“Not if she votes to have me executed first.” I slumped down at the table.
“Do what?” Gabriel’s feathers ruffled and his cheeks flared pink. “Where are you getting this nonsense? Holly would do no such thing.”
I gave him a tired glare. “A trusted source on the council.”
“Horus,” he growled.
“Maalik.”
That set him back a step. “I’ll speak with her.”
“Thanks.” I ran my fingers over the file spines in the box. “In the meantime, I guess I should get started on this, you know, just in case I don’t get the axe.”
Ross lifted an eyebrow at my workload. “Would you like me to send up a guard or two to help? Jenni did mention something about a collaborative effort with the new unit.”
“That would be great.” I gave him a weak smile before nodding to Kevin. “Why don’t you start up a pot of coffee?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Kevin didn’t sound overly enthused, but he waited to lodge his complaints until after Gabriel and Ross had left.
“I know this isn’t what you had in mind when we talked about eventually changing fields,” I said as I unloaded the files and stacked them into piles on the table.
“And I was so close to joining the million souls club.” He pulled several mugs down from the cabinet with a dejected sigh. “Do you think we’ll be doing any harvesting at all with this new unit?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I really don’t know much about it yet, but I imagine Jenni will give us some freelance work between special assignments.”
“I sure hope so.” He fixed up two mugs of coffee and then joined me at the table. “So what is all this?” he asked, sliding a mug toward me.
“Missing soul reports and CNHs. There have been more of both lately.”
It wasn’t entirely unexpected. The dispersed rebels needed a new objective and some quick coin. Snatching souls and selling them off on the Ghost Market was an obvious move, but the volume of high profiles was concerning. It alluded to something more organized than a few rogue demons, especially if they were this good at staying off the radar.
I thumbed through the files, skimming them for familiar names before discarding them on the table.
“What are you looking for?” Kevin picked up one of the files and opened it, glancing over the photo and scribbled report inside.
“Right now, Jai Ling,” I answered, digging out another handful of files.
Kevin looked skeptical. “Meng Po’s servant girl? Do you think she would have run off?”
I shook my head. “Meng can be abrasive, but she cared about Jai Ling, and Jai Ling cared about her. She was really excited about all the things she was learning last time I spoke with her.” My eyes froze on the other name I was after, and I paused to flip open the file.
“Did you find her?” Kevin asked, leaning over to have a look.
“No. This one I harvested almost a hundred years ago.”
“Six years out from retirement. Bummer.” Kevin shook his head. A knock came at the door, and he jumped up to answer it.
“Ross sent me.” Abe’s reluctant voice drew my attention away from Ruth’s file.
He filled the doorway, even with his stunted wings tucked in against his back. I almost didn’t recognize him in his civilian clothes. The shiny body armor the Nephilim Guard wore made them look like majestic creatures, but I had no idea Abe was so solid beneath it as well. I also had no idea he was a redhead. The guards’ crested helmets revealed little more than their eyes and jawline.
“Seems an odd choice,” I said, frowning as he circled the table. “Why you?”
Abe stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Probably because no one else wanted to work with you.”
“You mean you’re it?”
Kevin snorted. “Probably because no one else wanted to work with him.”
Abe gave him a dirty look, but he didn’t refute the claim. It was likely true—and my fault. I’d bet he had even been suspended for a while, after I escaped his security detail last fall. The fact that it hadn’t crossed my mind until now made me feel like a jerk.
I pushed a chair out with my foot and nodded at the mess of files. “Welcome aboard.”
Abe’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head as if surprised, but he sat down. “What would you like me to do?”
I pressed my fingertips against my temples and tried to invoke Jenni’s logic. “First, we’re going to sort through these and pull all the factory soul files. We’ll keep Jai Ling in the mix, since she disappeared from the city too. Then I want to organize them chronologically.”
“What good will that do?” Kevin asked.
