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Authors: T.A. Pratt

Tags: #occult, #fantasy, #urban fantasy

Grim Tides (Marla Mason) (36 page)

BOOK: Grim Tides (Marla Mason)
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“You’d better do it, dude,” Rondeau said. “She didn’t say ‘fuck’ once during that whole speech. That’s how you know she’s serious.”

“So that’s why I’m here,” I said, leaning back in the chair Death had grudgingly offered me. I took a sip of water cold and freshly drawn from some sunless lake. Death’s meeting room was paneled in red-tinted wood, and full of heavy furniture and shelves lined with countless books, all black, their spines unmarked.

Death sat in dark leather chair, swirling amber liquid in a glass. “I told Marla she didn’t need to send a messenger anymore. That she could tell me anything she had to say directly.”

I shrugged. “I don’t think she much cares what you want, really. Anyway, she knew I could fill in certain portions of the narrative, tell you about things she didn’t see herself, and details she didn’t know.”

“How do
you
know all this, Reva? These stories you told, these conversations you recounted?”

“Some of it comes from direct observation – I was there for a lot of this, you know, either openly present or watching in secret. I tried hard to tell the story as objectively as I could, not to editorialize, to make myself just another one of the people in the background. Some of it I got from a little light mind-reading here and there, especially from Rondeau – I promised not to pry into Pelham’s mind anymore, but I never promised that to Rondeau, so I rifled through his perceptions a bit. I also got to know Crapsey fairly well – he’s the
ultimate
exile, he’s not even in his home universe anymore, and after Marla and company stuck him on a boat back to the mainland I visited him, taking on the form of a crew member, and talked to his deepdown parts. Crapsey’s not a bad sort, apart from being a mass-murderer. I learned a lot about Jarrow from him. Some other things Marla told me, and sometimes I read between the lines of what she told me – though you’ll have to judge whether it’s all true or not.”

I coughed, though of course, I never really need to cough. “And, I’ll admit, sometimes, I was just guessing, and making things up. Maybe I got a little carried away with the story here and there. But the point stands. Marla understands why you did what you did – and she wanted me to tell you this story so you’d understand why she doesn’t want to hear from you during her six months on the Earth. She needs to know you aren’t meddling, that you respect her humanity, even if you don’t understand it. She needs to figure out her life, and what she’s living for, and what’s
worth
living for, without interference from either of us.”

“Where is she now?”

“Still in Hawai’i. She’s tracking down Gustavus Lupo, because she feels like that’s her responsibility. Once that’s done, though... Who knows? She talked about going to Malaysia with Pelham to cure him of his Nuno infestation. She’s talked about walking through the American West. She’s never been to Europe. She’ll see the world.”

“My Persephone,” Death murmured, swirling the amber-colored liquid in his glass.

“No,” I said. “Not your anything. She’s her
own
Marla.”

“You told me all this. Do
you
understand the point she was trying to make?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “And I have to be honest with you... that kind of uncertainty is a new experience for me. Not a terribly pleasant one. Creatures like you, and to a lesser extent I, are used to feeling certainty in all things – aren’t we?”

Death finished his drink, and we sat silently together for a while in his room at the bottom of the end of the world, thinking the thoughts that gods think, which are not entirely like the thoughts of women and men, or so I understand.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have a lot of people to thank for this one. My wife Heather Shaw, of course, is first, for her tremendous support in helping me find the time (between parenting and a full-time job) to write this book. Thanks also go to Dan Dos Santos (who painted the cover art for six previous Marla Mason books!) for suggesting illustrator Lindsey Look to create a painting of Marla for this book. Thanks to Anne Rodman, the producer tirelessly working on bringing Marla Mason to the big (and little) screen, for renewing her option on the series and providing my family with enough money to take a vacation/research trip to Hawai’i. Jenn Reese and Cameron Panee gave me advice on martial arts and general violence-related matters. My copyeditor Elektra Hammond saved me from quite a few continuity errors and awkward phrases. John Teehan of Merry Blacksmith Press has agreed, once again, to produce the trade paperback print version (as he did for
Broken Mirrors
). Many of my writer friends, and longtime readers, spread the word about this novel, for which I’m eternally grateful.

