Date: 2022-05-30 04:00:00+00:00
Description: You want to pay me to reap supernaturals? I mean, seriously? Don’t get me wrong, the money is great. I love my work. But there’s a funny thing about being the world’s only supernatural reaper… You make a lot of powerful enemies. Pissing off all the world’s vampires would be frightening enough. Add to that werewolves, witches, banshees, and trolls… How the hell am I ever going to get a good night’s sleep? Reaper for Hire is the third book in The Chronicles of Zoey Grimm - a paranormal adventure, a fast-paced urban fantasy featuring a slow burn closed door romance. This is not a reverse-harem.
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Rights: Copyright 2022 Theophilus Monroe. All rights reserved.

REAPER FOR HIRE

CHRONICLES OF ZOEY GRIMM™ BOOK THREE

THEOPHILUS MONROE

MICHAEL ANDERLE

This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

Copyright © 2022 LMBPN Publishing

Cover by Fantasy Book Design

Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

A Michael Anderle Production

LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact support@lmbpn.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

LMBPN Publishing

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Version 1.00, May 2022
ebook ISBN: 979-8-88541-238-4

Print ISBN: 979-8-88541-239-1

THE REAPER FOR HIRE TEAM

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Author Notes - Theophilus Monroe

Author Notes - Michael Anderle

Books by Theophilus Monroe

Books By Michael Anderle

Connect with The Authors

CHAPTER ONE

A cold drip of water from one of the stalactites struck me in the nose. I sniffed. Then I gagged. Whatever this creature was cooking smelled rancid. I could only hope it wasn't the kid we had been hired to save.

Sienna nudged me in the ribs. "Where's the damn troll?"

"I don't know. I've never seen a troll. I don't know their habits."

"For some reason, I doubt the thing has pink hair and sings popular music."

I shook my head. "Yeah, I don't remember Poppy and Branch kidnapping people."

"This cave is enormous. Who would have thought something like this existed?"

I nodded. "Supposedly, Missouri is riddled with caves like this. More caves than any other state. My mom says it's why there are so many supernatural creatures here. It's a lot harder to hide aboveground."

"Think we should move through the astral plane? Sneak up on it?"

I shook my head. "It's too dark in here. My flashlight won't illuminate the real world from the astral dimension."

"Well, it sure smells like something is burning. That must mean there's a fire and light."

I nodded. "Unless trolls can see in the dark, which is possible, there must be light deeper in the cave. We need to keep moving."

Cerberus pawed my leg. "There's a corridor up ahead. You'll have to crawl, but that's where we need to go. That's where the smell is coming from."

I sighed. "I guess we're going on our hands and knees."

Cerberus chuckled. "No. You'll be crawling on your bellies."

"Any idea how many trolls we might have to deal with? If we get in over our heads, we won't be able to run out of here. Even on the astral plane, if we run through the walls, I'm not sure how we'll find our way out without getting lost."

Cerberus sniffed the air. "I can't say. I could try to get a count."

"Usually, I'd say reconnaissance is essential. Something is cooking. If it's a person, and they have more..."

"I agree." Sienna grimaced. "We need to move fast."

Sienna and I slithered on our bellies through the moist and muddy passage. Cerberus was right. The smell of roasting...whatever it was...was even more pungent as we reached an opening on the other side.

It was still dark. I stood up, my clothes soaking wet, caked with mud, and stuck to my body. Sienna emerged behind me.

"We aren't far," Cerberus said. "Follow the corridor ahead, and I think we'll find what we're looking for."

I aimed my flashlight at the floor. I didn't want to risk shining it too high and alerting the trolls who lived in the cave to our approach.

There was a light flickering against the wall at the end of the cavern.

"All right. Time to go astral."

I lifted the hood of my cloak. Sienna touched her brooch. The trolls wouldn't see us coming.

Technically, this was a rescue mission. The Horseman had said we'd be paid if we brought back his client's son. Given the trek we’d made through the cave, though, we would not get out of there without fighting the trolls.

Sienna unsheathed her knife. Her skill was to stab enemies from the astral plane. Her knife wouldn't hurt anyone that way. When she returned to physical form with her knife set in her target's heart, it was game over before the supernatural bad guys even knew what was coming.

My hope was that my scythe would work on trolls. I was supposed to be able to reap supernatural souls. It depended on how trolls were classified: supernatural entities or cryptozoological monsters? Were trolls like vampires and werewolves, or Bigfoot and chupacabras?

I'd find out soon. Worst-case scenario, my staff would appear without the blade, but it made an effective javelin. I'd just have to be more precise with my strikes.

When we turned the corner, I stopped in my tracks.

Four trolls. They definitely didn't have pink hair. They had large tusks growing out of their cheeks. Their bodies were hairy and caked with mud. They had a fire in the middle of the room with something cooking on a rotisserie. One of the trolls turned it.

It wasn't a person, thank God. Was that a...cat? Holy crap, it was. My stomach turned in revulsion.

I scanned the room. There was a wicker cage at the far end of the cavern. From what I could see, there was a person inside. Stacks of bones lined the walls. I'm no expert, but they appeared to be human. The cat must've been an appetizer.

"Take out the biggest one," I whispered to Sienna. "Disappear as soon as you can. Try to free the victim. I'll handle the other three."

"Got it," Sienna whispered back.

The trolls were fixated on the roasting feline. All the trolls were large. The shortest was probably seven feet tall. The tallest was nine or ten feet. That was the one Sienna snuck up behind.

I stepped behind the other three.

Sienna had to swing her knife overhead to reach the creature's heart. She pushed it through the troll on the astral plane. I nodded at her. She touched her brooch and materialized.

The giant troll dropped.

I touched my wrist and lowered my hood. The trolls were distracted.

They shrieked. The trolls’ cacophonous screams were so ear-piercing that I would have covered my ears if I didn’t need my scythe. Sienna touched her brooch and disappeared.

My staff formed in my hand. So did my scythe. These things were supernatural. That would make this a lot easier. With a single swipe, I cut through all three of them, extracting their souls from their repulsive frames.

They all fell to the ground. With a shower of golden energy, their souls exploded into the ether. Then, their bodies crumbled and turned to ash.

I tilted my head. "Well, that was a lot easier than I expected."

Sienna was already at the cage. The boy inside, who was eight or nine years old, was shivering. It wasn't cold in the cave. He was terrified.

Sienna cut the ropes that held the wicker together.

"It's okay," I said. "We're friends. Your parents sent us."

It wasn't a lie. Not exactly. They'd made their contract with the Horseman. He’d sent us. I didn't have a clue who this kid's parents were. I assumed they had money. This job had a six-figure payday attached.

The boy, still shaking, looked at us. When he realized we were human, his expression softened. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

"My name is Zoey," I said. "Are you Jonah?"

The boy nodded. After Sienna disassembled the cage, I reached in and picked up the boy. "We're going to have to crawl out of here."

"Wait," Jonah said. "That wasn't all of them. There are more."

I sighed. "How many more?"

"I don't know. They come from all over the caves. Maybe ten or twelve?"

"Shit!" Sienna exclaimed.

I glared at her. "Children are present."

"Shoot. Sorry."

"We'd better get going."

Cerberus tugged my pant leg. "There are no more trolls in the tunnels you took to get here. You guys get out of here. I'll stay behind and deal with the rest."

I nodded. "Thanks, Cerberus."

"Holy crap!" Jonah exclaimed. "Did that dog just talk?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. He's a rare breed."

I heard a shriek from somewhere deeper in the cave.

"Come on. We have to get going."

I helped Jonah through the passage we crawled through before. He scuttled through it a lot easier than I had. Sienna went next. I was about to duck into it when three trolls appeared. They screeched. The sound was every bit as unbearable as it had been before.

Cerberus expanded his body until he nearly filled the cavern. With a chomp, he swallowed one of the trolls whole.

Then he gagged and vomited on the other two.

"Yuck!" I ducked into the passage. Troll must not sit well on a hellhound's stomach. As disgusting as it was, part of me wanted to watch. I couldn't afford that, though. We had to get Jonah out of this cave.

We finally made it into the sunlight. I helped Jonah into the back seat of Sienna's car and buckled him in. I climbed on my bike. Technically, it was my dad's Harley Davidson. My bike still hadn't been repaired. After this payday, I'd get it fixed. Or not. My dad's bike was growing on me, and he wasn't using it.

Sienna jumped into the driver's seat of her car and took off. I fired up the bike and revved the engine. Cerberus appeared at the exit of the cave, hurling all over the place.

"Are you okay?" I shouted, hoping my voice would carry over the sound of the engine.

Cerberus nodded. "Those things taste worse than sweaty socks."

"You're a dog. Don't you like to eat socks?"

"No!" Cerberus protested. "I'm a hellhound. I much prefer the taste of humans."

I grinned. "Did you take them all out?"

"I took out a few of them. I'm sure there are more, but I don't have the stomach to handle any more."

I chuckled. "All right. Well, we're going to drop Jonah off at the delivery point. Catch you back at the apartment?"

"You got it. You'd better bring barbecue. Lots of sauce. The spicier, the better. I need something to replace this taste in my mouth."

CHAPTER TWO

Sienna and I had code names. I called her "Ghost Strike" for obvious reasons. She wasn’t a ghost. Technically, she was a daywalker—a kind of vampire whose nature was awakened by sunlight. She was the inverse of the sun-sensitive vampires. As long as she wore her brooch, which worked like my reaper cloak, her vampirism remained dormant, regardless of the presence of sunlight. It also allowed her to traverse the astral plane. That was where her code name came from.

My code name wasn't nearly as original. I was "Reaper." Despite being the Grim Reaper's daughter, I couldn't reap human souls. I only reaped supernaturals.

Why did we have code names? First, because "Reaper” and “Ghost Strike" sounded badass.

Second, and most importantly, we wanted to have normal lives. Sienna, especially. She was using some of the money we’d earned and split to pay for college. She was a computer whiz. I called it her real superpower. About half the contracts we received from the Horseman listed the target location as “unknown.” So far, without exception, Sienna had resolved that problem by employing her computer skills.

I said all that to say this. When you make a living by hunting supernaturals, it comes with risks. We weren't dumb. We knew and accepted the hazards. But you know, when you're given six-figure contracts to eliminate supernatural creatures and you're two of the only people in the world who could do it, it's hard to go back to pouring coffee for a living.

We took Jonah to the drop-off location, a Flying J truck stop an hour south of Kansas City. Strange name for a truck stop. Trucks don't fly, and J isn't the most aerodynamic letter.

Still, the Horseman always met us in public places. I wasn’t sure why. He’d been to my apartment only once, when he made us, in the parlance of Don Vito Corleone, an offer we couldn’t refuse. Meeting there again after we started working with him was off the table. After the supernatural community got wind of what we were up to and who we worked with, he’d insisted that we never meet in the same place twice.

We also never saw him in a vehicle. I didn’t think he drove. The Horseman wasn't human. At least, not completely. We weren't sure what he was.

By appearance, he was a handsome bald black man. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, but he dressed in a style that suggested a bygone era: a white zoot suit with black and white wing-tipped shoes, suspenders, cufflinks, and a fedora he usually removed when he spoke.

He could appear out of thin air. He had a lot of knowledge about supernatural things but was strikingly ignorant of and curious about human culture. The first time we’d met him in New Orleans, he’d been wandering around, obsessively asking everyone who would talk to him what the little horse heads on sticks that were scattered throughout the French Quarter were about.

Thus, we henceforth called him the Wandering Horseman, or Horseman for short. We didn't know his real name. His money was good. Not to mention, we were saving people from supernatural threats. The way I saw it, if he were a vile creature or even an evil man, he wouldn’t send us on missions to save children from trolls.

We pulled into one of the parking spaces at the Flying J. The Horseman was standing outside a small minivan. It wasn’t his. Two people, a man and a woman, stepped out. Sienna unlocked the car. Jonah jumped out and into his parents’ waiting arms.

I dismounted my bike and approached the family.

“Thank you so much! All of you!”

The boy’s mother handed the Horseman an envelope. The Horseman opened it, flipped through the cash, and handed it to me. He never took a cut. Whatever or whoever he was, he didn’t do it for the money.

“We found him in a cage,” I explained. “He probably saw some pretty frightening things. I imagine it will take time, but eventually, he might need someone to talk to about what happened.”

Jonah’s father shook his head. “Who could we possibly talk to about this? I know what I saw. Those monsters grabbed Jonah right out of the tent when we were camping.”

Sienna looked at the boy and smiled. “He opened up a bit in the car. I think he’ll be all right.”

Jonah’s parents’ eyes teared up. “I don’t know how you did it, but we’re grateful.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied. “It’s our pleasure.”

The boy’s mother helped him into the back of the van as his father climbed into the driver’s seat. They left shortly thereafter.

“Good work,” the Horseman told us. “Did you eliminate them all?”

I shook my head. “Sienna and I took out several of them. Cerberus ate a couple. Didn’t sit too well with him. We’re pretty sure there were still a few in that cave who might pose a problem in the future.”

The Horseman nodded. “I’ll make sure to monitor the situation. Trolls have lived in those caves for years. Only recently, as their numbers have increased, have they gotten so bold as to go after humans.”

Sienna snorted. “They were roasting a cat when we got there.”

“Consider it fortunate that that’s all it was.”

“I have a question. These things aren’t just monsters; they’re supernatural. My scythe formed when I went after them. If they were just earthly creatures, I couldn’t have invoked my blade.”

The Horseman straightened his tie. “No one knows the history of the trolls. Through the centuries, they have emerged periodically. They aren’t the brightest creatures I’ve ever encountered. They don’t keep records. Some believe they were once human and were cursed by an ancient witch to become what they are. No matter the truth, they’re more of a nuisance than anything else.”

I stared blankly at the Horseman. “They’re abducting children, hoping to cook them up for dinner. I’d say that qualifies as a lot more than a mere nuisance.”

“An isolated incident.” The Horseman grinned. “At least at this point, that’s what it was. Now that their numbers are fewer, I think it will be some time before they attempt anything like that again. Still, in the future, it might be best to eliminate all such creatures.”

“No complaints here,” Sienna agreed. “They were pretty easy to kill, but they were nasty!”

The Horseman laughed. “So far, on the few assignments I’ve given you, you’ve only scratched the surface of nasty. Do not worry. You’ll encounter all manner of vile creatures in the future.”

“Gee golly!” I exclaimed. “I can’t wait!”

“I’ll be in touch soon.”

“How soon?” I asked.

“Soon. What’s the matter? Are you eager for more work?”

I shrugged. “Not necessarily. I’m just trying to plan my schedule. I’m binging Cobra Kai on Netflix right now, and I’d rather not be interrupted.”

The Horseman chuckled. “I’ll try to be mindful of your busy lives.”

“It’s more about my class schedule.” Sienna rolled her eyes at me. “I’m generally free on nights and weekends.”

“Just like my old long-distance plan!” The Horseman laughed.

Sienna and I exchanged glances. “Long-distance?”

“Before cellphones… Never mind. I forget that you’re still new to this world, Zoey, and how young you are, Sienna.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Old enough to know about landlines and long-distance plans. Old enough to remember a world without phones, but I digress. You asked when I would have another assignment for you. I cannot do anything about the timing of the contracts I receive from my clients. Some of them are more time-sensitive than others. I do not care if one or both of you go on the assignments I give you, only that the job gets done. How you split things up is your business.”

The next contract might come in an hour. It also might not come for a few weeks. The work was inconsistent. It paid so well, though, that it didn’t matter. We’d find out, usually by way of a note slipped into the mailbox just outside my apartment door. I don’t think the Horseman delivered the notes himself. I never saw who put them there. Usually, there’d be a knock. I’d answer the door. No one would be there, but my mailbox would be open and have a long, rolled-up letter sticking out of it.

In the three months since we'd taken out Katerina, an ancient vampire with designs on conquering the world, we'd also dealt with other lesser vampires. We took out a rogue werewolf who had been terrorizing cattle ranches in mid-Missouri every full moon. Now, trolls were on the list of supernatural baddies we'd dealt with.

The Horseman would have more work for us soon. Until then, well, it was Netflix and chill. Sienna had her classes. I had a date with Kevin planned. Well, technically, he’d planned the date, but it was on my schedule for the evening.

CHAPTER THREE

Mom had barely talked to me since we’d started working for the Horseman. She didn't approve. During my years in the underworld, she'd spent the bulk of her time learning everything there was to know about vampires. She'd become quite the accomplished slayer. Her goal had been to learn everything she could to prepare me to take up the mantle when I came of age, after I came to Earth and discovered my unique ability to reap supernaturals.

Now, though, the vampires weren’t unlike the trolls I’d just eliminated, more of a constant nuisance than an actual threat. We'd fulfilled what she'd spent years preparing for. Still, she thought I was meant for a higher calling. Making money by using my abilities was, in her words, crass and foolish.

My bank account said otherwise. I know, I know. Money isn't everything, but everyone needs to make it. It just so happened that we could make a lot of it and help a lot of otherwise hopeless people in the process. Yeah, Sienna and I had made more than most people do in a year by saving Jonah. Ask his parents if it had been worth it.

Tonight, though, was about Kevin and me. Our relationship was progressing slowly. We were in that awkward phase where nothing formal had been declared about our status. If it had been, Kevin would have updated his Facebook profile accordingly. Neither of us was seeing other people. If one of us did, well, the other would have been disappointed and hurt. I guess you could say we were unofficially exclusive.

There were several reasons for that. First, I’d been a person of interest in one of his investigations. Making our relationship formal might bring up ethical concerns with his superiors. Just as significant were my commitment issues. After what had happened with Gabriel, I was gun-shy about letting Kevin or anyone else get too close.

I didn't regret breaking up with Gabriel. It had been the right thing to do. Still, that he'd died attempting to help me spoke to the hazards of unrequited love. Had I not led him on for all those years, if I'd been honest with him about my true feelings, he might not have risked his life. He'd still be with us.

Kevin was a police detective, committed to that whole “protect and serve” mantra they’d painted on the wall in a mural at the department. He thought he was the protector. In truth, I was protecting him. Not just from a broken heart. He was just a man. If he knew what Sienna and I were doing—reaping supernaturals for hire—he’d want to get involved.

Gabriel had thought he was protecting me too, even though we’d broken up. That hadn’t ended well. I couldn’t put Kevin at risk that way.

Thankfully, despite my mom’s disapproval of what I was doing, she didn’t tell Kevin. She thought I should tell him myself. Maybe I would eventually, but not tonight.

I didn’t know what Kevin had planned. All I knew was that he wanted me to dress nicely. I suppose my usual leather get-up wasn’t what he had in mind. That outfit gave me a “naughty” rather than “nice” vibe. I was a biker chick, so leather was par for the course. I’d never crashed. If I did, the leather was supposed to minimize road rash.

I only had a few nice dresses. I did have a fair collection of stiletto heels. I didn’t wear much makeup. I didn’t like the way it felt on my face. I preferred to wear just enough to highlight my natural beauty. No more, no less.

Technically, I was a princess. I didn’t wear glass slippers or randomly burst into song. The only experience I had with Earth princesses was through Disney musicals. That definitely wasn’t me. My dad was the ruler of the underworld. On Earth, though, a princess was the last thing I wanted to be. I was no Cinderella. Growing up, people knew me as Azrael’s daughter first. Not a lot of people knew the real Zoey. It made it hard to connect with people.

I slipped into a low-cut red dress. It fell to mid-thigh. I slipped my feet into a pair of black stiletto boots. I needed a manicure. My nails were chipped. I brushed out my hair and applied a little blush.

“Damn, girl!” Sienna exclaimed as I stepped out of the bathroom. “You’re going to turn a lot of heads tonight.”

I shrugged. “You think?”

“You look hot. I’d do you. You know, if I was into girls.”

I chuckled. “Thanks! I think. What’s on your agenda tonight?”

“A few classmates are coming over. Nothing crazy. We have an exam tomorrow, and I haven’t studied much.”

“Are you worried about it?”

“Nah. I know my stuff. Still, studying can’t hurt. I’m trying to set the curve.”

I grinned. Sienna’s drive reminded me of myself back when I was a student at the Reaper Academy. “Have fun. Don’t wait up for me.”

Sienna grinned. “Any chance you and Kevin might, you know, extend your night?”

I sighed. “Lord, I hope so. That man is too damn conservative. He just doesn’t put out.”

“That’s weird. What kind of man doesn’t put out?”

I rolled my eyes. “Someone who thinks love has to come first.”

“Damn. He is old-fashioned, isn’t he? I guess that’s not all bad. At least you know he’s into you for more than your body.”

“Yeah. Well, it would be nice if he was into my body, too.”

“I hear you, girl. The way you look tonight, if he doesn’t have untoward thoughts, I’d question if he’s really a man.”

“I hope you’re right. I haven’t been with a man in almost a year now. This girl has needs!”

“Preach!”

I laughed. Someone knocked on the door. “If you guys order out, make sure to get something for Cerberus.”

“We’re probably getting pizza. Will he eat pizza?”

“Anchovies!” Cerberus shouted, running in circles around the couch. “Anchovies and onions!”

“Seriously?” Sienna asked. “Anchovies are disgusting! And onions?”

I grinned. “You could try to order it with sliced troll.”

Cerberus stopped cold. He turned, glared at me, and gagged. I laughed.

Three more knocks.

I answered the door. Kevin was standing there in a three-piece suit. “Damn. You clean up well.”

Kevin’s eyes fell to my chest, then to my thighs. “’Damn’ is right.”

Kevin extended his bent arm. I hooked my arm in his. “So, what’s on the agenda tonight?”

Kevin leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “It’s a surprise. You’ll find out soon.”

CHAPTER FOUR

"We're going to the Plaza, aren't we?"

Kevin grinned. "Well, someone knows her Kansas City geography."

I chuckled. "I don't live far from there, and it's not like Kansas City is all that huge."

"Surprise still not spoiled. There are a lot of things you can do on the Plaza."

"Jack Stack Barbecue?"

"Nope."

"P.F. Chang’s?"

Kevin laughed. "You think I'd ask you to dress up for family-style Chinese food?"

I snorted. "I suppose that means the Cheesecake Factory is off the table."

"Maybe not off the table. We could stop by later for a slice if you'd like. You know me. I'm indecisive, and I think their menu is longer than the Old Testament."

I grinned. "It's not that long. Though, I've never read the Old Testament. I'm guessing it isn't nearly as delicious."

Kevin chuckled, "Certainly not if you like pork products."

I tilted my head. "Why is that?"

"You don't know?"

I scratched my head. "Know what?"

Kevin laughed. "My apologies. I suppose growing up in the underworld, you weren't exposed to world religions."

I shook my head. "More than you'd realize. Religion is a big part of how people deal with death. Reaping souls means having some sensitivity to people's beliefs about the life thereafter. If a Reaper shows up and contradicts everything someone believes, they tend to freak. Their souls are more likely to flee."

"So, Reapers lie to people?"

"Not at all. Honestly, I don't know where people go after their souls are delivered to the Boatman. A lot of the souls who are reaped believe they know where they're going. Some don't have a clue. All our job was—well, for the Reapers who could actually reap human souls—was to ensure that they move on and don't linger on Earth as ghosts."

