Hellfire and Brimstone

by Angela Roquet

  The French doors off the patio opened and Bub stepped out to join me with his own cup of coffee. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts, but his chest was bare, displaying a small, circular bite mark I’d left over the swell of his right shoulder. My own shoulders shivered at the memory.

  The hounds trailed after Bub. Saul pranced over to greet me, and Coreen yawned as she dipped her back into a deep stretch, pushing her paws out in front of her. When Saul finished having his ears scratched, he went to lie beside her—or rather, on top of her. He nipped playfully at her tail and pawed her muzzle when she tried to return the favor.

  Bub cradled his mug of coffee in one hand and wrapped his other around my waist as he gazed out over the garden. “And now the fun begins,” he said, a twinkle taking hold of his eyes.

  “Oh joy.” I sipped my coffee, hoping the caffeine would translate into enough stamina to get me through the questionable day I’d laid out for myself. Bub’s day would definitely be weirder than mine, planting bleeding fungus and voodoo lilies, but I envied him already.

  If Jenni figured out what I was up to, she’d probably want to plant me. Right in the memorial garden alongside our fallen colleagues.

  Chapter 11

  “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

  —Buddha

  My second meeting with Regina did not yield a more favorable opinion, of her or me. I could tell she wasn’t thrilled to see me again from the square of her shoulders and the slight twitch in her wings as I stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of Reapers Inc.

  “Botch any dockets lately?” I asked, trying to see how long she could maintain the fake smile plastered across her face. When her jaw trembled and her eyes began to well up, a stab of remorse took me by surprise. Schoolyard bully never looked good on anyone.

  Regina pushed my harvest list, along with Ellen’s and Kevin’s, across the desk. “I double-checked everything twice,” she said, quickly pulling her hand back as I reached for the documents.

  “Thanks,” I grumbled under my breath, feeling like a jackass for having no better reason to hate the girl than the fact that she hadn’t mastered Ellen’s job on her first day. As I turned away, she let out a small gasp.

  “President Fang would like to see you this morning. I’ll let her know you’re here.” She picked up her desk phone and pressed a button. I could hear the faint buzz of the intercom through Jenni’s door. “Ms. Harvey has arrived. Yes, ma’am,” Regina said into the phone. Then she hung up and gave me another forced smile. “She’ll see you now.”

  I pressed my lips together and swallowed. My pulse beat more urgently against my temples as I entered Jenni’s office. There was no reason to think she suspected me of anything, but I didn’t exactly subdue guilt with much grace.

  “Lana,” Jenni greeted me without looking up from her desk. “Come on in and have a seat.”

  I closed the door behind me and stuffed the soul dockets clutched in my sweaty hand down inside my messenger bag as I crossed the room. The wall of glass behind Jenni’s desk was filled with golden, morning light. It reflected off the Sea of Eternity in the distance and slowly crawled over the treetops as it moved inland, like a glass of orange juice spilling over the edge of a table. The sight of it calmed my nerves as I dropped down on one of the leather benches and folded my hands in my lap.

  Jenni flipped through a stack of stationery, occasionally pausing to scrawl her signature or initials along a blank line. Her wave of dark hair was pulled back tight into a French twist, and a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. She made me wait a few minutes longer before giving me her full attention. I wasn’t sure if she was really that engrossed with her work, or if maybe she was getting used to throwing around her fancy new authority. She’d been taking more opportunities to flex her boss muscles around me lately, as if she was afraid I was plotting to take over.

  I had thought Naledi’s procedure would have done away with that sort of insecurity, but it only seemed to make it worse for Jenni. Like it was somehow proof that I was more. Sure, I was cut from a different cloth. It wasn’t a secret any longer. But it shouldn’t have been a problem either, now that I’d been fixed. What made me unique had been zapped by Naledi, the soul on the Throne of Eternity and the only one with the ability to pull off such an inconceivable feat.

  Maybe I was reading too much into Jenni’s actions. It was also possible that our friendship was going through an odd transition since our joint living arrangement had ended.

