Fury's Death

by Brey Willows

  “And now?”

  She sighed. “Now they want protection, health, for my scythe to sweep away every obstacle from their lives, to stop their enemies. They pray for money and success. Some are even praying to me about lost love.”

  He nodded knowingly. “Generalities. Those aren’t too bad. Like any god, you can’t answer the ones about enemies because there’s a conflict when it comes to the fact that enemies might be praying about each other. You could answer the first one to come in, like some gods do, or you can forgo answering the general prayers. That’s what we do here. If someone asks for something really specific, we look into it. If it’s something we can help with, like making sure someone comes to someone else’s notice, or that a building stays upright for just one more year, then we do it.”

  “Do you personally do it? How do you have the time?”

  “Gods, no!” He laughed, a great big belly laugh. “Like any god, you’ll have to develop a section of staff that help solely with prayer. They’ll come to you with the prayers, and you can sift through them and figure out which to grant and which not to.”

  He paddled to catch another wave, and Dani waited for him, thinking. Developing the staff to take on that section of her new role was something she hadn’t considered, but it made the job seem far less daunting. She liked the distinction about generalities too. It might be a little sideways as far as answering prayers went, but with millions of people invoking nearly the exact same prayer or ritual, it made it impossible to answer them all. Kanaloa paddled back to her.

  “Hey, this could work with your rebranding, you know?”

  “How so?” Dani wasn’t that far ahead yet.

  “Just like the other gods, go be with them. Let them know your face, and tell them what kinds of prayers you grant. Like being able to help with specific stuff and not being there to kill enemies. Set parameters, just like the other gods are doing. Heck, maybe even come up with your own guidebook.”

  She thought about it. “That would make my job clearer, if not easier. People asking for something specific would mean no wasted prayer. I like it.” The thought of being among the humans praying to her, visible for all to see, made her tremble slightly. Death only showed herself to people who were about to go with her. Until now. “If I wanted to answer a prayer directly, how do I do it?”

  Kanaloa put his hand on top of the water between them. “And now we come to why Megara brought you to me.” He tapped the water, and they watched the ripples it created. “She knows you well, I think. You may not be a water god, but you love the ocean like one. Water is part of you, so she brought you to a water god who surfs.” He smiled at her. “When you want to grant a prayer, you figure out what needs to happen to make that work. For instance, if someone wants their business to get more clients, you use your magic to make sure a certain number of people see the advertisement in a particular place. And you plant the idea that they want to check it out, and then maybe tell a friend or two.” He splashed water in the air. “And just like that, prayer answered.”

  “But how will I know who the right people are to tap into?” As logical as it sounded, it also sounded completely bizarre.

  “Use the water. Humans are made of it; the planet breathes it. Use your love of the water to feel it flowing everywhere. Not just the ocean, but rivers and streams and fountains. Connect with it and then direct your connection outward to the people. Let the energy of your intentions flow from the water.”

  “That sounds impossible, unlikely, and somewhat outrageous.”

  “You’re Death, sitting on a surfboard, in front of an island that doesn’t exist, with an ancient god of water. Implausible is the name of the game, gorgeous. You have to just take the leap.”

  They spent the next three hours practicing what he’d told her. They’d catch a few waves and give Dani time to think, then practice some more. Instead of focusing on water specifically, she concentrated on the flow, like the drawing of water into a wave and then the way it folded over and rejoined itself. Like that flow, she listened to prayers and created a kind of ripple and flow beyond the person, affecting the areas that needed affecting. At first, it took a lot of energy, and it was hard to focus on a single voice, but he taught her how to concentrate on a single point of the ripple rather than on the whole thing, and she got the hang of it quickly. Kanaloa was incredibly patient, and being able to be on the ocean while she learned made it seem far less worrying than it had when they’d arrived the day before. Just when she felt like she had a reasonable handle on it, they heard a shout from shore.

  “I’m going to eat my own wings if you don’t feed me soon!” Meg shouted and fell back onto the sand dramatically, her wings spread beneath her.

