Until Death

by E. A. Copen

  As the hour drew to a close, I got up to pace again. Guy didn’t think they’d come to an agreement until I proved my intent, but I liked to think the underworld gods were smarter than that. I hoped they were, anyway. If they weren’t, I’d have to execute one of them, which seemed extreme given the circumstances. There was a reason I’d called this my nuclear option. I didn’t want to have to follow through, but I had the awful, sinking feeling they were going to force my hand.

  The doors creaked open, and Hades stepped out. I stopped pacing and waited hopefully by the benches. When I saw his face, however, my heart dropped into my stomach. He didn’t look like he had positive news.

  “It’s been an hour,” he said, fidgeting with his fingers. “I thought you’d like to know what progress we’d made.”

  “Have you come to an agreement?”

  “Almost.” He winced. “I’m waiting to get a complete tally of my stores before we continue. The current deal on the table is based on yearly percentages and allows us to hold onto a large portion of our souls, for the time being, releasing an increasing number every decade. The number released is based on how many souls we have. Since I have the most, I stand to lose a significant amount of power.”

  I frowned. “That sounds like a deal to me. Is someone holding out?”

  “Yama wants to donate a smaller percentage and won’t budge,” said Hades with a nervous sigh. “He maintains that his proximity to She’ol puts him at greater risk. But because he’s holding on to more and I’m giving more, that will create a power imbalance. If Yama chose to invade my kingdom, I wouldn’t have the resources to stop him. All I have now is his word that he won’t.”

  I crossed my arms. “And you don’t think Yama is a god of his word?”

  “It’s not that. Alliances shift. Remiel is persuasive and manipulative. Yama can be unpredictable with how he chooses to dispense justice. Say he dislikes something you’ve done. He may choose to take it out on me. Or if Remiel invades him, he may decide to invade me to further the war effort.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Have you guys ever heard of an alliance or a non-aggression pact?”

  “Those are only paper, promises as good as the trust between gods. There isn’t much trust between us, Lazarus. Surely you understand why I’m hesitant to put myself and my kingdom in that position, especially in light of recent events.”

  He meant Poseidon’s invasion. Hades had nearly lost his kingdom because Loki and Poseidon teamed up, but even that had been a ruse. Loki used that invasion as a distraction to open the gates to Tartarus and free the Titans.

  Since Hades also played warden to the prison for Titans, perhaps he deserved some special consideration. If anyone invaded and those things got free again, there would be trouble. Worse trouble than we were in right now. But did Hades really need to hold human souls hostage to guard against that?

  “How do souls help you guard Tartarus?” I asked.

  Hades looked to Guy as if asking for help, though he found none there. After a moment, his shoulders slumped and he hung his head. “Truthfully, they don’t. Not traditionally. However, I’ve been using them to increase security in the area. Training the souls to watch for any activity, which gets reported to me. Remember that I’m understaffed for half the year, Lazarus. It’s only me in this big, empty place for six months.”

  I tapped my chin in thought. “If I got someone to help you during those six months, specifically to help you keep an eye on Tartarus, would you be willing to donate the same percentage of souls as everyone else?”

  “Provided Yama is held to the same standard, yes.”

  I nodded and stepped past Hades. If all it took to close this deal was to get Yama to play ball, I was going to make it happen. Worst case scenario, I’d rip out his soul and the deal would go through. Boy, politics would be a lot easier if a Horseman oversaw congress. Maybe they’d actually get something done in Washington.

  The table was empty when I entered. All the gods had gotten up and formed pairs, whispering to each other. Everyone except for Yama, that is. He stood alone in the corner near the coffee machine, slowly stirring the contents of a Styrofoam cup with his pinky. He locked eyes with me as soon as I came into the room. To my surprise, he smirked, practically daring me to come over.

  Far be it from me to refuse an invitation.

  I crossed the room, pausing to get a cup myself, just so I could have something to hold onto. I knew better than to drink anything in the underworld. “So, Hades tells me you’re holding out.”