  “How’s Ellen handling herself?” Jenni asked, fingering a Chinese knot button along her collarbone. Half a dozen more ran in a diagonal line across the corner of her white blouse.

  “Okay, I guess,” I answered with a short nod. “Though I think you should have her retake her L&L before setting her loose to harvest on her own.”

  Jenni’s chin dimpled with a thoughtful frown. “Very good.” She tapped the end of her ink pen on her desk and then pulled her hand up to rest her chin in her palm. “The council approved a new generation of reapers yesterday. Naledi is working on them now, before Ridwan manages to change everyone’s minds.”

  I resisted rolling my eyes and tried to smile. “Two years since the Ks came aboard. Wow.”

  The first eleven generations were all equally spaced a century apart, but casualties of war had taken a bite out of our numbers. Reaping had become more burdensome for everyone, and while I was sure that Jenni’s retirement plans had smoothed many a frazzled nerve over the mess, I didn’t see how it would end well if things didn’t improve soon. The council would never allow a reaper to retire if it put the soul harvesting industry in a bind.

  Jenni watched me carefully as she shared her next bit of news. “The Special Ops Unit is officially dissolved.”

  I bit my bottom lip and then scoffed. “Ridwan?”

  She nodded grimly. “It’s a balancing act, working with the council. Give and take.”

  “Right.” The word sounded more resigned than the loathing sarcasm I was going for.

  Jenni cleared her throat and began tidying her paperwork. “I haven’t seen your application for the Posy Unit cross my desk.”

  “I haven’t decided if that’s what I want to do.” I tangled my fingers in the strap of my messenger bag. “Kevin’s benefiting from the random freelance work. The pay is shit,” I said, casting her a scornful look before I went on. “But the diversity of harvests is expanding his experience rather quickly.”

  Jenni cocked her head to one side. “You’re actually very good as a mentor, you know?” Her pen tapped out another staccato tune. “You should consider teaching at the academy again. They’re going to need the help, now that we have two young generations to mold into respectable reapers.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” I sighed and glanced out the window again, noticing the movement of the sea as the morning tide churned and sprayed up over the lip of the harbor sea wall. The Three Fates Factory workday would begin soon. My workday needed to kick off too, especially if I wanted to manage all the illegal activity I had planned.

  “Good catching up,” Jenni said with a polite yet dismissive nod, as if she’d forgotten our previous, less friendly conversation that had taken place two days before. She hadn’t mentioned my sighting of Vince, and she seemed relieved that I hadn’t either. I’d let her keep the pet elephant in the room. For now.

  I left Reapers Inc. in a hurry and took the travel booths to the harbor. The morning was lovely and I would have liked to enjoy it with a stroll through the city, but there was no time. I pulled the soul dockets out of my messenger bag and then dug deeper until I felt the brimstone gun. Bub had taken it off Tasha Henry last spring when we’d tracked her down. And now I was going to use it to track her down again.

  Saul reared back on his hind legs and flopped his front paws over the deck railing as I climbed the ramp to my ship. The two helljacks tri
ed to mimic him, though they were a bit smaller than their uncle. Their narrower muzzles rested between their paws, and one chomped down on the railing as I came aboard.

  “Hey!” I shouted, sending them all off in a lap around the forecastle.

  Coreen watched from the upper deck with a bored expression. She’d gotten lazy since weaning the helljacks, but I could hardly blame her. She deserved the break after rearing her rambunctious lot. Her third pup had been adopted by Apollo and the Pythia, and thank goodness. I couldn’t imagine Coreen fending off all three of them once they’d reached their current size.

  Kevin stepped out of his cabin, rubbing a towel over his freshly shaved face. “You’re early,” he said, then jumped back as the trio of demonic pooches ran past.

  I glared after them. “You need better dog toys. I caught one of your heathens chewing on the ship.”

  Kevin made an uncomfortable face. “Yeah, I know. I had to replace one of the rigging ropes too. I’m hoping this phase passes soon.”