Kevin nodded. "I suppose the dietary laws of different religions weren't all that relevant in your curriculum."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they should have been. People relate to their god, or gods, in a variety of ways. Whatever gives people meaning, a spiritual connection to what they believe, is relevant."

Kevin reached over and grabbed my hand. "For what it's worth, you would have made an excellent Grim Reaper."

"Damn straight. It was all I ever wanted."

"Do you wish you could go back? Like, if you could change things, would you?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I mean, for a while, I thought I'd found a new purpose. Then we ended the vampire threat. It felt like I was serving a bigger purpose. You know, saving the world and all that."

Kevin squeezed my hand as he turned the steering wheel with his left hand and pulled into a parking garage. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, vampires still exist. I don't think that was the last time someone will need you to save the day."

He parked the car.

"There's something I think you should know."

Kevin shrugged. "That you've been reaping supernaturals for money?"

I cocked my head. "How did you know?"

Kevin laughed. "I'm a detective, Zoey. I wasn't prying into your business, but it wasn't hard to figure out. You aren't working. You're buying a lot of expensive things."

I snorted. "But my dad has money."

"Which you are too stubborn to use."

I laughed. "That's true. I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

Kevin shrugged. "I get it, Zoey. I see nothing wrong with what you're doing. For now, at least."

"For now?"

"Just make sure that when someone really needs your help, you'll give it even if they can't afford your prices."

I nodded. "Of course. It's just, you know, I wouldn't even know these people need help if it wasn't for the guy who is paying us."

"Who is he? Your new handler, if you will."

I shook my head. "We really don't know. Not for sure. We call him the Wandering Horseman."

"The guy from the French Quarter?"

I nodded. "That's the one."

"Do you trust him?"

I sighed. "I don't have any reason not to…yet."

"I get that. Just keep your eyes open to anything suspicious. Don't let his generous payments blind you to red flags."

I snorted. "That's it? You're not going to try to talk me out of working with him?"

Kevin grinned. "Would it do any good if I did?"

"Probably not."

Kevin got out of the car. I stepped out of the passenger side. "So, where are we going?"

Kevin extended his hand. I took it. We walked out of the parking garage and along a sidewalk that ran parallel to Brush Creek, a small but beautiful waterway that ran through the Plaza.

"Here we are." Kevin gestured at a dock with a little boat tied to it. A man stood at the back of it with a long oar in his hand.

"What is this?"

"It's called a gondola, Zoey. I figured we'd take a romantic float down the water. And, if you'll notice, there are two glasses and a bottle of champagne on the table in the middle."

I smiled. "Well, what's the occasion? Just a nice date on the Plaza?"

"Sure," Kevin said. "And I wanted to ask you a question."

I gulped. "Kevin. It's too soon. We just started seeing each other a few months ago. Marriage is.."

Kevin laughed. "I'm not going to ask you to marry me, Zoey. Not now, anyway. If I ever do, it won't be a for a long time."

I sighed in relief. "Well, that's good to know. What did you want to ask, then?"

"I just wanted to ask if you were ready to take our relationship to the next level."

"The next level?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I want to be together, Zoey. I also thought that after a nice evening together, you might like to stay the night at my place."

I giggled. "Well, it's about damn time!"

CHAPTER FIVE

Kevin snored. I suppose, after the night we’d had, I could forgive him for that, but it meant I hardly slept. If we were going to keep doing this, I'd need to pick up some earplugs. I wasn't ready to wake up, but a text message suggested otherwise.

I groaned as I rolled out from under the weight of Kevin's arm, grabbed my phone off his nightstand, and checked the message.

"Damn. We slept until ten o'clock?"

I shouldn't have been surprised. After a long romantic night followed by intense physical exertion, I needed my sleep.

The text came from Sienna.

We have a contract. Get back ASAP.

I sent back a thumbs-up emoji.

Kevin was still sawing logs. I searched the room for my clothes. My dress was on one side of the room. My high heels had ended up in the opposite corner.

I didn't want to be the girl who stayed the night and snuck out without saying goodbye. I rooted around the drawers in Kevin's kitchen and found a pen, then grabbed a piece of junk mail from his dinner table. The back of the page was blank. It would do.

Thank you for last night. You're amazing. Can't wait to do it again soon. Had to run. I have a job.

I tried to decide how to sign my note. It was too soon to use the L-word. Drawing a heart would mean the same thing.

XOXO, Zoey.

Hugs and kisses. I don't know why those letters meant hugs and kisses. Whatever. It was the right choice. We'd hugged and kissed plenty. We had done a lot more last night. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to abbreviate screws and spanks. Bones and groans? Nah. That sounded dirty. The last thing I wanted him to think was that I was using him for his body. XOXO would have to do.

Speaking of Kevin's body, six-pack abs are rare. Eight-pack abs, though? It's sort of like Sasquatch, but not nearly so hairy. A few people say it exists, but until I saw it for myself, I wouldn't believe it. When it came to eight-packs, I was now a firm believer. A very firm believer.

I shot Sienna another text.

Pick me up at Kevin's?

She texted back the thumbs-up emoji I'd sent her.

It wasn't a long drive. I only had to wait on the sidewalk outside Kevin's apartment for about ten minutes.

I climbed into the passenger side of Sienna's car.

"Nice hair."

I grinned. "Yeah, it's a mess."

"Have fun?"

I smirked. "More than you know."

"Good for you. I had a long night, too."

I snorted. "Studying?"

"Yeah. Lame, I know. I'm sure it wasn't as thrilling as your evening, but it was productive."

"What's the job?"

Sienna shrugged. "We're supposed to infiltrate a cult."

I raised one eyebrow. "A cult? That's not normal. I assume there's a supernatural connection?"

"Some vampire named Clarence leads the group. He's not that old. Taking him out won't be a challenge. The client wants us to bring back his daughter."

I scratched my head. "Let me guess. She isn't looking to be rescued."

"Probably not. These people are convinced that this vampire is a god. They don't know the truth."

"So, we kill the vampire, prove he's mortal, and convince our client's daughter to come with us? After we just killed someone they think is a god?"

"Pretty much. I did a little digging. The group operates out of an old church in Independence. It used to be a Methodist church."

"Not anymore, I suppose."

Sienna shook her head. "The church closed almost a decade ago. The vampire purchased the place shortly thereafter. There's no evidence he did anything with it until two months ago."

"Shortly after we took out Katerina."

"I don't think that’s a coincidence. We knew this would happen eventually. There's a void of power in the vampire world. I'd guess this vampire's goal isn't just to convince his human followers to worship him, undoubtedly allowing him to feed from them. He wants to gather supporters and make a play to lead the vampires in the city."

I sighed. "Do we know if there's just one vampire involved, or are there others?"

"The contract didn't say one way or another. Do you think your mom might know something?"

I sighed. "I don't know if she'll even pick up my call."

"What about Kevin? He worked with your mom for a year or so."

I shook my head. "He knows what we're doing. He's supportive, but I don't want to get him involved."

Sienna glanced at me before fixing her eyes back on the road. "Why not?"

I sighed. "I just think it's best. Besides, he has his own career."

"You should at least try to call your mom. There's only so much I can find out about a vampire online."

I nodded. "Okay. I’ll try."

I pulled out my phone and selected her contact. I'd listed her as Josephine. I hit the call button. The phone rang. I got her voice mail.

"Hey, Mom. I have a job I could use your help with. A vampire named Clarence. He's operating a cult. Any information you might have might be helpful."

I hung up.

"I guess we'll see if she calls back," I slipped my phone back into my purse. "I can't do this in a dress and heels. I say we go back, I get changed, and we bring Cerberus to this church and see what we can find out."

"The contract has a deadline. We have to finish it before noon."

I shook my head. "That's less than two hours from now. Why the rush?"

"I don't know. That's the job. There's no time to go back. I brought you a change of clothes. It's in the back."

I turned and looked in the back seat. "Sweats and a t-shirt? Seriously?"

"I brought your cloak, too."

"What about Cerberus?"

Sienna shrugged. "He's on his way."

"Who's the kid we're supposed to rescue?"

"A twenty-year-old named Jessna. Her picture is paperclipped to the contract. It's in the back seat next to your clothes."

I reached back, grabbed the contract, and gave it a quick read. There wasn't anything of note that Sienna hadn’t mentioned. I examined the photo, which was a headshot. She wore glasses and had curly but short blonde hair. She was smiling.

"Is this a school photo?"

"The Horseman didn't include it. I found it online."

"What else do you know about her?"

"Quite a bit. She's a smart girl. Graduated at the top of her class in high school. She had a full ride to Stanford, but she turned it down. She's been a waitress at a small cafe ever since."

I scratched my head. "Who turns down a full-ride scholarship to a top-tier school to be a waitress?"

"I don't know. That's the thing. My first thought was that some tragedy had struck. Perhaps she decided to take time off. I couldn't find anything. Her family is solid. Her parents have been married for thirty years. Her brother is a sophomore in high school and also a straight-A student. The only thing I could find online was some random posts about a guy she met about the time she was supposed to leave for school. She didn't mention his name. She said he was her future. Posted a lot of sappy things. Pictures of gifts this guy sent her. Flowers. Low-end jewelry. Nothing too extravagant."

"Do you think the guy was the vampire?"

Sienna shrugged. "No way to know. This cult didn't show up anywhere until a couple months ago, but a lot of people connected right away. What if this group has been meeting in secret a lot longer? Maybe this mysterious guy she thinks she fell in love with was connected to it in some way."

I stared at the girl's photo to memorize her face. "If she's been involved with this group for a couple of years, why would this be a time-sensitive contract?"

"I couldn't find anything. I'll just say that if we don't have Jessna out of there before noon, we don't get paid."

I sighed. "I don’t care about that. Let's just make sure we get her out of there safe and sound."

CHAPTER SIX

"I take it this is the former Methodist church," I remarked as Sienna pulled into the parking lot. She slid in next to a black van without windows. That tracked. It was an ideal vehicle for a vampire to use.

"Now it's a cult compound."

I snorted. "A compound? It still looks like a church."

Sienna shrugged. "A cult uses it. It's a compound now. Cults always have compounds. It's, like, a rule or something."

I chuckled. "All right. Well, let me get my cloak."

I felt a tug on the back of my pants. I turned.

"Cerberus?"

"No vampires inside."

I tilted my head. "Are you sure?"

"Yup. I checked the whole place."

"That doesn't make sense," Sienna said. "The contract indicates a vampire runs this shitshow."

Cerberus looked disdainful. "If there was a vampire here, I'd smell it."

I shrugged. "Maybe we lucked out. It's the middle of the day. If there aren't any vampires here now, there won't be until nightfall."

Sienna looked at the church. "I think we should go in."

"Right. Go in. Find Jessna. Take her with us. Job done. We don't even need to go into the astral plane. Maybe if we pretended we were interested in joining, we could just walk right in and observe. When we get a chance, we'll grab the girl and take her to the drop-off point."

"You're suggesting we kidnap her? She's an adult, Zoey. She's here of her own free will."

"Right, but the job is to retrieve her."

"If we kidnap her and she doesn't leave willingly, she'll just come back."

"Then we convince her to come with us. If they think this vampire who is leading them is a god or whatever, we should dispel the illusion."

"You think we can do that before noon?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But if there's no vampire in there, what would we accomplish by sneaking in on the astral plane?"

"Well, we're wasting time talking about it. Let's go in and see what happens."

"All right. Cerberus, keep patrolling. Something about this whole situation is off. It doesn't fit what the Horseman's contract told us we'd find."

* * *

When we walked through the front doors of the church/compound, we were greeted by a woman with a smile so wide I thought her head was going to split in two.

"Welcome to the Temple of the First Light!"

I tilted my head. "First light?"

"Yes! All are welcome here among the Chosen."

I raised one eyebrow. "Chosen for what?"

"I shouldn't say. It is better to hear it from the lips of the Prophet."

"Clarence?" I asked.

"Oh, no, child! He is not the Prophet! He is the Savior!"

I nodded. "Of course. Sure, he is."

I scanned the room. Sienna did the same. We were looking for Jessna. The lady who greeted us must've thought we were looking for a place to sit.

"Come." The woman placed a hand on my shoulder. "You are first-time visitors to the Temple of First Light. We reserve the best seats in the house for such seekers."

Sienna and I exchanged glances. "All right."

The greeter led us to the front row. The sanctuary of the old church had hefty mahogany pews. I was grateful the seats had cushions. I hadn't sat in many pews, but they didn't appear to be comfortable.

The greeter lady removed a Reserved sign clipped to the front pew and gestured for us to take seats. I did another scan of the room before I sat down. I thought it might be easier to identify Jessna from this perspective. Faces were easier to recognize, especially when all you have is a relatively old photo as a reference, than the back of heads.

I sighed. No luck. I didn't see her. It was hard to say, though. I didn't want to be too obvious. There were two or three hundred people there. I couldn't get a good enough look at everyone to know if she was there.

"Do you think she's here?" I asked, sitting down next to Sienna.

"The contract said she would be."

I snorted. "Yeah, it also told us Clarence would be here. Cerberus said there weren't any vampires."

Sienna chuckled. "Maybe he's an angel trying to earn his wings."

I furrowed my brow. "An angel? My scythe might work on those."

Sienna rolled her eyes. "I was joking. I'm pretty sure Clarence is a vampire. Clarence was the name of the angel in It's a Wonderful Life."

I shrugged. "Haven't seen it."

"Are you serious right now? I mean, I know you haven't been on Earth that long, but didn't you have old movies in the underworld?"

I nodded. "We did. We didn't have everything, though."

"It's a Christmas movie. The idea is that a guy who is frustrated with his life wishes he'd never been born. An angel comes to show him how different things would have been if he hadn't been born. Blah, blah, blah. Spoiler alert. It changed his perspective on things, and he discovered he has a lot to be grateful for even though his life didn't turn out the way he planned."

I scratched the back of my head. "Well, that sounds a lot like my life. I'm still trying to figure out the whole gratitude thing, though."

"Are you serious? You have a hot guy. You make a shit-ton of money kicking supernatural ass. What is there not to be thankful for?"

I scowled. "It's just different, you know? Keep in mind that I always expected to become the Grim Reaper. That's a big job. I was going to be responsible for ensuring that everyone on Earth made it to the afterlife. I was literally going to have an impact on everyone's existence. Now? It seems like everything is on a much smaller scale."

Sienna chuckled. "A lot of people want to save the world, Zoey. Only a few people are blessed enough to save a life."

I snorted. "I'm not sure I know what that means."

"Only this, Zoey. Before, your future was nothing but a cosmic idea. A dream. Running the whole death enterprise or whatever. Now, you're changing individual lives. Yeah, we're making bank doing it, but I think it's different when you can see the face of someone you're saving and know you're making a difference. Take Jonah, for example. That kid gets to live a whole life now. If not for us, he would have ended up as dinner for trolls."

I nodded and looked over my shoulder, a fleeting glance at the crowd. I thought I might get lucky and spot Jessna. It also gave me a chance to better survey the room.

"All the windows are blocked with curtains. I don't think that's just an aesthetic choice. Those are black-out curtains."

"Makes sense. If a vampire was going to make an appearance during a daytime meeting, he'd need the windows blocked."

"Ironic, isn't it? The Temple of First Light doesn't let any light in."

Sienna huffed. "It's a metaphor or some shit. The light in our hearts or whatever."

Someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned to see a girl wearing too much makeup, with long blonde hair, smiling at me. "Hello! I just wanted to say we're happy you chose to seek the truth with us!"

I snorted. "Right. Thanks."

"I'm Sunshine!

I narrowed my eyes. "Your real name is Sunshine?"

"Oh, of course not, but it's my new name. We all are given new names here at the Temple of the First Light."

I nodded. "Nice to meet you, Sunshine. I suppose you don't know anyone's real name here, do you?"

"Sunshine is my real name."

"Of course. I mean, their former names."

"Nope. There's no reason to learn people's old names. When the First Light is born within us, nothing of the old will remain. We'll be new. Complete. We use our new names because here we're taking our first steps into the light."

"Oh, of course. That makes total sense. What about Clarence? His has never changed as far as I know."

"Of course it hasn't! He is the one who dwells in the darkness. He remains there out of love for those who still do not know the light. He shows them the way out. Soon, the true light bearer will join us, and we'll finally have a chance to become one with the Divine Clarence."

I narrowed my eyes. Then, lest I betray myself by showing too much cynicism in my countenance, I did my best to force a smile. To become one with Clarence most likely meant being turned, but they didn't know he was a bloodsucking monster. They thought he was a god.

"Do you know a Jessna by any chance? I know, old names and all."

Sunshine shook her head. "The name Jessna, if she was your friend, must be the name of her shadow self. Whoever she is, she's progressing to something new. She's evolving. All of us are. You can too, you know. Soon, perhaps even today, the Prophet will show us the way to complete our journey."

I raised an eyebrow. "Journey?"

Sunshine pointed at the front of the room. "I am not the best with words. The Prophet will explain everything soon."

I watched as a female figure in white stepped across the elevated platform, the stage or chancel, at the front of the church. Her face was veiled as if she were a bride awaiting her groom at the altar.

She didn't enter from the back of the church or walk down the aisle. She'd come from a room in the back. Several other men filed down the side aisles near the walls and windows. They also wore white pants and loose tops. Their faces were not veiled like the Prophet's.

"The light is dawning," the Prophet declared. "Today, we have visitors among us."

The Prophet turned her head toward Sienna and me.

"Please, step forward so that we can give you a worthy welcome."

I looked at Sienna and shrugged. Since we were seated in the front row, we didn't have to slide out the side of the pew. We stepped forward.

The Prophet gestured at a space in front of where she stood. We took the cue and moved forward.

"We've been expecting you."

I tilted my head. "You have?"

The Prophet removed her veil. I recognized her immediately. She was a couple of years older, but her tightly curled blonde hair and fine features were unmistakable.

"Jessna?"

The Prophet raised her hand. "I no longer use that name. And now, with you, the prophecy will be fulfilled."

"What prophecy?" I asked.

Again, the Prophet raised her hand to silence me. Then she looked at Sienna. "Please, step forward."

Sienna took a step toward Jessna. The Prophet placed a hand on Sienna’s shoulder, then raised her other hand.

When she did, the men at the perimeter of the room opened the curtains. The room flooded with sunlight. Then, the Prophet grabbed Sienna's brooch and yanked it off her shirt.

"No!" I screamed.

Sienna's eyes went dark, then she dove at Jessna and bit her neck.

"Yes!" Jessna raised her hands, revealing puncture wounds on each wrist.

"Behold, the Goddess of Light!" Jessna shouted.

The crowd erupted in a mixture of cheers and cries. Some people fell to their knees. Others stood with their hands lifted.

I touched the sigil on my wrist. My scythe formed in my hand. If Jessna wasn't a vampire yet, all I could figure was that Sienna had given her the final bite.

Someone grabbed my shoulders from behind and pulled me back. I stumbled and tripped back, falling to the ground.

Sienna released Jessna, her lips and fangs dripping with blood.

"Sienna!" I shouted. "Focus! Your brooch!"

Sienna looked at me, her eyes still black. She nodded and, moving at lightning speed, grabbed the brooch from Jessna and pinned it back on her chest.

Then she moved like lightning again. She wasn't on the astral plane. How was this possible? Sienna grabbed one of the men who had thrown me down and tossed him across the room like a rag doll. He landed on his back in the middle aisle.

I leaped to my feet, still holding my scythe. Jessna must've changed enough that I could reap her.

I charged toward her, but Sienna grabbed me around the waist. "No, you can't do that!"

"Why not? She's turning!"

Sienna looked at Jessna. "If that is true, I am your sire. At least, I am one of them. Leave us and harm no one."

Jessna nodded, then extended her arms. The sunlight wasn't hurting her. "The Prophecy has been fulfilled! A new era has dawned! The First Light has risen among us!"

The church doors at the back of the sanctuary swung open.

I turned. It was my mom. She took aim with her crossbow and fired it at Jessna.

A blast of golden energy exploded from Jessna's chest, and in a flash that nearly blinded me, she was gone.

The bolt from my mom's crossbow struck the wall and fell to the ground.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Sienna and I finally got out of the church—the cultists all clamored to touch Sienna for some reason—my mom was gone. We didn't have time to waste. We weren't going to return with Jessna by the deadline, but that didn't mean we could miss it. I had a lot of questions for the Horseman. This was the first time his intelligence had been off.

Jessna wasn't just some innocent girl who got lured into a cult. Along with this Clarence vampire, she was the leader of the whole damn thing.

"I feel so strong!" Sienna said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"You moved fast like a vampire, even after you put the brooch back on."

"It's her blood. When I drank, this surge of energy came over me. I still feel that way. I don't know how long this will last, but I like it."

"We don't have anything to worry about, do we? The way you're describing it, I can see how that might be addictive."

Sienna shook her head. "The idea of drinking blood is repulsive. Only when I'm changed, in the sunlight without the brooch, do I crave it. The effects of drinking the blood persist, though."

"Jessna knew about us. She knew about your brooch. She knew what would happen when she ripped it off you."

"Katerina knew. She must've spread the word about us to other vampires."

"Including Clarence."

Sienna nodded.

My phone rang. It was my mom. I picked it up and turned on the speaker.

"Mom, where are you? How did you know where we were?"

"We need to talk, Zoey."

I sighed. "We're on a deadline. We’re supposed to rally with the Horseman in fifteen minutes."

"Either this Horseman betrayed you, or he was given misinformation."

"What do you mean?"

"The vampire Clarence is dead, Zoey."

"Are you certain? The people at that church seem to think he's alive."

"I killed him myself. A month before you came to Earth."

"Maybe it's another vampire who shares his name?" Sienna mused.

"Not possible," my mom replied. "The reason I knew where to find you was that the church where he lived. It's where I killed him."

I scratched my shoulder. "The Prophet, Jessna. She had bite marks on her wrists. Are you certain Clarence is dead?"

"I'm as sure as I can be. I saw him die with my own eyes. I burned his body. He could not have survived."

"Then come with us. If the Horseman's information was inaccurate, there must be an explanation. We will need your help, Mom, if we're going to sort out what's really going on here."

After a pause, she responded, "Send me the address. I'll meet you there."

The rally point was in Fleming Park in Blue Springs, a suburb of Kansas City that was not far from Independence. We were to meet at the dam that separated two reservoirs. I sent my mom the location. It was only fifteen minutes away. We arrived as the clock struck noon.

There was a small parking lot overlooking one of the lakes. We found the Horseman sitting on a bench, staring at the water.

"I suppose things didn't work out as planned." The Horseman fixed his eyes forward as small waves collided with the rocks in front of where he sat.

I stood looking down at the Horseman as Sienna took a seat next to him. "First, you didn't say that Jessna was a freaking prophet to these cultists. You also didn't tell us Clarence was already dead."

My mom parked her Corvette and approached us. The Horseman looked at her. "Hello, Josephine."

My mom narrowed her eyes. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing with my daughter?"

