a car outside. I’ll get you there.”
“I’ll fly. Probably faster for me.” I tried to pull myself off the ground and into the air, but all I managed was a pathetic jump. Figured that getting my shadow back would mean gravity suddenly worked again. That’d be a disadvantage when dealing with Thanatos, especially if it meant I couldn’t pass through walls anymore. “Never mind. Guess I’m going in the car. Flying is out.”
We ran to the exit, but I stopped in the doorway. Thanatos had said he’d be waiting for me outside. What he’d neglected to mention was that he’d have other Reapers out there with him.
“What is it, Lazarus?” Emma asked from her Escalade.
“Reapers,” I whispered, scanning the sky. “Hundreds of them.”
“I don’t see anything.” Remy turned to Nate. “Do you?”
Nate shook his head.
“Start the car, Emma. And drive fast. If one of their scythes so much as touches me, it’s all over.”
She nodded, climbed in, and turned the key. The engine roared to life and the others climbed into the vehicle while I hung back, just inside the arena. Reapers loomed closer. At least half a dozen stood between Emma’s Escalade and me. I’d easily be within reach as I sped toward it.
Jean cleared his throat behind me. “Well, you’re screwed.”
“You mean, we’re screwed. They’ll take you just as soon as they’d take me.”
He swallowed, then slowly drew the sword at his side. “Fear not, Lazarus. I shall get you to your vehicle. Run!”
I closed my eyes and stepped out.
Metal rang against metal with a ghostly echo as Jean flew alongside me, fending off the scythes as they swept toward me. One came down right behind my foot, close enough that I felt it slice through the air. Jean swept his sword around and jabbed it at the Reaper’s face.
I reached the car and turned back, realizing Jean wasn’t with me anymore. He stood several paces back, surrounded by Reapers, even from above. Jean held out his sword and circled, teeth gritted. He glanced at me, smirked, and saluted me with his sword. “Come on then, you Reaper bastards. It’s time Jean Lafitte gave you what for! I’ll take you all on!”
Nate reached over to slam the door shut and Emma sped off, but the last I saw of him, Jean was holding his own.
There were more Reapers for me to worry about. A group of them broke off and gave chase to the Escalade, and more lined the streets ahead. They parted as the car barreled through them, but even the car didn’t stop them from swiping at me with their scythes. One sliced through Nate, but it didn’t do any damage to the living. I yelped and slid to the other side of the seat.
How was I going to take on all these Reapers? I should’ve challenged Thanatos to a duel. Then at least he’d be the only one I had to deal with. After seeing how the last one went, though, he probably wouldn’t accept. Why would he, when he had me on the run and a better chance of succeeding in his mission with all the hel
p?
I needed to find a way to get my Spark away from him, and that meant getting him alone.
Tires screeched as we pulled onto the street near the plaza where Fenrir and Xipetotec were waiting alongside Khaleda and Detective Drake. Emma, Nate, and Remy got out of the car, lifting their weapons as if they could do anything. They couldn’t even see the Reapers, though, so it was pointless.
The line of Reapers floated dangerously close, with Thanatos in the lead. “Do not think they will protect you, Lazarus.”
Fenrir stood, lowered his head, and growled.
“What is the meaning of this?” Xipetotec said, wheeling himself forward. “You’re interrupting our previously-agreed-upon duel.”
Thanatos eyed the god with disinterest. “My charge to reap his soul predates your agreement. Do not make the mistake of thinking I’m afraid of you.”
Drake stepped forward and lifted his hands. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I just drank an ungodly amount of caffeine to stay awake for this. I was told I was going to referee a fight, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“No human can stop me. I am Death!” Thanatos struck his scythe against the ground, sending out a wave of black fire in a circle. “I will have what I came for.”
YOU WILL WAIT YOUR TURN! Fenrir barked, OR I WILL MAKE A SNACK OF YOU.
Thanatos set his jaw and looked as if he wanted to square up with the Titan for a minute, but decided against it. “Fine. You want your duel, wolf? Have at it. I shall honor your right to it, but only as long as I am permitted to stay.”
VERY WELL, BUT ONLY YOU. YOUR UNDERLINGS MUST LEAVE. THEY’RE RUINING THE VIEW.
Thanatos waved a hand at the Reapers who had followed him. “Retreat a single block and await further instructions.”
One by one, the Reapers disappeared from view.
Detective Drake sighed and sipped from his coffee. “Can we get this show on the road? I’d like to get some sleep. Everybody into the plaza. Wait, I want to talk to you, Lazarus.”