Styx & Stoned (The Grim Reality Series Book 2) (11 page)

I flicked my head toward the
dancers. “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day.”

“I think just about everything here
we wouldn’t ever see,” Nate said. “Let’s find Charon and start schmoosing.”

The male servants were tall and
thin, their skin the deepest black. Each one wore a short white skirt held in
place with a wide gold belt, and carried trays loaded with drinks and food. I
snagged a small square of chocolate from one of the trays and popped it in my
mouth.

“Oh my giddy aunt, that’s good.” I
jogged after the server and commandeered three more pieces. Then walked back.
“Best chocolate ever.”

Nate gave me a look of irritation,
but I ignored him. I never pass up good chocolate. We waded into the room,
passing various entertainers, a fire-breather, belly dancers dressed like
genies, jugglers, acrobats, and a guy with a monkey wearing a tutu. Though when
the guy took the monkey onto the dance floor, I figured he was probably a guest
and not an entertainer after all. Exotic birds perched on orange trees, and
several deer pranced around the space, their hooves clacking on the marble. And
I knew somewhere lurked a gigantic, hat-wearing elephant.

“There. Charon.” Mara pointed to
the far wall. “Surrounded by his admirers, as usual.”

Dressed in purple and black velvet
lounge pants and what looked like a black pirate shirt, he reclined on a gold
velvet beanbag chair. To his left sprawled a scantily clad, well-endowed
brunette, and between his legs stood a three-foot-tall hookah pipe. He took a
long draw on the metal tip. Smoke billowed inside the green glass belly of the
pipe, and then circled around his head when he slowly exhaled. His glassy gaze
traveled over us and a lazy grin spread across his face.

“My friends, you made it.” He
motioned to a group of large square cushions and beanbags. “Come, sit.”

Not knowing how long we’d be there,
I opted for one of the huge beanbags so I’d be comfortable. Nate dropped beside
me, nudging me over. I glared at him. “There are other cushions you could sit
on.”

“No, this is good,” he said, laying
his arm across the back behind my head. “Cozy.”

I scooted over a couple of inches.
“Weirdo.”

Cam sat next to Mara, and she gave
him the same irritated glare, but he didn’t move. If I didn’t know better, I’d
say our partners had made a secret pact not to let Mara and I out of their
sight. I guess I couldn’t blame them. They liked being in charge, and the fact
that they hadn’t been invited to the meeting with Tabris had probably dented
their egos.

I sniffed. Whatever was in the pipe
smelled like cloves and burning leaves. The smoke settled around us, heavy and
thick, at first making me dizzy, and then just gave me a headache. This is one
of the reasons I never smoked pot in high school. While everybody else was
feeling groovy, I fell asleep, nursing a headache. Back then it was a bummer.
Tonight though, I was happy for the headache. It kept me focused on our goal.

The loud music made it difficult to
talk and as the night wore on, the more stoned and inebriated Charon became. I
couldn’t imagine spending eternity doing this. What a waste.

“Let’s dance.” Nate stood and
pulled me to my feet before I could protest. He dragged me against his body and
put his mouth next to my ear. “When we come back, sit next to Charon and see if
you can make progress with him.”

My heartbeat quickened and I found
it difficult to focus on what Nate was saying. I couldn’t help it. I always
turned into a complete girl when a guy held me like that, even if just for
show. Nate’s gentle grip on my arms made me feel safe, as if he had everything
under control. His intimate whisper brushed against my ear and sent in pleasant
tingles down my neck. The way my body pressed against his made me want to lean
in even more, which was ridiculous, because he was Nate, the partner who more
often than not thought I was a doofus.

“Okay,” my agreement rasped from
me.

I let him lead me to the dance
floor and pulled my hand from his. The music pounded, the bass louder than the
rest of the melody. People and ghosts flailed about, and one blond head in
particular bounced up and down to the beat. Tandy had been a party girl in life
and was still rocking it in the afterlife.

It had been a long time since I’d
danced anywhere besides alone in my living room, and I had to mentally command
my feet to move. Nate shuffled from side to side, keeping his steps contained
to a three-foot area. Eventually, Mara and Cam joined us, but both seemed to
actually be enjoying dancing. Mara’s hips swayed, and she did that sexy move
women with confidence do, swooping their hands up and under her hair, and then
locked her arms over her head. Cam reached and pulled Mara to him. She touched
her forehead to his, and lowered her arms over his head and neck before backing
up.