I glared at my mom.

"Who I am matters little," the Horseman replied. "Know only that my agenda aligns with yours."

"My agenda?" My mom narrowed her eyes. "What do you know about my agenda?"

"Mom, stop. We have bigger issues at stake right now."

My mom shook her head. "Sorry, Zoey, but if this man is going to send you into harm’s way with false information, I cannot think of any bigger issues."

The Horseman pressed his hands together and raised them to his lips. "My information was not faulty."

"Not faulty?" Sienna asked. "Jessna is a prophet to these people. She was already becoming a vampire. She used me to provide the last bite to make her a daywalker. How the hell can you say your information wasn't faulty?"

The Horseman narrowed his eyes. "Not faulty, only incomplete."

"Your information was wrong." My mom had her fists fixed firmly to her hips. "I killed Clarence myself. There's no way he's involved."

The Horseman chuckled and shook his head. "You didn't kill Clarence, Josephine. You merely killed his progeny. It was you who was deceived."

I crossed my arms and stared at the lake. "Clarence knew about Sienna. He must have. He told Jessna. Who was your client?"

"It is true, the girls' parents wish her returned. They lament her involvement with the Temple of the First Light. But you are correct. They were not the clients who hired me to complete this job."

I snorted. "Well, duh. Of course, her parents want her back. She was supposed to go to Stanford. Now, she's a vampire and a daywalker. Your client must've known what was going to happen, Horseman. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had such an urgent deadline."

The Horseman crossed his legs and folded his hands, then rested them on his left knee. "I now believe that my client wished what happened to occur. Her agenda, it seems, was beyond what it seemed to be on the surface. This would not be the first time I've served her whims to another purpose."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

The Horseman reached into his suit coat and retrieved two stacks of hundred-dollar bills. He handed one to me and the other to Sienna. "Your failure today was anticipated and, I believe, served another purpose. I was instructed to pay you regardless and to inform you that another contract will be forthcoming.”

"Wait," Sienna protested. "We're getting paid for failing?"

My mom leaned over and stared the Horseman directly in the eyes. “I knew my daughter shouldn’t have trusted you. You mean to tell us your client used Sienna and Zoey to create another daywalker? You’re also telling me Clarence is still alive and using this daywalker as a prophetess to deceive people?”

“I know nothing about Clarence’s intentions nor what role this daywalker is to play in his affairs.”

“Of course you don’t. You saw dollar signs. You accepted your client’s job and passed it along to Zoey and Sienna without any consideration for the damage that might be done.”

“That is not true,” the Horseman countered. “I cannot believe the client for this job intended any ill will.”

My mom rolled her eyes. “Well, the evidence says otherwise. The girls didn’t save Jessna. She’s now a daywalker, and the girls are still getting paid. It sounds to me like an open and shut case. Your client manipulated you and the girls to create a daywalker.”

The Horseman shook his head. “If that was my client’s goal, I trust that there is a greater purpose at work here.”

“Who is the client?” I shouted. “We have to know!”

The Horseman stood and narrowed his eyes. “As I said before, a new contract will come soon. I will reveal all in time.”

My mom clenched her fists. I could swear she was about to clock the Horseman. She didn’t get a chance. He disappeared into thin air.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"We can't just sit around and wait until that Horseman joker gives you girls another contract."

"I don't know, Mom. Why can't we?"

My mom stared at me blankly. "Zoey, I know I've been distant lately. For that, I apologize. But surely you now see that I was right."

I huffed and turned around to stare at the lake. "One botched job doesn't mean you were right, Mom. I still don't think we were doing anything wrong. We've helped a lot of people while working for the Horseman."

"I agree with your mom," Sienna said. "At least about not just sitting around and waiting."

I scratched my head. "As Reapers, we're trained to gather as much intelligence as possible before we act. We call it reconnaissance. It's standard protocol before harvesting a soul. There's too much we don't know right now."

"They used me, Zoey. Whether I like it or not, I played a role in finalizing Jessna's transformation. She's a vampire because of me."

"No, she's a daywalker because she manipulated you, Sienna. There's a difference. You didn't know any more than I did that she knew what your brooch was or what would happen if you were exposed to sunlight without it."

Sienna sighed and stepped toward the water, then put her hands on the sides of a large boulder on the bank of the lake. The thing must've weighed two hundred pounds. She lifted it overhead and threw it a good fifty feet into the lake. My jaw hit the ground.

"Damn. You weren't kidding. Drinking blood really did make you strong."

"Impressive," my mom offered. "I haven't met a common vampire who exhibits that kind of strength. There must be something about your unique nature and the effects of blood on your system when you feed that multiplies the usual effects."

Sienna nodded. "Like this, Zoey, I don't think even Clarence, if he's out there somewhere, could fight me off."

"We don't know how long this will last, Sienna. We don't know where Clarence is. Even if we find him, there's no guarantee you'll still have these abilities."

Sienna shrugged. "Then I'll feed again."

I snorted. "No, you won't! That implies biting someone."

"She can feed from me," my mom suggested. "She didn't drink much from Jessna."

I shook my head. "We don't know what effect the bite would have on you, Mom. We can't do that."

"She doesn't have to bite me, Zoey. What if I just gave her a little blood? You could do it, too. It doesn't take much. If people who know our situation and are willing to help donate regularly, she could take a shot at any time and go She-Hulk on our enemies."

I chuckled. "’She-Hulk?’ Is that a thing?"

Sienna rolled her eyes. "You clearly don't read comics."

I tilted my head. "And you do?"

"I wasn't a popular girl growing up, Zoey. I hung out with a lot of geeky kids who were into comics, anime, role-playing games—that kind of thing. The point is, there is a She-Hulk."

I chuckled. "All right. Well, it doesn't matter. I still don't think this is a good idea.”

"Why not?" Sienna asked.

"Because we don't know how many times you can drink blood before it changes you. We don't know what the long-term effects might be."

My mom placed her hand on my shoulder. "That's a reasonable concern, Zoey, but it's ultimately Sienna's decision."

"We don’t have to make a habit of it," Sienna countered. "But if it doesn't change me and there aren't any adverse effects, think about how much more formidable I'd be fighting all these supernatural nasties."

I shook my head. "The middle of a fight isn't the best place to experiment. If we're going to do this, we need to test it in a controlled environment."

"Could we do it in the underworld?" Sienna asked.

I shook my head. "No sunlight. That's one of the variables we'll need to test."

My mom shrugged. "Your place or mine?"

"We can use our apartment," I stated. "If the Horseman has another contract for us, that's where he'll have it delivered."

My mom sighed. "I don’t know, Zoey."

"I do, Mom. Trust me, just this once. If the Horseman's contract has anything to do with Jessna or Clarence, we'll want to know."

My mom nodded. "Very well. Your place it is. If you have no objection, I’ll ask Kevin to join us. We don’t know what will happen to Sienna, and as strong as she is, we might need his help."

I looked at her warily. "I don't know, Mom. Our relationship is...progressing."

"What would involving Kevin have to do with your relationship?"

"I just don't want to screw things up."

"She's afraid of putting him in harm’s way," Sienna added.

"Because of what happened to Gabriel?"

I sighed. "That is part of it. Gabriel loved me. I think Kevin does, too. If he didn't, he wouldn't have..."

"It's okay," she said. "I get it, Zoey. But Kevin isn't your ex. He might love you, but he's also well-trained."

"If he loves me, given what I do and the danger I put myself in, I don't want him to get hurt trying to protect me."

"It sounds to me like you love him, too."

I scratched my head. "I don't know, Mom. I hope I will. I want to. I don't have to be in love with the man to want to keep him safe."

My mom smiled. "As someone who has been separated from the one she loves for decades, I know this much. If you love someone, you are immeasurably safer when you are with them than you could ever be apart. You broke Gabriel's heart, correct?"

"I suppose I did."

"But he still loved you."

Tears welled up in my eyes. “He did. Maybe if I’d loved him back…”

My mom put her hand on my back. “You aren’t responsible for what happened. He risked his life. You’re assuming he did it for you. Have you considered that the risk he took might have also saved the world?”

“That’s true.”

“Gabriel risked everything. Maybe it was to prove his love to you. Maybe it was to spare humanity from Katerina’s plans. We will never know. Trust me when I tell you that Gabriel didn’t die because you couldn’t love him. He died because he was a hero. Don’t give yourself so much credit."

I nodded and hugged my mom. “I’ll be back soon. Hopefully not too soon.”

CHAPTER NINE

Sienna and I went back to our apartment. My mom said she'd pick up Kevin and a few supplies for drawing blood and meet us there in a couple of hours.

Cerberus barked at us as we walked in. "I take it you came home when we went to the rally point?"

Cerberus cocked his head. "Snagged some burnt ends and ribs on the way home."

"Snagged them? You stole them from a restaurant, you mean?"

Cerberus huffed. "I was hungry."

Sienna chuckled. "You can't just dine and dash. You have to pay for your food."

Cerberus snorted. "I didn't dine and dash. I dashed, and then I dined here."

I narrowed my eyes. "Same principle, Cerberus. If you want barbecue, let us know, and we'll pay for it."

Cerberus licked his chops. "You had to rendezvous with the Horseman, and I was hungry. It was barbecue or people. I presumed you'd rather I steal food than eat humans."

I scratched my head. "Where'd you take it from?"

Sienna pulled a bag and some napkins from underneath the couch. "I think we already know, Zoey."

I rolled my eyes. "Sienna, can you find out how much the food he stole was worth?"

Sienna nodded and pulled out her phone. "Easy-peasy. You said an order of burnt ends and ribs, right? No sides?"

"Why would I get sides? I don't like cheesy corn. Baked beans make me fart."

I rolled my eyes. "They make everyone fart."

"It looks like it was just south of ninety bucks’ worth of food," Sienna reported.

I furrowed my brow. "You ate almost a hundred bucks of barbecue?"

"Like I said, I was hungry. A person would have been more filling."

I reached into one of my pockets and handed Cerberus a hundred-dollar bill. "Take this back where you took the food from. Leave it by the cash register."

"Are you serious? It's not like they saw me. Even if they did, they'd just think a dog stole some food."

I narrowed my eyes. "When I was a kid, I stole a bracelet from a little shop back in the underworld. My dad was picking up some groceries. I was afraid he'd say no, so I took it. Do you know what he made me do when he caught me wearing it a day later?"

"You got a spanking, didn't you?" Cerberus asked.

I grinned. "No, my father didn't spank. What he did was a lot harder. He made me take it back and apologize to the store's manager."

"You want me to go there and tell them I'm sorry?" Cerberus cackled.

"Obviously, you can't do that. I want you to pay for the food you took. I'm telling you what my dad made me do so you realize you're getting off lightly."

"You wouldn't make me apologize anyway. That would scare the crap out of the restaurant's manager."

"Right," I said. "Have you ever heard of a rolled-up newspaper?"

"What in Hades is a newspaper?" Cerberus asked.

Sienna chuckled. "That's a good question. Who reads newspapers anymore?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I'll think of something else."

Cerberus snorted. "I respond better to positive reinforcement. I'll take the money to the restaurant. When I get back, I want a treat.”

I scratched my head. "You want a reward for doing the right thing after you stole the food?"

Sienna cleared her throat. "You’ve never had a dog, have you?"

I shook my head. "No. Even if I had, Cerberus is an intelligent being. He's a hellhound, not a dog."

Sienna nodded. "Technically, you're right. But in many ways, he behaves like any canine. Aside from the whole speaking and growing to several times his size thing."

I nodded. "Don't forget eating people."

"Right, there's that. The point is that if you've ever had a dog or been through a training class, you'd know that you have to reinforce positive behavior. They don't always understand punishment the way it's intended."

"Because most dogs can't speak English, Sienna."

"Fair point."

Cerberus barked at me three times and panted. "Oh, stop it. I know you can talk. Now you're trying to act like a normal dog, so I'll treat you that way...at the one and only moment since we've been to Earth that it worked to your advantage."

Cerberus leaped, snagged the hundred-dollar bill out of my hand, and disappeared.

Sienna plopped down on the couch. "I think I need to take a nap. I'm exhausted."

"Do you still have your strength?"

"I can barely lift my feet." Sienna struggled to pull her legs onto the couch. Then she laid her head down on a throw pillow and started to snore.

"Sienna?" I shook her shoulder.

She didn't move. She kept snoring.

There was a knock on the door. I answered it.

Mom and Kevin stepped inside. Kevin was carrying several plastic bags, presumably supplies for our tests.

"There might be a problem," I began.

My mom glanced past me. "She's sleeping."

I nodded. "I don't think she's going to wake up any time soon. She's out cold. She was really weak just before she passed out."

Kevin stepped over and checked her pulse. "Her pulse is slow. Nothing out of the ordinary."

My mom narrowed her eyes. "While she's wearing the brooch, her vampirism is dormant. Her body is human. The strength she gained from feeding must've exhausted her."

Kevin nodded. "The human body isn't meant to exert itself at those levels."

I scratched my head. "Well, in that case, I don't think we'll be doing any tests right away."

"That's not necessarily true," my mom ran her hand across Sienna's head. "What if we remove the brooch and open the windows?"

"If we did that, Mom, she'd change. Since she's tired, I'm guessing she'd want blood. I don't know that we could stop her. Not without hurting her."

Kevin dropped his bag of supplies on the coffee table. "Well, in that case, I suppose we need to start drawing blood. If we feed it to her, maybe she'll be able to keep her wits about her."

* * *

Kevin and my mom pulled up chairs next to my kitchen table. I never ate on it. Mostly, the table served as a repository for junk mail. If I added them up, I probably had more than a million dollars’ worth of pre-approved loan offers there. And to think, all I'd need to do to get them is pay a nine hundred percent interest rate, forfeit my soul, and offer them my eventual firstborn child. It's a good thing I read the fine print.

"So, who is giving her the blood?"

"I am," Kevin replied. "Sienna is type O-negative, correct?"

"Yes. That's why the vampires targeted her. Does it really matter what type of blood she feeds from?"

"We think it does," my mom clarified. "They can feed from anyone, but if they feed from those who share their blood type, a vampire can survive on much less blood. They digest it more easily."

I scratched my head. "You know this how?"

"From observing vampire behaviors for the last twenty years, Zoey. That blood bank they were using to identify Sienna's blood type was not merely a facility meant to identify potential vampires. They were able to collect blood and deliver it to vampires according to blood type."

"How could a facility get away with that without being noticed?"

"I’ve already told you; they do not require much if they feast from their own blood type. Nearly all their samples were sent to those in need. Once they'd identified the blood types of their donors, they had names and addresses of potential victims."

"You knew this?"

"I've known for years that vampires prefer to feed on their own blood type. Only during the last couple of weeks, while you've been fulfilling contracts for the Horseman, have I had a chance to dig into the files from the blood bank. I've pieced it together."

My mom inserted the needle into Kevin's arm and started to draw his blood.

"Since we shut down that blood bank,” blood poured from Kevin’s arm, through the tube, and into the bag, "the vampires who remain in the area will have to be more assertive in their efforts to feed. We believe the cult you encountered is part of those efforts."

I scratched my head. "How so?”

My mom sighed. "It's a method vampires have used for centuries. They find worshippers by posing as deities, effectively brainwashing people to serve as blood donors."

"The blood bank was a more discreet operation. Running something like that required vampires who had connections and resources. We suspect the vampires here don't have access to the resources that Katarina, Vlad, and the others had, so they're resorting to other methods that have been used before."

I shook my head. "Clarence has bigger plans than that. He used Sienna to turn Jessna into a daywalker."

Kevin nodded. "He might only want to create a loyal vampire who can operate in the daytime. Someone who can work to re-accumulate resources and gradually increase their power."

I sighed. "I don't know. It seems to me that their intentions are more insidious than that."

Once the bag was full, my mom pulled the needle out of Kevin's arm, covered the puncture with a cotton ball, and applied a bandage over it.

My mom took the bag over to Sienna. "We need to have it in her mouth when she comes to. If she tastes blood as she turns, hopefully she'll drink enough that it will clear her mind."

"You don't think she'll rage out?" I asked.

"Be ready just in case. We don't know for sure. We are experimenting here, after all."

I snorted. "There's a risk. If Sienna's body needed to rest to recover from what the blood did to her before, we might be taxing her body even more."

My mom nodded as she stuck the tube into Sienna's mouth. "I think she needs to exhaust the power of the blood in her system as a daywalker before we reactivate the brooch."

"You realize that if she stays as a daywalker, she might get violent."

Kevin nodded and gestured at the duffel bag he'd brought in. "I have supplies. Ropes, garlic, whatever we might need to restrain her if needed."

"Shouldn't we restrain her before we awaken her as a daywalker? You know, just in case?"

My mom and Kevin exchanged glances. My mom nodded. "That might be wise."

My mom pulled the tube out of Sienna's mouth. Kevin picked her up. I set a chair facing one of my windows. Kevin put her in the chair, retrieved some rope, and tied her legs to the chair legs and her torso to the back.

I opened the curtains, allowing sunlight to shine on Sienna as she slept. It was incredible that we could move her, tie her up, and allow sunlight to shine into her face, and she didn’t wake up.

My mom reinserted the tube into Sienna's mouth and elevated the blood bag. "As soon as the blood enters the mouth, deactivate her brooch."

I did as my mom said. Sienna's eyes shot open. She gulped the blood down in seconds.

Then she screamed. "I must get to her!"

"Get to who?"

"My progeny! Jessna!"

I nodded. "First you need to calm down, Sienna. We can't let you go until we're sure you won't accidentally hurt anyone while you're changed."

Sienna narrowed her eyes. "She is my progeny. If I do not go to her..."

"What?" my mom asked.

"She will not be able to control herself!"

"You can't control yourself, Sienna. Not like this." I placed my hand on the back of Sienna's head.

Sienna clenched her fists. Then she extended her arms and broke the ropes that bound her.

I tried to touch her brooch. She pushed me hard, sending me flying into the back of the couch.

I sprang to my feet. Sienna charged through the front door of our apartment, ripping it off its hinges.

"Damn it!" Kevin shouted.

I sighed. "Well, at least we know where she's going."

CHAPTER TEN

Kevin and my mom left in her ‘Vette. I followed on my dad's Harley. We pulled up to the old Methodist church that now served as the meeting place for the First Light cult. We didn't know for sure that Sienna went there, but if she was looking for Jessna, that was the first place she'd look.

I pushed on the front door. It was locked.

"Use your cloak," my mom suggested. "We'll wait out here. You can let us in after you find out if she’s here."

I nodded. "If I can't let you in, just stay put. If they're inside, they might try to run."

I removed my backpack, retrieved my reaper cloak, and put it on. I raised my hood and stepped through the church doors on the astral plane.

Sienna stood in the middle of the room. She was hugging Jessna. Several bodies were sprawled on the floor around them.

I lowered my hood.

"Sienna!"

"Zoey!" Sienna turned to me, still holding Jessna's hand.

"What have you done?"

"They will be well," Jessna assured me. "We required their blood, and they gave it willingly."

"You tricked us before," I accused. "You used us to turn you into what you are now."

Jessna nodded. "And for that, I apologize. My Lord said it was the only way."

"Your Lord?"

"She means Clarence, Zoey."

I nodded. "Of course she does. The only way to do what?"

"To protect you, of course."

"To protect us from what? And why would a vampire like Clarence want to protect us?"

Jessna tilted her head. "You call my Lord a vampire?"

I furrowed my brown. "That's what he is, isn't he? He was the one who bit your wrists. He started your transformation, didn't he?"

Jessna nodded. "He was not feeding from me. He was testing my suitability to become the daughter of the First Light."

"What is the First Light?"

Jessna smiled and grabbed Sienna's hands. "She is the First Light."

Sienna cocked her head. "I am? This cult exists to worship me?"

Jessna laughed. "We do not intend to worship you. We intend to support you. Our purpose is to help you in your battle."

I narrowed my eyes. "What battle? I'm not involved in any battle."

"Perhaps not yet, but my lord tells me you've assaulted many beings who might seek retribution. You've revealed your nature. You are a threat to many. Did you not think they would not all rally to attack you in time?"

I snorted. "Hadn't thought about that. I was just doing my job. Saving people. Eliminating supernatural baddies."

"My Lord prepared me to accept this transformation. I cannot create more of what you call daywalkers, but I've been given the strength to control my urges. With the aid of the First Light, with you, Sienna, I can be a powerful ally."

"We don't have to be afraid of her," Sienna explained. "I'm her sire. She'll do what I say."

"This is true," Jessna agreed. "Consider it an olive branch. A demonstration of my Lord's intentions so that you will trust us."

"Trust you? Your Lord deceived us from the start. If he wanted our trust, he should have told us what he planned."

Jessna grinned. "Would you have agreed if we'd asked?"

I snorted. "Probably not."

"I must remain like this for a while," Sienna continued. "But I don’t want to continue to feed. Once the blood in my system has been used, I will activate the brooch."

"Why would you do that?" Jessna asked.

Sienna shook her head. "I know I can take this form again. I believe I can control my urges now, but I still want to live my life."

Jessna pressed her lips together. "I cannot say what my Lord will think about that."

Sienna shook her head. "You have the power of a daywalker, Jessna. That will be of use. My ability to travel the astral plane with Zoey gives me other advantages."

Jessna nodded. "If this is your wish, sire, I cannot deny you."

Sienna grinned. "I hoped you'd say that."

"Allow me to give you my number," Jessna added. "If you are in need, I will come to your aid."

Sienna grabbed her phone. She handed it to Jessna, and she tapped on the screen. Then, she handed Sienna's phone back to her.

"I will be watching. If my Lord or I detect any threats, we will inform you."

* * *

I shouldn't have been surprised to see my door off its hinges when we got back to my apartment. That had been Sienna's doing. After what Jessna had said about a battle coming and being targeted by all kinds of supernatural who-knew-whats, my gut sank when I saw my open apartment.

"Sorry about the door," Sienna told me. "I guess we should go buy a new one."

I nodded. "This time, we should probably get a metal door."

Sienna chuckled. "With super-duty hinges. You know, in case I'm ever in such a hurry again."

We stepped inside. I did a once-over, and it didn't appear that anyone had come in and stolen anything while we were gone. "Are you sure you have it under control now?"

Sienna shrugged. "I think so."

"You think so?"

"I mean, yes. I know so. It's just strange. I didn't run out of here because I was craving blood. You gave me enough to satisfy those urges. It was like something called me to Jessna. I had to be with her."

"Like, a mother's instinct?"

"If the relationship between a sire and her progeny is comparable to a mother-daughter relationship, then yes. It's sort of weird, though. Jessna and I are, like, the same age, give or take a year. It's not love that draws me to her. Not like you'd think a mother would have for a child. It's more like an urge, a need, an irrefutable responsibility."

"When you aren't a daywalker, when your brooch is activated, do you feel the same thing?"

Sienna shook her head. "Not in the slightest.”

Someone knocked on my wall. "We're coming in," my mom said. "No door. Can't keep us out anyway."

I chuckled as Josephine walked through the door. Kevin was right behind her.

"Would you mind telling us what the hell happened in there? You wouldn't say a word at the church."

