Dicing with Death (6 page)

‘Well,' said Max, racking his brains for anything that might sound helpful, ‘at least you can move on now. Find someone else?'

Liah's eyebrows shot up.

‘Listen, I'm not on a short-term contract like you. I'm in the Underworld for the duration. And FYI, I'm not ready to “move on”. It doesn't feel like a hundred and seventy years since I was last with Tom! It feels like we've been apart for months, not over a century…' Her voice wobbled.

At that moment their food arrived. Max finished his margherita pizza in record time before eyeing Liah's. She'd only nibbled at one piece so far.

‘You don't sound like you're from Victorian England,' he commented, thinking that changing the subject from dead boyfriends could only be a good thing.

Liah shrugged. ‘Mopsus often comes in to chat while I'm working; he's not so bad once you get used to him. He's always spying on what's going on up here. He picks up the lingo and I suppose some of it must rub off on me.' She paused. ‘Where do you think we are?'

‘I think we may be on one of the Greek Islands,' Max replied, jabbing a finger at the café's address on the menu. ‘Heraklion. I'm pretty sure that's in Crete.' He pushed back his chair. ‘Come on. We need to get you back before Death finds out you're missing.'

Liah stared up at him. ‘I'm not going back. I'm staying with you.'

‘You can't.' Max was firm. ‘I'm on a job and I'm supposed to be doing it
alone
.'

Liah folded her arms. ‘I'm not about to let you try and find the elixir all on your own. If you fail and the universe implodes I won't get another chance to come above ground, and Death owes me a hundred and seventy years' worth of holiday leave.'

Max sank back down into his chair. ‘You know about the elixir?'

‘Of course.' Liah waved her hand dismissively. ‘The only thing that stops me going insane from boredom is being able to listen to what goes on in Death's private quarters.'

They were interrupted by a waiter coming to clear their table.

Max discovered some money in the pouch Death had given him, and handed over several coins.

‘What kind of money is this?' The waiter turned one of the tarnished gold coins back and forth, looking confused.

Max's heart sank. Whatever he had handed over certainly wasn't euros, and he didn't have any other money on him. ‘Uh…' He hesitated before suddenly bolting towards the door. ‘Run!' he yelled to a startled Liah.

He darted down a nearby alleyway and ducked into a doorway. He thought of his baseball cap and how useful it would be right now, but stupidly he must have left it behind in Death's kitchen.

Minutes later, Liah strolled up. ‘I don't know why you're hiding,' she said calmly. ‘Those coins you've just paid him are enough to buy his entire café, never mind a couple of pizzas.'

Max felt his cheeks turn red. He fumbled in the pouch and withdrew the address Death had given him. ‘We'll get a taxi. You know, pay someone to take us to the address.'

Liah shrugged. ‘Whatever. Just make sure that this time you get change.'

* * *

The house was a ten-minute drive from the town. Set on a hill in a secluded position, it had far-reaching sea views and was surrounded by sprawling grounds full of olive trees.

‘Whoever lives here has money,' Max commented, staring up at the red-roofed two-storey building.

Liah nodded. ‘Lots of it.'

She had been subdued during the car journey as she'd brooded over the previous hour's revelations, but when they arrived at the house she had set off up the drive looking determined. Max had trailed a few feet behind, trying to work out who exactly it was that had been given the role of Death's assistant.

‘You need to see if anyone's in,' Liah told him.

‘Brilliant,' Max said sarcastically. ‘Why didn't I think of that?'

‘And if they're not,' Liah continued as if he hadn't spoken, ‘you'll be able to break in and find the elixir.' Her gaze slid away from the house and she stared up at the sky, a frown denting her brow. Before Max had a chance to see what it was she was looking at, she shrieked and ran toward the nearest tree. Throwing herself down on the ground she tucked up into a ball, her head covered by her arms.

‘What's the matter now?' Max called, feeling exasperated.

A moment later a plane screamed overhead, making Liah screech in terror.

Max's lips twitched. He went to join her, crouching down as he said reassuringly, ‘It's a plane. I forgot to tell you about them. People travel in them – like cars.'

Liah peeped through her hands. ‘But it was flying. How could it stay up in the air?'

‘That's a very good question,' Max said. He didn't want to admit that he didn't really have a clue. ‘It's all to do with balancing the ratio of velocity with the shape of the wings,' he hazarded.

Liah frowned as she mouthed what he had just said.

Wanting to avoid any more questions, Max strode toward the house. ‘I'll knock on the door,' he said when Liah caught up with him. ‘If anyone answers we'll pretend that we've got the wrong address.'

They climbed the steps to the veranda and Max pressed the doorbell. Nervously, they waited.

The house remained silent.

‘I can't see anything through this stuff.' Liah pressed her nose against the frosted glass door.

They walked around the veranda and spotted a small window that had been left open. Max managed to get his head and one arm through the cramped space but when it came to fitting his other arm through the gap, he struggled.

‘Twist,' Liah advised. She took hold of his feet and pushed hard.

‘Stop shoving,' Max yelped, feeling the window frame bite into his chest.

‘I don't know what you're making such a fuss about,' Liah retorted. ‘If you can get your head through then the rest of your body should follow.'