“I’m hoping a pattern will appear. Or maybe the files will slide together like one giant jigsaw puzzle, revealing the name of the culprit. I don’t know.” I rolled my shoulders and stretched my neck from side to side.
Kevin shrugged and cleared a spot at the opposite end of the table. He set the empty box there, and we used it to filter out the files on souls nabbed from the mortal realm or the afterlives. There were at least twice as many of those, which was why I wanted to tackle them last.
Abe didn’t say much, but he turned out to be competent with clerical work. I wondered what kind of job he had before joining the guard. I couldn’t picture him as a pencil pusher, though he did express a fondness for our tasty dark roast brew—twice—which led me to believe he’d been overexposed to the crappy break room variety found in the cubical industry.
After an hour of quiet shuffling, we were left with forty files that spanned the three months in question. That seemed like a lot—which I guess is why we were asked to look into it in the first place.
Abe stood and stretched his wings with a yawn, while Kevin fired up another pot of coffee. I stayed at the table, grimacing at the rows of neat files and scratching my head.
The numbers hadn’t revealed much yet. Eight souls had been taken in January, nine in February, and then twenty-three in March. Someone had gotten greedy and drawn too much attention in the process. I doubted Jenni would be impressed with that revelation. There had to be something more I wasn’t seeing yet.
“You want another cup, boss?” Kevin asked, glancing over his shoulder as he refilled his mug.
I shook my head. “Four is my limit. I’ll have to start naming my ulcers if I drink more than that.”
Abe’s wings fluttered. “I’ll take one more.”
Kevin brought the carafe to the table and then handed it over to Abe when the doorbell rang. The churchy tune curled Abe’s lips down distastefully, but his expression changed when Kevin opened the door for Warren, the nephilim who crafted the guard’s weaponry and swanky gear for me on occasion as well.
“Afternoon, all,” Warren said, looking just as surprised as Abe. He gave his feathered brethren a polite nod before focusing his attention on me. “The repairs on your bike are finished. Also, I was wondering if you’d mind testing a prototype in the field for me.” He held up a wooden box and gave me an anxious smile.
Warren had gifted me the bike, presumably as a thank you for setting him up at Holly House, where his talents were soon discovered and he rose to stardom. I should have known it would cost me down the road. He’d asked me to try out everything from restraint charms to retractable cloaks. I’d learned enough in my time as a guinea pig to know he should have stuck with weapons.
Warren was a genius, but even geniuses strike out on occasion… or in some cases, a lot. I really loved the bike, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could handle being the crash test dummy for every little idea that popped into his head.
I turned away from his expectant face and scratched my arm. “You know, I’d love to, but I just got transferred to a new unit. Our first assignment is pretty sensitive, so it may have to wait a bit.”
“I understand.” He set the box down on the only bit of kitchen table not covered in files. “Just take a look whenever it’s convenient. I think you’ll like this one.”
I gave him a tight smile and nodded. “Thanks for stopping by. We better get back to work.”
Abe finished off his cup of coffee and cleared his throat. “Actually, I have to take off. Harbor gate duty tonight. But I can help more tomorrow,” he added with a questioning look.
“I have an appointment in the morning, but I’ll give you a call after if we need you,” I said, my stomach churning as I remembered my upcoming procedure with Naledi.
Warren opened his arm to Abe and stepped back into the hallway. “I’m heading downstairs to the gym. I’ll walk you out.”
Abe nodded at the mess on the table as he left. “Good luck with that.”
Kevin closed the door after him and gave me a peculiar look. “You’re a little green. What’s going on in the morning?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” I turned away from him and snatched up the wooden box Warren had left behind. It was slightly larger than a shoebox and easy enough to wedge in with all the scarves and hats crammed on the top shelf of the coat closet. When I turned around, Kevin was still watching me. “What?” I snapped.
He pressed his lips together and frowned. “Is this appointment before or after you announce the new captain of the Posy Unit?”
Great. I still had that to deal with.
“After,” I said, deciding I probably wouldn’t be up for anything other than sulking once Naledi purged me of my superpowers.