"I'm sorry. I thought it would be better to talk about it here."

"It was my idea, actually," Sienna said. "Jessna could probably hear us talk. I didn't want to make things awkward in case you all don't buy what she's told me."

"What did she tell you?" Kevin asked.

I scratched my head. "Apparently, by reaping supernaturals, I've made enemies. She believes a battle is coming."

"What does that have to do with Jessna?" Kevin asked.

"Clarence isn't a vampire," Sienna said. "At least, she doesn't think he is. Whatever he is, he arranged all this. He chose Jessna and must've set up a contract with the Horseman to get us there."

"Why would he do that?" my mom asked. "I'm not going to pretend to believe he's not a vampire. That means he probably is up to something."

I shook my head. "That's not necessarily true, Mom. According to Jessna, whatever he is, he believes it's his duty to protect the people of Kansas City."

"Zoey is the most important weapon against supernatural threats that has ever been," Sienna interjected. "But now that so many different creatures, be they trolls, vampires, werewolves, or whatever, know about her, Clarence believes they’ll work together to eliminate her."

My mom clenched her fist, then screamed and slammed it into the wall. "Damn it, Zoey! I told you working with that jackass was a bad idea."

I pressed my lips together. "He's not the Assman, Mom. He's the Horseman. You shouldn't refer to him as a jackass."

My mom narrowed her eyes and poked me in the chest. "You know what I mean."

Kevin cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interfere, but—"

"This isn't your concern," my mom snapped.

"Excuse me," Kevin said. "It is my concern. Your daughter is a hero. If it wasn't for the Horseman and his contracts, many people would have died at the hands of various creatures."

My mom shook her head. "She's doing it for the money."

"I'm not!" I shouted. "The money is a nice perk, don't get me wrong. But Kevin is right. Do you realize, Mom, in the last contract we fulfilled before the one that took us to that church, we saved a child who was about to become a meal for trolls?"

My mom sighed. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you didn't! You were too busy giving me the silent treatment to pay a bit of attention to what Sienna and I have really been doing."

My mom shook her head. "That's not true. I have been watching you. I still have cameras in your apartment, remember."

I snorted. "You're still using those? Where are they?"

"They're inside your lightbulbs," Kevin informed me.

"Kevin!" My mom put her hands on her hips.

"She has a right to know," Kevin countered.

I nodded. "For what it's worth, if there really are supernatural monsters coming after us, surveillance might not be a bad idea."

"I wasn't spying on you, Zoey. Understand, I was just concerned."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I get it, Mom. Can we forget about that for now?

She took a deep breath. "Fine. First, though, I'd suggest we replace your door."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"I could use some help here," Kevin called as he held the new metal door up to the jamb.

"All right. What do I do?"

"I need you to screw the hinges in place."

I snorted. "All right. I've never screwed before. How do I do it?"

Kevin smirked. "I know better than that."

I blushed. "You most certainly do."

My mom sighed. "Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey."

I huffed. "I'm a generous person. I'm not tight. I'm certainly not loose."

My mom grinned. "It's how you screw."

"I don't screw loose or tight. I don't know what you're saying."

Kevin was laughing so hard he had to set to door down. Sienna was also laughing, covering her face with a pillow as she watched from the couch. She was wearing the brooch again. The blood was out of her system, and she was back to normal.

"Zoey, let me show you," Mom said. Kevin held up the door again.

She took a screw in one hand, a screwdriver in the other. "See, if you turn it to the right, it tightens. If I were to turn it counter-clockwise, to the left, the screw would loosen."

My eyes widened. "Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Makes sense now."

My mom chuckled. "I'd suggest getting one screw in each hinge first so Kevin can let go of the door. Then you can screw in the rest."

My mom handed me another screw and the screwdriver. I pushed the screw through one of the holes, lined up the screwdriver with the little plus-shape on the head of the screw, and turned it clockwise. "I did it! Thanks for teaching me how to screw, Mom!"

My mom snickered. "From the sound of it, you didn't need any lessons."

Kevin chuckled.

"Funny, Mom. You're a regular comedian."

My mom shrugged. "I'll be here all week."

"Lord, I hope not."

"Excuse me, Zoey?"

I laughed. "If you stay here all week, there will be no more screwing for sure."

My mom nodded. "Then you've given me motivation. I'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Mom! You can't be serious!"

My mom smiled. "I'm not staying here to prevent you two from screwing. I'm going to stay here in case any monsters decide to attack."

"Do you think they know where I live?"

Kevin cleared his throat. "Vampires attacked you here before, right? If supernaturals are communicating with each other to coordinate an attack, there's a good chance there are still vampires out there who know where you live and would be willing to share."

I bit my lip. "Technically, it wasn't vampires who attacked here. It was henchmen hired by Vlad. He is dead now."

"But Vlad knew," my mom countered. "It's likely his progeny has the same information."

I placed a screw in a hole in the bottom hinge and screwed it in. Kevin let go of the door. "Now you just have to add the extra screws in each hinge. There are already holes there from the previous door. I think the new hinges line up the same."

I handed Kevin the screwdriver and screws. "You don't have to hold the door now. I prefer it when you're the one who does the actual screwing."

Kevin snorted. "I guess I agree with that. Depending on what you're talking about, of course."

"I'm talking about door hinges, Kevin." I smirked. "What did you think I was talking about?"

My mom coughed in her hand. "No matter. If there really is a battle coming, I don't think we should wait for them to bring the fight to us."

"What are you suggesting?" I asked.

"What if we revisit the locations of the contracts you’ve completed and finish off any supernaturals who are still there?"

"We didn’t leave many behind," I replied.

"There were some trolls left in that cave," Sienna replied. "We were outnumbered. We took the victim out and left a few behind. We don't know how many."

"That's a start," my mom agreed. "I doubt the trolls are the brains behind any coordinated attack against you."

Sienna nodded. "They weren't the brightest crayons in the supernatural box."

"They didn't appear that way," I agreed. "But looks can be deceiving. They're smart enough to remain hidden and clever enough to abduct a human without getting caught."

"I need to report into the station in a couple of hours," Kevin told us. "I have other cases that need my attention."

I nodded. "We can handle it. Do you think you could get surveillance on the apartment just in case? I know we have cameras inside, but outside."

Kevin shook his head. "Not without an active case to justify it. It would raise too many eyebrows. Since we're involved, I'm sure you can imagine that it wouldn't look good to my supervisors if I was using police resources to provide unnecessary protection for my girlfriend."

I grinned. "So, they know about me?"

"Not yet, but I don’t intend to keep our relationship a secret forever. The prior case involving the traffickers is closed. Since that was the case you were a party to, it shouldn't be an issue to go public."

"Cool." I shrugged. "I guess that makes us officially official. You know, a couple."

"Aren't we a couple already?" Kevin asked.

I grinned and kissed Kevin on the cheek. "Of course we are."

Kevin blushed. "I have a couple more hours before my shift. Is there anything else around the apartment you'd like me to secure before I leave?"

"There's an awful draft from the windows," Sienna told him. "I don't know how much that has to do with the security of the place. It does make it awfully uncomfortable at times."

Kevin grinned. "Nothing I can't handle with a little caulk."

I narrowed my eyes. "You won't put your…you know, on my windows, Kevin."

"Caulk! C. A. U. L. K. It's a compound used to seal cracks. And my...thing isn't little!"

I narrowed my eyes. "I'll refrain from making any comment about that. I would recommend that you make sure to enunciate the L, though, when you tell the guy at the hardware store what you’re looking for."

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Where the hell is Cerberus? He could be a lot of help if we're taking the fight to the trolls."

Sienna shrugged. "I take it he didn't just give the hundred bucks to the restaurant owner and leave."

I shook my head. "Probably helped himself to another plate."

"Which means you're out another Benjamin Franklin."

I chuckled. "I'm guessing it'll be a lot more this time. I don't know why my dad couldn't have sent me a hellhound with less expensive taste."

"If he shows up before I leave, I'll send him your way."

I nodded. "Thanks, Kevin."

Kevin approached me and took my hand. He kissed it softly. "Be careful, Zoey."

I nodded. "I will. You, too."

Kevin tilted his head. "Why would I need to be careful?"

I shrugged. "Well, you're the one staying behind in a place we think could be a target."

Kevin nodded. "Fair point. I'll be in and out of here as soon as I get back with some...caulk."

I smirked. "Much better. See what difference proper pronunciation can make?"

I turned to leave. Sienna and my mom were going to follow me. I ran straight into a teenage boy in the hallway.

"Excuse me," the boy said. "Are you Miss Grimm?"

I nodded. "I am."

"Some dude paid me to give this to you." The boy handed me a rolled-up paper with a red ribbon tied around it.

"A contract?" Sienna asked.

"Looks that way." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few bills, then handed the boy a twenty. "Thank you for bringing this to me."

"Wow. Thank you, ma'am."

I nodded as the boy hurried back down the hall, down the stairs, and left the building. I slipped the ribbon off the paper and unrolled it.

Sienna looked over my shoulder as we read the order.

Undetermined supernatural threat. Investigate and eliminate.

At the bottom of the page was a deadline. We had twenty-four hours. He also included the rally point—the steps of the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.

"Undetermined? What the hell?" Sienna huffed.

I shook my head. "I think it means what we think it means. The Horseman, or at least the client who hired him, doesn't know what the hell they need eliminated. They just want it gone."

My mom sighed. "That doesn't sound good. I say we ignore it and head back to those caves and deal with the trolls as planned."

I shook my head. "No one is in danger from the trolls right now."

"You don't know if anyone is in danger from this anonymous threat, either."

"But we don't know that someone isn't in danger. We have to go after this...whatever it is. If there's any chance someone might be hurt, we have to follow through. So far, the Horseman hasn't given us a job we couldn't handle."

"Seriously? That last job you did saw Sienna get tricked into making another daywalker."

I shook my head. "That was a unique case. If Jessna was telling us the truth..."

"She was telling the truth," Sienna protested. "Don't ask me how I know. It's a gut feeling. She's my progeny. I'd know if she was deceiving me."

I nodded. "The point is, that was a unique circumstance. Every other contract we've fulfilled ended with at least one life saved. Chances are better than not that this will be no different. We have no choice but to go."

My mom sighed. "Think about this, Zoey. If these contracts you've done have made you enemies, all you're going to accomplish by taking out these random unknown supernaturals is make one more enemy who wants to take you down."

I shook my head. "You don't get it, Mom. Most Reapers take lives. Sure, they help people transition to the afterlife, but they're involved in the death business. I'm the opposite. I might be the only Reaper in history who saves lives."

"Human lives," my mom countered. "You're still harvesting supernatural souls."

I nodded. "I haven’t reaped anyone who didn't deserve it. Who hadn't killed innocent people. They won’t do so again."

My mom placed her hand on my shoulder. "I get it, Zoey. It's not that different from hunting vampires, and I've staked my share. We just have to be careful. Granted, most vampires are vile beasts. Even so, we cannot judge them for what they are. We must only act when we're certain their deeds deserve the stake or, in your case, the scythe."

"I know that, Mom. Sienna is a daywalker. She's basically a vampire. If I didn't agree with you, she wouldn't be my best friend and partner."

"Thanks!" Sienna interjected. "I appreciate the vote of confidence."

I smirked. "No problem."

"The point I'm making," my mom continued, "is you can't trust that just because you have a contract, whoever you’re hunting deserves to be reaped. Make sure it's justified before you kill something, even if that means you fail to fulfill the contract and won't get paid."

I cocked my head. "Is that why you've been so judgmental about us working with the Horseman? You think that if I'm paid, it will turn me into a contract killer without any concern for the target's innocence or guilt?"

My mom nodded. "It's not an unreasonable assumption, Zoey. Trust me, when you're getting paid the kind of money you are for these contracts, it's easy to come up with ways to justify your actions, even if those reasons aren't legit."

I sighed. "Give me a little credit, Mom. I know the difference between right and wrong. I wouldn't reap someone, no matter what they were, if they didn’t deserve it."

"I just had to say it, Zoey. You are the hunter right now, but if the warning Jessna gave you and Sienna is right, you'll soon be the hunted. I'm telling you that you need to be sure you're on the right side of the fight."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least I have you looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm doing the right thing. You know…since I obviously can't be trusted to know the difference."

Mom shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying, Zoey. My point is that sometimes, these situations aren't black and white. It's hard to tell the truth about a situation based on a few words on a contract and a brief survey. Things are not always as they appear."

I stared at my mom blankly. "When we took out the trolls, they were roasting a cat and had a kid in a cage that they intended to cook next. I'd say it was pretty clear-cut in that case."

"You were probably right in that instance," my mom agreed. "But you're still making assumptions. Consider this. Maybe they were cooking a cat because they didn't want to eat the kid. Maybe they'd saved the kid from human kidnappers. They knew the kid would be afraid of them, so they had no choice but to cage him while they arranged to return him to his parents."

I shrugged. "I don't think that was what was going on, Mom."

"The point is you didn’t know for sure. The people you thought were the kids’ parents, the people who hired you through the Horseman, could have been kidnappers. You don't know. if the trolls were the heroes, you might have thwarted their effort to save a kid's life."

"We're talking about trolls, Mom."

My mom shrugged. "How much experience do you have with trolls? How do you know they're evil?"

"They looked evil, and they were cooking a cat! They had a kid in a cage! Sure, you can concoct some bullshit story to justify what they were doing, but I think it's reasonable to assume that the kid was in danger."

"I'm not saying you were wrong in that case. The point is that you need to be sure you aren't making assumptions because of how a creature looks or what you think might be happening. In that case, you were dealing with a creature you had no experience with. You judged the trolls’ intentions based on their appearance and because you had blind trust in the Horseman. You trust him because you want to believe he's good. Otherwise, you couldn't justify taking his money."

I shook my head. "I don't need to listen to this crap. Come on, Sienna. Let's do this. Mom, it's up to you if you come or not. If you come, I expect you to help. Or, at least, stay out of our way."

My mom nodded. "I won't get in your way. I didn't mean to offend you, Zoey. I'm just encouraging you to exercise caution when making assumptions, especially when you're hunting a creature you know nothing about."

I pressed my lips together and nodded. "All right. Well, we're taking Sienna's car. Since we don't know what we're dealing with, we need to have the space in case there's anyone to rescue."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The contract indicated the creatures we were to eliminate were on a cattle ranch an hour east of Kansas City. It was odd that the target and the rally point were so far apart. Usually, the Horseman chose a rally point closer to the target. Given that the contract only indicated that we were to eliminate the threat, I suppose it made sense that he chose a rally point a little closer to home.

Just because the contract didn't indicate rescuing anyone didn't mean there wouldn't be people there we needed to save. It didn't have any bearing on the contract, though. The primary objective was to eliminate the creature or creatures on the ranch, whatever they might be.

There was only one thing I knew we could rule out. It wasn't going to be a full moon night. That meant it wasn't werewolves. A werewolf could be quite a nuisance on a cattle ranch. I didn't know what else I'd encountered that might cause problems on a ranch. It didn't fit a vampire's MO. We had twenty-four hours, which suggested we didn't have to hunt these creatures at night. Trolls were a possibility. They ate kitty cats. Maybe they had a hankering for red meat, too. Still, if it was trolls and the Horseman knew it, he'd have said so.

Investigate and eliminate. That was the task at hand.

The sun was half an hour from setting when we arrived. We parked along a gravel road that ran parallel to a field that must've covered a hundred acres. The sunset cast an orange glow just beyond a row of trees on the opposite side of the field.

There were several dozen cattle grazing the countryside. A pillar of smoke rose above the trees in the distance.

I pointed at it. "We should check that out. If there's anything here, perhaps it's responsible for the fire."

Sienna nodded. "I agree. Since we don't know what we're dealing with, we should use the astral plane."

I turned to my mom. "You won’t be able to follow us."

She shook her head. "You don't hunt vampires for more than two decades without learning how to go stealth. I don’t have any magical devices to assist, but I can navigate the forest without being seen."

I sighed. "But we don't know what we're dealing with, Mom. You know how to hide from vampires. What if this creature, whatever we're hunting, can sense you some other way?"

"I'll lag behind. You two investigate whoever or whatever is around the fire. I'll watch from afar in case you need backup."

I scratched my head. "I don't know, Mom. It's still a risk. We don't know if what we're looking for is near the fire, nor do we have a clue how many there might be."

Josephine grinned. "I can handle myself, Zoey."

I nodded. "So can I, Mom."

"I never suggested you couldn't."

I raised the hood of my cloak, Sienna touched her brooch, and we took off across the fields. If we weren't on the astral plane, I would have stepped in many cow pies along the way. My mom didn't have the same advantage. I saw her shake her foot and chunks of dung flying off it.

I chuckled.

"Come on," Sienna urged. "She'll be fine."

I nodded. We moved through the field and beyond the tree line. I was surprised by how thick the forest was. A red glow caught my eye deep within the woods. It must've been the fire that was producing the smoke we saw before. I moved toward it, Sienna at my side.

I didn't see any flames. If there was a fire, I'd expect to see light flickering in the treetops. Instead, it was a constant glow. Smoke billowed around it.

When we got closer, I saw a massive crack in the earth. The smoke was so thick I doubt I could have breathed if I wasn't on the astral plane.

Something moved through the smoke. It whipped around in an erratic motion, slithering its way through the smoke toward me.

A face appeared—a female face. It screamed, and I placed my hands over my ears. The face disappeared.

"What the hell?" Sienna asked.

I shook my head. "No clue. I've never seen anything like it."

I looked down into the crack. Something like magma bubbled toward the surface.

"Volcanic activity in Missouri?" I asked. "You've lived here longer than I. Have you ever heard of something like that?"

"Never." Sienna shook her head. Then she pointed straight ahead.

I looked in the direction Sienna was pointing. A figure stepped toward us. As she drew near, the smoke around her cleared. She was breathing it in with no ill effects. She wore a red cowl and sash and a white robe. Her eyes were fixed on me.

"Who are you? You can see me?"

"Of course I can. You are the daughter of Azrael, are you not?"

I snorted. "Who's asking?"

"I am the Oracle. I speak on behalf of the gods."

I cocked my head. "All of them?"

"At times. Today, I speak for Athena."

Another wispy figure appeared behind the Oracle. It shot past her, and like the one before, charged after me and screamed in my face before it disappeared.

I took two steps back. "What the hell was that?"

"It is a banshee," the Oracle explained. "A herald of death."

"Who is going to die?"

"The banshee does not guarantee death. She only harkens that death draws near one of you who has approached us. It may yet be prevented."

I clenched my fist. "My mom?"

"Athena would not wish it so. The goddess favors Josephine, as she does you."

"Then who is trying to kill her?"

"Another of the gods. An enemy of Athena."

"Which one?"

The Oracle shook her head. "I cannot say. I speak only for Athena."

"Why would a god want my mom dead?"

"The god only seeks to eliminate you, but you brought her here."

"I don't see a Reaper. Is one coming?"

The Oracle shook her head. "I do not believe so."

"Then we can still save her?"

The Oracle nodded. "You can, and you must. But above all else, you must not allow yourself to be taken or killed."

"Sounds like a solid plan. Don't die. Got it."

Sienna asked, "So, you're here to warn us? There's something else in these woods trying to kill us?"

The Oracle nodded. "To warn you and to give you this charge. You must persist in your work. You must continue to reap as many as you might. A battle is coming. Those who might be your enemies today, those whom you reap, might soon become your allies."

I snorted. "I don't understand. Does the Horseman have something to do with this?"

"The one you call the Horseman is an agent of Athena. He knows not the goddess' greater purpose, but he serves her will. You must heed his guidance."

"You're saying I should continue fulfilling the contracts he's giving me."

The Oracle nodded. "You must."

"But I'm told a battle is coming. The creatures I've killed are rallying against me."

"You must stand against them, daughter of Azrael. You must defeat them, that in their reaping, they might serve the will of Athena."

"What is the will of Athena?"

"This is not for you to know."

"Bullshit! If I'm supposed to be killing all these creatures to serve her purpose, I deserve to know why."

The Oracle shook her head. "I can only reveal what has been given to me to tell."

"What am I dealing with here? I need to know what I'm facing."

"It does not matter. You have all you need to defy the god who opposes you."

I grunted. "So, I'm supposed to defy one god and serve another one without any sense of what they're fighting over or why I should be loyal to one over the other?"

"It was Athena who gave you your gift. You cannot deny her without also denying who you are."

"How am I supposed to know I'm one of the good guys? If I'm playing a part in a war between the gods, who is to say that I'm fighting on the right side?"

"All you've been asked to do is what is right. You are saving lives, are you not? Would a malevolent god give you such a task?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"The goddess who called you, who made you, fights on behalf of humankind. This is all you need to know."

I scratched my head. "But you're an oracle. You're just revealing whatever Athena wants you to say."

"Then, perhaps, you must act on faith. Will you deny the chance the goddess has given you to save lives? To save your mother's life?"

I shook my head. "I couldn't do that."

"Then go. I cannot remain here much longer. My spirit falters."

"Your spirit? You're a ghost?"

"I was once the Oracle at Delphi. I have remained on the Earth as a spirit for centuries."

"So, you were never reaped. You're a wandering ghost?"

"Those you call ghosts wander without purpose. I serve a purpose. Go now, Azrael's daughter. The beast approaches."

The earth shook under my feet as the magma-filled crevice closed. The Oracle vanished. The smoke cleared.

My mother screamed.

I ran toward her. Sienna followed me. The orange light of the setting sun barely illuminated our path.

Something large loomed in the distance. It had the body of a bull but the torso of a man. It held a long spear in its hand.

"What the hell?" Sienna asked.

I grunted. I knew what this was from my courses at the Reaper Academy. The Minotaur was an abomination to many of the gods. I had been under the impression he'd been killed by an ancient hero named Theseus. Apparently, the story wasn't true, or perhaps this wasn't the same Minotaur.

I pressed the sigil on my wrist. My scythe formed in my hand, blazing with fire. I charged after the creature. He turned.

"Zoey!" my mother screamed. "Run!"

The Oracle had told me this thing wanted me dead. It was going after my mom like a consolation prize. When he saw me, he charged after me with a fury.

He threw his spear at me. I somersaulted out of the way, nearly dropping my scythe in the process.

The Minotaur ran past me and turned again. I got a better look at the monster this time. The man's torso was riddled with muscles. He looked like one of those bodybuilders who'd been hitting the steroids for too long. Though, from what I'd read about the effects of anabolic steroids, it diminished the size of one's testicles. This bull clearly hadn't experienced that side effect.

The Minotaur opened his mouth and screamed. His voice wasn't human. It was like thunder, and it shook the ground.

"Sienna!" I shouted.

I turned. She was by my mom. She'd removed her brooch. She bit my mom's wrist.

"What the hell?"

The Minotaur charged me again. He didn't have his spear this time. I still had my scythe. The beast must've weighed a thousand pounds. Given his momentum and speed, reaping him was going to be a challenge. Even if I managed to reap him, his body would crush me before he turned to ash.

I gripped my scythe. I'd have to move fast. Strike him and get the hell out of Dodge. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but I had to try.