  The sight made Dani’s pulse race, and her heart almost hurt from the beauty and memory of their night together.

  Kanaloa nudged her. “There’s more to her than she shows people. She brought you here because she understands you. I bet she understands a lot of people, and they have no idea. This thing between you? Be patient. Learning to tame the waves takes time.”

  Dani shook her head. “I’d never want to tame her. She’s perfect wild.”

  He laughed. “And you never really tame the waves, do you? But you come to an understanding, a mutual admiration.” He shoved her and she fell off her board. “And remember to get some sleep occasionally too.”

  She sputtered water, laughing, as he caught the wave to shore. She followed him and was never as gratified, or grateful, as she was when Meg bounded back to her feet and threw herself into Dani’s arms.

  “By all that lives and breathes, please feed me,” she mumbled against Dani’s chest.

  Kanaloa laughed. “No matter what else happens, some things never change. Let’s walk up to the hotel. I’ll tell you about some of the animals we’ve got here.”

  They followed him up a long, winding trail toward the hotel, and true to his word, he told them about the various species around them. Some of them, he and his brother had saved from extinction by bringing them from the other islands. Now some of the plants and animals couldn’t be found anywhere else on the planet.

  “It really is a special place.” Meg reached out, and an American Lady butterfly landed on her wrist. “Stunning. She looks like something out of a steampunk novel.”

  Her black and white wings looked like the insides of a clock, and her beautiful pink stripe at the top made her wings look like modern paintings. “She’s like you.”

  Meg looked at her curiously.

  “Strong, delicate, unusual. Complex and colorful.”

  Meg hooked her arm through Dani’s. “I like that you see me that way.”

  They arrived at the hotel, and Meg shot off toward the food table. Dani and Kanaloa followed at a slower pace, both smiling as Meg filled her plate and talked to everyone around her.

  “Did being here help?” Kanaloa asked as he picked up a piece of pineapple.

  “I can’t thank you enough, Kan. It really did.”

  They sat next to Meg at a table, and Dani laughed at the expression of ravenous delight on her face. When she took a moment to breathe, she sat back and looked around.

  “I wanted to ask you. How did you know we were coming?” Meg asked.

  “The volcano told us.”

  “Sure. Makes total sense.” Meg rolled her eyes and held out her hands as though requiring more information.

  “Hawaiian gods are tied to the land and the sea, especially to the volcanoes. Those same volcanoes run deep into the earth and are surrounded by water, and they’re part of our spirit world as well.” He tossed a blueberry at Dani. “Like our Death, here, who is both part of the world because of her work with humans and part of the spiritual world because of her work with soul delivery and prayer. The volcanoes began to whisper that death was coming.”

  Dani raised an eyebrow. “That can’t have been very reassuring.”

  He laughed. “Nah. We know their language, and we knew they meant it literally.
Or metaphorically. Whichever it is.” He finished his breakfast and stood. “Stay as long as you like, although I know you’ve both got jobs to get back to. If I don’t see you before you go, come back soon, okay?” He gave them both a massive, tight hug. “Don’t forget about us again.”

  Dani held him tightly, unable to voice how much she owed him. “Never.”

  He left, and they sat back down. Meg sipped her coffee and slipped her hand over Dani’s. “I say we go see how hard it is to have sex on a hammock.”

  Dani jumped up from the table, grabbed Meg’s hand, and they ran down the road back to the shore like wild teenagers. Once they left here there was no telling what would happen; this little bit of haven from their daily world felt like a gift, and it wasn’t one she’d take for granted. In this moment, I can have it all.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Make it stop.” Meg pulled the pillow over her head, but the ringing just kept on. She threw off the pillow and sat up. She stretched to pick up her phone off the floor and fell off the bed. With her cheek pressed to the floor and her legs still on the bed, she answered it. “What could possibly be this important?”

  “We’ve been trying to reach you mentally, but you’re too far between. We need you to come back to the office.”