  I resisted chewing him a new asshole and thrust his docket out instead. “Here. You’re taking Ellen on your first run.”

  “What?” he balked. “Why?”

  “Because I’m the mentor, and I say so,” I snapped, then added more gently, “I have a solo job to take care of, but I’ll be back soon. It’s one run, Kevin. You can handle it.”

  “Fine.” He huffed and took the list from me.

  I patted my leg and whistled for Saul to come, drawing a confused look from Kevin.

  “You’re taking Saul? What about Coreen?”

  I shook my head. “She can stay here with the pups, maybe keep them from destroying everything while I’m gone.” I raised an eyebrow at him and then headed for the ramp to the dock pier. I wanted to be gone before Ellen showed up and I was forced to repeat my weak ruse. She’d be harder to appease with the mentor card, seeing as how she was seven hundred years older than me.

  A handful of reapers were scattered down the dock pier, some getting an early start on the day’s harvests and others sharing coffee or doing maintenance on their boats. I spotted Arden Faraji’s shiny, bald head as he climbed the ratlines of his own ship, anchored across the way. He straddled a yard and made an adjustment to some rigging along the center mast.

  Arden was doing a bang-up job with the Posy Unit. Definitely a better job than I’d done. I didn’t have any doubt that he’d be a decent boss if I decided to apply to rejoin the unit like Jenni had suggested. But the idea of having a supervisor, no matter how fair or friendly they were, just seemed like another rung down on the ladder I’d spent the past two years climbing. I intended to hold off for as long as possible, or at least until the shitty paychecks finally succeeded in destroying what was left of my ego.

  The carousel centered on the main deck of Arden’s ship moved suddenly, carnival music and bright lights encouraging the painted horses to begin their slow march. The machine’s function served to not only entertain the child souls Arden and his partner were so fond of, but it was also hooked into the rigging and made for smoother sailing. It was smart, even if a bit strange.

  Arden’s eyes fell on me as he turned to descend, and he waved. I returned the gesture and nudged my leg against Saul’s side as I rolled my coin, trading my occupational concerns for more dire ones as I disappeared to the mortal realm.

  Chapter 12

  "When one jumps over the edge, one is bound to land somewhere."

  —D.H. Lawrence

  I didn’t notice the fly clinging to the sleeve of my robe until the sun blinded me as I appeared on the rocky beach of Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West. I lifted my arm up to shield my eyes, and an unmistakable buzz filled my ears.

  Instinctively, I smacked my hands together, squashing the bug between my palms. Bub was not going to be happy.

  I groaned as I wiped the bug guts off on my robe and then quickly dug the brimstone pistol out of my bag. I needed to get out of here before Bub sent another one of his spies. Saul tilted his muzzle up and crinkled his nose at the rotten egg smell coming from the powder around the lip of the barrel. I held it closer.

  “You got it?” I asked, letting him get a good sniff. When he pressed his nose to the ground and took off, I chased after him, excitement bubbling in my chest. “Good boy!”

  We cut inland, heading away from the shore and toward a small patch of trees. The tip of the island was narrow, and I could hear the ocean on the opposite side as we approached. This was the last place Tasha had been spotted. I’d heard Clair Kramer, Grace Adaline’s apprentice, reported the sighting after harvesting a soul off the coast. He hadn’t actually seen Tasha, but rather her yacht anchored to one of the human piers. A few nephilim guards had been sent to investigate, but they came back empty-handed.

  I didn’t expect to find Tasha on the island. If Saul could suss out where she’d been staying, I was hoping we’d find some clue as to where she might have headed. When I spied her yacht anchored out near the shore, I almost did a cartwheel. I never got this lucky.

  Mine and Saul’s thrashing around through the trees was none too quiet, and as we stepped out onto the sandy beach, movement caught my eye. Right before a fist did.

  “Gah!” I shrieked, stumbling backward and tripping over my robe. My ass hit the sand. Saul didn’t even give a warning growl before leaping over me and taking my attacker down.