I widened my stance. A blur blew past me. Sienna collided with the Minotaur. The beast stumbled. Sienna's daywalker strength wasn't enough to knock him off his feet.

"Now, Zoey!" Sienna screamed.

I swung my scythe and caught the Minotaur at the spot where his bull half met his human half.

The monster shouted, his voice again rattling the ground under my feet.

I took a few steps back as the Minotaur's body toppled. Golden energy blasted from my scythe. The power of the explosion knocked me down.

Sienna stood over me, grinning. She extended a hand and helped me to my feet.

"Nice work, Zoey."

I shook my head. "You, too. You all right?"

"I had just enough sunlight to activate my powers. I don't know what's going to happen. The sun is setting."

As the sun dropped past the horizon, Sienna's black eyes rolled back, and her knees buckled. I caught her before she hit the ground.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed.

My mom approached. She had a piece of fabric she'd torn from her shirt wrapped around her wrist.

"Mom! Are you okay?"

"I think so. I don't think I'm changing."

"You let her bite you?"

"I suggested it, Zoey. I knew it was a risk. I've been bitten before, but never by a daywalker."

"You've been bitten by vampires?"

My mom nodded. "Many times. I can't be turned, Zoey."

"You can't?"

My mom shook her head. "Consider it a gift from Athena."

"Speaking of Athena..."

"That was the Oracle, was it not?"

I nodded. "It was. You've seen her before?"

"She was the one through whom the goddess spoke to me after you were born. It makes sense now why we were sent here, to a cow field."

"Does it?"

"There was a bull in the woods near where I was before. It had been sacrificed. I suppose it was done to evoke the Minotaur."

I nodded. "That means someone else was here."

"We should find out what this Horseman knows."

I nodded. "About him. The Oracle said we should trust him. She wants me to kill as many supernatural creatures as possible. He's supposed to help me find them."

My mom cocked her head. "Why would Athena want that?"

"She said that those I reaped would eventually become an army necessary to win a coming war with one of the other gods."

"I don't know what that means. Did she tell you anything else?"

I sighed. "I asked why I should trust her. She said reaping creatures would save human lives. She said Athena fights on behalf of humanity."

My mom looked worried. "Then whatever god she's at war with must be an enemy of mankind."

I shrugged. "She didn't say that, but it's a reasonable assumption. But you know, Mom, you're the one who told me not to make assumptions."

My mom grinned. "I suppose you're right. Still, I've followed Athena's will for years now, hoping to prepare you for this. I thought it was just to fight vampires, but it sounds like there's something bigger going on that could have a much greater impact on the world."

"Do you have Sienna's brooch?"

My mom held out her hand. "I do."

I took the brooch and pinned it on Sienna's chest. "I think after all that exertion, now that the sun has set, she'll sleep until morning at least. We still have to meet the Horseman at the art museum."

"Carrying Sienna back to the car is going to be a task. I suppose you'd like my help."

I chuckled. "Take her legs. I'll hold her under her arms. One more thing, too."

"What's that?"

I snickered. "Try not to step in cow shit this time."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

We fished the car keys out of Sienna's pocket and carefully placed her in the passenger seat in a reclined position. My mom insisted it was safer than laying her across the back seat. She was probably right.

We rock-paper-scissored to see who got to drive and who had to sit in the back seat. I lost. Since Sienna was reclined, I was stuck behind the driver's seat. The girl drove one of those small economy cars. It boasted great gas mileage and very little backseat legroom. I suppose it was for the best. While I knew my way around the city, we were out in the country. My mom was a lot more familiar with the rural communities and suburbs surrounding Kansas City.

The Nelson-Atkins Art Museum was one of the best-kept secrets in Kansas City. It had original paintings by some of the world's most renowned artists. When I first came to Earth, I spent quite a bit of time there learning about how Earth culture had evolved. Sure, I'd learned a lot about it at the Reaper Academy. Seeing the brushstrokes of Monet and Van Gogh, though, made everything feel more real than before.

I did get kicked out once when I walked across what I thought was nothing but obnoxious floor tiles. They were placed in front of what looked like a plain black canvas with a single white line on it. Apparently, the painting and the tiles I stood on were priceless works of so-called "modern art."

The museum's very architecture was victim to this nonsensical "modern art" movement. The large park on either side of the museum was designed to make the place look like a game of badminton from the bird's-eye perspective. "Birdies" that were a hundred feet tall were mounted at strange angles throughout the park. The Horseman was supposed to meet us beneath one of them.

My mom parked the car.

"I'll stay with her. I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone like this. There's much we still don't know about her condition."

I nodded. "I assumed you'd want to speak to the Horseman."

"I would. If what the Oracle told you is correct, I suspect I'll have plenty of opportunities to speak to him. Perhaps, you could bring him back to the car so we can discuss what's happened."

"I can ask. He doesn’t linger in one place longer than necessary. Usually after our meetings, he vanishes in thin air."

"That was before we knew what the Oracle revealed about who he is. I imagine there's a lot more to talk about now."

I stepped out of the car. "I'll be right back."

I checked the first birdie. He wasn't there. I went to the next one. The Horseman wasn't there either. I double-checked the contract we'd received before we went to the cattle ranch. Technically, it was a twenty-four-hour job. We'd done it in just a few. Maybe he didn't expect us so soon. He didn't indicate a time to meet at the rally point. He usually didn't. He just knew the job was done.

How he knew when to meet us was one of the many mysteries surrounding the Horseman. Since he could appear and disappear as if he had the ability to travel the astral plane as I did, there was always a chance he'd observed us on the job.

Then again, if he had traveled the astral plane, I would have seen him when I did the same. However, Cerberus could travel through dimensions beyond the earthly or the astral. He could also move through the celestial and infernal realms. If the Horseman was an agent of Athena, perhaps he had a way of moving in and out of the Olympian plane of existence comparable to Cerberus’.

None of that was going to help at the moment. I returned to the car and climbed into the back seat.

"He isn't here. I'll come back later. For now, we should take Sienna home to rest."

I was tired, too. Hauling Sienna out of the woods, even with my mom's help, wasn't an easy task. Back at the apartment, I had to help her carry Sienna up the stairs.

Again, I carried Sienna under the arms. Of course, my mom made me walk backward. My butt muscles were burning by the time we made it to the top.

"It's about time you came back," a familiar voice stated.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Jessna?"

"I come with a request from my Lord."

"Clarence?" I asked.

Jessna nodded.

My mom and I rested Sienna against the wall. I pulled out my keys and picked out the shiny one that had come with the new door's locks. I unlocked and opened the door. Jessna helped my mom and me carry Sienna inside. We laid her on the couch.

"What did Clarence want you to tell us?" I asked.

Jessna reached into her jacket and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper tied with a red ribbon.

I cocked my head. "Is this always the way he delivers messages?"

Jessna shrugged. "I suggested envelopes. He seems to prefer the scrolls."

"Let me see it."

Jessna handed me the paper. I slipped off the ribbon and unrolled it. "This is the same handwriting as the Horseman's."

My mom raised an eyebrow. "Clarence is the Horseman?"

Jessna smiled. "He is the one who has been giving you contracts. He's sent many representatives of the First Light to deliver his messages."

I examined the scroll more carefully. "This is a list of targets. Dozens of them. Complete with locations."

"Did he give you a rally point?" my mom asked. "A place where you should meet him when it's done?"

I shook my head. "There is no rally point. Tell me, Jessna. Where is Clarence now?"

Jessna shook her head. "He said he had to leave. He didn't say where he was going. He only insisted that I deliver this to you. He said you'd know what to do.”

I scratched my chin and looked around my apartment. “Cerberus? You here?“

No answer.

Clarence, the “Horseman,” was gone. Cerberus was too. In neither case did I know why. Perhaps Cerberus would show up later. I don’t know what it was, but my gut told me that something was wrong. If both Clarence and Cerberus could navigate between the Olympian and earthly planes of existence, was there something about their shared unique ability that they both had to leave with little or no notice?

Clarence had known he was leaving. That was why he had written up this contract—really a list of several contracts in abbreviated form—and had Jessna deliver it.

Cerberus hadn’t done or said anything that suggested he wouldn’t be right back. He rarely was gone for more than an hour or two. This time, he’d been gone for the better part of a day.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"So, where do we start?" Jessna asked.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "We go to bed."

"What? Seriously? What's on that list? Ghouls? Goblins? Little green men?"

"First, I think 'little green men' refers to aliens. I can't reap aliens. At least, I don't think I can. Not unless they're supernatural aliens. Second, the term ‘ghouls’ is pretty broad, and I've never seen a goblin. Don't know if they exist. Third, I'm tired, and I'm not doing a thing until Sienna has recovered."

Jessna shook her head and sat next to Sienna on the couch. She ran her fingers through Sienna's hair. "She'll be fine."

I nodded. "I expect she will, but she needs her sleep. Doesn't this happen to you, too?"

Jessna shrugged. "I haven't used much of the extra strength my new nature gives me. Besides, I think we're different. I'm not constantly shifting back and forth. During the daytime, I'm what you call a daywalker. At night, I don't become human again. I'm more like a run-of-the-mill vampire."

"So, it's different for those Sienna turns than it is for her?"

Jessna sighed. "I don't know any more than you do. Clarence was the one who believed she was the key I needed to evolve and change."

I furrowed my brow. "Why? So you could help me reap all these creatures on my list?"

"Possibly. He didn't say."

"Most of what's on the scroll, I've faced before. He wants me to finish off the trolls, which I was planning to do anyway. There are a couple of vampires. I don't know how I'm going to reap a banshee. I just encountered my first one, and it didn't seem like the sort of thing you could kill. I'm not sure how much help you'd be. No offense."

Jessna pressed her hands together. "All I know is that whatever my Lord intends, there is a reason. We must see it through. All will be revealed in time."

"Yeah. About that. You have a place to sleep, right?"

"I do not require sleep. Unlike my sire, I remain vampiric in one form or another. Sleep is a luxury, not a requirement."

"You realize," my mom interjected, "that I've been killing vampires since before you were born, right?"

Jessna turned to Josephine. "I'm well aware of that, but I do not believe you harbor any ill will toward me."

"You're right. Let's make sure it stays that way."

"Was that a threat?" Jessna asked.

Mom shook her head. "Just an honest admission. If you misbehave or your vampirism poses a problem, I will do what I have to."

"Mom! Rude much?"

Jessna raised her hand. "It goes without saying. I would expect nothing less. No matter. I have duties to attend to at the temple."

"What duties?" I asked.

Jessna shrugged. "We have regular gatherings. I am their prophetess, the one who speaks on behalf of my Lord. I have a message from him intended for them as well."

"What does it say?"

Jessna shrugged. "It is forbidden to open my Lord's scrolls apart from the occasion for which it is meant. That was why I knew nothing about what the scroll I gave you said until you opened it. You are most welcome to join us tonight, Zoey, if you'd like to hear what our Lord has to tell us."

I sighed. "I don't know. I'm tired. Can't you just fill me in on the details tomorrow?"

"If the message from my Lord permits it. For all I know, he might send us all on a great journey."

I snorted. "Well, can't have that."

My mom reached into my refrigerator and pulled out an energy drink. "Take one of these with you. You can always sleep tomorrow."

I shook my head, grabbed the drink off the counter, and cracked it open. I took a sip. "It'll have to do for now. Tomorrow, though, don't wake me up. Will you stay with Sienna, Mom?"

She nodded. "I will."

"If Cerberus shows up, shoot me a text. I'm getting worried."

"Of course, Zoey. I imagine that whatever he's up to, he'll be fine."

I took a deep breath. "I sure hope so. If we're going to reap the monsters from the list, I could really use his help. Besides, I miss the little fella."

My mom chuckled. "Little?"

I shrugged. "Depends on his mood."

"Who is this Cerberus you speak of?" Jessna asked.

I smiled. "He's a hellhound. Also, I suppose you could say he's one of my partners."

Jessna narrowed her eyes. "Intriguing. A hellhound, you say?"

I nodded. "It's a long story. He can traverse the realms because he and his kind were created to guard the gates of Hades and the underworld. They are meant to ensure that those who belong in one of those places remain there."

"To prevent people from breaking out of hell?"

"In a matter of speaking. Or to stop people from breaking in?"

"Who would want to break into hell?"

I shrugged. "I don't have a clue, but I believe Cerberus is supposed to prevent that from happening. Hellhounds have three heads. One dominates here on Earth. Another in Hades, or hell. The third in Olympus or what you call heaven. I believe his true purpose is to guard the divide between the various planes of existence and ensure that everything remains in its place."

Jessna scratched her head. "Well, that’s fascinating. If he returns, I'd very much like to meet him."

I smiled. "I'm sure that can be arranged. Come on, let's go. What do you say we take the bike?"

Jessna looked apprehensive. "I've never ridden on a motorcycle."

"You never drank blood before either until recently, I'm guessing. There's a first time for everything."

Jessna grinned. "All right. Let's go!"

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

There's something unsettling about allowing a vampire to ride behind you on a motorcycle, the proximity of fangs to neck being the primary concern. After all, Jessna was new to this whole bloodsucking thing. The way Sienna behaved when she changed suggested that cravings were intense for young vamps.

There was something different about Jessna. By day, she was a daywalker like Sienna. By night, she was indiscernible from any other vampire, at least by nature. By behavior, she didn't act like any other vampire I'd met. Apart from all the "my Lord" this and "First Light" that, she was strikingly normal.

The parking lot at the church was full. Whatever Jessna was supposed to do, a lot of people were expecting her.

Jessna led me around back to a single door. She retrieved a key from her pocket, unlocked the door, and gestured for me to step in ahead of her.

The entry opened into a small hallway. I waited for Jessna to close and lock the door and followed her down the hall through another door to an office. There was an oak desk in the middle of the room, a leather-back chair behind it, and empty bookshelves around the room's perimeter.

"This used to be the minister's study," Jessna said. "It's where Clarence leaves me messages to deliver to the congregation."

Jessna pulled out a drawer in the front of the desk and retrieved three scrolls, all held together by Clarence's signature red ribbon. Attached to each ribbon was a tag. They were numbered one through three.

Jessna grabbed the first scroll.

"I take it you're supposed to read those in order?"

Jessna nodded. "I'd guess so. Clarence has never left me more than a single scroll. Usually, he leaves the instructions here when I'm gone. I follow them the best I can."

"Why does he do that? Can't he just tell you what he wants you to do?"

"I have only seen him four or five times."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're his prophetess or whatever, and you've seen him fewer times than you can count on one hand?"

Jessna nodded. "It's true."

"And you were willing to leave behind the life you'd planned to serve the First Light at the behest of someone you'd barely met?"

"I was."

"But you had a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious university. That couldn't have been easy to turn down."

Jessna smirked. "I see someone has done her homework."

I shrugged. "Sienna does the digging on our contracts."

"Hundreds of young people receive scholarships every year. How often does someone get the chance to change the course in a war that could alter the history of the world?"

I shook my head. "What war? Since we met you, all we've heard about are battles that are coming. So far, I have to be honest, none of the supernaturals I've reaped seemed prepared for any kind of battle. They were all trying to live out their lives discreetly. They were terrified of me."

"I don't know, Zoey. I wish I could tell you more. All I know is that when I'm given a message, it's my responsibility to pass it along to the congregation of First Light."

I shook my head. "I still find it hard to believe you'd leave so much behind for something you know so little about. How can you be confident that what you're doing is going to change the world for the better?"

Jessna grinned as she examined the first of her three scrolls. "All will be revealed in good time."

I snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

Jessna re-rolled scroll number one, slipped it into her pocket, and opened the second one. "What did the first scroll say?"

"It said to read the second one to the congregation and open the third after you've completed your contract."

I bit my lip. "Why don't you take a peek?"

Jessna grinned. "I cannot examine the scroll until the proper time, Zoey."

I shrugged. "Why not? Who will know?"

"He will know."

"How will he know? He isn't even here."

"He always knows."

I huffed. "What the hell is he?"

"I told you. He's more than a vampire. He's more than a man. He could be both or neither. I don't know what he is. I only know his intentions are good, and his word is true."

I pressed my lips together. "Spoken like a true cultist."

Jessna grinned. "You might want to go take your seat. Tonight will be momentous."

"Care to give me a heads-up? What's that scroll say?"

"I cannot tell you. You must hear the Word of Clarence when it is revealed to the First Light."

"Come on. I'm not a member of your little church."

"We do not have an official membership. You are a part of our calling, regardless of what you believe."

I snorted. "Whatever. Let's get this over with."

Jessna nodded. "Very well. I need a few moments alone to prepare."

I took a deep breath. "All right."

I made my way out of what used to be a minister's study and down a musty-smelling hallway to a door that opened to the sanctuary. I knew it opened to the sanctuary because a small brown placard fastened to the door said Sanctuary. I figured the sign was a solid clue.

I opened the door. Surprise. There was the sanctuary. Hundreds of eyes fixed on me as I strolled across the stage. I suppose they weren't used to seeing anyone other than their so-called "Prophet" emerge from that door. I shouldn't have been startled to see furrowed brows and tilted heads as I made my way across the stage, down the stairs, and toward one of the empty front-row seats where I'd sat with Sienna.

"Hi, Zoey!"

I winced as I turned around. "Hey. Sunshine, right?"

"Yup! I'm so glad you came back! Where is the One?"

I snorted. "You're referring to Jessna?"

"No. She's the Prophet. I mean the One who came to complete the Prophet's ascent."

I snorted. "She's sleeping. It's been a long day."

"Goddesses sleep?"

I tilted my head. "Sienna isn't a goddess. Is that what you were told?"

Sunshine shrugged. "Not in so many words, but the prophecies spoke of the goddess we were soon to serve. Most of us believe she was here."

I shook my head. "Nope. Don't think so. Does this goddess you're expecting have a name?"

"Not one we've been told," Sunshine tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. When she did, I saw two puncture wounds on her wrist.

I squinted. "What happened to your wrist?"

Sunshine pressed her lips together. "You weren't given the blessing?"

I snorted. "What blessing?"

"Everyone here has received the blessing. After the previous ceremony, we who were chosen to remain in the First Light were marked."

"You seriously didn't see who did that?"

Sunshine showed me both wrists. Each had identical puncture wounds. They were the same ones Jessna had had.

Sunshine started to speak, but something distracted her. I followed her eyes toward the front of the room. Jessna appeared, wearing white robes. "Please rise," she began. "Hear the word of our Lord."

Everyone stood up. I stood too. I didn't want to be the only one who wasn't standing.

Jessna extended her arms and started to speak.

"A candle in a lit room offers little light. The same flame in darkness will fill the room. To embrace the light, you must first be consumed by darkness. To enter the First Light, you must first succumb to the dark night of the soul. Tonight, you shall ascend. Each of you has been chosen, but you must first traverse the path of shadows. May all who are willing to accept this gift extend their arms as a signal to our Lord that you are ready to follow his lead through the darkness to the one who bears the scepter of light."

I looked around. Everyone in the room extended their arms to the side. It was mildly comical since most of the people in the church were packed in their pews like sardines. Most of the cultists had to stagger their extended arms in front of those who stood beside them on either side.

I didn't follow suit. I wasn't eager to follow this path, whatever it was, that the rest of the cult seemed ready to embrace.

I fixed my gaze on Jessna. She glanced at me briefly before raising her hands with everyone else. She closed her eyes.

All the lights went out. The room went black.

I reached for my phone. I wasn't about to miss whatever the hell was going to happen, and it was the only light source I had. No sooner did I grab it than something struck my hand, and my phone went flying.

"What the fuck?" My words came out louder than I’d anticipated. No one seemed to notice. Instead, a rush of wind blew past me and around the room. Through the darkness, I heard moans and sighs. It gave me the distinct sense that I wasn't in a church but on the set of an adult film. The moans spread across the room like a wave.

Someone grabbed my hand.

"Come with me." I recognized Jessna's voice. "You must take your place."

"My place?"

"You will know what to do."

"What the hell is happening?"

Jessna didn't respond. "Stand here. You'll find out soon enough. Do for all those gathered what only you can do."

I snorted. "You don't mean..."

Before I finished my sentence, the lights came back on. I found myself standing in the middle aisle of the church, surrounded by people with dark eyes. Some of them had open mouths. They had fangs.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" I shouted. "You're all vampires now?"

I was of half a mind to hightail it out of there. The problem? People filled the aisle in the front and in the back, blocking any path I had to flee. I was surrounded.

Jessna told me to do what only I could do. That could only mean one thing, but I hesitated. Was I playing right into her hand? Was this the First Light cult's idea of a mass suicide? Become vampires and get reaped? The vampires all held their arms out as they had before and closed on me.

I had a choice. I could comply and reap every damn one of them, or I could refuse and risk becoming vampire chow.

It wasn't much of a choice. Even if I refused and managed to survive, there'd be hundreds of freshly turned vampires loose in the city.

I pressed the sigil on my wrist. My scythe formed in my hand.

"The scepter of light!" a cultist-turned-vampire declared.

One of them ran at me. I swiped my blade at her, catching the girl in the chest. A shower of gold energy exploded from my scythe.

"Yes, it's our path to the First Light!" another cultist declared behind me.

I pivoted and reaped him, too.

The bodies of the two I'd reaped fell to the floor and turned to ash. Before I was done, this place was going to be so full of ash that I didn't know if I'd be able to see through it, much less breathe. I didn't see any alternative, though.

One after another, the cultists broke ranks and threw themselves at my scythe. I reaped so many of them that the thrill I usually experienced on reaping faded. It got tedious, but what else could I do? They weren't trying to bite me. They wanted to be reaped.

"You don't have to do this!" I screamed.

No one paid any attention. The reapings went on until the air was thick with ash.

I could barely breathe. I needed my cloak, but I'd left it at the apartment.

"Jessna! Where are you?"

She didn't answer. I hadn't reaped her. I'd have noticed if she'd approached. Had she left? I covered my face with my arm and charged toward the double doors at the back of the church.

I opened them, and the wind sucked a cloud of ash out of the room and into the air. I took a deep breath as I coughed the detritus out of my lungs.

I almost hurled. The thought of breathing vampire ash turned my stomach. I ran toward the door we’d entered on our arrival. It was open. I peered inside.

"Jessna! Are you in there?"

No response.

She was gone. For the second time, I found myself leaving that damned church feeling used. That was what you got for trusting a cultist. Now I had to make up my mind. I still had a contract from Clarence waiting for me at the apartment, a list of supernaturals I was supposed to reap.

Clarence was clearly behind what had happened with the cult. He was aligned with Athena. That must've been the goddess Sunshine had spoken of, even if she didn't know it. My mom had been given her task by the same goddess—to become a vampire slayer and learn all she could to prepare me for when my time arrived.

All this time, I’d thought my purpose was to save the world from Vlad, Katerina, and the rest who'd had their sights set on taking over. Now, it seemed that had been little more than a detour on the way toward fulfilling some greater plan that had been in the works since before I was born.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It was almost two in the morning when I got back to the apartment. I looked around. Sienna was still conked out on the couch. Still no Cerberus. I stumbled to my bedroom.