I knew flirting when I saw it, and
sparks were definitely flying between the angel and demon. I’d never asked Mara
about her and Cam, figuring their relationship was a lot like Nate’s and mine.
From the way Cam was watching her move, there was more to their story. Or maybe
they were just high from whatever was in the hookah pipe.

The song ended. Pretending to be
tipsy, I stumbled toward Charon, and dropped onto the beanbag next to him. When
he looked at me, I gave him a dreamy smile. “Hi.”

“Leeeeeeesa, my reaper.” He snorted
at his own joke. “Are you enjoying my party?”

I gave him my best eyes-closed,
bobble-headed nod, complete with a dopey grin. “I’m having the best time.” Then
I sobered. “But you really need to hire somebody to follow that elephant around
with a pooper-scooper.”

It took about five seconds for my
suggestion to register. Then Charon burst out laughing, his head falling back
to rest against the chair. “A big pooper-scooper.” His arm slid down the swell
of gold velvet, and he patted me hard on the back several times. “I like you,
Lis.”

“I like you too, Char.” I propped
my elbow on the beanbag and rested my cheek against my hand. “Can I call you
Char? We’re friends now, right?” I slurred my words a little. “Actually, we’re family.
Sure it’s like eleventy-million times removed, but we’re still related.” I
poked him in the chest. “I should call you Grandpa.”

“You can call me Char, but not
Grandpa.” His brow pinched together. “That makes me sound old.”

“Okay, only Char.” I smiled at him.

His eyes peered somewhere around my
forehead area before drifting downward to waver on my face. It took a second
before he focused on my eyes and then smiled. “Did I tell you I like you?”

“You did,” I said, nodding once.

“You’re not like the other reapers.
You’re fun.”

“You’re fun, too.” I tapped him on
the chest again and then let my hand splay across it. “And I understand.”

He squinted at me. “What do you
understand?”

“Why you want to retire.” I toyed
with the lace dangling from the neck of his shirt. “Same thing day after day.
Up and down the same river. It probably got boring.”

“No.” He waved a finger back and
forth. “The job was good. I was my own boss, great pay, but I got no respect
from anybody.” Turning his hand, he pointed to himself. “I was the one who
saved the day when Thanatos screwed up, but did anybody say ‘Thanks, Charon. We
appreciate you stepping in?’ No, they didn’t.”

“That really sucks.” Even though I
had a job to do I actually understood how he felt. Being a mother had a lot of
the same qualities. Always putting out fires, saving the day, doing the icky
stuff nobody wanted to do, and getting little to no thanks. I nodded, my
fingers patting his chest. “You deserve some kudos.” If I could get him
talking, maybe he’d let something slip we could use. “Well, let me be the
first. Thank you, Charon, for taking over the ferry and fixing a bad
situation.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned but
his gaze veered to the side of my head, and then back. “Thanks for saying so.
You’re the only one who has so far.” He held up his hands and shrugged. “Is a
little appreciation too much to ask?”

“No.”

“Is an atta-boy too difficult to
manage every century or so?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”

“That’s all I want.” He shrugged
again. “A little respect.”

“You know what I say, Char?” I
leaned in. “Fuck’em.” Sometime the F-bomb is the only word that will do. This
was one of those times. I waved my free arm in a big arc. “Fuck ’em all.”

“Yeah.” He imitated me, nearly
smacking me in the face when his arc swung wide. “They don’t deserve me.”

“Let somebody else run the ferry.”
I pounded the beanbag chair, denting the velvet. “They can deal with all the
headaches and disrespect.”

He waved his hand a couple of
inches in front of my face, making me rear back. “I told you,” he said in an
abnormally high voice. “There is nobody else.”

“Well, I did hear the board
bantering around the possibility of giving the job to your brother again,” I
lied, wanting to see his reaction.

Charon sobered and narrowed his
gaze on me. “Thanatos?”

“Who cares?” For emphasis, I
smacked the hump between us. “You’re not going to take this disrespect
anymore.”

All the joy of being retired seemed
to evaporate. Charon glowered at a spot across the room, and I could almost
hear the wheels of his plan screeching to a stop. I glanced at Nate and gave
him the
let’s get out of here
head flick.

“Time to go.” Nate crawled off the
cushion and stood, holding his hands out to me. “Come on. You, too.”

“Now?” I groaned, dragging it out
for effect. “But I was having fun.”

“We’ve got early classes in the
morning.”

“All right.” Slapping my hands into
his, I let Nate haul me to my feet. “Great party, Char. Thanks for inviting
us.” He squinted up, but I could see he wasn’t paying attention, or maybe he
was more out of it than I thought.

