by Brey Willows
“Always.” Alec turned to her sisters. “Ready? I want to get this over with.”
Meg tugged Dani toward the exit. “Let’s do it.”
Dani followed them into the midday sun. She opened a road, and they got into her car. They’d travel where necessary to find the gods they needed to deal with, and they’d do it together. When Meg took her hand as they headed off, she felt renewed and ready to take on whatever the rebel gods had to throw at them.
* * *
Meg dropped onto the grass and stared up at the sky. She was more exhausted than she could remember ever being. They’d found several of the secondary gods and given them the option—live powerless among the humans or fade. Although, when Meg thought about it, the wording was wrong. It was polite, like saying “no, thank you” instead of “that looks like dog poop” when someone offered gross food at a party. Fading was slow and sad. What she and her sisters did…that was neither. They held hands, focused their power and decision on the being, and the focus of their attention essentially exploded into atomic dust. Like this last one had.
Cloacina, ancient goddess of the sewers, had been a pre-fader who’d tried to make a run for the real thing when Dis made her offer. She was no longer subject to sewage of any kind. Now she was simply part of the atmosphere. Meg knew her sisters felt the weight of what they were doing. Killing or defrocking gods was no small thing. But Meg felt it on a more practical level. Those gods wouldn’t have done the humans any good, and they would have messed things up between the gods as well. There weren’t a lot of options, so they’d put to use the few they had. And that was good enough for Meg.
Tis and Alec sat in the grass beside Meg. Alec stretched and leaned back on her wings, while Tis pulled her knees to her chest and rested her cheek on them.
“What are we going to do about the ones we can’t find? And the ones who didn’t get involved but don’t want to come back to Afterlife, like Vishnu?” Meg asked, staring at a cloud that looked a lot like a strangely shaped breast. Every inch of her was exhausted, and she knew her sisters felt the same way. Taking out gods took a lot of energy, and she was just about out.
“As I see it, we wait. As secondary gods, they were either pre-faders to begin with, or they’ll fade away once they’re out of the limelight. Either way, they won’t have the powers they wanted while they’re living among humans. And if they surface, we’ll deal with them then. Vish and Yama are doing good things, so I say if they want to stay where they are, we wait and see what happens with that too.” Alec closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the sun. “That feels good.”
Tis didn’t move from her curled-up position. “The bigger question is what to do about the primary gods. Horus, Iblis, Osiris, Shiva. They’re not as easily dealt with as the secondary gods. With their believers in full swing, we can’t just make them go away.”
Dani came over and sat beside Meg, who moved to put her head on Dani’s lap. “I made sure her dust has truly scattered.”
Meg looked up at her and smiled. “You’re doing that super glowy thing again.”
Dani smiled down at her and moved a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. “Yeah, well, thanks to you, my followers know my face, and the faith is even stronger. Plus, Idona called to say emails are flooding in asking about the Deadlands and what Death is offering as an afterlife.” She shook her head, looking slightly bewildered. “Crazy.” She looked at Tis and Alec. “What were you talking about?”
“What to do with the naughty primary gods who threw in with Dis.” Tis finally uncurled from her position and settled back on her elbows. “Any thoughts?”
“Horus signed the original contract, right?” Dani asked.
Tis nodded. “So did Osiris and Iblis. Shiva wasn’t part of the council at that point.”
“They knew the consequences. But the thing is, those consequences were for gods working at Afterlife, right? And they took up with Dis after they left Afterlife?”
Meg pinched Dani’s leg. She hated the idea of someone getting away with killing a bunch of humans. “So they get out of punishment because of a loophole in the contract?”
Dani swatted Meg’s hand away. “I don’t know. You can’t get rid of them like you have the secondary gods. You can’t really let them loose on their own, because they could try something like this again.”
“That’s a dangerous precedent to set. Find a loophole, and don’t worry about the rules.” Tis frowned, clearly concerned.
“True.” Meg let her instincts rise and tried to put words to the knowledge. “But what if there’s a…leash or something? Like, in order to continue to exist, they not only have to come back to Afterlife, but there’s some kind of monitor placed on them? Like an ankle bracelet for parolees.”
“Gods on parole. Kera will love that.” Tis smiled and sat up. “I think you’re on to something, Meg. We could have the Fates draw something up to the effect that if the gods on parole misbehave, they’ll be forced into public retirement and dropped into the cosmic void with Dis.”
Meg punched the air. “Exactly! It can be made clear it’s only because they’re department heads that they haven’t had their asses handed to them already. That way any lesser gods won’t be that dumb. And once we send out the memo on the gods we busted down, that will make all of them think twice. Plus, a lot of them really miss the way things used to be. I think they’ll be happy to have some order restored.”