I sighed. My freaking mom was in my bed, sprawled across the whole damn thing. Thankfully, I had a queen-size bed. I hadn’t realized how big it was when I ordered it. When I first came to Earth, I needed a bed. The furniture store I’d called had offered me several sizes. Since I'd grown up as a princess, "queen" seemed to fit. That was what princesses eventually became, and I was the queen of the mighty domain that was my apartment, so that was what I got.

I wasn't about to sleep on the floor. After all I'd been through in the last twenty-four hours, I was going to sleep in my own damn bed.

I pushed my mom over.

"What the hell?" she asked.

"You’re in my bed. Move."

"No. Go sleep on the couch."

"Sienna is on the couch. This is my bed. Move over. Sharing is caring or some shit."

My mom grunted, grabbed the blankets, and rolled over. I laid down, grabbed the blankets back, and yanked them across my body.

My mom tried to pull them back again. I held on tight. "Sharing is caring, damn it!"

Eventually, we arrived at a compromise. My mom got a little more sheet, and I had the better part of the comforter. If it had been any other night, the sensation of the comforter on my toes without a sheet separating my feet from the blanket would have driven me crazy. Tonight, I was so exhausted that I didn't much care. I'm not sure how long it took. A minute, maybe. The next thing I knew, something tugged on my blanket.

I rolled over and grabbed my phone. Five in the freaking morning. I looked down.

"Cerberus?"

"Get up! I have things to tell you."

"Good lord, Cerberus. I'm tired. We can talk about it when I wake up. You know, in the afternoon."

I felt something wet on the bottom of my foot.

"Yuck! Are you licking my foot? Stop it, you weirdo!"

"Get up, Zoey! We have things to talk about."

I groaned. "What kinds of things?"

"Things!"

"Meh." I rolled back over and pulled my blanket over my face. I didn't have any resistance. I noticed my mom was gone.

"Hey, Cerberus. Where's my mom?"

"She went to get coffee from Cup-O-Joe's. Come on. Get up!"

I sighed. "I'm going to need it."

I slid my feet off the side of the bed and wiped the dog saliva off my foot onto the carpet. So gross. Dogs were weird. Butt-sniffing. Foot-licking. Sock-chewing. If there was something I found repulsive, Cerberus craved it, apart from Brussel sprouts. Neither of us liked Brussel sprouts. I was sure there were plenty of other things we shared a distaste for, but I was too tired to think of any.

I waddled from my bed to the bathroom. My hair was so frizzled that if I had a singing voice, I could have joined an eighties hair band.

I splashed some water on my face, then stared at myself in the mirror for ten seconds for no reason. My eyes were bloodshot. I looked like I'd just come off a bender.

I heard a key turn in the door, then three voices: Sienna, my mom, and Kevin. Shit! No, no, no, no, no. Kevin could not see me like this.

"Hey, Zoey, you up?" Sienna asked.

"Nope!" I shouted back.

"Then how'd you know to respond?"

"I'm talking in my sleep. Leave me alone for, like, thirty minutes."

Sienna opened the bedroom door and made her way to my bathroom.

"Holy shit!" Sienna exclaimed. "Rough night?"

I tilted my head. "You should know. You slept half the day yesterday."

"I feel great now! I could take on the world!"

"I went with Jessna to one of her cult meetings last night."

"How'd that go?" Sienna asked, taking a sip of her coffee. "Oh, sorry. There’s one for you on the table."

I nodded. "Thanks. I need it. To answer your question, it went as wrong as it could. Jessna had gotten some scrolls from Clarence, a prophecy to read and another one to fulfill after we complete our contract."

"What did it say?"

"She wouldn't open the last one until the proper time. I don't get why not. She tried to explain, but whatever. The point is, she read the first prophecy to the whole damn cult. When she was done, the lights went out. Something moved around the room like a bat out of hell. Jessna grabbed my hand and led me to the middle of the room. The lights came on, and everyone in the whole goddamn place was a vampire."

Sienna stared at me blankly, then her jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

I nodded. "I had no choice but to reap them all. The thing is that was what they wanted."

My mom stepped in. "Sorry, did I hear you say that you reaped the whole cult?"

I nodded. "They all became vampires."

Kevin stepped into my room. "Kevin, get out! Not until I'm cleaned up!"

"You look great to me," Kevin assured me.

"I look like shit."

Kevin chuckled. "You could never look like shit, Zoey. In fact, I kind of dig the disheveled look."

I pressed my eyes shut. "It's fine. You need to hear this. There are going to be a lot of missing person reports coming in."

Kevin nodded. "We already had a few, all connected to that cult in Independence. I imagine most of them aren't in my jurisdiction, but the chief wants me to do some digging and find out what I can."

I sighed. "You won't find any witnesses to what happened. Only me, and you can't submit anything I say as evidence."

Kevin nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Trust me; I wouldn't dare. Besides, I'd rather not have to make you a person of interest in another case. That could complicate our plans to go public."

I rolled my eyes. "That's the reason you can't use my testimony?"

"Well, no. If I took your testimony and you said the whole place turned into a swarm of vampires and you killed them all, well, I'd probably be pressured to arrest you as a suspect and have you committed for psychiatric evaluation."

I dragged a brush through my hair. It caught on a tangle. "If you people are going to stand there drinking coffee while I'm trying to make myself decent, would one of you be kind enough to get me mine?"

Kevin grinned, stepped out of the room, and returned with a paper cup in a cardboard sleeve. "I hope you like the banana-nut roast."

I nodded. "It's one of Joe's more interesting blends. It'll do. Thank you."

"Kind of weird, though. I didn't think bananas had nuts."

I shrugged. "I don't know if they do or not."

"It's not banana nuts," Sienna said. "Joe roasts the beans with bananas and nuts. Walnuts, mostly."

I nodded and took a sip. "Delicious. Makes sense."

"I'm going to have to turn up something on this cult," Kevin continued. "But you should know that since Independence is outside my jurisdiction, I'll be working with the department there. I won't be able to prevent them from looking into you if your name turns up."

I sighed as I finished brushing out my hair. "Well, no one there survived who could testify to my involvement. None except Jessna, and I highly doubt she’ll cooperate. Besides, if they investigate the church, they're going to find ash everywhere. If they test it, who knows what they'll come up with?"

My mom cocked her head. "Does vampire ash contain the DNA of the human it belonged to?"

Kevin shrugged. "I don't know. Until Zoey came along, vampires didn’t turn to ash when they were killed. Since then, it isn't like we've had any occasion to send the ash to a lab."

"It's possible," I mused. "The way I see it, that ash is whatever was left of the body that couldn't be transferred to wherever vampire souls go when I reap them. I assume, to Hades."

"Not Hades." Cerberus pushed past my mom, Kevin, and Sienna. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I made a pass through Olympus after I dropped off your money at the barbecue joint. You wouldn’t believe who I found there."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who did you find?"

"The Horseman."

I tilted my head. "So, the Horseman, Clarence, traverses the Olympian plane. That's how he appears and disappears."

"I barely saw him, though. I can't get far in Olympus. Not without allowing that head to take over, and I won’t do that."

"Why not?"

"I'll just say that the head that dominates in that realm has a tendency to hold onto the reins. I can move into the outskirts of that realm. The same in Hades. I can't go much farther in, though, without losing control of myself."

I tilted my head. "In the underworld, when you were with my dad, you had all three heads out at once."

Cerberus nodded. "When we're there, we operate democratically. Since I'm the neutral party, I cast the deciding vote. The Olympian side of me has opinions. The Hades side has its own views. They're usually opposed to one another, so even in a neutral place like the underworld, I have most of the control. If I get too far into Olympus or Hades, my other heads take over, and they don't act as democratically."

"What's the difference? I mean, you get the say all the time on Earth."

"Only by default," Cerberus countered. "Yes, my Earth head remains alpha, but I don't silence my other personas here. They're always speaking."

Sienna chuckled. "It's like an angel on one shoulder, a demon on the other. Just like in the cartoons."

"I'm not that different from most humans," Cerberus told us. "I mean, except that I'm much better looking than any of you."

I snorted. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"In this case, my heads agree. We're the fairest of them all. It's the rare topic upon which our votes are unanimous."

I sighed. "The Horseman is Clarence. The one who leads that cult."

Cerberus cocked his head. "You figured that out while I was gone?"

I nodded. "We did. Jessna told us that was the case. Whatever we've been doing when we're fulfilling these contracts involved that cult. And if the Oracle told me the truth when she spoke to me in the woods..."

"Did you say, the Oracle?" Cerberus asked.

I nodded. "I did."

"Which one?"

"The Oracle of Delphi."

"Oracles are mouthpieces of the gods," Cerberus said. "She's the chief one. If she spoke, whatever is going on must be a big deal."

I nodded. "It is. The Oracle told me we should trust the Horseman. If I reaped those he sent to me, I'd be saving lives. She said those I reaped would form an army that Athena could raise to defend the world against one of the other gods who hopes to do something bad."

"Something bad?" Kevin asked.

"She wasn't clear about that. I was inclined to believe what she told me, but after last night, I'm not so sure. When I arrived at that church, everyone was human. They'd been bitten on the wrists."

My mom sighed. "They were being prepared to be changed into vampires."

"Right. When the lights went out, some vampire or maybe a group of them must've gone through the crowd and bitten them all on the neck. They completed the transformation. The thing is, I wasn't saving anyone last night. All I did was kill all those people who'd been suckered in by this damn First Light cult."

My mom shook her head. "You did save lives. If you hadn't been there, if they became vampires, there's no telling how many people would have died if they were let loose on the city. Young vampires like that aren't easily controlled. It's a challenge even for their sires to manage them."

Sienna scratched her head. "Well, I'm Jessna's sire. I think I can call out to her."

My mom sighed. "You're one of her co-sires, Sienna. She was bitten before."

I bit my lip. "She said Clarence caused the wounds on her wrist to test her blood. To check and see if she was a viable candidate to be turned by Sienna."

Cerberus grunted. "If that's the case, Jessna has two sires. She will be like me. If Sienna and Clarence are pulling her in opposite directions, she'll be the one to cast the deciding vote."

I set my brush down on the vanity and took another sip of my coffee. "She refers to Clarence as her 'Lord.' She's as brainwashed by him as the rest of the cult was by her. I suspect, Sienna, that she won't listen to you. Not if what you tell her to do conflicts with what Clarence wants."

Sienna nodded. "At the very least, I can speak to her. I believe our minds are connected. Perhaps, over time, we can gain some influence."

My mom sighed. "Jessna told us that the vampire I'd killed was Clarence's scion."

"Are you sure she was telling us the truth?" I asked.

My mom shook her head. "I don't know."

"That doesn't matter," Cerberus interjected. "If his vampiric soul was restored by one of the gods, he could have been placed into any human body and look different."

I frowned. "What do you do with vampire bodies after you stake them?"

"We burn them," Kevin replied. "I take them to one of the crematories the department uses on occasion. The mortician there never questions it."

My mom sighed. "I staked Clarence before I met you, Kevin. Back then, I buried the bodies."

I grabbed a pair of leather pants out of my closet and slipped them on. "In that case, we'd better get a shovel."

"We're going to dig up a vampire corpse?" Sienna asked.

"Zoey's right," my mom agreed. "It might offer us some clues to confirm the Horseman's true identity."

"Or it might not," I said. "There's no telling if his body would be any different if one of the gods reincarnated his soul. But if the body is different, that might be enough to tell us the Clarence we're dealing with is the same one."

"What about our contract?" Sienna asked. "You said the Oracle told you we should follow through with it."

I nodded. "We will. But before we do, I'd like to make sure that we know who we're dealing with."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Kevin had to get back to the department. I felt guilty. He knew what had happened at the church. He knew I had been there. Now, he had to take part in an investigation in cooperation with the department in Independence, Missouri, and he had to play ignorant the whole time.

That wouldn't be easy for him. He'd dedicated his life to seeking the truth, pursuing justice, and seeing to it that the bad guys of the world got their just desserts. With hundreds of missing persons, many of whom would probably be reported in short order and all of them linked to the First Light cult, it was only a matter of time before the authorities started turning over rocks that might get them in over their heads with supernatural dangers they'd never anticipate.

Kevin's goal wasn't just to keep my name out of the investigation but to make sure the police didn't put themselves in harm’s way. Not to mention, after it came to light—no pun intended—that the cult was involved, federal investigators might take over. Once that happened, there wouldn't be much Kevin could do to keep me out of their sights.

We could only hope that there was nothing in that church with my name on it. I told Kevin about the desk in the study. If there was any record, anything Clarence kept there that might reveal my identity, that was likely where it would be. We could only hope he'd get to it before the other detectives connected the dots and searched the old church.

“I’ll go,” Cerberus volunteered. “I’ll check the desk for evidence before anyone has a chance to snoop around.”

Kevin nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“All right. Well, let’s hope there’s nothing. If there is anything about me, who knows what we’ll find? Clarence has had his eyes on me for a while.”

I was torn. I wanted to believe Clarence was a good guy. I wanted to trust that he and Athena had humanity's best interests at heart. So far, all the contracts he'd given me had merit. We'd saved lives and earned a healthy sum of money by following through. It had been a win-win.

Now that I'd reaped a couple hundred vampires in one night, all of whom were only guilty of being duped by a cult's propaganda, I wasn't as sure. Yeah, I had prevented a lot of harm by reaping them. Then again, if I hadn't been there, would any of them have been turned? If the purpose had been to create a bunch of vampires for me to reap, probably not.

The whole incident had made me question Clarence's intentions. No matter how I looked at it, those cultists had been victims. First, they were people like Jessna who'd had promising lives ahead of them that were derailed by the cult's message. Then, their lives were lost when they became vampires and were subsequently reaped. There was no going back. As far as I knew, Jessna was the only one who was still alive. Unless Sienna could get through to her, chances were she was busy doing Clarence's bidding, whatever that might be.

My mother owned land about fifty miles east of Kansas City, where she used to bury the vampire corpses she'd slain. I was still tired. We couldn't take my mom's Corvette. I wasn't up to riding my bike that far.

Thankfully, I didn't need to best my mom in a game of rock-paper-scissors this time to get the front seat. She volunteered to sit in the back behind Sienna so I could recline the passenger seat and get a little more shut-eye on the drive. After all, when we got there, we were going to have to dig up a vampire grave.

"Any luck reaching out to Jessna?" I asked as I buckled up in the passenger seat.

Sienna shook her head. "I don't think I can connect to her unless I remove the brooch."

"Don’t do that," my mom said. "As Cerberus pointed out, chances are she'll ignore you anyway. It's not worth the risk."

"I agree," I added. "Though, we know that if we have to, we can reach out to her that way."

"We still have her cell number, Zoey." Sienna grinned.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Duh. That would be a lot easier."

I retrieved my phone from my pocket. I called the number and received a message that the number I’d called was no longer in service.

"Um, that won't work. She's disconnected her phone or changed her number."

"Why would she do that?" Sienna asked.

My mom sighed. "She still has your numbers. Perhaps she doesn’t want to speak to you. Sort of a don't call me, I'll call you situation."

"But she knows I can call to her," Sienna protested. "Maybe she wants me to do that. Like, she wants me to change again and embrace my daywalker nature."

"She wants you to embrace the First Light." I rolled my eyes.

"Exactly. I'm not in a hurry to do that."

I reclined my seat and laid my forearm across my eyes to block the light. "All right, wake me up when we get there."

Even with coffee in my system, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. I'd drunk so much of the stuff when I worked at Cup-O-Joe's that I'd built up a tolerance to caffeine. I don't think less than a gallon of the stuff could have kept me awake at that moment. Then I’d need more because I'd have to pee a lot due to the liquid.

After what felt like mere moments, my mother shook me awake. She was leaning in through the passenger door. "Rise and shine, sunshine."

I snorted. "Don't call me that. That was the name of one of the cultists."

"Sunshine is dead?" Sienna asked.

"Reaped with the rest of them." I winced. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't really know her, but it's a lot harder to reap someone you've had a conversation with."

Mom nodded. "I can imagine. Come on. We have some digging to do."

Sienna and I followed her into a barn. There was a rusty old tractor in there. Josephine led us to a workbench and a cabinet against one wall. "I have a few shovels in here."

My mom opened the cabinet. "Grab one."

"Only one of these is a spade," I corrected. "The other shovels aren't great for digging."

My mom nodded. "It's what I have. We'll have to make do."

We each grabbed a shovel. My mom led us through an overgrown field.

Sienna groaned. "Remind me to check for ticks tonight."

"Ew, ticks. I hate ticks."

Mom chuckled. "You could ask Kevin to check you for ticks, Zoey. It's romantic."

I laughed. "Yeah, real sweet. Ticks are the vampires of the insect world."

My mother shrugged. "Then maybe you could reap them!"

"Trying to hit one of these little buggers with my scythe might prove to be a challenge. Besides, you never see them until they're crawling on you."

"I'm just glad I'm not wearing tight leather pants," Sienna said. "They love to get into tight spots."

"Great." I sighed. "Come to think of it, I've never had a tick."

Mom grinned. "Just make sure that if you get one, you're careful about pulling it out. If you leave the head in, it's not good."

"What happens if you leave the head in?"

My mom stopped in her tracks and stared at me. "You don't know?"

I shook my head. "Not a clue."

"Then it infects you with tick cells. They spread throughout your whole body, converting all of your cells into new ticks. You'll basically turn into a million ticks."

I furrowed my brow. "Seriously? Why have I never heard about this?"

Sienna covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"You're screwing with me, aren't you?"

My mother grinned. "I am. You won't turn into a tick, but those things can carry nasty diseases. If the head is still in there, I think it increases the chances you'll get sick, and the bite can get infected."

I nodded. "Well, let's hope I don't get bitten. If I do, I'll google how to remove a tick properly before attempting it."

We reached the end of the field and approached some trees. "You buried that thing in the woods?"

My mom nodded. "You know, ticks also hide in the trees. They lurk there, waiting for their prey to come wandering by. When you do, they jump on you and bite you before you even know what happened."

I snorted. "Thanks, Mom. You're making this whole awkward situation even more uncomfortable. As if digging up a vampire grave wasn't strange enough."

"I've buried a lot of vampires out here. Give me a second. I have to remember which one."

I huffed. "You can't be serious. You mean we might dig up the wrong one?"

My mom held up one finger. "No. I remember burying him. I just need to find the right tree."

I scratched the back of my head. "Mom, if we dig up the wrong grave... You have to be sure. Otherwise, whatever we find won't tell us about whether the Clarence you staked is the Horseman."

"I know, I know. Here. This is the tree."

"You're sure?" Sienna asked.

"I marked the trees with the date," My mom shone her phone light on the tree. "Yes, this is the one. The first day of May two years ago."

"All right." I nodded. "Where do we dig?"

My mom jammed her shovel into the ground. "Right here. Six feet deep."

I threw my square-ended shovel into the ground. It barely broke the surface. "Six feet? Did you really have to dig a hole that deep?"

My mom shrugged. "The last thing you want is for a wild animal to dig up a vampire's body. You forget, to the cops, vampire body parts look just like human body parts."

"Yeah. Good point."

My shovel didn't do much. Sienna had one of those long, narrow shovels. I didn't know the proper term for it. Hers broke the ground better than mine did. I resigned myself to scooping up the loose dirt in the middle and tossing it aside. It took us a couple of hours, but eventually, we hit a burlap sack.

"That's it," my mom said. "His body should be decaying inside. At the very least, his bones should still be there."

I climbed into the hole and scooped up the body bag, then shook it. "I don't feel any bones."

My mom reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. She tossed it to me. I cut open the sack.

It was full of ash, the same black ash that appeared when I reaped a vampire.

"You're sure vampire bodies don't turn to ash like this when they decompose?"

My mom sighed. "I'm certain. After I staked this vampire, someone must've reaped his soul."

"How is that possible? I'm the only one my dad knows about who can reap supernaturals."

My mom sighed. "Your ability wasn't given by happenstance. It was a gift from Athena. If she could give you that power, presumably she could use it, too."

"So, what the Oracle said is correct? Clarence is working for Athena?"

My mom nodded. "I never had any reason to doubt that was the case. What we now know, however, is that the Clarence who is your Horseman is the vampire I killed. And if that's the case, we have reason to be concerned that his motives might not be wholly aligned with Athena's."

"Why do you say that? If she reaped his soul and reincarnated him in another body, wouldn't he be grateful?"

My mom shook her head. "You'd think so, but Clarence was one of the most brutal vampires I'd ever encountered. He didn't just feed from his victims; he tore them apart. He consumed their flesh."

I stared at my mom. "You're telling me Clarence ate people?"

My mom nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Why do you think Athena would choose to reincarnate a vampire like that? I thought she was a benevolent goddess?"

My mom shook her head. "Clarence had other abilities. A lot of vampires develop unique abilities over time."

"What kind of abilities did he have?" Sienna asked.

"He could sense the presence of other vampires. He could locate them from miles away. If his abilities extended to other supernaturals, it makes sense. He not only found us in New Orleans. When he gave you those contracts, whether he had clients or not, he knew what he was sending you to reap."

Sienna scratched her chin. "That must be how he always knew when we'd finished a job."

I nodded. "I agree. It also means he knows we're here and we're investigating his identity."

"What do you think he'll do about it?" Sienna asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think he'll do a damn thing. We know the devil we're dealing with now, but we still have a job to do."

"You're still going to complete the jobs he gave you, knowing what we know about him?"

I nodded. "You said it yourself, Mom. He must've been raised by Athena. If you believe Athena is good and she has the best interests of humanity at heart, we have to see this through."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

We filled in the hole. My square shovel was a lot more useful when it came to scooping up loose dirt than it was for digging. I needed a shower. Sweating in leather pants was one of the most uncomfortable things I'd ever experienced. I wanted to take them off and ride home pantsless. There were two problems with that. One, my mom and Sienna wouldn't approve. Two, in Sienna's car, any semi-trucks we passed on the road would have a bird’s-eye view of the promised land.

On the other hand, as a bead of sweat cascaded from my waistline down my low back and between my butt cheeks, I seriously considered it. There are few things more disconcerting during the course of a person's existence than butt-cheek perspiration.

I could barely lift my feet as we moved back through the tall grass toward the barn. I don't know if my sweat attracted or repelled ticks. I imagined as much sweat as I accumulated beneath my pants, any tick that ventured into them would drown. Good riddance. A rough way to go.

We returned our shovels to the cabinet in the barn.

Something screeched in the distance. I'd heard that sound before. Sienna and I exchanged glances.

"What was that?" my mom asked.

I sighed. "Trolls."

"Trolls?" Josephine raised her eyebrows.

"The trolls were the first ones on the contract Clarence gave Jessna to give to us. All I can figure is that if Clarence is watching us and knows that we're on to him, he's making sure I fulfill the contract."

Sienna shook her head. "If he had any doubt we'd follow through, he wouldn’t bring the targets to us."

"You were right, it seems. We don't have a choice."

"Yes, we do. We could run, but I imagine Clarence would send others after us if we did."

