For the Birds

by Angela Roquet

  My wounds were really starting to burn and itch. It was time to see if Jai Ling had the tea ready and to find some clean clothes and bandages.

  Jenni gave me a small smile as I stood. “Thanks for coming for me. It had been so long, I thought you guys had given up the hunt.”

  I blushed. “We’d only just started the hunt this morning. Loki was posing as you, so we didn’t know you were gone until then.”

  Jenni frowned. “Really? No one could tell that wasn’t me? Not even Josie?”

  “Josie kept mentioning how oddly you were acting, but no one could have guessed that you weren’t actually you.”

  “Who finally figured it out?” she asked.

  “I did.”

  Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “I had a little help.” I shrugged. “How long did they have you anyway?”

  Jenni shook her head. “I’m really not sure. It felt like forever. What’s today?”

  “Monday.”

  She shivered. “Five days. I went to meet Apollo Wednesday night.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jenni.”

  She stared up at the ceiling as her eyes watered again. “No, you didn’t know. No one knew. I’m safe now. I’m okay now.”

  I watched in awe as she tilted her cup of tea up with trembling hands and finished off the brew. It couldn’t have been the same crap Meng was serving the rest of us. There was no way.

  Jenni waved the cup at me. “Think you could send Meng back this way when you see her? I could use a refill.”

  “Sure.” I quietly slipped out of her room.

  Meng was already on her way down the hall with another tray of tea. She stopped and looked up at me. “You next. Go wait.”

  I nodded at her and hobbled down the hall. The adrenaline had fizzled out of my system, and I was feeling everything far more than I wanted to. I found an empty room and lay down on the bed, hoping to catch a quick nap before Meng arrived with the abominable tea.

  I had just dozed off when I heard her tsk over me.

  “Fine mess you are,” she sighed, rinsing her hands in a bowl of water on the bedside table. She tossed a cotton hospital gown over my lap. “Get rid of you clothes. They stink.” She pointed to a wicker hamper in the corner.

  I was too exhausted to care about modesty. I kicked off my boots and peeled away my tank top and leather pants.

  Meng shook her head as she took in my wounds. She folded a towel over the bed and waited for me to put on the gown and lay back on the bed before helping me roll onto my side. She cleaned the cut along my hip and applied some ointment before taping it up with a gauze bandage. Then she did the same for the bite on my shoulder. There wasn’t much she could do for the bruising, but she did wrap a good section of my torso after she found several broken ribs.

  When Meng finished, she stepped away from the bed and yawned. “Jai Ling bring tea soon. You can go in morning.”

  “Thanks, Meng,” I said, following it up with a yawn of my own.

  Meng nodded as she left. “Goodnight, reaper.”

  I hated to admit it, but the old bat was starting to grow on me, even with her cantankerous attitude. She had fixed me up so many times, it was hard not to feel grateful, even if she did gripe most of the time.

  Bub appeared in the doorway. “All right, pet?”

  “I’ll live.” I grinned.

  Jai Ling squeezed past him and moved a few things around on the bedside table before setting down a small tray of tea. She looked about as ragged as Meng, in a matching scrub-blue kimono. “Hey, Lana,” she said meekly. “Mind if I leave the pot here with you, so you can pour your second round later?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks,” she sighed, letting her shoulders sag. “It’s been busy around here.” She gave me a little bow and turned to give one to Bub too before leaving.

  Bub came around the bed and sat in the chair against the wall. He was still in his black ops outfit, and aside from a small bruise along his jaw and a scratch above his brow, he looked pretty good.

  “We kicked arse today,” he said, smiling broadly.

  “And we got our arses kicked in the process,” I laughed.

  “So, there were kicked arses all around, but we still won the day.”

  “That we did. Hades come by to collect his helm yet?”

  “On his way now. I left it with Asmodeus for the time being. I thought he might appreciate an invisible nap. It’s hard to sleep when he’s constantly worrying about that little bird popping in on him. Oh, and Ammit just left for the factory. The Fates are pretty eager to get their little souls back in the pond,” Bub said, slipping his boots off and setting them next to mine.