And, of course, my biggest thanks go to the donors. This book would not exist without the generous individuals who gave money to me directly, or through my Kickstarter campaign: Diana Potter, Matt Yoshikawa, Alexa Spears, His Royal Splendidness Greg van Eekhout, Mur Lafferty, Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, Christian Decomain, Michael Jasper, William Shunn and Laura Chavoen, Dave Lawson, Deborah Schumacher, Ori Shifrin, Atlee Breland, Lianna Tepp, Jon Hansen, Steven Desjardins, Tiffany Baxendell Bridge, Zorknot Robinson, Natalie Luhrs, Julia Gammad, Holly Shaw, Ted Brown, Anna Enzminger, Sarah Householder, Wendy Fisher, Gary Singer, Ben Esacove, Sara, Allen Edwards, Rachael Squires, Jeffrey Reed, Ron Jarrell, Alexa Gulliford, Sharon Wood, Joshua Day, Kendall Bullen, Pedro Manuel Arjona, Dean Roddick, Scott Drummond, Max Kaehn, David Martinez, Steve Feldon, JR Vogt, Keith Garcia, Philip Adler, M.K. Carroll, Enrica Prazzoli, Samantha Roshak, Tara Smith, Sheilah O'Connor, Kristel Downs, Lexie Cenni, Hugh Berkson, Bill Jennings, Besha Grey, Keith Schon, Heidi Berthiaume, Tina Mosca, Paul Boros, Tom Bridge, Jeanette Marsh, Kerim Friedman, Shirley Darch, Eric Altmyer, Tammy Thaggert, Adam Caldwell, Rick Cambere, Arachne Jericho, Claire Connelly, André Twupack, Claudia Sadun, Ian Mond, Dmitri, Deborah Vause, Jon Eichten, Edward Greaves, Cinnamon Davis, Catherine Waters, Susan, C.E. Murphy, Dave Thompson, Michelle Ossiander, L Wong, Russ Wilcox, Mick, Jeffrey Huse, Kristin Bodreau, Raul Francisco, Rob Hemstreet, Jason Wilson, C.C. Finlay, Marius Gedminas, Michael Jacob, Rachel Sanders, Armi Gerilla, Arlene Parker, Neil Graham, John Hathway, Alanna Maloney, David Raynes, Paul R Smith, Maureen Soar, Elektra Hammond, Renee Diane LeBeau, James M. Yager, Clara Asuncion, Ann Pino, Amanda Fisher, John Teehan, Jeanne Kalinowski, Linda Wood, Topher Hughes, Gann Bierner, Crystal Landry, Ben Fisher, Conor P. Dempsey, Mike Schwartz, Laura Cox, Jonathan Dean, Cori Lynn Arnold, Lindsay Stalcup, Danika, M D Spangler, Alan Yee, Paul Echeverri, Lilia Schwartz, Elias F. Combarro, Glyph Lefkowitz, Meredith Fletcher Hines, Tony James, Denise, Joeseph Felt, Arun Jiwa, Greg Kinney, Donald Mayne, Stephen Courson, Scott LeBeau, quiltingkitty, Lalith Vipulananthan, Margaret Klee, Tara Rowan, Bryan Sims, Kevin Hogan, Danielle Benson, Elaine Williams, Melissa Tabon, Jim Kirk, Rodelle Ladia, Paul Bulmer, Anton Nath, Jeremy, Davis, Kris, Ro Molina, Nellie Batz, Amy Gentilini, David Bennett, Sam Courtney, Mihir Wanchoo, Jess Jacob, Sarah Heitz, Rebecca Harbison, Danielle Van Gorder, Suzanne McLeod, Michael Bernardi, Kylee Livingston, Judy, Marguerite Kenner, Jonathan Spence, Juli McDermott, Kurt Miles, Jon Freestone, Jenn Reese, Dan Percival, Chris Baclayon, Sean Havins, Scott Blizzard, Sean Elliott, Josh Haas, Jamie Dawn Hickok, Kathlyn Payne, Von Welch, Keith Weinzerl, Athena Holter-Mehren, Danielle Daly, Joey Shoji, Katherin Douglas, Rion Wentworth, Nathan Bremmer, Jan WIldt, Russell Fry, Jordan Miller, Chris Kastensmidt, Gene Girard, Lynne Whitehorn, and Jennifer Sparenberg.

I hope you all like this one. It’s my favorite Marla novel yet.

Grim Tides
is copyright Tim Pratt, 2012. All rights reserved.

Cover design by
Tiger Bright Studios
.

For more about Tim Pratt, visit
www.timpratt.org

For more about Marla Mason, visit
www.MarlaMason.net

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Let Me Tell You A Story

Murder By The Sea

A Conversation With Koona

A Visit From Death

The Bad Doctor

A Mother's Love

Death Makes An Offer

Meet Elsie Jarrow

Seeing The World

Revengers Assemble

The Dead, Walking On The Beach

Brotherly Love

Everyone Is Someone's Dog

Jaws

In Flight

Things Are Never So Bad They Can't Be Made Worse

Proverbs Of The Obvious

Places Of Refuge

There's Always Someone Better Than You

Claiming Asylum

Captivities

Breaking Bread

An Exchange Of Prisoners

Welcome To Death

Such A Full Sea

Walking The Earth

Acknowledgments

Copyright Information

BOOK: Grim Tides (Marla Mason)
11.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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