Sienna snorted. "He doesn't want us to die, does he? I can't imagine he'd send us more bad guys to fight than we can handle."

"You're right," I agreed. "I don't want to die either. It's not that I'm afraid of it, but I have too much pride to let my brother show up to reap me."

My mom chuckled. "How humiliating."

"I know, right? I'm not letting that happen. Do you have your crossbow, Mom?"

She shook her head. "We took Sienna's car. It's in the ‘Vette. I didn't expect to need a weapon."

"I don't have my cloak on me either. Sienna, you can still go onto the astral plane. You'll need to handle the reconnaissance so we know what we're dealing with."

"Got it." Sienna touched her brooch and disappeared.

The trolls were still shrieking in the distance. I could tell there was more than one, but I had no idea how many. They were getting closer.

My mom opened another of her cabinets and grabbed a pitchfork.

I snickered. "We aren't going after Frankenstein’s monster, Mom."

My mom chuckled. "It's cliché, I know. Hunting monsters with a pitchfork. But it's all I've got."

"Clarence wants me to reap these trolls. He doesn't want you or Sienna to take them out. That gives me an idea."

"Kill them the conventional way. Force Clarence to show himself and explain what's happening?"

I grinned. "You read my mind. Got any more pitchforks?"

My mom narrowed her eyes. "I don't. Let me see what else I have."

My mother started rooting through the cabinets in the barn. "Well, I have a sledgehammer or a hoe. And, of course, I have shovels."

"You're telling me that I have to choose between a hoedown or Hammer Time?"

My mom grinned. "If you don't dig it..."

I chuckled. "Ah, you’ve got shovel jokes, too!"

"Dads don't have exclusive rights to bad jokes." My mom chuckled.

I shrugged. "I think I'll go with the hammer. I'll let Sienna be the hoe."

"Excuse me?" Sienna asked, appearing out of the astral plane. "I ain't nobody's ho!"

I grinned. "How many are there?"

"A dozen, and they’re out of sorts. I don't think they know why they're here."

I nodded. "Clarence must've brought them here to try to force our hand. Mom and I decided no scythe. If Clarence isn't going to be open about who he is or what his agenda is, I'm not going to reap anyone else until we get answers."

Sienna cocked her head. "Even though the Oracle..."

"I know what the Oracle said. No offense, Mom. I know the goddess has guided you all this time, but at this point, we have only the word of an Oracle representing Athena to tell us she's on the right side of this war. At the end of the day, we're talking about a few trolls. If Clarence sees we're not playing ball, my hope is he'll show up and explain things. You aren't anyone's ho, I agree. I'm not going to be his bitch. I'm done reaping souls until I have more answers."

"Sounds like a plan. I can use the hoe as well as anything. On the astral plane, it doesn't much matter what kind of weapon I use. If it materializes inside the body, it'll do the necessary damage."

I grinned, grabbed the long-handled sledgehammer, and rested it on my shoulder. "All right, let's do this. Sienna, make sure there are no trolls on your six when you materialize. Since I can't go onto the astral plane, I might not be able to save your ass if you get in trouble."

Sienna grinned. "Don't worry. I'm not the one whose ass might need saving. How long has it been since you fought with anything other than your scythe?"

I nodded. "Good point. Not since the Academy, and even then, the weapons we trained with mimicked our scythes."

"Remember," my mom cautioned. "A hammer has more weight, and it doesn't have a sharp edge. Your best bet will be to go for the head and knock those bastards out."

I nodded. "I think I'll pick it up quickly. When it's hammer time, they'll learn they can't touch this."

CHAPTER TWENTY

Given the volume of their shrieks, it sounded like the trolls were either just outside the barn or getting close. They knew where we were. It was as if Clarence was leading them to us. In his mind, I suppose, it was a trap. He’d probably told them he'd help them get revenge for the time Sienna and I spoiled their barbecue. He was hoping I’d reap them. If he was leading them, whether I could see him or not, he was there. He'd see what we were doing, and if he really wanted these trolls reaped, he'd have to show himself.

Sienna returned to the astral plane and ran through the walls of the barn. My mom and I charged through the doors. I gripped my sledgehammer with both hands.

When I was growing up, my dad used to bring bad comedy acts from Earth into the underworld on VHS. One of them, some dude named Gallagher, used to smash fruit on stage with a hammer. My plan was to pull a Gallagher on these trolls' heads. It wasn't going to be easy. Trolls were tall, which meant they had a long reach.

My mom charged one of them with a pitchfork, catching the snarling creature in the jaw.

I couldn't help but grin, but I didn't have time to stop and admire her skill. Sienna was jabbing her hoe into the chests of the trolls and materializing, then using the hoe to crush their hearts inside their bodies.

She took down three of them before I managed to even get to one.

He was the shortest of the bunch. Given my disadvantage—using a sledgehammer with minimal reach—I figured he'd make a good first target. Start easy and work my way up to the taller trolls.

The bastard was small, but he was fast. When I swung the hammer at him, he dodged my strike. I couldn't swing it as fast as I could wield my scythe.

He charged me face-first, trying to gouge me with his tusks. I leaned back, extended one of my boots, and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying over me. He landed on his back. I brought the hammer down on his head.

Splat. Gallagher had nothing on me. Troll brains went flying.

"Nice one!" my mom shouted. I turned. She was finishing off another troll. There were only two left. I charged one of them. Sienna was about to take out the other.

Then a bright light appeared between us.

"Stop it!" Clarence shouted as he materialized in front of us.

I shrugged. "What's the deal? The contract said we had to eliminate the targets. These trolls came to us."

Sienna hoed out another troll's heart behind him.

"Damn it! Stop this, all of you!"

I grinned. The sole remaining troll took off toward the trees where Clarence used to be buried.

"Should I go after him?" Sienna asked, now in her material form.

"Sure," I said. "Unless Clarence here wishes to explain what the hell is going on."

"You've spoken to the Oracle. You know my purpose."

My mom approached Clarence and narrowed her eyes. "You're a lot prettier than you used to be, Clarence. But I know it's you."

Clarence cleared his throat. "I'm not the monster I was."

I shook my head. "I'd dispute that. You and Jessna tricked me. You forced me to reap all those poor people you'd deceived into believing your lies."

"Neither I nor my prophet lied to those people, Zoey."

"Bullshit," I shouted. "You told them you were leading them into the light! You just sent them to me so I could reap their souls. Tell me, how the hell will reaping supernaturals raise an army for the goddess you serve?"

Clarence grinned. "You do not know what happens to those you reap, Miss Grimm?"

"I know they disappear," I replied. "Other than that, all I have are suspicions. I figured they went to hell."

Clarence laughed. "The creatures you reap do not go to Hades. Their souls are sent directly to Olympus by your scythe."

I scratched my head. "Excuse me?"

Clarence nodded. "Athena is using them to attack one of the gods who intends to wreak havoc on your world."

"Which god intends to attack Earth?"

Clarence shook his head. "Not Earth, Zoey. Your other world."

"The underworld."

Clarence nodded. "One of the gods wishes to eliminate the underworld."

"Why would they do that?" I asked. "We ensure that the souls of the deceased move on to their proper realm. If we weren't there to do that, everyone would become ghosts."

"Then Hades could gather as many as he wished. He intends to come to Earth and collect as many wandering spirits as he can find so that he can increase his power and challenge the dominion of Zeus."

I tilted my head. "I thought it was Athena who had you up to this."

Clarence pressed his lips together. "I've not met any gods except Athena, the one who restored me. From what I've been told, Zeus is arrogant. He does not believe Hades will succeed and thus does not take his threat seriously."

"So, Athena is trying to stop Hades since Zeus, her father, won't do anything about it?"

"Which is why we need you to reap more supernatural souls. When you do, they are brought to Olympus and placed under Athena's control."

"But you need them to assault Hades, correct? I mean, Hades lives in the place that's named for him, doesn't he?"

"He does, but one does not amass an army in enemy territory. Athena is assembling as many as she can so that she and her reaped army can invade Hades."

"This makes sense," my mom interjected. "That's why Athena wanted me to be ready to prepare you for your task."

Clarence nodded. "What Josephine said is correct. Athena has known of Hades' intentions for many years. The gods, who are immortal, rarely act in haste, though. Hades has intended from the start to wait until your father's ascent so he could take advantage of the new Grim Reaper's naïveté when he assaults the underworld."

I shook my head. "My father is still there."

"But his power has waned. Your brother will soon assume the Grim Reaper's mantle. When he does, that's when Hades is likely to attack."

"If he does that, what will happen to the Reapers?"

"Hades intends to force the Reapers to align with him. To become his agents to gather human souls unto his army so he can leverage their numbers to march on Olympus."

"Holy shitballs!" Sienna exclaimed. "That sounds like a bad business."

"Excuse me?" Clarence seemed nonplussed. "Holy shitballs?"

Sienna shrugged. "The gods feast, don't they?"

"I believe they do."

"As the book from my childhood says, everyone who eats poops. Therefore, the Olympians produce holy shitballs."

I chuckled. "So, you recruited Sienna and me to fulfill these contracts so we could help Athena build her army?"

"I recruited Sienna so that she would turn Jessna. When the time is right, she must ascend with the others."

"You're telling me you want me to reap Jessna?"

Clarence nodded. "It is necessary. She is the one who sired the vampires you recently reaped. She is needed to command the legion against Hades."

I tilted my head. "She did that?"

"Did you think it was I who bit everyone in the church last night?"

"I sort of figured it was."

Clarence shook his head. "It was not. I cannot turn anyone in my current condition. My bites are of no effect."

"So, Jessna was telling the truth. When you bit her, you really were testing her blood."

"In part, yes. I was also hungry. I am still something of my former self. She was a willing donor."

"Disgusting." My mother shook her head.

"I am what I am," Clarence said. "You dare judge me for being what I am? I must consume blood, even in my restored condition, if I am to continue to appear to you in the material world."

I grunted. "You still killed all those people. You presented yourself as a spiritual sage to the people at the church and tricked me into reaping them. They thought you were saving them."

"I did not lie to them. They are truly in the domain of First Light. They are with Athena on Olympus."

"But they were human beings with lives! Jessna had a whole life ahead of her before you lured her to your cause. So did Sunshine and the rest of them."

Clarence sighed. "It was necessary. We needed their numbers. An assault on Hades in his own domain will not be an easy task, Miss Grimm."

"You made me kill innocent people!" I screamed. "The ends do not justify the means!"

"Who says they don't? In this case, Miss Grimm, if Hades prevails, every human who dies in the future will spend eternity as his slave in Hades. Is that what you want?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. But there has to be another way!"

Clarence chuckled. "Unless you wish to go to Hades and reap a god, then no. There isn't."

"Wait. What did you say?"

Clarence looked at me with wide eyes. "I wasn't serious, Miss Grimm. Doing that would be a suicide mission."

"But the gods are supernaturals, right? What would happen to Hades if I reaped him?"

"I do not know." Clarence’s voice was unsure. "Presumably, he'd go to Olympus. He'd appear with the rest of those you've reaped."

I grinned. "You said it yourself. It's a long shot, even with an army of supernaturals, to invade Hades' domain. He'd have the home-field advantage, not to mention whatever forces he commands down there."

"Zoey," my mother cut in. "I see where you're going with this. I don't think it's a good idea."

"But if I could do it, if I could bust into hell, reap Hades, and send him to Olympus, all the supernatural creatures I've reaped could attack him directly. Athena could bind him and prevent him from fulfilling his plan."

Clarence shook his head. "Athena was clear. I was to come to Earth and find a way to lure as many supernaturals to you as possible. She wants you to reap them. If she thought you could get to Hades and reap him directly, she never would have restored me."

"I've seen your list, Clarence. Will I save lives by reaping all of them?"

"These supernaturals are not native to this world. They belong in Olympus. That was where they originated. You are only sending them home."

I shook my head. "That’s not true of vampires. They were human first."

"But their vampiric nature, and mine, was created in Olympus."

"But they don't belong there. Vampires aren't unlike Reapers. They are also of semi-divine origin. They are children of the Earth as much as they are children of the gods."

Clarence narrowed his eyes. "I suppose that is true. While I now dwell primarily in Olympus with Athena and can only appear here when I feed, most of my kind live on Earth. Reapers and vampires are among very few of the species who can navigate the domains of mortals and the gods alike."

"That means I can go to Hades?"

Clarence sighed. "Technically. But like I said, it wouldn't be wise."

"Wait," Sienna chimed in. "These trolls. How long have they lived in those caves?"

"For several centuries. They are rarely seen."

"They don't usually try to eat humans, do they?" Sienna asked.

"What is your point?" Clarence countered.

"If they ate humans, they wouldn't have been able to stay hidden for so long. They were roasting a cat. They had the human we were supposed to save in a cage."

Clarence shrugged. "Perhaps human meat is not their preference."

"You kidnapped that kid, didn't you?" Sienna asked. "You put him there so we'd think we were saving him. Then you convinced that kid's parents to pay us to save him to keep up your ruse. So we'd reap the trolls."

I cocked my head. "Is that true, Clarence?"

Clarence shrugged. "It is what it is. I do not deny it. It was necessary. We need trolls in our army. They will be formidable warriors in our battle against Hades."

I sighed. "Unbelievable. You know, Clarence, I'm of half a mind to reap your ass here and now, but I suspect it wouldn't do any good."

"You are correct. You would dispatch me to Olympus. Athena would send me back to continue my work."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, she can send the vampires back?"

"I suppose she could. What's your point?"

"Tell the goddess I'll take care of Hades. When I succeed, I want her to restore those cult people's lives."

"They'll return as vampires, Miss Grimm. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"If they want to go home and can learn to manage their vampirism, absolutely. I've seen Jessna. She has incredible control over her urges. It has to be possible. And if she returns with them, she can keep them under control."

Clarence shook his head. "The goddess will not be pleased about this. She has been planning this assault since before you were born!"

I nodded. "Well, she didn't consult me. Tell her the plans have changed."

"How are you going to get into Hades?"

I grinned. "My hellhound who will show me the way."

"It might not be as simple as you assume, Miss Grimm."

"I won’t allow more innocent people to be hurt. Tell Athena I'll deliver Hades to her."

"I'll relay the message, but she is not likely to be pleased. If that is the case, she will dispatch me to send those she wishes to join her army against you."

I touched the sigil on my wrist and evoked my scythe.

"Make sure she gets my message loud and clear." I swung my scythe, catching Clarence across the chest. His form dissipated in an explosion of glittering gold that was several times more intense than when I reaped other supernaturals.

My mom cocked her head. "Was that necessary, Zoey? He told you it wouldn't stop him."

I nodded. "It was. If he's going to send more creatures after me, I want Athena to know I mean business."

My mom shook her head. "To think, all this time, this was what I was preparing for."

"Sorry, Mom. I know it's a letdown to realize the goddess you were heeding isn’t pure of heart."

"Still, her goal is noble. We must stop Hades."

"I agree. Your preparations were not for nothing, Mom. I've learned a lot over the last few months. I might be getting in over my head, but this is the only way to end this without more innocent people getting hurt."

My mom took a deep breath and turned away.

"What is it, Mom? I've been training for this my whole life."

My mom shook her head. "You're wrong, Zoey. You've been training to reap humans for your entire life. You've spent the last few months reaping vampires and other supernatural creatures. Reaping a god, though? That's another thing."

"You're afraid I'll fail."

My mom nodded. "I'm your mother, Zoey. Of course I am. Every mother sheds tears when she sends her children to war. But I believe in you, Zoey, and I'm proud of you. If anyone can do this, it's you. I just wish I could go with you."

"I'll go with her," Sienna offered. "I can enter the underworld. Presumably, that means I can go to Hades, too."

"Sienna, it's not necessary. I don't want to put you in danger. I don't know that your brooch will work there."

"Then I'll go as a daywalker. If you’re storming the gates of hell, Zoey, I'm not about to let you go at it alone."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I could smell the barbecue from the stairs.

"Damn it. He did it again."

My mom chuckled. "That dog sure has an appetite."

"Don’t call him a dog!" Sienna interjected. "He gets bitchy when you do that."

"He's not a bitch, either. Male hellhounds are studs, not bitches."

"Good point!" Sienna exclaimed. "It feels weird calling him a stud, though. I'd hate for him to get the wrong idea."

I chuckled. "Well, Cerberus says he's gay. I haven't seen him get intimate with any other studs, though. Regardless, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"I didn't realize that hellhounds were concerned with reproduction," my mom mused.

I shrugged. "It isn't something we talk about. Though, they have to reproduce one way or another, right?"

Sienna snickered. "Well, he does get a lot of head. Three of them!"

I narrowed my eyes. "That was almost funny. I was even tempted to laugh."

My mom didn't hold back. She clutched her belly as she guffawed.

I opened the door. My jaw almost hit the floor. Barbecue was everywhere. Most of it had been eaten. I kicked a few bare ribs away from in front of the door. He had a styrofoam container full of sliced meat sitting on the couch. Yes, on my couch! At least it didn't have sauce on it.

I couldn't say that for the other containers he had devoured that were left half-open all over the floor. There were barbecue sauce paw prints everywhere.

"Cerberus! What the hell, man?"

Cerberus waddled out of my bedroom, his belly dragging on the floor. He belched.

"Oh, lord," Sienna covered her face with both hands. "Have you ever heard of moderation?"

"How much did all of this cost?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it!" Cerberus beamed. "I used your dad's credit card."

I raised an eyebrow. "You went to the restaurant and paid with a credit card?"

Cerberus licked his chops. "Not exactly."

"Then how'd you do it?"

Cerberus cocked his head. "Kevin had one of those apps on his phone. You know, the ones where you can order food from restaurants and people deliver it?"

"Door Dash?" Sienna asked.

"That's the one!"

I sighed. "I'm going to have to have words with Kevin."

"Did you at least get any evidence out of that church that might tie Zoey to the cult?" my mom asked.

Cerberus nodded. "There wasn't anything there with her name on it. No worries."

I sighed. "Well, that's a relief. Did you find anything that might be of use?"

"Just some membership rolls. I gave them to Kevin. He said it would be helpful so he'd know which missing person reports he could trace to the cult."

I snorted. "And as a reward for that, he let you use his phone to order an entire cow's worth of barbecue?"

Cerberus narrowed his eyes. "The ribs are pork."

I scratched the back of my head. "You get the point."

"Then yes. This was my reward for a job well done."

I pressed my lips together. "Well, no harm, no foul. My daddy has plenty of money. Enough to cover this, anyway."

"My thoughts exactly! What's he need it for except to pay the Boatman on the River Styx?"

I snorted. "Right. Still don't know what he does with that money."

Cerberus huffed. "Hookers and booze."

I chuckled. "Yeah, right."

"An educated guess. I mean, a lonely guy like that with lots of money..."

I sighed. "If only I could convince him to give me a ride to Hades."

Cerberus tilted his head. "Trust me; you wouldn't want to go there even if you could."

"That's the thing. I have to go there."

"Why do you want to go to Hades?"

"I didn't say I want to. I need to. Apparently, Hades is planning an assault on the underworld. He's been planning to take over once my dad moves on and capitalize on Morty's inexperience."

"Why would he do that?"

"So he could claim all the souls for himself. Supposedly, that would give him the power to make an assault on Olympus."

Cerberus sauntered over to one of the containers of barbecue and pulled out a giant hunk of something. Meat all looks the same to me. He started gnawing on it.

"You have nothing to say about that?"

"I'm thinking. Eating helps me think. I guess it makes sense. Here's the thing, though. Each domain, be it Olympus or Hades, is on a similar plane of existence. Together, they maintain balance. When more souls inhabit one over the other, it dominates and takes over more of the celestial realm."

"So, if Hades took over the underworld and stole all the souls for himself..."

"Eventually, Hades would eclipse Olympus. Since he rules Hades, he'd become the de facto ruler of the gods."

Sienna bit her lip. "He'd take over without having to fight a single battle?"

"Pretty much, but it's not like it would be easy for him to pull off. The gods are more vulnerable outside their native realms. If he goes to the underworld or Earth, his power is limited. I don't know how he'd be able to take over the underworld without help, even if Morty is in charge at the time."

"He clearly has a plan. Otherwise, he wouldn't attempt it. According to Clarence, Athena has known about his plan for years. That’s why she bestowed my unique abilities as a Reaper on me, so I could create an army of supernaturals in Olympus that she could use to thwart Hades. I think the better plan would be to go to Hades and reap him before he can act."

"Why would that be a better plan?" Cerberus asked.

I sighed. "Because it means I don't have to reap any more people who don't deserve it. Those trolls weren't really a problem. Clarence set them up to make it look like they were eating people so I'd reap them."

"I'm telling you, Zoey. People are good eating."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even approve of you eating bad guys. Clarence set it up to make it look like the trolls were eating children. How deranged is that? Meanwhile, what they really wanted to eat were cats. It's a shame. All they were trying to do was rid the world of vermin, and Clarence made them out to be monsters."

"Hey!" Sienna interjected. "I like cats."

Cerberus narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie. That's not possible. Liking cats is like enjoying vegan hamburgers. Some people lie to you and say they like them, but everyone knows they taste like shit."

"I like vegan burgers," my mother said as she started picking up empty styrofoam containers off my apartment floor. "Granted, it's an acquired taste, but if they're done right, they aren't half-bad."

I sighed. "Can we stick to the topic, please? I have to find a way to go to hell!"

Cerberus chuckled. "Good luck with that."

"Can't I just ride on your back? You can grow a little and take me there. You know, since you can navigate the different realms."

Cerberus shook his head. "Two problems with that. First, if I do it, my other head will take over. I can't say if he'll be inclined to bring you back."

"Why wouldn't he bring me back?"

"He enjoys being in control, and he's a dick."

"So, you'd be stuck there?"

"Not necessarily, but he's a stickler for the rules. Hellhounds were created by the gods not only to prevent people from leaving Hades but to keep people out. A few minutes after I got there, my hell-bound head would assume dominance. I might find myself kicking you out against my will if that happened."

I nodded. "All right. Well, what's the second problem?"

"I'm not even sure it would work. You could ride on my back. Maybe you'd go with me. Just as likely, I'd move between realms, and you'd fall on your ass."

I scratched my head. "Well, could we at least try it? You said it yourself; your other head wouldn't take over for a few minutes. That might be enough time for you to drop me off, and you could bail."

“I'm coming with you," Sienna reminded me. "So, Cerberus would have to grow large enough to accommodate both of us."

"There's a problem with that," Cerberus said. "Even if I got you there and dropped you off, I'm not sure I'd be able to bring you home again. How would I know when you were ready?"

I sighed. "Good point."

My mom cleared her throat. "I might be out of line. I don't know a lot about how these things work. Couldn't the Boatman give you a ride?"

"Charon? I don't know, Mom. That's not his gig. He ferries souls to their afterlife destination, be it the good place or the bad place."

"But he does it for money, right?"

"Yeah. Always has. Even in ancient times, people used to leave a coin on the tongue of the deceased to pay him his due. These days, he takes cold hard American cash. Since most dying people don't pay up, my dad funds the whole thing."

"It doesn't matter what he uses the money for," my mom continued. "If Hades is successful, it will put the Boatman out of business."