  “Are you staying the night here too? You don’t look so bad.”

  “You don’t look so bad yourself.” He winked at me. “My two favorite people in all the worlds are here licking their wounds tonight. Where else should I be? Scoot on over, lovely. I’m tucking in.”

  I lifted the covers and Bub nuzzled in next to me, careful not to bump any of my injuries. He gave me a light peck on the nose and his goatee tickled my chin. Meng was going to have a fit in the morning.

  Chapter 25

  “The best proof of love is trust.”

  -Joyce Brothers

  I slept in Tuesday morning and woke alone. There was a small pot of daisies on the bedside table and note from Bub, letting me know that he had left to find us some coffee and to fetch some clean clothes. Another note in Josie’s frilly handwriting told me that she and Kevin had felt well enough to harvest today and that they would take care of passing out the harvest dockets again. Meng’s temple was quiet, and after wandering down the hallway, I realized it was because almost everyone else had checked out. Even Maalik and Jenni were gone. Asmodeus was the only guest left.

  “Lana!” he greeted me as I shuffled into his room. “Bub’s out hunting down some joe. If I have to choke down one more cup of tea, I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind.”

  “I hear ya,” I said, taking the corner seat.

  Asmodeus was looking better. His coloring was coming back, and he was breathing easier. “I’m getting outta here today, no matter what the old gal has to say about it,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.

  “I’m sure she’s ready for us to be gone. She’s gonna need another soul to help out around here if things get much worse.”

  He huffed. “Yeah, I hear there was one helluva fight. I always miss out on all the fun.”

  “Fun? Right, we were having fun last night. Oodles and oodles of fun.” I gave him a playful scowl.

  Asmodeus unfolded his arms and leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Hey, how ‘bout that cute little thing you all brought in here in bad repair last night? Who was that?”

  “You mean Jenni?”

  “Is that her name? Boy, she was a gem.”

  “She was unconscious and covered in blood.” I raised an eyebrow.

  He just shrugged. “I’m a demon. A little blood doesn’t detract from beauty.”

  I snorted.

  “She single?”

  “Yeah, I guess she is. She’s not much for dating though, and I think she’s probably less interested now than ever.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “That’s how they nabbed her. Loki impersonated Apollo and asked her down to the harbor.”

  Asmodeus shook his head. “Dirty bastard.”

  Bub appeared in the doorway with a cardboard carrier holding three steaming coffees in Phantom Café to-go cups. My duffle bag was hanging from his shoulder and he had a box of donuts in his other hand. “Miss me?”

  I suddenly realized that I hadn’t eaten since the night before last. “You have no idea,” I said, taking one of the cups from him.

  “Gravely decadent for the lady and I, and a dark brew with two sugars for the lady killer who was almost killed,” Bub announced, handing out the drinks.

  Asmodeus quivered as he chugged down his coffee. “Ahhh. Hellfire, that is so
me good joe.”

  Bub held out the box of donuts, and I grabbed an apple fritter and a custard-filled chocolate long john, wolfing them both down in under thirty seconds. The sugar rush hit me instantly, and my fingers began to tingle.

  Asmodeus bit into a glazed donut with a chuckle. “You should feed that girl more often.”

  Bub nibbled on an apple fritter. “I’ve got some catching up to do in that area.” He turned to me. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off too and come stay the night with me in Tartarus?"

  Just the name of the place turned my blood to glue in my veins.

  Bub touched my shoulder. “The rebels are scattered for the time being. My home is far from that cave, and it’s well guarded, but we can stay in Pandemonium if you’d rather.”

  I loved Beelzebub’s Tartarus home, and I hated that a bunch of scabby demons had the power to scare me out of a good time. I hated it so much, in fact, that I was even more determined not to give them the satisfaction. “No. It’s alright. Could we take the houseboat?”

  Bub’s face broke into a wild grin. “As you wish, love.”