With a shrug, I strode away, fairly
certain Charon hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. Falling in behind us, Mara and
Cam followed to the elevator.

Once sealed inside, Nate pushed the
lobby button and turned to us. “Well, that was interesting?”

“Did you get anything from Charon?”
Mara asked.

“I don’t think he actually meant to
stay retired. He hasn’t signed the retirement contract, doesn’t seem to be in a
hurry, and sure wasn’t happy when I said Hal’s name had been bantered around as
a possibility for a ferryman.”

Cam’s brows lifted. “Did they?”

“No.” I grinned. “But Charon
doesn’t know that. Even if he’s determined to follow through with his decision
now, we might be able to manipulate him into going back to work by making him
jealous.” I scrunched up my face. “I’m just saying, he seems a tad shallow.”

“It’s a long shot,” Mara said, “but
I’m willing to try anything at this point.”

The door opened onto the lobby and
the three of us got out, needing to catch different elevators for their floors.
“I think I’ll head to bed.” I gave Mara a pointed stare. “I’m in room
twenty-six-nineteen, so this is my elevator.”

“We could all meet for breakfast in
the morning.” The stress she put on “meet” let me know she understood to come
to my room. “What time do classes start?”

“Nine,” said Nate, the convention
nerd.

“How about eight o’clock in the
lobby. We can decide where we want to eat then,” she said.

“Sounds good.” Cam punched the
button of the elevator directly across from mine. “Coming, Mara?”

“Yep.” She climbed in the elevator
and as the door shut, gave me a single nod.

Stepping back into the car, I gave
a quick wave. “See you in the morning.”

“Night.” Nate continued to watch me
as the door closed.

Did he know something was up?
Suspicious, maybe, but he had no idea Mara and I were about to take command of
the U.S.S. Styx, and several thousand souls. Boy, I sure hoped we weren’t going
to screw this up.

Where was Mara? Twenty minutes had
passed since we’d parted in the lobby. Maybe I’d misread the signals and she
hadn’t agreed to come to my room after all. I picked up my phone, getting ready
to text her when a knock sounded on my door.

Not checking the peephole, I yanked
the door open. Relief washed over me. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

“I couldn’t get away from Cam.”
Mara pushed past me into the room. “Suddenly he was Mr.
Get-in-touch-with-his-feelings and wanted to talk.” She spun to face me.
“Whatever Charon was smoking messed Cam up.”

“I think it might have affected
Nate, too, but I feel fine.” I closed the door, bolting it and swinging the bar
across. “Either that or he’s suspicious. He just stood there, staring at me
until the elevator closed.”

“Well, we can’t worry about them
now.” She glanced at the clock. “Midnight, we’d better get moving.”

“Yeah, we have a long night ahead
of us.” The twenty minutes I’d spent sitting on the comfortable bed, waiting
for Mara, allowed my exhaustion to catch hold. But now that she was here, my
energy rallied. “Hal, we’re ready.”

In a rare show of punctuality, the
thin beam of light appeared a second later, elongating into a door. The tension
between my shoulders eased a bit. Knowing Hal was cooperating relieved some of
the stress from our overwhelming task.

When the door slid open, he stood,
clad in head-to-toe black. “Ladies, your chariot awaits.”

Mara looked at me and smirked.
“You’ve got to admit, he’s got style.”

“Yeah.” I strode forward into the
elevator. “Among other things.” She followed me in, and within seconds we were
winging our way to the river. “Any words of advice, Hal?”

He folded his arms over his chest.
“Don’t pick up hitchhikers.”

“I didn’t know that was an option,”
I said. “Anything else?”

“Don’t forget to look up every once
in a while.”

“Okay, good advice.” Despite the
odd nature of his suggestions, I took them to heart. “Another question—how many
souls can we ferry at one time?”

“The ferry will know.”

“What does that mean exactly?” At
this point in the game I needed more than cryptic answers.

“It means what I said.” He tipped
his chin down and gazed at me over his pair of square black sunglasses. “Let
the ferry do its job and you’ll be fine.”

The urge to argue crept up my
throat and stuck. Of course he didn’t give me a straight answer. As a whole, I
think paranormal beings liked speaking in riddles or vague references. “So,
don’t pick up hitchhikers, look up every so often, and let the ferry do its
job.” I made a checkmark in the air. “Got it.”

My stomach did a loopy-loop and the
elevator slowed to a stop. “We’re here.” Hal glided forward and the door slid
open. “Watch your step.” We exited the car and started down the steep stone
steps. “Ladies,” Hal called. When we turned back, he propped his shoulder
against the doorframe and gave us his most wicked grin. “Have fun.”