Kevin picked the coffee pot up from the table and returned it to the burner. “Do you know who you’re going to choose yet?” he asked.
“Arden.”
Without a doubt, he was the one for the job. It occurred to me that I should probably call him and let him know so he’d have time to prepare, though he had been filling in while I was on vacation, so he already had the docket prep work down. He’d probably want to meet up early to go over a few additional things. I wondered if I’d have to give up my office space. And just when I’d finally gotten the place decorated the way I liked. It figured.
Kevin made a pained face and opened the refrigerator to put away the creamer. “Kate’s going to have a fit.”
I shrugged. “Dealing with Kate’s attitude will be Arden’s problem from now on. His Zen master demeanor should put a real crick in her neck.”
Picturing the two of them having it out—or rather, Arden ignoring Kate’s juvenile antics—made me smile. Kate and I had a rocky start. We were by no means besties now, but we’d eventually settled into a comfortable, mutual disinterest. Hey, it worked for us. It probably wouldn’t so much tomorrow morning, but that couldn’t be helped. Arden was the reaper for the job, and truth be told, he should have had it all along.
Keys jingled at the front door, and my mood perked. I hadn’t seen Jenni at the condo in weeks, but Kevin had given Bub Josie’s key last month. My apprentice still struggled with his grief from time to time, but he was making progress. Turning over Josie’s key had been a milestone, considering he was hoarding all of her clothes in our storage unit.
Bub entered the kitchen with a devilish grin on his face and a cheery hum in his throat. “Miss me, love?”
“You have no idea.” I linked my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. Kevin was still in the kitchen, so I kept my tongue in my mouth, not wanting to encourage the gagging noises he seemed to make every time Bub and I showed affection.
“What do we have here?” Bub asked, tilting his chin at the files on the table.
“You don’t want to know. Hell, I don’t want to know.” I groaned and pulled away from him, putting my hands on my hips as I turned to glare down at the files.
Bub let out a long sigh. “Guess we won’t be picking up where we left off after all.”
“Nope.”
Coreen trotted around the corner and peeked in on the helljack puppies, snoozing on the living room rug, before coming to find me. She ran her wet nose under my hand and yawned, casting a lazy glance at the food dishes beside the refrigerator. Saul had been eyeballing them for a while now too.
I tried to be quiet as I scooped some Cerberus Chow out of the bag in the coat closet, but the helljack puppies were on me before I’d made it halfway across the room, licking at my ankles and whimpering.
“Good grief, Kevin. Didn’t you feed them today?” I asked, trying not to spill the kibble as I tripped over my own feet.
“Do Cheetos count?” Kevin gave me a guilty grin and ran a hand through his mop of hair. I was glad he’d grown it back out, but his boy-band charm still didn’t work on me. I glared at him as I filled the hounds’ dishes.
“They’re sleeping in your room tonight. Maybe you’ll think better of it after their horrific gas wakes you up in the middle of the night.”
“Agreed.” Bub snorted as he watched the pack of hounds dig in, shoving each other aside greedily. Food scattered across the hardwood floor, and the puppies left the bowl long enough to chase each morsel down.
Kevin shrugged and went back to the refrigerator, opening the door to rummage about. “Cheetos are the only thing I’ve been able to train them with. They hate those charred hellcat bones you get from Hades’ Hound House. They smell like burnt tuna casserole.”
Bub pointed his cane at him. “That’s not as bad as the smell that’s going to wake you up later.”
“Whatever.” Kevin found half a sandwich hidden in the cheese drawer. “I’ll be in my room if you need me,” he said, taking a hearty bite as he left the kitchen and headed down the hall.
Bub wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me in closer now that we were alone. “We could always stay the night on your ship,” he whispered.
I looked down at the files on the table again. “I really can’t. Maybe Monday night, after I’m hopefully done with this mess.”
