Graveyard Shift (15 page)

Mrs. Henderson took the cup from her and sipped its contents in between shuddering sobs. At first, nothing ha
ppened, and I began to wonder if old lady Meng was really as good as everyone made her out to be. But then, Mrs. Henderson sat up straight and dropped the tea, scattering soggy herbs over the carpet. Her hair shifted from gray to dark brown, then black as her curls uncoiled themselves and grew past her shoulders. Her features lengthened and her skin darkened. In a matter of seconds, Mrs. Henderson had transformed into a young Egyptian man.

“How you feel now?” Meng asked.

“I am ready to meet Anubis,” he answered bravely.

“So you shall.” Meng nodded to her servant girl, who quickly gathered the abandoned teacup and hurried out of the room. Lady Meng followed her out.

“Well, you should get going.” Grim turned to me. “Horus and Anubis are probably wondering what’s taking so long.”

Kevin didn’t seem as compelled to touch the soul
, now that it was a man. This wasn’t something you learned about at the Reaper Academy. Peeling away past lives was reserved for very few deities. Reapers weren’t typically present for such activities. I knew it was a first for me anyway.

“Follow me,” I said.

Josie and Kevin helped the soul to his feet and followed me out of the conference room with the hounds trailing behind. We filed into the elevator.

“Did you see that child soul?” Josie asked as the doors closed.

“How could I miss her?” I had never seen a child soul in Limbo before. The Fates had strict rules on what kind of souls were allowed to work in the factory.
No children
was near the top of the list, along with
no martyrs,
after the strike incident.

Josie squeezed my arm. “Jenni r
etrieved her last week. She said Grim took her before she could deliver her to her afterlife. He said he had other plans.”

“So Jenni finally got her license for China?”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it’s a little odd that Grim would allow Meng to take a child soul as a servant? The Fates are probably having a fit.”

“Something tells me Grim would give M
eng just about anything she asked for. She’s not on the council because he likes her. There’s something he must want from her.”

“That woman’s vile.” Josie shook her head.

When the elevator doors opened, Horus and Anubis were waiting for us.

“Let’s get this show on the sea,” Anubis laughed, tossing a robe to our soul.

Walking to the harbor would be simple enough. Our catch would almost look like another Egyptian deity. Only those who looked closely would be able to see the ashy haze that marked him as a soul. The problem was, we all knew too well that Seth would have plenty of eyes watching.

Chapter 19

“Religion is the fashionable

substitute for belief.”

-Oscar Wilde

“You see anyone overly interested back there?” Horus gripped the deck railing and glared back at the city, a mere sliver of land fading behind a thick fog in the distance.

“No, but that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.” I squeezed the handle of my scythe.

Josie had hurried off to our cabin to fill a second and third quiver. After finding herself empty-handed when Coreen was taken, she was determined not to let it happen again. That and she was still avoiding Horus.

Kevin made sure our soul was comfortable, while Anubis kept watch up front.

“Great job on the ship, by the way.” I ran my hand over the new railing. There wasn’t a trace of blood on the deck floor, and the damaged woodwork had been repaired so well, not a single flaw could be found.

“It was the least we could do,” H
orus said.

“So, Wosyet decide to stay in Duat?”

“No. The Fates won’t talk to me. The only thing they despise more than dealing with other deities, is dealing with men in general. Grim made sure of that. Sure, they support him, but not out of admiration. What do you think would happen to their factory if Grim had the council sign an amendment to allow another soul insertion business? They’re already upset about Meng trying to alter their purification methods, not to mention the child soul Grim gave her without their approval.”

“I see.”

“Wosyet decided to stay in Limbo this time. No one will miss her in Duat,” he laughed. “I’m sure Josie is glad for her absence.”

“Well, we have no use for her out here.” I cleared my throat and folded my arms over the railing.

Horus bit his lower lip and took a step closer to me. “I hate that there is all this tension between Josie and I.”

“I know.” I looked away from him. This was not a conversation I wanted to have.

“I know there aren’t any laws restricting us from having a public relationship, but it’s still frowned on by many.”

“Like Seth?”

“It’s not that I care what he thinks. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to Josie because of me. You understand, don’t you?”

“I think I do.” I smiled softly. I felt the
same way about having her on the team.