  “Hardly,” Yama huffed. “If anything, he’s the holdout. I’ve merely proposed a perfectly reasonable alternative for my situation. I can’t be held responsible for Hades’ choice.”

  “Everyone gets the same deal or there is no deal, Yama.”

  “So, you’re telling me you didn’t just strike an agreement in the hallway with Hades?” His dark eyebrows went up as he sipped his coffee.

  I sighed and stepped in so I could whisper without being overheard. “What do you want, Yama? This isn’t really about you holding onto a few extra souls, is it? We both know that won’t matter if Remiel sets his sights on Naraka. If he decides he wants it, he’s going to take it, and there won’t be much you can do to stop him. So, what is it you’re really after?”

  He glanced around the room and leaned in. “I don’t want Remiel in charge any more than the rest of these fools, yet the civil war was especially bad for my kingdom. It caused a severe backlog in the processing of souls. For a time, the river even flowed backward. We had a flood. It’s been problematic. If he is removed from power, we could easily go through that again. I can’t ask the creatures who work for me to endure such hardships.”

  I took a step back. “Are you saying you support Remiel’s claim to the throne?”

  “I’m saying I support stability in She’ol. I don’t think Remiel will bring that long-term stability. I have it on good authority that Khaleda Morningstar is still alive. Leviathan hasn’t surfaced since Remiel claimed his throne, but he must still be out there. Rumor is, he threw his hat in with her. If she were to assume the throne, I believe my place would be less precarious. I’d be far more willing to meet the demands of the summit then, but not until.”

  “I can’t guarantee Khaleda will take over, Yama. Even you have to realize that’s beyond my control.”

  “True,” he said, nodding. “But you are a Horseman. As you pointed out, your job is to keep things in balance. Remiel needs to get that message. I propose that we strike a deal in this chamber for those present and levy heavy penalties on him for not participating. Sanctions, if you will.”

  “Yeah, because that’ll go over well.” I shook my head. “How is anyone going to enforce those sanctions? You don’t think the minute he hears about it, he won’t get angry and invade you? Come on, Yama. Don’t be stupid.”

  “That’s the deal on the table,” he said with a confident smirk. “Take it, or I refuse to continue.”

  He was testing me, just like Guy warned he would. I’d told everyone in the room exactly what would happen if they refused to come to an agreement, and here he was trying to negotiate special treatment. His demands were impossible, even if I wanted to agree with him. Placing sanctions on Remiel and She’ol just because we didn’t like who was in charge wasn’t going to do anything other than pick a fight, and I was done picking fights. All I wanted to do was get this over with and go home.

  “For the last time, Yama. Be reasonable. If you don’t agree, the whole thing falls apart. Don’t make me do something both of us will regret.”

  He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “We both know you won’t do anything. That rousing speech you gave earlier was just that. A speech. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you started killing gods left and right? Do you want that again? Do you really want to go through all that again?”

  That confirmed it. No matter what offer went on the table, Yama was going to refuse just to see how much he could get out of it. Ev
en if he was right in principle, I couldn’t afford to let him break down negotiations just to prove his point. He wasn’t going to listen to reason, either. His dislike of me defied reason.

  I activated my Vision. Yama’s golden soul swam in a sea of sparkling silver, the glowing tentacles stretching through his limbs. It would be easy to reach in and pull it out, destroy the one barrier between me and achieving my goals. But who would step up and take Yama’s place? He had a point about how damaging instability could be. I’d killed Morningstar, who was arguably a bigger dick than Yama, and look where that’d gotten me.

  Maybe I didn’t have to kill him to get my point across.

  I shoved my hand into his chest, right below where his soul sat, and pinched my fingers around one of the glowing golden tentacles. Yama let out a pained wheeze and dropped his cup. Coffee splashed against my leg, but it wasn’t hot enough to burn me. Silence echoed in the room, and eyes burned into the back of my head. Everyone was watching, waiting to see if I would carry through on my threat.