  Tis sounded even more stressed than usual, and that was saying something. “What’s up?” She slid the rest of the way off the bed and wondered where Dani was as she tried to untangle herself from the sheets.

  “Dis, mostly. But we’ve been doing a lot of talking, and we need your input. And Dani’s too.”

  She finally disengaged herself from the sheets and jumped to her feet. “Sure, Sis. We’ll get there as soon as we can.” She hung up and walked down to the sand. Dani was riding a wave, looking relaxed and confident in a way she never really did on land. The mellow sunset made her dark silhouette stark against the wave, and she looked both powerful and mysterious. Meg didn’t know why she’d thought of the Hawaiian gods when Dani had told her about the whole goddess problem. She’d just known it was the right thing to do. And although it turned out sex in a hammock was even harder than she thought it would be, sex on the beach, on the porch, in the bed, and finally, on the roof under the moonlight, had been perfect.

  Dani rode the wave to shore and tucked her board under her arm as she ran back toward Meg. When she was close enough, she dropped the board and wrapped Meg in a wet hug.

  “Much as I love being wet, hot stuff, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” She grinned and pulled away. “And Tis just called. We’re needed back home, pronto.”

  Dani sighed and looked disappointed. “I knew we’d have to go back today. And now I fully understand why gods come here to really get away from it all.” She took Meg’s hand in her own and kissed the top of it. “It’s been more than I could have imagined.”

  Meg shivered at the intensity of Dani’s gaze. The sex had been magnificent, electric, passionate. Their connection was what she’d hoped it would be. But now, faced with returning to real life, would it hold up? Or would they go back to being friends? Dani would go back to running the world of the dead, and Meg…Meg would go back to having few friends and lots of sex with random people. The thought was deflating. I can’t imagine my bed without her now. Or my life.

  Dani kissed her forehead softly. “Hey. Deep thoughts can wait. Let me take a quick shower, and then we’ll head out, okay?” She started pulling her wetsuit off as she headed to the bathroom. “Kanaloa left a tray of food on the porch for us. I put it in the kitchen.”

  Meg wasn’t sure what she wanted more—to join Dani in the shower or food. Given the time constraint, she decided food was a more responsible option, and she dug into the plate of fruit and pastries. When Dani came out from her shower, Meg swallowed hard.

  “You’re glowing even more than when we came.” She wasn’t just glowing. She looked effervescent. Her pale eyes shone brightly but seemed in constant motion, and Meg realized she was seeing souls in the whites of Dani’s eyes. She exuded power and strength, and beyond that, she looked at peace.

  “I feel amazing. I’ve been practicing what Kanaloa taught me yesterday, and the feeling I get when I answer a prayer…” She shook her head, smiling. “I can’t even explain what it feels like. I’ve always taken life away, and now I’m making life itself better before I have to take it. If this is what being a god feels like, I understand why they fight to stick around.”

  Trust Dani to be humbled by granting prayers. The beautiful simplicity of it brought tears to her eyes. “We’d better get on the road.”

  Dani nodded, and they dropped into the hole that took them the quick way back to the hotel, where they headed straight to the Mustang. As they drove back to the shore where they’d come in, Meg longed to stay right where they were. Dani opened a tunnel ahead of them, and Meg turned in her seat to watch the island fade away. She waved back at Lono and Kanaloa, who stood on the rocky outcrop, watching them leave.

  With a sigh, she turned back into her seat. “I wonder when we’ll see them again.”

  Dani took her hand. “It sounds like we’re going to be busy for a while, but I know I can’t wait to come back. Maybe when everything has calmed down we can take some time for ourselves.”

  Meg loved the way Dani’s strong, slim hand felt over her own. “Think they’ll let me come back?” The idea of not being wanted in such a beautiful place still stung.

  “I’ll keep you so busy they won’t even know you’re there.” Dani gave her a wicked grin and licked her lips.

  Meg laughed, feeling better. They drove in silence for a while, and Meg murmured in awe when the silhouettes of a pod of whales surrounded the road they were on.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they? A pod swam close this morning. First time ever the mammals haven’t been afraid of me. What a feeling.”