With that, he eased backward into
the car and the door shut, the elevator compressing into a thin pink line
before vanishing. I shook my head and continued down the steps. At the arch we
both slowed. I really didn’t want to be blown off my feet again. Trusting that
we’d already been vetted, I took a breath and walked under.

When nothing happened Mara
followed, also without incident. She sauntered toward me way more confidently
than earlier, when she’d practically tiptoed under the arch. “No problem.”

“Chicken.”

“Cautious,” she countered.

The riverbank looked the same,
millions of spirits wedged tightly together, only this time their grumbling was
a lot louder and terser. They shouted questions at us as we made our way to the
ferry. Instead of answering all of them, I figured I’d address everybody at
once when we were about to board.

Thankful to be away from the mob,
we climbed up the ladder and onto the deck. “Let’s do a quick check that
everything is ready.”

Mara arched a brow. “And how do we
know what we’re looking for?”

“I don’t know.” I waved my hand
absently. “Frayed lines, holes in the hull, stowaways. Anything that looks
off.”

“Alrighty.” She slowly spun and
walked in the opposite direction, scanning the deck, and then walked to the
side and looked over. “All good here, Captain.”

Okay, so maybe I had no idea what I
was doing. It wasn’t like anybody had handed me
The Complete Guide to
Ferrying the Dead
. This was all gut instinct. I walked around of the front
of the ferry, taking extra time to examine the two giant masts on either side.
Besides having no idea how or when I was going to get the sails unfurled,
everything seemed in order.

“All good up front.” I edged my way
along the thin walkway next to the hull and stopped at the back of the ferry.
“How about you?”

Mara joined me. “All good here from
what I can tell, and cabin space seems good too.”

“Then—” I hesitated, “I guess it’s
time to address the passengers.” I climbed onto the back of the pontoon and
held up my hand. “Can I have your attention please?” All eyes focused on me and
the crowd fell deathly silent. “First, I want to apologize for the wait. We had
an unforeseen emergency but have found a temporary solution.” I pointed to
Mara. “For now my associate and I will be captaining the ferry.” A deafening
cheer erupted from the mob. Appreciation, gratitude, that’s what I was talking
about. I could get used to this. No wonder Charon loved his admirers. He had a
new group every time he ferried. Holding up my hands, I shushed the souls. “If
you could enter in an orderly fashion, no pushing please, we’ll get you loaded
and be on our way. For those of you who don’t get on this time, we will be
making multiple trips, so please be patient.”

The excited din of the crowd
escalated again. I jumped down from the pontoon and joined Mara on the opposite
side.

“Now what?” she asked. “The barrier
keeping the souls out is still up.”

“Hal said the ferry would know. I
just figured that also meant letting the people in when it was time to leave.”
Suspicion that he’d been feeding me a line of malarkey crept through me. I
patted the top of the glass dome. “So, let’s do this.”

Nothing happened.

“We’re locked and loaded, so
anchors away.”

The barrier between the ferry and
souls remained solid.

I glowered at the boat. “Come on,
ferry. Ready and willing. Time to hit the road.” My voice grew louder with each
phrase. “Giddy up! Move’em out!” Frustration gripped me. I clenched and
unclenched my jaw. This was Charon’s boat and he’d probably programmed his
preferences into it somehow. I gave Mara a knowing smile and said, “Let’s get
this party started.”

Instantly the barrier disappeared
and the souls surged forward. Both of us stepped back, the instinct to get out
of the way kicking in before we remembered that the souls passed through us.

The spirits poured into the belly
of the ferry, leaving me with no clue, or even a close estimation, of how many
souls it held. I guess that wasn’t my problem. All I needed to do was get them
safely to wherever we were going. Yet another mystery to be solved tonight.

“Excuse me.” The spirit of the
woman wearing the sequined cruise-wear running suit stepped to the side,
pulling her short, round, silent husband with her. “Can we upgrade to first
class? We always travel first class.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s only one
class,” I said.

“Of course there’s a first class.”
She puffed up like an angry ostrich. “There’s always a first class. You just
don’t want us to have it.” She pulled out a spectral pen and notebook. “Who is
your superior? I’m going to file a complaint about this.”

I slid a glance to Mara and back to
the woman. “That would be God.”

“Well, he’s certainly going to hear
about this when I get to Heaven.”