Max finally dragged his second arm through the gap, and was now dangling half in and half out of
the house. ‘Go around to the front door and I'll let you in,' he panted.

Liah had only been gone a moment when he heard a soft click. He strained his ears to hear. A second click followed the first.

It was the front door closing.

Max frantically wriggled, but his belt caught on the latch and he couldn't move in either direction. Stranded, he raised his head as the owner of the house walked into the living room.

The man dropped the bag he was carrying and looked across at Max.

Max couldn't believe what he was seeing.

For what felt like ages they stared at each other. Finally Max spoke.

‘Hello, Dad.'

‘Max?' Dropping his shopping bags, Max's father strode across the room. He reached up, grasped Max under the arms and pulled him through the window.

Max's mind raced. This was his dad's house? Suddenly pieces of the jigsaw puzzle seemed to slot together. So
this
was why he'd been selected as Death's assistant. Because he'd be able to get close to the person who had the elixir. His eyes flickered nervously to the opposite door. He wondered if Liah would have the sense to stay out of sight. It was going to be hard enough to explain his own presence, never mind hers.

‘What are you doing here?' Max's father asked.

‘I … er … wanted to find you. It's not unusual is it, for someone to want to know where their dad is?' Max looked past his father. Having walked in through the unlocked front door, Liah stood in
the living room doorway. She didn't look at all surprised by the revelation that they were in his father's house.

‘How did you find me?'

Max was speechless. He couldn't come up with a plausible explanation for how he tracked down his father. It wasn't like he could tell the truth –
a seven-foot skeleton gave me the address
. ‘I… um… could I have a glass of water?' Making his voice sound weak wasn't difficult. ‘I'm not feeling good.'

‘Of course! Go and sit down and I'll bring it to you,' his dad said. He turned around and caught sight of Liah.

‘Hi,' Liah smiled. She smoothed out the wrinkles on her distinctly cobwebby black dress. ‘I'm Liah. I'm Max's… friend. He can't go anywhere without me.' She lowered her voice. ‘He has phobias,' she whispered conspiratorially, ‘and severe abandonment issues.'

‘What a joker,' Max countered hurriedly, looking daggers at Liah. ‘Always making up funny stories!'

Max's father threw a confused glance over his shoulder before moving into the kitchen to fill a glass with water.

‘Get a grip,' Liah hissed, dragging Max over to the sofa. ‘You're going to blow this big time if you carry on acting so weird.'

Max scowled at her. ‘Because of course, you're always totally in control,' he said sarcastically.

Liah's cheeks flushed. ‘Whatever.'

Max rubbed his fingers against his temples. He couldn't believe he was in his dad's house.
What's he been doing all this time? Why's he never been in touch?
He forced himself to smile as his father headed over carrying a tray.

Max tried to focus on explaining away his sudden appearance. ‘Things aren't great at home,' he said, deciding to stick as closely to the truth as possible. ‘I needed to get away for a while so I came here. I thought we could spend Christmas together.'

‘The three of us?' Max's dad glanced worriedly at Liah, who gave him an encouraging smile. ‘Uh, there's something moving in your hair,' he told her.

Liah reached up and plucked a spider out of her hair. She casually flicked it away and it scuttled under the sofa.

‘Was that a black widow?' said Max's dad, his voice rising an octave. He shook his head, as if to somehow convince himself that any second
everything would start making sense, and turned his attention back to Max. ‘Where have you come from? You're still living in Wales, aren't you? Did you get on a plane all by yourself? Or rather, with your, er… girlfriend? How did you get my address?'

Max jumped in with some answers, concerned his father was going to go into meltdown. ‘I live in Scotland now, with Mum. You know she got re-married, right, and had a baby? Not that she's a baby any more.' He hurried on, afraid that if he dwelt on the subject of Amy he'd follow his father
into meltdown territory. ‘Liah's just a… um… friend. She's looking for a job out here.'

‘Holiday job,' Liah said when Max's father's frown deepened. ‘Waitressing. I've done a lot of that sort of thing before, er, sir.'

‘Call me Greg.' Max's dad returned his attention to Max and asked the question he was dreading.

‘Does your mother know you're here?'

* * *

Max perched on the edge of the sofa. He'd promised to call his mother immediately and while part of him was longing to hear her voice, the other part was dreading the tongue lashing he was no doubt about to receive. With a sigh he finally picked up the receiver.

As soon as Max's mother heard his voice she burst into tears. ‘Where are you? We've been worried sick! Where have you been? Are you alright?'

‘I'm fine,' he said quickly. ‘I'm really sorry, Mum. I didn't want you to worry.'

‘What do you mean you didn't want me to worry?' Her voice rose. ‘What did you think I'd do when you disappeared for
two whole days
?'

So that was how much time had passed in the Overworld since he'd been away. Max swallowed. ‘I didn't think. I've been really selfish and I'm
really
sorry.'

‘Where are you?' she asked again.

‘I'm at… Dad's.' He tensed, waiting for an explosion on the other end of the line.

Instead his announcement was met with a long silence; so long, in fact, that Max began to wonder if his mother had hung up. ‘Where?' she finally whispered.