Alec swatted Meg’s face with her wing. “When did you suddenly get so politically savvy? I’d have thought you and Dani were too busy doing the dirty to notice anything beyond the handcuffs.”
Meg plucked at one of Alec’s feathers, and she jerked her wing back. “Spending time in the various departments has made me see them differently, I guess. They’ve always just been coworkers and people to party with, but with all the changes, they’ve really opened up to me. I like seeing how they work and how I can help.” The feeling of vulnerability was new, but since she was with her sisters and Dani, she didn’t have to hide it.
“I think you’ve finally found your way, Sis.” Tis smiled and got to her feet. “I think we’ve got a plan to take to Zed. I also think we let him deal with the primary gods directly. If there’s a problem, we’ll step in. But I want him to put his foot down and be seen for the leader he is, which means the ultimatum has to come from him.”
Meg sighed and let Dani pull her to her feet. “I’m all for that. I’ll be glad when the gods’ egos are in check and humans are settled again.”
They piled into Dani’s car, and as she pulled onto the road, she said, “You know, Meg, I wonder if you’ve brought up a way to deal with the aftermath.”
“I have?” Meg put her hand on Dani’s leg and liked the way it twitched under her fingers.
“It seems to me we’re at another crossroads, and we should deal with it quickly. Thanks to Madison Ford’s coverage, people are seeing over and over again the fact that the gods fought for their freedom. Selene has been saying since they came out that it’s up to people to choose, and the fact that the gods fought one another for that right will do all kinds of good. And the gods really stepped up and fought for their believers, which, I think, takes them into new territory. They’ve always been there for their believers, but now they’ve actively put themselves on the line for them. I say we take that momentum and air it far and wide.”
Tis squeezed Dani’s shoulder from behind. “You’re starting to think like Meg.”
Dani smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “We should be so lucky.”
“I’ll talk to Selene about her show. She can bring up the war and the reasoning behind it. Open discussion will help.” Alec stretched and yawned as they pulled up to the gate at Afterlife. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m wiped out.”
When they’d pulled up outside Meg’s house, Tis got out and motioned toward the office. “You guys head home. I’ll go let Zed and Kera know we’re back and give a full report. Maybe we can actually put all this beh
ind us and move forward.”
Meg grabbed Dani’s hand and was already heading toward her house by the time Tis stopped speaking. “Come over with Thai food tomorrow and tell us how it went.” She could hear Tis and Alec laughing, and she smiled. She wanted more alone time with Dani. For the first time in centuries, she wanted to be with someone more than she wanted distraction, and although it was an unusual feeling, she found she liked it. Especially when she could close the door behind them and have Dani all to herself.
* * *
Meg grabbed another handful of popcorn as she watched Selene’s show. Angie Hicks had her arm in a sling and a bandage on her head, but other than that, she looked like she’d fared pretty well in the war at the Vatican. But she looked worn down and almost resigned. Her role in the fall of the Vatican had a hell of a lot of people calling for her head, but Zed had stepped in and made a personal request that she be released to the custody of Afterlife. As head of Humanity First, she could make amends by helping people instead of becoming a martyr. The Vatican had reluctantly agreed, and Meg wondered if she might have preferred prison. Beside Angie, looking like the shiny god he was, sat Zed, who was there to speak on behalf of Afterlife. Meg felt unreasonably proud of her department head and friend.
“It’s hard to argue that the gods don’t care, or that they aren’t doing any good, given the news footage and interviews we’ve seen.” Angie spoke quietly, looking at the floor rather than at Selene. “I still say, however, that the war was an indication that the gods are as prone to ego and mistakes as humans are.”
Selene looked at Zed, clearly expecting him to answer. Meg leaned forward and pushed another handful of popcorn into her mouth. Zed wasn’t always good at public speaking. He was fine one-on-one, but in the spotlight, he tended to bumble and look distinctly ungodlike.
“To suggest gods don’t have egos would be ludicrous. Of course we do. You would too, if thousands upon thousands of people thought you were the best thing since chocolate milk.”
Angie looked surprised at his admission, and Selene’s eyebrows went up.
“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t good at our jobs. We tell humans to love each other and that we love them. There’s absolute truth to those things, and we stand by them. And when misled gods tried to mess with those rules, we took care of things. We took care of humans. All of them, whether they were our own believers or not, whether the gods fighting us were involved in our territories or not. Because we believe in humanity, no matter who humanity chooses to believe in.”