  Yama’s eyes widened and his hand shot out to grip my shoulder, probably the only thing that kept him on his feet.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen.” I squeezed tighter. “I’m going to do everything I can to be a pain in Remiel’s ass for as long as I can without causing another war. If he invades, you’re going to work with the other people at this table to repel his forces. You’re going to get in contact with the new Pale Horseman once I step aside, and he’ll help you deal with the problem. In the meantime, you’re going to give up your fair share of souls, the same number as everyone else in this room. That’s the offer on the table, Yama. Go ahead and refuse it one more time, just to see if I’m serious about the price.”

  “All right,” he squeaked. “I agree.”

  “What’s that? Didn’t quite catch what you said.”

  “I agree to the terms! No stipulations!”

  “That’s what I thought.” I released his soul.

  He doubled over and sank to the floor.

  I turned my back on him. Everyone else in the room stared at me, wide-eyed and paler than normal. “Well? Anybody else want to ask for special considerations, or are you all going to sign the damn agreement once it gets drafted?”

  Hades glanced around the room and nodded. “I’ll get someone to write it up immediately.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Everyone signed the agreement. Hades even opened the mirror and got a proxy signature from Remiel without much conversation. The Fallen wasn’t interested in what he called “short-term problems like the flow of souls.” That one was going to be trouble sometime in the near future.

  I felt bad passing that problem onto Nate, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I had promised Emma I was getting out. There would always be one more thing for me to do, one more problem to solve. That was the nature of the job. Maybe he’d do better than me.

  I was still blowing on the ink to dry it when Ereshkegal and Nergal approached, hand in hand.

  “We had begun to believe you’d forgotten about our problem,” Ereshkegal said.

  I shook out the parchment and tested the freshest signature with a finger. When it didn’t smear, I rolled it up. “I didn’t forget. I was just a little busy saving the living world.”

  “What an odd thing for Death to do.” Nergal smirked as if to say, “How quaint.”

  “You should know I didn’t do this out of the goodness of my heart.” I snapped a rubber band on the parchment and passed it off to the scribe Hades had brought in for copies.

  Nergal watched the scribe scurry out of the room. His amused expression reminded me of a cat I’d once seen stalk a bug down the sidewalk. “You don’t say?”

  Ereshkegal leaned on his arm. “Oh, do be nice to him, Nergal. He’s just done us a great service, far more than anyone else has for the last thousand years. Maybe longer. You could at least be courteous.”

  “As long as he doesn’t eat me, I think I’m good.”

  Nergal grinned.

  “Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with too many details, but I need to get through to the Nightlands. Me and Guy Smith.” I pointed Guy out for them.

  Nergal’s grin faded as he took on a more cautious air. “I was wondering why the Voidwalker was here. Now it all makes sense. So it’s true, then. Mask lives.”

  “Sorta. He’s attached himself to my soul. Like a bad pimple, I can’t get rid of him without making a mess.”

  “And you think going to the Nightlands will help you shed this parasite?” Nergal wrinkled his nose.

  Ereshkegal left his arm to cling to mine. “Lazarus, dear,” she said, leading me away from the group. “Have you considered that the Voidwalker might not be telling you the whole truth? Voidwalkers are a curious bunch. They aren’t motivated by the same things as most other creatures. Truth, duty, honor…these are all things long-lived gods such as us have come not to expect from their kind.”

  I stole a glance back at Nergal, who was watching me with narrowed eyes. Better not give him the wrong impression, I thought, and broke contact with Ereshkegal. “He seems to be on the up and up to me. I don’t get it. Why does everyone distrust him so much? Is there something I should know?”