“Who says you’re going to Heaven?”
Mara took a step forward, flames flickering in her eyes. “I suggest you sit
down and shut up before we take a detour and drop you off in a much—” She
paused for effect. “—hotter location.”

The notebook fell from the woman’s
hands, disappearing when it hit the deck. She stumbled backward, her eyes
rounding to the size of gold coins. Grabbing her husband’s hand, she shuffled
back into line, but before the flow swallowed them, I caught the faintest smile
turn up the corners of her husband’s mouth.

When they were gone, I said,
“Nicely done.”

She gave a haughty toss of her head.
“I still got it.”

“And then some.” I shuddered.
“Remind me never to piss you off.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m a pussycat.”
The way she stated that told me she was anything but.

The stream of souls slowed. Several
had made it to the edge of the ferry, but were pushed back onto the bank when
the barrier sprung upward again. It was a handy tool that made doing a
headcount unnecessary. The doors to the cabin slowly closed and locked, sealing
the souls inside. Pressing our faces to the glass, we surveyed our passengers.

“They’re fine.” The scene reminded
me of a cattle call but at this point, with so many souls to ferry, that’s
exactly what this was. “Don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Mara’s reply didn’t instill
confidence. She stepped back. “They’ll be all right.”

“To the bridge, then.”

Skirting the dome, I watched the
black watcher lap against the carved pontoons. From everything I’d read or had
been told about the River Styx, dangerous things lurked under the surface. Even
the shallows were treacherous. We climbed the stairs to the helm and I stopped
at the giant wheel positioned at the front. Everything looked the same. Couch,
chairs, kegorator, just as we’d left it.

I was prepared to shout “Let’s get
this party started” again, but when I took hold of the wheel, the ferry came to
life. The stings of party lights overhead winked on the stereo flashed a few
times before roaring to life.

Mara slapped her hands over her
ears, and then yanked open the glass door of the entertainment center and
cranked the volume knob to low. She leaned in, reading the cassette tape.
“Party Tunes from the 60s, 70s and 80s.” Craning her neck, she looked over her
shoulder at me. “On or off?”

“Off for now. I need to figure out
how to drive this thing first.”

She silenced the music and shut the
door, joining me at the wheel. “Now what?”

“I’m not sure.” I inhaled, held my
breath for a second, and then whispered, “Forward.”

Loud creaks emanated behinds us.
While I remained rooted at the wheel, Mara investigated the noise. The sound of
ropes sliding through rings
hissed
and
thunked
to the deck.

“It’s the sails.” Her breath caught
and she jumped back. “They’re unfurling.”

I twisted to see but didn’t let go
of the wooden spokes. More ropes slithered down the masts, losing their hold.
The creaking increased. From the sound, I would have sworn the masts were about
to snap.

Slowly, three, thick, wooden poles
lifted away from the main mast. At the bottom was the longest pole; the next
one was half the length, the top pole being the shortest. As each rose, the sails
opened into huge ribbed fans. They reminded me of dragon wings or the sails on
a Chinese junk. Aged by time, the yellowed fabric expanded and stretched tight
when the poles locked into place.

The sight rendered us both
speechless. I’d never seen anything like this ferry, nor did I think any
manmade vessel could come close to its magnificence. Toss in the whole
supernatural higher purpose aspect, and the situation became awe-inspiring.

I lurched backward when the ferry
began to move. My grip on the wheel tightened, and the sound of rocks scraping
against wood quickly faded as we moved into deeper water. Afraid I’d screw
something up, I stood wide-eyed and white-knuckled, my gaze riveted on the
widening river in front of us. I was afraid to breathe, or move, or look away.

“You all right?” Mara asked, coming
to stand next to me.

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t, well,
couldn’t
look at her, certain if I turned my head we’d run aground or sink. “I got
this.”

“You’re doing great.” She covered
my hand with one of hers and rubbed. “But I think you can relax a little.”

“I am relaxed. Don’t I look
relaxed?”

“No, you look like one of Medusa’s
stone statues.” Moving behind me, she gripped my wrists. “Let go of the wheel
for a second.”

“No.” If possible, my hold
tightened. “We’ll crash.”

“No we won’t.” She wedged her
fingernails under my palms. “I promise.”

“You don’t know any more about this
than I do.” Thrusting my hip sideways, I tried to bump her away from me. “Those
souls in there are counting on us.”

“Well, that was their first
mistake,” she said. I gasped, my head whipping toward her. “I’m kidding, but
seriously.” She released me and leaned her hip against the front half-wall. “Do
you think Charon stands here the entire trip, glued to the wheel?”