  I was going to have a good time, even if it killed me.

  Chapter 26

  “Life is like stepping onto a boat

  which is about to sail out to sea and sink.”

  -Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

  I called Reapers Inc., but Ellen informed me that Grim would be tied up for the rest of the day. She struggled to maintain her professional air, but finally broke and whispered into the phone, “Romantic rendezvous with your demon lover?”

  “Yes,” I whispered back with a laugh.

  Ellen gave a little excited squeal. “I’ll tell the boss that you needed more time to heal up. I want all the juicy details when you get back Thursday morning. Oh! Good job retrieving the helm, by the way. Hades and Persephone were ecstatic.”

  “Thanks.” I hung up with a smile and joined Bub at the travel booth around the corner from Meng’s place. He had already packed my duffle bag for me, and the hounds were with Josie and Kevin. I thought about stopping by the condo to check on Jenni, but knowing her, she was probably already back to work like the others. For all I knew, she was the reason Grim was going to be tied up all day.

  Bub and I took the travel booth straight to the gates of Hell. He kept his houseboat docked near the Styx Stop most of the time. We ducked into the little café just long enough to order a couple sandwiches for the trip.

  It had been several weeks since we’d made time to lounge down the river, and even at the thought of rebel demons on our trail, I was still excited to be slumming it with him. Out of all the fancy cocktail parties and Hearth dinners, floating down the river in that beat up houseboat was still my favorite place to be with the Lord of the Flies.

  I’d switched out of the patient gown Meng had given me and into a pair of cutoff shorts and a lacey camisole, using one of Bub’s old flannel button-ups to cover all my bandages. The sleeves were too long, so I rolled them up to my elbows. I didn’t bother with shoes.

  Bub hadn’t even bothered with a shirt. He stood at the steering wheel on the covered front deck wearing nothing but a ragged pair of jean shorts. The hems were uneven and unraveling at his knees. The light breeze over the river blew his dark bangs across his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled as I came out of the cabin of the boat.

  Tartarus was sticky and warm, but it was more than bearable over the Styx. The red mountains that I preferred were waiting in the distance, and thin strips of thorny trees poked into view whenever the beach was visible. The Styx was fairly wide, and with Tartarus being more rural these days, we rarely ever passed another boat.

  “I’ve already called Jack, and he can’t wait to receive us. Said he’s preparing the feast of all feasts,” Bub said.

  I closed my eyes to smile into the breeze. “We can eat tomorrow. Why don’t we sleep on the river?”

  “I suppose we could.” Bub nodded.

  The sky was a bright purple today. It was late afternoon, but it looked like a storm might be brewing. Lines of orange and gray cracked up the horizon from the mountains, and thunder drummed in the distance. I loved a good storm, and we so rarely got them in Limbo City.

  Bub’s eyes softened, soaking in the melancholy sky. He let out a slow, thoughtful breath. “It’s been so long ago that I first ventured out here, I sometimes wonder if this is all as magnificent and beautiful to me now as it was then.”

  I rested my head on his shoulder, wondering if how he felt about me would tarnish over time too.

  He lay his head on top of mine. “Am I a bad lover for not worrying about you more?”

  The question startled me, and I lifted my head to look at him. “You mean for not smothering me and trying to lock me up in a tower?”

  His shoulders bobbed in a quiet laugh, and the white of his eyes and teeth glowed softly in the near-dark. “I do worry about you, you know?” he said. “More and more it seems.”

  “I’m done worrying. We’re immortal. We’ll have plenty of time to worry later. Let’s not bother with it tonight.”

  “There’s only one thing I want to bother with tonight,” he said, pulling me in closer by my flannel collar. He dipped in for a long kiss, flicking his forked tongue over the roof of my mouth.

  I loved that he tasted like hot chocolate. It always made me think of campfires and marshmallows. He tugged me gently back into the boat cabin, kissing and stroking me the whole way.