  Her smile was genuine and open, making Meg’s stomach flip. She couldn’t remember feeling this way about anyone, ever, the morning after. Not even after a really, really, good night. “I can imagine.”

  Dani looked over at her, her expression serious. “How did you know to take me there?”

  Meg shrugged. “I just knew.”

  “Can I ask you a favor?” Dani frowned as she watched the road.

  “After that thing you did with your tongue last night? You can ask about fifty.” Meg didn’t want to seem flippant, but Dani’s seriousness made her uncomfortable.

  Dani laughed. “Glad you liked it. Really, though. I’d like you to think about why you took me there. I know you said you just knew, but…well, will you try to explain?”

  Meg shook off the feeling that there was a question beneath the question. “Okay…” I can talk to her. She doesn’t judge. Let go. “My sisters are the serious ones, right? Alec is all hot and broody, Tis is the smart, sensitive one. And I’m the fun goofball. That’s what we were as kids, and that’s what we’ve always been.”

  “But?”

  Meg sighed. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t think. I may not bury myself in books or be a hero, but sometimes, I really know things. I don’t think about them, but I know the answers if I just kind of zone out and let it come to me. If I get all thinky the way my sisters do, it shuts down.” The blue-black ocean hue around the road ended, and they were once again back on land with the houses and trees of Dani’s realm around them. There wasn’t much more time to talk. “Like when you said you were having a problem, I just relaxed into it, and I knew where you needed to go. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know exactly who we were going to see, or exactly where. I just knew the general place, and that it would be okay when we got there.”

  Dani nodded, apparently thinking about the answer. They pulled onto the road that led to the Afterlife gate. “I feel like you’ve given me a whole new life.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Meg had helped people before but never someone whose happiness mattered quite so much. It left a residual feeling inside she wasn’t used to, like a warm stream flowing
through her veins.

  Dani parked and turned to Meg. “Thank you for our time together too. I can’t tell you what it means…” She took a deep breath and smiled. “I’d like to keep doing it, if you’d be interested?”

  Meg flung herself into Dani’s arms, relief swamping her. “Yes! Now. Later. Tomorrow.”

  Dani kissed her gently. “Probably not now, since there are people waiting on us. But later I’ll take you up on that.”

  They got out and headed inside, hand in hand. Meg had never been much for genuine displays of affection. Public sex was fantastic, but real emotion always seemed too intimate, too private. Now, though, holding Dani’s hand made her feel grounded, and she hoped everyone on every floor saw it. When they walked into the conference room, she saw pretty much everyone notice, but no one said anything.

  Kera shoved a box of donuts toward them. “Thanks for coming.”

  Meg grabbed a jam-filled donut and slid into a seat next to Tis. “Always. What’s going on?”

  Instead of taking a seat, Dani stood in front of the giant wall map, her head tilted as she studied it. Meg liked watching her think.

  “We’ve had a report that Dis is in Rome with a few of the Egyptian gods, as well as Iblis. We also know there’s been a sudden cessation in deaths attributed to her influence. Less of that weird spaghetti black stuff in people’s souls.” Tis had files open in front of her and tapped on them constantly with a pencil.

  “Less death and muck is good, isn’t it?” Meg asked around a mouthful of donut.

  “When cosmic-crazy-fuck goes quiet, you have to wonder what’s about to explode.” Kera motioned at the map Dani was studying. “And when she’s hanging out with Beakface and Mr. Grumpy Butt, seems like there’s other stuff at play.”

  Selene leaned forward. “Is it okay to finally ask what’s going on with you, Dani? Forgive me, but you’re radiating light like a full moon.”

  Dani laughed and turned away from the map, though her eyes were still serious. “Sorry, everyone. I wasn’t ready to talk about it before, but thanks to Meg, I’ve worked some things out.” She shrugged almost apologetically. “Because of the amount of people who believe but who don’t have a god they feel represents them, many have started praying to Death. My followers have quadrupled—”