  “Truce! Truce!” Tasha cried.

  “Sure. Now you want a truce.” I sat up straighter and touched my tender eye socket. “Jerk,” I added as an afterthought. “I came here bearing gifts too.”

  Tasha laughed, but it sounded strange since Saul was standing on her chest. “I’d settle for not having my throat ripped out.”

  I made a face at her but then nodded at Saul, giving him the cue to let her go.

  “Thanks.” Tasha sat up slowly and coughed into the bend of her elbow as she regained her breath. She didn’t look too bad for being a wanted fugitive living in exile on the mortal side. Her hair was longer than when I’d last seen her, almost reaching her jawline, and paired with her cut-off shorts and lime green bikini top, she looked like she was on vacation.

  “I like this look much better than the demon rocker guise you were sporting,” I said, waving my hand at her. “Speaking of demons, where’s Tack?” I glanced through the trees behind her and then across the open beach.

  Tasha’s lips pursed and I noticed the scars nested in her dimples from where she’d taken out her piercings. “Who knows where that loser ran off to? We parted ways several months ago, in Nebraska, after he blamed me for everything rotten that’s ever happened to him. Is that my gun?” Her eyes blinked wildly as I lifted the pistol, as if she hadn’t expected to ever see it again.

  “Yup. I thought you might like it back—though I really hope you don’t have to use it.”

  Her brow scrunched. “Why would I?”

  “You were spotted,” I said, drawing a small gasp from her. “On the other side of this beach.”

  “But I haven’t been here in over a week. I just got back,” she insisted.

  “Guess that’s why the Nephilim Guard didn’t find you when they were sent to investigate.” I shrugged and dropped the gun in the sand between us. “I’d find a new beach if I were you. In case they’ve been ordered to keep an eye on this spot.”

  “Great.” She pulled her legs up and rested her elbows on her knees with a sigh. “And I really liked this particular corner of the world. I knew I should have waited for the off season.”

  “There’s always the Red Sand Beach in Maui,” I suggested.

  Tasha gave me a sly grin. “Something tells me you didn’t come all the way out here to return my gun and talk hideout options.”

  “Who needs small talk anyway, right?” I returned her grin, thankful for the directness and lack of sass she was so well known for. “You’re not the only reaper living on the mortal fringe,” I said, trying to gauge her reaction. Her surprise seemed genuine enough, so I went on. “Vince Hare i
s alive, and he’s been hiding among the mortals for the last century.”

  Tasha’s eyes bulged and she leaned back as if I’d struck her. “What?”

  “It gets better. One of the missing factory workers that wasn’t recovered last spring is helping him poach souls—and not just any souls, original believers like Naledi, the one on the throne.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.” She shook her head. “I’ve bumped into a few demons on this side, and all of them say the ghost market is dead.”

  I held my breath a moment and chewed my bottom lip. “Then he’s keeping them somewhere on this side, for what purpose I don’t know.”

  Tasha fingered her bangs out of her face and turned her worried eyes to the ocean. “Why tell me all this?”

  And here came the tricky part I’d been dreading. “I need your help finding them.”

  She’d been expecting my answer, and her poker face was top-notch. “What’s in it for me?”

  I took a deep breath through my nose and then pushed it past my lips. “Name your price.” If any cause was worthy of cracking open my nest egg, it was this.

  Tasha’s stony expression went slack and she gave me a sad smile. “You helped me escape the council’s noose, and now you’ve given me a head’s up about the guard. I really am an ungrateful lout, aren’t I?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to outright agree with her, but also not prepared to deny it. That earned me a laugh.

  “Fine,” Tasha said. “I’ll ask around, but I only have a few contacts on this side. Don’t be surprised if no leads turn up.”

  “Your nothing can’t be any worse than the nothing I’m currently working with.” I stood and dusted the sand from my robe.

  Tasha stood too, but she ignored the sand clinging to her. She was probably used to it by now. She picked up the brimstone gun and looked it over with a small grin before tucking it in the waistband of her jean shorts.