  Bub was gentle with me at first, careful of every bruise, every cut. He laid me down like a China doll and took his time, removing the flannel shirt first so that he could outline the faded burn scar along my neck with his lips and hot breath. Then he carefully peeled away the bandage over my shoulder and ran his tongue over the wound. My breath hissed out in surprise.

  He slowly worked his way down, unbuttoning my shorts and slipping his hands under my camisole to bunch the fabric up under my breasts. Then he tugged up the edges of the bandage over my hip and ripped it free, drawing another sharp sigh out of me. His tongue darted out, licking at the gash. I moaned, full of ungentle thoughts.

  I slid my hands up the back of his neck and tangled them in his hair, pulling just sharply enough to encourage him. He pulled against me, grazing his teeth along the bandages over my rib cage until I arched into him. Then he grasped the waistband of my jeans and jerked them down my hips. My skin rippled with heat, anticipating his touch. I dug my nails into his shoulders and pulled him closer, wrapping my legs around his.

  Our little power play teeter-tottered back and forth until we were both finally naked and so full of longing that if the boat had caught on fire, we still couldn’t have been persuaded to leave that room.

  Bub wasn’t being gentle anymore. He had checked over every inch of me with his mouth and found no discernible reason to be. He pulled me into his lap and held my arms in place with one hand at the small of my back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and squeezed, holding on as he rocked us into a desperate rhythm. Our hearts pulsed against each other, faster and faster, like a drum circle building energy, just waiting for the perfect moment to release. Just when I thought the boat might tip over, we did instead. Bub rose up on his knees, taking me with him, and we collapsed back into the pillows, gasping from sated desire.

  The cabin had grown darker, and rain splattered against the row of small round windows that lined the top edge of the walls. It was a plain little room. There was no clock, no fancy furniture, just a frameless bed and a tiny closet in the corner with squeaky hinges. It was rustic and simple, not at all like his manor in Tartarus or his flat in Pandemonium. When we were here, it felt like we were nameless, like there was nowhere we needed to be and nothing we needed to do, except each other. I wanted to stay on that boat and keep floating down the Styx until the whole thing fell apart and sunk to the bottom. And when it did, I hoped we went down with it. It sounded like a meaningless human existence, but it was still the most meaningful way I could think of to live
out my life. Often, when we lay there, tangled in musty sheets and sweaty from making love, I would trace Bub’s skin with my fingers, drawing little hearts on his balmy flesh before it dried, and I would daydream about a life we would never have.

  My chest heaved and tears ran from both of my eyes, disappearing back into my tangled hair. My grief was silent, but Bub noticed anyway. He propped himself up on one elbow and laid a gentle hand on my chest, right over my frantic heart.

  “What’s this about, love?” he whispered in the dusky light.

  I pushed the heels of both hands into my eyes to fend off the tears and sighed. “This isn’t going to last, but I so want it to. It just makes me feel hopeless at times.” I tried to laugh, but it turned into a sob halfway through.

  “Shhh.” His hand moved over to my uninjured shoulder and he squeezed me in tighter. “You don’t know these things. Don’t spoil what we have by fretting over some imagined expiration date.”

  “I’m trying my best not to. It’s easier said than done.” I rotated around in his embrace and nuzzled against his neck, pressing myself against his bare chest and thighs. I felt safest there. I felt safest when I was naked and alone in the dark with a demon. Imagine that. How warped had my life become?

  I breathed in the warmth emanating from his skin and sighed.

  “Better?” he asked, rubbing his arm across my back.

  “All better.” I closed my eyes and wished for morning to never come, but it did, and I got over it.

  When I woke, the boat was already tied to the dock in front of Bub’s Tartarus manor. The storm had passed, and the sky had bloomed into a rich pink with curly gray clouds. Bub was standing naked on the deck of the boat, drinking a cup of coffee like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I suppose it was.

  I dropped the flannel shirt I had picked up off the floor and joined him on the deck, just as naked and unashamed as he. He grinned when I approached, and our lustful evening flashed boldly across his eyes. I took the cup of coffee he offered and folded my arms over the deck railing next to him.