Bub pouted, pushing his bottom lip out. “Fine. I’ll let you get back to it, but I do expect you to take a break to have dinner with me later.”
“I don’t know how much time I’ll have to spare. I need to look over all this again, and I have a few calls to make.”
“We can order in.” He gave me a vexed look.
“Okay. I suppose I can carve out twenty minutes,” I said.
Bub rolled his eyes. “So much for our vacation.”
My thoughts exactly.
Chapter 5
“Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.” —Milton Friedman
I spent the rest of Saturday evening looking over the soul files, then rearranging them and looking over them again. And again. I sorted them by the time of day the souls went missing, by the day of the week, and by the day of the month. I was just sure a pattern would emerge.
I took a five-minute break to inhale a meager helping of the Thai food Bub ordered, and then spent another five minutes on the phone with Arden, letting him know he was the unit’s new captain. He didn’t break into a fancy acceptance speech or anything, which would have been entirely out of character for Arden, but I had expected just a little more excitement than I was met with.
“You’re sure there’s no one better suited? Molly is quite experienced, and she’s two centuries older than me,” he said after an awkward pause.
“You’ve been with the unit longer, and everyone respects you. Are you refusing the job?” I snapped. Another long pause followed.
Finally, he said, “No. I accept.”
We hung up shortly after. Arden didn’t do small talk, and I had my hands full with the inane file shuffling. By the time I called it quits, a migraine had set in and Bub had already fallen asleep.
Coreen stayed with her pups in Kevin’s room, but Saul was stretched out across the foot of my bed, Bub’s bum leg propped up on Saul’s belly, rising and falling in time with his breath. I snuggled in with them, letting their warmth comfort my aching mind.
I wasn’t sure why, but I felt guilty for not saying anything to Bub about Naledi’s plans for me in the morning. I tried to convince myself that I was being ridiculous. That nothing would change. That the paranoid cartoon playing i
n my head, where I left the condo in Technicolor and returned in black and white, was a gross exaggeration. After all, Bub hadn’t known I was any different from other reapers until I’d told him so. It wasn’t like Naledi was removing my nose. There was no way he would be able to tell just by looking at me that I’d lost my soulish x-ray vision. I’d work up the nerve to tell him down the road, when my complex over the whole ordeal had faded.
I woke up the next morning before Kevin or Bub and made coffee and cinnamon rolls, pretending it was because I was such a nice boss and girlfriend, and not because I felt guilty for keeping secrets again. Then I took a quick shower and left early for the harbor to meet with Arden before the rest of the unit showed up.
The sky was still shrugging off night, and light dew clung to everything, enhancing the earthy smell of spring. Clusters of daffodils and tulips bloomed out of barrel planters lining the sidewalk outside Holly House. A soft breeze whipped through the courtyard, causing the cherub fountain full of holy water to mist my cheek.
Warren shouted good morning to me from the entrance of the parking garage as I headed for the travel booth across the street. I waved back and adjusted my messenger bag on my shoulder as I widened my steps, hoping to avoid a pop quiz on the mystery gadget I hadn’t looked at yet.
I took the travel booth to the one near the harbor entrance and exited out onto Market Street just as the streetlights flickered off, letting the daylight take over. The scent of the sea mingled with freshly baked donuts, no doubt coming from Nessa’s shop up the way. My stomach grumbled and I found myself wishing I’d swiped a cinnamon roll before leaving the condo.
An unfamiliar nephilim stood at attention near the harbor entrance, and I wondered when Abe’s shift had ended. Nightshift guard duty had to be the most boring thing ever, and for his sake, I hoped Ross would assign him to the new unit permanently.
There weren’t many reapers lingering on the dock this early. Most did freelance harvesting and coined off as soon as they reached the harbor. The other three specialty units had their own routines. Santos Consuelo, the captain of the Lost Souls Unit, bought his crew coffee at the Phantom Café every morning. Guess we all knew who’d be getting the boss of the century award.
Ghost Market (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. Book 6) Page 3
