Graveyard Shift (22 page)

Chapter 28

“Beer is living proof that God loves us

and wants us to be happy.”

-Benjamin Franklin

After hitting the bank, I decided to stop by Purgatory Lounge. It was only Wednesday, but my week was so over. My bonus check was just enough to pay tuition for one class and three vacation days. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all mine. I planned on informing Grim in the morning, after pleading for Kevin’s transfer.

Somehow, I wasn’t surprised to find Amy’s motorc
ycle parked outside when I arrived at Purgatory. Josie was such a tabloid whore. Amy wouldn’t have come back to Limbo so soon if she weren’t on vacation.

Inside, a handful of nephilim were busy shooting leagues around the single pool table. Every few minutes, someone called a time-out so the stray feathers could be cleared away. Two roman deity couples slouched in a corner booth, attempting a sloppy conversation over several empty pitchers and a graveyard of sticky shot glasses.

I found Amy hunched over the bar, muttering to herself as the speared tip of her tail danced angrily around her chair. A magazine was spread out before her. A line of empty beer bottles stood guard, towering over the article she read like quiet soldiers, ready to dispense their last wisp of foam and ruin the rebel paper on their mistress’s command.

“Hey
, Amy.” I pulled up a stool beside her.

“Oh!” She threw her hands over the magazine and then frowned at me. “What am I doing? You’ve probably already seen this. You’re Gabriel’s best friend.” She handed the magazine to me and tossed her fiery curls back with a sigh.

I scanned the article, pausing on the cozy picture of her and Gabriel having dinner at The Hearth, the fanciest restaurant in Limbo City. They were holding hands over the table. Amy had on some glitzy red evening gown, and Gabriel was in a sharp black robe.

“I didn’t know Gabriel even owned a black robe.” I laughed and dropped the magazine back on the counter.

“I bought it for him.” Amy sighed and drained the last of her beer. “Hey, Dad! Can you bring me a couple more bottles?”

“Double-fisting it now, are we?” Xaphen burst through the kitchen door and heaved a box of liquor onto the counter with a grunt.

“One’s for Lana,” Amy said, then gave me a funny look. “You will have a drink with me, won’t you?”

“That’s why I’m here.” I smiled and glanced back at the magazine. “You know, that’s a really good picture of you.”

“Did you read the caption?” she snorted. “We’re the Romeo and Juliet of Eternity. Forbidden love at its most extreme. And I look ridiculous with my tail coiled around that chair leg. I was just so nervous.” She rolled her eyes and snatched the bottles Xaphen handed her.

“Yeah, but won’t all the publicity be good for your new chateau?” I chugged down half my beer, hoping to quickly render myself incapable of complicated dialog b
efore Amy had a chance to go there.

“It damn well better,” she answered and tipped back her beer for a long swallow. If we kept drinking at this pace, we’d be falling down in no time.

Amy closed the magazine and stuffed it in the messenger bag hanging off her barstool. “At least I don’t have my legions to worry about anymore.” She crossed her legs and smiled at me.

I nodded and downed the rest of my beer. “You’re welcome, but I think that has more to do with the assignment f
inally being over. We only ran into one demon today,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t ask for any details.

I waved my empty bottle at Xaphen. He huffed and jerked a bucket down from a shelf. After loading it with several bottles and a mountain of ice, he set it between Amy and me.

“On the house,” he said, giving Amy a stern, fatherly glare that suggested this wasn’t her first night of heavy drinking.

“Wow, thanks Xaph,” I giggled, feeling fuzzier than I would have if I had eaten dinner, or lunch for that matter. In times of crisis, food is the first thing I forget. I’m queasy enough without hot wings and lasagna waging war on my intestines.

“So, are you all ready for Friday?” Amy asked as she pulled a bottle from the bucket.

“Halloween? Gabriel will probably drag me off to some lame costume party. Unless, of course, he has plans with you.” I blushed and reached for another beer.

I was still getting used to Gabriel having a girlfriend. There was a small pinch of jealousy, but not the romantic kind. Who was going to get tanked and watch John Wayne save the day with me now?

Amy leaned back in her stool and grinned at me. “You mean he really didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“I asked him to let me tell you, but I didn’t think he would be able to keep it to himself,” she laughed, loo
king tickled that Gabriel had honored her request, and stroked her tail fondly. I just wished she would get it over with and let me have it. My shitty surprise quota had already been reached for the week, hence the beer and immediate vacation.

“Do tell,” I groaned and rested my forehead on the bar.

Amy raised an eyebrow and tilted her head like a confused puppy. “Council Lady Cindy Morningstar was so pleased that you put such a prompt halt to Caim’s demon recruiting that she’s offering an all expenses paid weekend getaway for your team to my new chateau. Gabriel really didn’t tell you?” Her gaze drifted off, making her look lost in whatever la-la land Gabriel had been visiting at Meng’s earlier.

“The Inferno Chateau? This weekend?” I paused, waiting for a punch line that never came.

Amy swiveled her stool around and crossed her legs. “I know it’s a little early in his term, but perhaps Maalik could take the weekend off and join us.”

“You’re serious?” I laughed and twisted the top off another beer. “Well, hot damn. I guess I better start pac
king.”

“Don’t forget an evening gown. We’ll be dining with the Hell Committee Saturday.” Amy giggled and pulled at one of her coppery curls. “At least Ms. Morningstar doesn’t mind my taste in men. I do hope Gabriel has a good time.” She bit her bottom lip and gave me a worried frown.