Selene nodded thoughtfully and turned to Angie. “Big change always requires an adjustment period. And the gods coming out was a fairly massive change, which seems to have required an equally massive adjustment period.”
“That adjustment period cost a lot of people their lives.” Angie finally looked up, and Meg saw a bit of her spark return.
“It did. And it never should have come to that. We tried to save everyone we could. Hopefully, now that people have seen the gods who will fight for them, and know that even though there were some gods who couldn’t join us in Rome, they were with their people when it counted, people will see that although we can’t answer every prayer, although there are things humans can’t know until they’ve left this life, we’re here for them.”
Selene turned to the camera. “We’re going to take a break. Please join us after the commercial to hear how Humanity First and GRADE will be discussing a way forward, together.”
Dani came in just as the commercial started and handed Meg her banana split. Meg scooted back against her pillows and moaned at the perfect amount of chocolate sauce over the mint ice cream.
“Did I miss anything?” Dani asked as she curled up next to Meg with her own ice cream. She was wearing the ridiculous Hawaiian shirt Meg had bought her as a joke, but it turned out color suited her.
“I think Angie is still pissed off, but she knows it’s a losing battle now. And Zed said gods have egos. Like that’s news?” Meg bit into a cherry and turned so Dani could kiss it from her mouth.
“I wonder if a merger type thing will work?”
“If anyone can figure out something this complicated, it’s Kera. And Tis. They’ll figure it out.” Meg slurped down some whipped cream and licked it from her lips. “How are the renovations in the Deadlands going?”
Dani set her ice cream aside and stretched out on the bed. “Really well. The new soul area is ready to go, and we’ve got quite a few people living there already. Idona has set up a new area completely separate from the rest of the Deadlands for the souls that are heavy, souls that would usually go to a hell of some sort, but because they don’t believe in something specific, they’re with me. I’ve asked for a department manager from each section to help oversee that area, and we’ve already set up a rotating schedule of hell workers to manage the area.” She licked the chocolate from Meg’s lips when she leaned over her. “And how is the marketing strategy working, media guru?”
“I’m amazing, do you know that? I’ve got each of the gods scheduled to go on Selene’s show to talk about what improvements they’ve made to their sections. That includes you, by the way.”
Dani shook her head. “And?”
“And every department head has finished their primary texts. They’re being rolled out next week, all over the globe. I’ve helped with the social marketing campaigns, and the printed materials will still go to the physical worshipping sites. We’re also going to use libraries and coffee shops for open discussion nights, so people can pick up things on different religions without having to go to that belief system’s offices.” Meg was quite proud of the work she’d done, and she knew there was clarity and simplicity that most of the religions had never had before.
“You are truly amazing.” Dani pulled her close and gave her a lingering kiss.
“Selene just said every change requires an adjustment period. I think the biggest cry for stability is over. Now we just have to move forward.”
Dani nodded. “Deaths from wars and general crime are way down. There are still some here and there, but for the most part, the world is becoming a better place. Selene was right. The gods being out among the people will be a good thing, even if it hit some pretty major bumps along the way.”
Meg sighed happily and lay next to Dani. The world had gone crazy for a while there, and they’d hardly had time to breathe. But in the aftermath, the world looked brighter, like someone had taken a power washer to it and scraped away all the grime. Death, beautiful, sweet, kind Death, lay beside her; she loved her for who she was, all of who she was, and Meg would never take that for granted. Gods weren’t fading, humans weren’t scared or dangerously confused anymore, and both her sisters were madly in love with women who loved them back.
“Hey, what did you decide about Kera’s request?” Meg asked and started removing Dani’s shirt.
“I told her yes. Idona and I talked about it, and we’ll treat Kera like any other non-believer. The difference is that she’ll work in the Afterlife office instead of in the Deadlands, and she won’t have to eat or sleep anymore.”
Meg laughed. “She’ll love that.” She slid Dani’s shirt off and threw it aside. “Now I want some of what I love.” She traced a line up Dani’s stomach with her tongue and shivered when Dani moaned.
They made love well into the night, and by morning, Meg lay curled in Dani’s arms. As she fell asleep, she took a moment to think about the new world they were getting to play in.
She’d love every minute of it, and with Dani at her side, she wondered if forever would be long enough.
About the Author
Brey Willows (http://www.breywillows.com) is a longtime editor and writer. When she’s not running a social enterprise working with marginalized communities on writing projects, she’s editing other people’s writing or doing her own. She lives in the middle of England with her partner and fellow author and spends entirely too much time exploring castles and ancient ruins while bemoaning the rain.
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