“Maybe you could talk to her?”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I laughed. “I don’t go nosing around in Josie’s business, and she doesn’t nose around in mine. I plan on keeping it that way.”

“I understand.” He sighed and rested his arms on the railing next to me. “If only I could get her to hold still long enough to talk to her.”

Josie emerged from our cabin with three quivers packed full of arrows. She had her bow and another larger one tucked under her arm. She looked up and her eyes paused on the few inches of railing between our arms. I started to move back and stopped myself. Josie knew better than to suspect anything between me and Horus.

“Where’s Kevin
?” she asked.

“With the soul.
His first one-on-one,” I laughed. “He should be finished by now.”

“Good. I want to give him his first lesson in archery. I know he’s your apprentice and all, but I figured since you aren’t too thrilled about having him, I would help you out and teach him a few things.” She shrugged, forgetting that her arms were full, and dropped the bows.

“That’s not a bad idea. We can always use another long range,” I said.

“Yeah, good then.” She snatched up the bows and nodded politely at Horus before hurrying away to find Kevin.

Horus let out a slow sigh. “She likes him.”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged.

“That wasn’t a question.”

“Whatever you say.” I frowned and glanced over his shoulder. A pair of black birds were following us. Except, these birds had faces and breasts.

“Harpies.”

“What?” Horus followed my gaze. Light shot out of his eye, and the fa
lcon I had seen the day before dove out of the clouds.

Coreen and Saul appeared at my feet. They growled at the bird. Two black jackals followed Anubis as he joined us. They were his animal to call, the way the falcon was H
orus’s. Their snouts were narrower and their bodies leaner than the hounds, but their bite was twice as bad.

Even though Grim and Anubis were old friends, the council
still refused to grant the god extended privileges in Limbo City. If they allowed him the right to call his animal on neutral grounds, they would have to allow it for all the gods. It was a recipe for chaos and an open invitation for terrorist of every afterlife. Yeah, I know I bend the rules, but some just aren’t worth the risk.

“I saw your light,” Anubis shouted to his brother.

“It’s alright. Keep watch up front.” Horus’s eyes never moved from the Harpies.

Anubis turned and rushed back to the front deck. The Harpies split apart when they saw the falcon. They di
stanced themselves, hoping to stall us from attacking.

Horus signaled his fal
con and it darted for the closest hag. The harpy slowed her flight, while her partner sped up, causing the falcon to dive at the other. They switched again. Horus frowned and the light in his eye flashed twice, signaling the bird. This time, it stayed on course.

When the first Harpy neared, she drew a sword. It was no match for the falcon, but she pressed onward, pier
cing through his wing as he snapped through her middle. She fell to the sea with a shriek, and the falcon swooped around, abandoning a good meal to stop the second Harpy.

Her features sharpened as she closed in on our ship. Sticky, black eyes glared out of her shallow face, while spit as dark and thick as tar leaked from her mouth and dripped down her chin. She was an assassin of Caim’s. I had no doubt
that he sent the hags to scope out our ship and see if any more deities were laying in wait. But why was he targeting our ship? We had defeated him twice now. If he was hunting for souls, he should have been going after ships he thought he could take and ones carrying more souls than we were.

I just didn’t want to believe that he knew about the soul Grim had us looking for. He couldn’t know, unless someone directly associated with the council had been ma
king contact with him. How could a demon in exile know what, when, and where?

The falcon covered the distance with a powerful thrust of wings, snapping through the harpy’s legs and
jerking her flight to a halt, like a pigeon being sucked in by a jet engine. A strangled cry slipped from her before the bird reached up with his talons and tore off her winged arms. He flipped her torso over his head and swallowed it whole before ascending back above the clouds.

“We should keep watch on all sides of the ship.
There might be more.” Horus’s eye faded back to their normal coffee-brown.

I went to find Josie and Kevin. They would have to stand watch too. I found them at the head of the ship with Anubis. Josie grabbed Kevin’s elbows and maneuvered him into the correct position with the bow. He squinted down the length of his arm at the arrow res
ting above.

“Did Horus take care of the Ha
rpies?” Josie asked.

“Yeah, but maybe you two should practice on the north side of the ship. I think it’s obvious now that Caim could attack from any angle.”

“Sure, no problem.” Josie grabbed up the quivers and led Kevin around the deck. Anubis’s jackals had vanished like the falcon, but he still maintained a steady watch over the sea.