“He’ll have a blast. We all will.” I gave her a reassuring smile and bottomed-up my second beer. “I’ve got a few things to take care of in the morning. I better take off. Thanks for the drinks.” I nodded to Xaphen and pulled my jacket off the barstool.

“See you Friday,” Amy laughed, pulling the bucket of remaining beer closer before her dad could snatch it off the bar.

Outside, a heavy fog wove around the buildings, illuminated by scattered circles of light cast from the street lanterns and flickering candles melting inside carved pumpkins perched on every other stoop. Halloween had an eerie charm to it in Limbo City. Of course, we didn’t have trick-or-treaters, what with the no child souls rule of the Fates. But we did have some pretty kick-ass parties. I’d been going to them for three centuries though, so missing out this year for a weekend getaway to Hell wasn’t a problem.

With all the demon attacks I’d been through recently, you would think Hell would be the last place I’d want to go for vacation. But the demons interfe
ring with my work were rebels, no longer welcome in Hell. Most of them were probably gone by now anyway. If Grim was telling the truth, the island was destroyed already. I hoped Seth and Caim went down with their legions, but somehow, I doubted it.

I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket and headed down Morte Avenue. A cool breeze hushed past me, stirring the fog like cotton candy. I made a left on Ghost Alley and ran smack into a hooded figure.

“Excuse me,” I groaned, feeling ridiculous for being spooked until the figure reached out and snatched my wrist with a massive hand, jerking me behind a building.

“What the fuck!” I flailed my arm around, failing to free myself, and lifted a leg to kick my captor in the groin. He grunted and slammed into the brick wall behind him.

“Lana,” he sputtered.

I ripped back the hood of his robe and found Horus gasping for breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” I stepped back and rubbed my sore wrist, glaring at him with more annoyance than fright now.

“I,” he whispered, struggling to catch his breath. “I need to talk to you.”

“In an alley at night?” I snorted and folded my arms before taking a step back to glance out at the still empty street.

Horus stood up taller and pulled the hood of his robe up to cover his face again, making him look more like a fe
llow reaper than a god.

“I know about Wosyet,” he whi
spered.

I took another step back and pulled my jacket around tighter as I fought to keep my face neutral. This was no time to make assumptions.

“What about her?” I huffed.

“She was at the hospital today. Wasn’t she?”

“So you’ve talked to Grim. Why are you bothering me?”

“I haven’t seen Grim since this morning.” Horus leaned in closer. I squeezed my hands into fists and widened my stance, ready to bolt if he turned out to be as corrupt as his psycho gir
lfriend.

He took in my posture with a co
nfused frown and edged back to a comfortable distance. “I went to see Josie. Wosyet’s been known to experiment with hellfire and every other drug that crosses the sea. When Anubis told me she never arrived in Duat, I knew she was the one leaking information to Caim for Seth. Just like I knew she would try to get the soul herself this time. Seth doesn’t take failure lightly,” he sighed and rubbed a hand over his jaw.

“So she was there. That still doesn’t explain why you’re lurking around in an alley, waiting for me.” I folded my arms again and leaned against the opposite wall as a small crowd of souls shuffled down the street, heading home from a costume party. A playboy bunny rode piggyback on a generic Dracula, while salt and pepper shakers wo
bbled behind them, tripping and giggling like drunk school girls.

Horus waited for them to pass, and then set his eyes into me. “No one’s seen her since she left this morning, and Seth has disappeared now too. When Grim finds out, he’ll notify the cou
ncil, and I will take Seth’s place.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” I sucked in a chilly breath and hugged myself tighter. Horus wouldn’t be sha
ring so much vital information if he didn’t have a point to make. I just hoped he made it soon.

Drops of condensation flicked off the edges of his robe as he pulled out a silver disc the size of a dessert plate and a small bag of jingling coin. He handed them to me.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking the silver compact and bag of coin with a frown.

“A token of my appreciation and a job offer.”

“Job offer?” I made a face and tucked the bag of coin in my pocket. A brass clip on the edge of the compact flicked open to reveal a delicate set of six ivory bracelets. “These aren’t for Josie, are they?” I snapped the disc shut and shoved it at him. “I already have a job.”

Horus glared down at me and lowered his voice. “I know what you are.”

“And now I know what you are too,” I hissed.

The bracelets were old magic. I’d seen them before, but only in pictures of expired academy text books. They were for tracking souls, and Grim had only allowed their use for half a century. After it was discovered that the bracelets absorbed enough faith from the soul’s previous life to cause interfe
rence with its current life, they were outlawed by unanimous council vote.

Horus cleared his throat. “Grim hasn’t been just pic
king out souls of ancient Egyptian descent. He’s been picking out the most beloved pharaohs of Ma’at. That last soul was one of my very first descendants. If my son can help Eternity, then so be it. But I won’t have him trapped in some prison of Grim’s for a millennium or longer.”

I dropped the compact and stared at him, too shocked to pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about anymore.

He smirked and tilted his head back to squint at me. “You think no one’s noticed Khadija’s absence but Muhammad? You skip around here, posing as a low-risk harvester, and yet you know of her. Explain that one to me? And while you’re at it, explain why Grim promoted you before Josie? You know I suggested her for the task? She’s been working her ass off for decades to get a promotion, and a slacker like you gets bumped up instead. How long do you think you can hide from the council? From Seth?”