  “You can’t kill him, for one, which means he has no reason to fear you. Not like the rest of us do, anyway. He also has no reason to be truthful with you. Voidwalkers are very old creatures, and so little is understood about who they are and what they can do.” She leaned closer and shielded the side of her face with a palm to whisper, “In the time before time, when all that existed were the old gods and the creatures of the void, there were many Voidwalkers, Horseman. They can roam between worlds, pass through shadows collecting secrets, and worship the dark gods of the Nightlands. The one you call Guy Smith? His hands are stained with the blood of thousands. He is an eater of worlds. Do not underestimate how crafty he can be.”

  I glanced over at Guy. He stood in the opposite corner of the room, examining one of Hades’ brass candelabras. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, he picked it up and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. His jaw disjointed and expanded to accommodate the odd shape, but quickly snapped back into place so he looked normal.

  I shuddered. Watching him eat weird things definitely creeped me out, and I wouldn’t put it past him to gobble up a body to hide evidence, but an eater of worlds? Come on. That sounded far-fetched even by my standards. Then again, what did I really know about the guy? Ereshkegal also wasn’t the first person to warn me about him, even though I didn’t want to give Mask’s caution any credence.

  “I’ll be careful,” I promised Ereshkegal.

  She giggled and touched her fingers to her lips. “Careful? Oh, Lazarus! I don’t think going to the Nightlands counts as being careful, no matter how you frame it. It is a dangerous journey. I know you’ve been there before, but it can’t be overstated how unsafe it is, especially if you have Mask hidden away in your soul. Perhaps passing through the gate would only strengthen Mask’s hold on you. There are many who go to the Nightlands only never to be heard from again.”

  “I don’t have a choice. Not unless you know of some other way to separate us.”

  “Sadly, I do not. That magic is beyond even me.” Ereshkegal lifted her mask from her face, revealing sparkling dark eyes. “If you want to go through the gate, I will not stop you. I only wanted to be sure it was your idea, not his, and that you knew what you were in for. After all you’ve done for our kingdom, that’s the least I can do.”

  I nodded. “And I thank you for it.”

  She smiled sweetly. “There is, of course, just one problem.”

  Great. Of course, there was. Nothing was ever straightforward, not when dealing with gods.

  I sighed. “What is it?”

  “You’ll recall the last time you went through the gate, some ingredients were required. We have retrieved the key, but the blood of a Titan is much more difficult to acquire.”

 
“I can help with that.” Hades strode casually over to where we stood.

  Ereshkegal frowned at his approach and watched him carefully. Apparently, she hadn’t been aware that our conversation wasn’t private. “Of course. You have Titans right here.”

  Hades nodded and puffed up his chest proudly. “All the Titans who have escaped have been recovered, save one. The Titan Fenrir remains at large. My agents have been unable to recover him.”

  I winced. The last time I’d seen Fenrir, Remy had just beaten him at a game of tug of war. My soul had been on the line, or a piece of it, at least. He’d been a good sport and decided not to eat anyone except for Xipetotec. Xipetotec kind of deserved it, though. “I have an idea of where he might be, but I doubt he’ll come peacefully. Honestly, if you’ve heard the guy’s story, you might agree that he’s done his time.”

  My eyes slid past Hades to Hel, who had also tuned in on our conversation, her spine rigid, ear perked in our direction. When I first met Fenrir, she had been his keeper. He’d been chained to the ground in a burning pit, emaciated, miserable, and angry. At first, all he’d wanted was to help his father, Loki, to destroy the world. In the end, though, he turned tail and helped me take Loki out. Fenrir was an okay guy for a giant wolf Titan.

  Hades’ tone was grave. “Be that as it may, it is too dangerous to let a Titan roam free.”

  “So, you’re just going to toss him in prison because of what he might do?” I shook my head. “I don’t want any part of that. It’s not fair. He helped me more times than he caused me any trouble. Where he is, he’s not hurting anyone. I’m pretty sure all he wants is to be left alone. If I show up and demand he come back here, he’s not going to be happy. The last thing anyone wants is a pissed-off wolf Titan rampaging through the Bayou.”