“So, were those the dogs that ev
eryone swears by?” I asked.

Ancient Egyptians would take oaths and swear by the dog in honor
of Anubis. They would even bury their deceased canines in special tombs dedicated to him.

“I suppose,” he smiled, still gazing over the sea. “Would you swear by your hounds?”

“I don’t know them that well yet, but they’ve been trusty so far.”

“I don’t think Caim will attack again. By now, I’m sure he knows I’m here. When his Harpies don’t return, he’ll retreat, saving his legions for the final battle.”

“Let’s keep an eye out, just in case.”

“Horus has got that one covered,” he laughed.

We made it to the gates of Duat without any more surprises.
Osiris and Isis were waiting for us. They eagerly accepted the soul and escorted him away like a favored grandchild. Horus turned to the rest of us and smiled.

“You have no other business to a
ttend to, I assume. Why don’t you stay and observe the ceremony? It doesn’t happen often these days, and it really is a treat to see.” He eyed Josie hopefully.

“I insist,” Anubis added, trying to help his brother out.

“Sounds like fun.” I nodded in agreement.

Josie glared at me, but I knew be
tter. Who wouldn’t be excited about an opportunity to visit the Hall of Two Truths and witness the Weighing of the Hearts ceremony? It was like witnessing a planetary alignment, and happened just about as often.

“Follow me.” Horus led us through the gates and i
nside the temple of Osiris.

It was a modest place, resembling the deteriorated tombs of Egypt with fading hieroglyphics spanning the walls. It wasn’t until we reached the entrance to the main hall that we saw any signs of remodeling.

A small office hid in the corner, just outside the Hall of Two Truths. Horus ushered us inside, where the goddess Ammit sat behind a desk painting her nails.

“Oh! Hi.” She blushed and stuffed the bottle of po
lish in a drawer.

“Aren’t you going to the ceremony?” Horus asked.

“Yeah, though I hardly know why. That soul doesn’t look nervous at all. I doubt I’ll be needed. I’m just waiting for someone to come and watch the phones.”

Ammit was the demon-goddess who devoured the hearts of the unworthy, doo
ming them to a lengthy sentence in Duat’s more colorful regions. Since the number of souls who passed through Duat had decreased so drastically, she had been given the position of secretary in the temple office. Still, on the rare occasion a soul did come through, she was required to be present for the ceremony.

“You have some extra robes in here somewhere, don’t you?” Horus glanced over the cluttered shelves behind her desk.

“Yeah, check the closet. Is this your first time?” She turned to smile at us.

“Yes,” I answered. Josie and Kevin nodded.

“How exciting! Not many reapers come to visit.”

“That’s because they never have any souls to deliver here,” Horus laughed.

He rummaged through a closet and found three white robes for us to wear over our black ones. Had our skin been darker, we might have gone unnoticed among the Egyptian deities. But along with raven hair, all reapers are created as pale as death. Well, as pale as Grim anyway.

“There you are!” Thoth entered the office in his ceremonial headdress
of overflowing ibis feathers, crowding us all into each other’s personal space. “I saw Osiris escort another soul into the hall, so I knew you had to be around here somewhere,” he said to Horus, and then gave the rest of us a puzzled look. “Oh! The reapers are staying for the ceremony?”

“Yes,” Horus answered.

“Wonderful! Ma’at will be pleased to meet all of you. You have brought back to us one of her most beloved pharaohs. I hope you enjoy the ceremony.”

“Thank you. I’m sure we will,” I smiled.

Ma’at was Thoth’s wife and the goddess of truth. Truth was always nice to have, especially if you had the job of settling disputes between gods, like Thoth did.

“We better get in there before they start.” Horus led us out of the office and through the golden doorway of the Hall of Two Truths.

Inside, what looked like jury boxes were lined up against walls displaying fresh hieroglyphics. The walls were drywall, but they had been carefully painted to resemble the block inside the original pyramids.  

Osiris
, the merciful judge of the dead, waited on a platform at the end of the hall. Mummy wrappings loosely circled his legs. I grinned, wondering if he was having a hard time keeping them on now that Isis was home. Isis stood to his left and Nephthys to his right. They both wore the traditional feathers, hanging from their sleeves like wings. Isis spotted us and gave a small gasp, shocked and embarrassed by our presence, like she’d been caught naked in her front yard.