I scratched my head. "That's a good point. I hadn't thought about that. I suppose I could go to the underworld and make the case. The worst he can say is no. More than likely, he'll just stare at me dumbly and say nothing. He's not a people person. Doesn't care much for the living."

Sienna giggled. "So, he's like an angst-ridden teenage boy who has existed for centuries. I can deal with that. For some reason, when I was in school, I was like a magnet for all the socially awkward boys."

I raised an eyebrow. "Socially awkward boys?"

"You know, the ones who walk around like they're uncomfortable in their own skin. They still haven't figured out that the use of deodorant is a post-puberty necessity, they wash their hair no more than once a week, and they seem to think leveling up their D&D personas is more important than leveling up in life."

My mom laughed. "I know the type."

I snorted. "Sounds like Charon. I don't know that he's into role-playing games, but he smells like he hasn't taken a shower in a thousand years, if ever."

Sienna grinned. "Yup, sounds like most of the guys who used to ask me out in high school."

I rolled my eyes. "I don’t get it. You’re cute. I bet a lot of guys were into you."

Sienna shrugged. "I was also shy and a little nerdy. I didn't blossom until my senior year, and by then, it was too late to change most guys' opinions of me."

"Well, let’s hope your charms will help with Charon. If we can't convince him to help, we'll have no choice but to try to ride Cerberus into hell."

"If that even works," Cerberus said. "I doubt it's possible."

I nodded. "Well, in that case, we'd better get going. We need to go to the underworld and warn my dad. If we don't succeed, he'll need to make sure Morty is prepared, not to only take over, but to defend the underworld from Hades."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I set up the portal crystal on the kitchen table in front of the window. I had to move a lot of junk mail to make space. When I angled the crystal just right, the sunlight would interface with its unique structure and form a gateway that delivered me to my father's office in the underworld.

It was a risk to use it, especially if I was bringing Sienna along. My dad had a habit of hanging out in his office in his tighty whities. I suppose when you work from home ninety percent of the time, that's one of the perks of the job. For most people, showing up to work in nothing but skivvies is a recurring nightmare. For my father, it is just another day at the office.

The portal formed six feet in front of the kitchen table.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this, Zoey?"

I nodded. "Yes, Mom. We don't have a choice. Hopefully, Charon will agree. First, though, I need to let Dad know what's happening."

My mom wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. "I love you, Zoey."

I hadn't told my mom I loved her yet. It wasn't like she'd raised me. Still, she was my mom. "Love you too, Mom."

My mom released me and wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's a mother's prerogative to worry."

I nodded. "We don't even know if Charon will agree. If we don’t come back soon, be careful. Clarence probably won't realize we left. I expect Athena will have him back on Earth any time now, and I'd bet anything he'll start sending supernatural creatures after us."

"Cerberus and I will hold down the fort." My mom reached into her pocket, retrieved a small vial of what looked like blood, and handed it to Sienna. “In case you need it.”

“I don’t know if it will work without sunlight present,” Sienna countered.

My mom nodded. “I know, but it might. You still had your extra strength for a while after you put on the brooch before. It’s just in case you need a Hail Mary. You know, if things don’t go according to plan.”

Sienna grinned, took the vial, and slipped it into her pocket. “Thanks. Let’s hope I don’t need it.”

I smiled. "If it works, I'll see if my dad or Morty can come and give you an update. You know, so you don't have to worry."

"If it works, I will worry!"

I nodded. "But at least you'll know. See you soon. Hopefully not too soon."

I jumped through the portal. Sienna followed me.

My feet landed in my father's office. Morty's bare butt greeted me. A pair of legs were wrapped around his body. The two of them were on top of my dad's desk.

I covered my eyes with my hand.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Morty!"

I heard a thud and peeked through my fingers. Sienna snickered behind me.

"Zoey!" My brother’s voice came from behind my dad's desk, accompanied by a girly giggle.

"Is that Carmilla back there with you?"

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't expect... Give us a second to get dressed."

I glanced around. My brother's underwear was on the floor in front of the desk. I stepped over, pinched it by the waistband, and tossed it over the desk to him.

"Thanks," Morty called.

"I can't believe you two are doing that on Dad's desk!"

Morty stood up, shirtless. He had his underpants on, at least. "It's my desk now. I can do whatever I want on it."

Carmilla stood up, an oversized t-shirt covering most of her body. "Hi, Zoey."

I shook my head. "It's your desk now?"

"Yeah. Dad turned over everything to me a couple weeks ago."

"Where is Dad?"

Morty shrugged. "I think he's at the Satyrs’ Lodge. It's bingo night."

"What's the Satyrs’ Lodge?" Sienna asked.

"Some fraternal organization for old men. You have to be, like, a thousand years or older to join. All I know about them is that they have regular potlucks and play a lot of bingo."

"So, it's like the Lions or the Elks on Earth?"

I nodded. "I think. I don't know much about those organizations."

"We're so sorry, Zoey." Carmilla shrugged. "We didn't realize you were coming."

I shook my head. "It's okay. Morty, do you have anything else you can put on?"

"Yeah. Somewhere. Most of my clothes are in the stairwell."

Carmilla giggled. "He's insatiable. We went on a badass reaping earlier today. We harvested the souls of about a dozen people."

"A dozen people? What happened?"

Morty smiled. "I'm basically the Grim Reaper now. I get my choice of reapings."

"What was it? A plane crash? An accident of some kind?"

Morty shook his head. "A bunch of carnies thought it would be funny to get an elephant drunk. It went on a rampage and took down a circus tent."

"Holy crap. That's horrible!"

Morty shrugged. "Most of the people we reaped weren't killed by the elephant. They were all drunk, too. They trampled each other, trying to get out of the tent."

I shook my head. "I can't imagine."

"It was their time," Morty said. "We did the job. We decided to come back here to celebrate."

"To celebrate?" Sienna asked. "That's horrible."

"It's not like we were celebrating their deaths," Carmilla corrected. "You should have seen Morty. He was a genius. Not a single soul got away."

I nodded. "That's good. I'm impressed. It's hard to reap that many souls at once without a couple of them slipping through and trying to escape."

"Oh, they tried." Morty smirked. "But when people die drunk, it takes the spirit a minute to catch up and figure out what happened."

He nodded and turned around. "Hold on. I'll grab a cloak from the closet."

Sienna cocked her head and sang, "I see London, I see France..."

Everyone went silent. I looked at Sienna, narrowing my eyes.

"I see the Grim Reaper's underpants.”

I groaned.

“Sorry, I couldn't resist!"

I chuckled. "Well, Morty isn't the Grim Reaper yet. You realize, Morty, you don't officially get the title until Dad ascends."

Morty nodded, grabbed a reaper cloak from the closet, and slipped it over his head. "I know. But for all intents and purposes, I'm him. Until we know why the gods won't allow Dad to ascend, this is the arrangement. Why are you here, Zoey? I'd like to think you just stopped in to see Dad, but you don't make social calls."

I nodded. "You're right. I should probably come more often. An issue has come up, and if you're running things, it might be more urgent than I thought."

"What's up?" Morty asked.

"We have reason to believe Hades is planning to assault the underworld."

Morty rolled his eyes. "Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense. It's not like we've missed a lot of reapings lately. In fact, our success rate has improved since Dad let me take charge."

I grinned. "Well, that's impressive. I'm proud of you, Morty. The thing is, apparently, Hades had been planning for years to try to take over the underworld after Dad retired."

"But why, Zoey? He has his realm. He does his job. We do ours. What's the deal?"

"If he takes over, he'll claim all the souls that are reaped. He intends to expand Hades and take over Olympus."

Morty shook his head. "The other gods would never allow that."

"You're right. Most of them, though, don't take the threat seriously. Except Athena. She's trying to stop it."

"How is she doing that?"

"Apparently, all the supernatural souls I reap go straight to Olympus. She's forming an army to fight him off."

Morty shrugged. "Cool. So, what's the problem? It sounds like it's taken care of."

"The problem is that she doesn't have enough supernatural souls to win the battle. Not yet. She's tricked me into reaping people who frankly don't deserve it, just to build her army."

"I fail to see what the problem is, Zoey. Do what she wants you to do."

"It's not that simple. Remember the Horseman from New Orleans?"

"I do. What about him?"

"Apparently, he's a vampire that Athena reincarnated. She's using him to turn a bunch of humans into vampires, then they're sending them to me to reap."

Morty pressed his lips together. "I see why you might have reservations about that."

"The thing is, if I can get into Hades, I can reap Hades and send him to Olympus. The army Athena has assembled isn't strong enough to invade Hades. If he goes to Olympus, though, she'll have the advantage. She has more than enough of a force to arrest Hades in Olympus."

"But you have to go to Hades alone to do it?"

Sienna spoke up. "She won't be alone. I'm going with her."

Morty shook his head. "If her whole army isn't strong enough to defeat him on his home turf, what makes you think the two of you can stop him?"

"Because I can do something they can't. I can reap him."

"If you can get close to him. I don't know, Zoey. This isn't the best idea you've ever had."

"If anyone can do it, it's Zoey," Carmilla told him. "She was the best in our class."

Morty nodded. "That might be, but Zoey, when you left here, you were only a level-four Reaper. Do you really think you have the skill to pull it off?"

I nodded. "I do. I've had a lot of practice reaping supernatural bad guys on Earth."

"But reaping a god in his own domain is a lot different, Zoey. I can't let you do that!"

"Morty, Hades could march on the underworld at any time. Even if I went back and did what Athena wants, I'm not sure I'd be able to reap enough souls fast enough to give her the army she needs."

"How do you know your scythe will even work in Hades? Reapers can't invoke their scythes unless they’re on Earth."

I touched the sigil on my wrist. My scythe, minus the blade, formed in my hand. "See, it works."

"That's just your staff. I don't see the blade."

"Only because I'm not trying to reap you, Morty. The fact I can invoke it here suggests that I don't have to be on Earth for it to work."

"But Hades isn't the underworld. That doesn't prove it will work there."

"You're right, but I have to try. If it doesn't work, I'll run like hell. Pun not intended."

Morty sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk. "How do you think you're going to get to Hades?"

I grinned. "I'm going to ask Charon."

Morty laughed. "You're going to ask the Boatman to take you there through the River Styx?"

"I realize it's not likely to work."

"That guy doesn't give two shits about the gods and their conflicts, Zoey. All he cares about is getting his money."

I popped my knuckles. "Exactly."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sienna peered around as I led her through the underworld. She'd been to my dad's office before, but she'd never seen the rest of the world I grew up on. Things I took for granted, she examined with awe. It never occurred to me that a world without a sun that was illuminated by magically infused floating orbs might enthrall a mortal's imagination. Well, technically, Sienna wasn't a mortal anymore. Still, she'd never known any world other than Earth.

"This way." I wove between a couple of buildings. I was trying to leave unseen. Everyone in the underworld knew me. If the famed princess, the Reaper who had mysteriously managed to go to Earth and now reaped supernaturals, showed up on the streets, a crowd would form.

Explaining to them why I was approaching the Boatman, what our plans were, or anything of the sort was off the table. If all went according to plan, I'd reap Hades' devilish ass, and he'd be imprisoned in Olympus before anyone realized they'd narrowly averted an assault by Hades’ hellish legions.

There was a better than average chance I'd see a Reaper or two on the banks of the River Styx. Reapings happened all day, every day. Reaping human souls was a twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year enterprise. Humanity never took a vacation from dying.

The River Styx was in a cavern that ran beneath the underworld. Access was through a wide set of stairs that descended from a small stone building half a mile from the castle my dad's office was in.

The building was adorned with a giant stone gargoyle. Beneath the gargoyle was an opening and probably a hundred steep stairs. The stairwell was twenty feet wide, and once you got down the first fifteen stairs, the stone roof leveled out. Torches lined the walls, giving the passage an orange glow. It smelled of mildew.

"Hold onto the rails," I told Sienna. "The farther down we get, the slicker the stairs get with humidity."

"Talk about creepy," Sienna muttered. "This is where the Reapers take the souls they harvest?"

"Yup. Every one. We have to move fast. If anyone comes up or down the stairs as we descend, try not to look at them. They won't think much about an unfamiliar face. There are a lot of Reapers, and no one knows everyone. Still, I'd rather we not garner unnecessary attention."

At the bottom of the stairs was a wide expanse that led to the bank of the River Styx. Charon was perched in his boat, with a blazing torch affixed to the bow.

The boat wasn't that dissimilar to the gondola Kevin had taken me in during our date on the Plaza. It was older, of course. The Boatman's gondola was thousands of years old. Infused with some mystical preservative, the thing had held together all that time. I wasn't sure what it was made of. It appeared to be wood, but it was so dim down there that I’d never gotten a good look at it.

Sienna and I waited in the shadows as a Reaper delivered a soul from his scythe to Charon. I didn't know him. He would know me.

We waited until he left before we approached the Boatman. With a soul in tow, we didn't have long. Charon kept a tight schedule.

I stepped out of the shadows. "Hey, Charon!"

The Boatman tilted his head and stared at me. He didn't say a word.

"Any chance we could hitch a ride to Hades?"

Charon narrowed his eyes and grabbed his oar.

"It's important. I wouldn't ask otherwise."

The Boatman stared at me. Charon looked like what a lot of people assume the Grim Reaper should look like. His face was pale and emaciated. He hadn't seen any sunlight in probably his entire existence.

"Here's the thing. I don't know what you do with your money, but there's a war brewing between some of the gods. Hades plans to march his legions into the underworld."

Charon pinched his chin. "This is not my concern." His voice was gravelly and barely more audible than a whisper.

"It will be once he starts harvesting all the souls and claiming them for himself. You'll be out of work."

"How do you know that is his intention?"

I shrugged. "I have an in with some of the other gods. Athena says so."

"I see. Still, it is forbidden to carry a living soul—human, Reaper, or whatever she is—into the immortal realms."

I shrugged. "Forbidden by who?"

"The gods."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

"Most of them don't take Hades' threat seriously. Athena does. I'm here to do her bidding. Trust me, Charon. If we're successful, not only will the gods forgive you, they'll praise you for helping us."

"I do not require praise."

"But you require money."

"Yes. A lot of money."

"Don't we all!" Sienna piped up.

Charon gripped his oar. "I am sorry. I cannot help you."

"What do you do with all your money?"

Charon narrowed his eyes. "I invest."

"Why do you invest? Surely you're saving up for something."

"I invest in crypto. It's wise, given the state of the markets."

I snorted. "Okay. Cool, I guess. But you must be investing for a reason."

"I buy Gummi Bears."

Sienna chuckled. "You spend all your money on Gummi Bears?"

"I also buy Pixie Stix."

"Neat!" I exclaimed. "You're a sugar fiend, I take it."

"I require much."

"Have you ever tried Sour Patch Kids?" Sienna asked. "They're fantastic."

"I have not. I must look into that. They are candy children?"

"They're shaped like children," I said. "They aren't actual children."

Charon nodded. "And if what you say is true, I will not be paid?"

"No souls to ferry, no money. No money, no sugary sweets."

"Damn." Charon sighed. "Climb aboard."

I cocked my head. "Just like that?"

"Yes. I must have candy. But we must hurry. The soul I have aboard is due to Hades in a minute and a half."

"You can take us to Hades in less than two minutes?"

Charon nodded. "Of course. I have one request."

"Anything," I said.

"If you are successful, I would like to try these sour-flavored children you speak of."

"How do you get your candy? Who invests your money?"

"I have an arrangement with Dionysus. He handles the details."

I nodded. "Dionysus. Of course. I guess that makes sense. He's a party animal, that god. At least, that’s what I’ve heard."

Charon grinned, a horrible expression. "You don’t know the half of it. Come now. We must depart."

He extended his hand. I grabbed it. It was icy to the touch. As I stepped aboard, the gondola didn't even rock. He helped Sienna board the boat in a similar fashion.

"Please sit. Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."

I sat cross-legged on the floor of the boat. Sienna did the same. Charon started to row.

We moved slowly through the water. I didn't know how we could make it to Hades in less than a minute. Then Charon reached into his cloak and retrieved a tube of Pixie Stix. He ripped it open and poured it into his mouth.

Charon returned his paddle to the water, then, in a fury, started rowing so fast that the oar was a blur.

I pressed my hands against the side of the boat as we flew through the water. The wind pressed against my face, rippling my cheeks.

"Whee!" Sienna shouted.

I laughed. The only light was the flame on his boat that mysteriously didn't go out despite our speed.

We stopped abruptly when the gondola reached the bank of what I presumed was Hades. Our bodies flew forward, and Sienna and I smashed into each other. Charon remained standing, unfazed by our sudden change in velocity.

"You may disembark. When you have completed your task, you might or might not find me here. I do not linger in this realm any longer than necessary."

"Understood." I nodded, then stood up and stepped onto the beach. The place was covered with molten lava. The beach wasn't sand but ash. The realm looked like what someone would expect hell to look. It fit the stereotypes.

Charon took the torch from his boat and waved it, and a black form blasted out of it and flew into Hades.

"Go to hell. Go directly to hell. Do not collect two hundred dollars." Sienna chuckled.

Charon placed his oar back in the water. "Remember. Sour babies."

"Sour Patch Kids," Sienna corrected, smirking.

"Right. Those. I will remind you again if you make it back alive."

I nodded. "Thanks for the ride and the vote of confidence."

Charon nodded back, then reached into his cloak, grabbed a handful of Gummi Bears, and plopped them into his mouth. He churned his oar and disappeared in a blur.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Where the hell is Hades?" Sienna asked.

I smirked. "Nice. You know, it takes a special kind of asshole to create hell, then name the place after yourself."

"I agree." Sienna frowned. "This Hades guy sounds like a real dick."

I coughed into my hand. "We didn't think this through. We should have brought water."

"Is the air burning your sinuses like it is mine?"

"It's brutal. There's a reason people don't come here before they die."

"Speaking of that." Sienna rubbed her eyes. "Where are all the damned people?"

I shook my head. "Their souls are sent here. I don't have the slightest clue how they manifest."

"You just have to open your eyes," a deep voice with a thick Southern accent said from behind us.

I turned and saw a man in brown overalls and a straw hat. He had a gray beard that fell halfway down his chest.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Roy. Been here a while. Y'ain't dead, are ya?"

Sienna grinned. "How could you tell?"

"Y'all are wanderin' around here like a cock in a storm."

"A what?"

"A cock. You know what I mean. A rooster."

"Oh, yeah." She chuckled. "That makes more sense."

I snickered. "I take it you're dead, Roy?"

Roy grinned, flashing a single tooth at Sienna. "She's a bright one, isn't she?"

"I'm smart!"

Roy chuckled. "Don't matter much. You two are the purdiest things I've seen in... Wait! What year is it?"

"2022."

"That can't be!"

"It's the truth," Sienna replied. "What year did you think it was?"

Roy scratched his head. "I don't know. I've been here a long time. Must be a hunnert years if what yer sayin' is right."

"What did you do that got you sent to hell?" I asked.

Roy shrugged. "Just a sheep or two."

I stared at Roy blankly. He started laughing. "I'm kidding. Good Lord Almighty. You shoulda seen yer face!"

I grinned. "Well, at least hell hasn't ruined your sense of humor."

"Truth is, I don't know. I think I shot a man."

"You think you shot someone?" Sienna asked.

"I had a hankerin' for the whiskey. I don't know for sure. I think I did. Not on purpose."

"If it was an accident, I don't think that would get you a ticket to hell, Roy."

Roy shrugged. "Did lots of bad when I was drinkin’. I deserved it, ya know."

I shook my head. "Alcoholism is a disease. A hundred years ago, they didn't know how to treat it."

"I don't know this ism word you speak. I do know myself some alcohol, I reckon. I been clean and dry a century now, though."

I grinned. "Well, that's an accomplishment."

"Not much of one. Trust me, sweetheart. If there was any whiskey in hell, I'd drink the barrel dry. Now, why don't you two tell me what two purdy gals like yourselves are doin' here in hell when y'ain't even dead."

"We're looking for Hades."

"Look around, sweetheart! Yer here!"

I chuckled. "Not the place. The guy."

Roy furrowed his brow. "You mean the devil?"

Sienna nodded. "That's what we mean."

Roy crossed his arms. "Not sure I can help you with that."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Devil ain't here."

"Where is he?" Sienna asked. "And don't tell me the devil went down to Georgia."

Roy scratched his head. "Nope. Not to Georgia. Good people in them parts. I reckon if the devil went down to Georgia, he might stumble into a church and get hisself saved."

Sienna smiled. "Or he'd go there looking for a soul to steal."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you telling us the devil isn't in hell?"

"Oh, he's in hell," Roy said. "Just not in these here parts."

"Then where the hell is he?" I asked.

Roy grinned.

"Sorry. I need to stop saying that."

"Well, let me put it this way. If I've been here a hunnert years, for about a quarter of that time, he's been gatherin' demons to hisself."

"Doing what?" Sienna asked.

Roy shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care. Things here have been a hell of a lot more pleasant since. He and his buddies haven't been terrorizin' us like they used to do."

I grinned. "Now you said it. Hell of a lot."

Roy grinned. "Guess I did."

Sienna sighed. "That roughly fits the timeline, Zoey. If he's been planning this invasion since before you were born..."

I nodded. "You're right. If he's been devoting all his energy to this for the last twenty-plus years, I can only imagine how powerful his army must be."

"Excuse me." Roy tugged his beard. "Why are you lookin' for the devil, anyway? In my experience, those who go a-lookin' for him find him and regret it."

"We're here to kill him."

Roy laughed. "You can't kill the devil, sweetheart!"

I smirked. "I can. Will you take us to him?"

Roy shook his head. "Sweetheart, if I take you to him and you try to do what you say, he'll torture me for another century."

"Take me to him, and I'll get you out of here."

Roy rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. "You can do that?"

I smiled. "I’m not sure, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to take you with me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Hiking through hell without water sucked. There was no better way to put it. I don't recommend it. I'd highly suggest not going there.

We followed Roy from the bank of the River Styx through a small canyon. As we passed, a number of the damned gawked at us as if Sienna and I were medium-rare steaks. Roy didn't look like a spirit. He looked human, and so did everyone else. I suppose that where we were, the boundary between the material and ethereal modes of being was nonexistent.

Just as I was still myself but not wholly matter-bound when I entered the astral plane, I imagined the same was true here. Or, maybe all these people were just as embodied as I was. Maybe the gods gave them new bodies that resembled their own when they arrived so they could get the full infernal experience. Whatever the case was, they all seemed to know Sienna and I didn't belong.

"How can you tell that we're alive?" I asked Roy.

"Death leaves a mark," he replied. "Y'all might not be able to see it. You know, on account of being not dead."

"What kind of mark?" I asked. "You seem to have bodies, but they aren't the ones you had in life."

"Look the same," Roy countered. "But you know, just because this feels like a body, who am I to say it's not something I made up? We appear the way we remember ourselves. As for me, I believed I was a very sexy man."

Sienna chuckled. "Of course!"

"I'm just joshin' ya. I know I ain't much to look at, but lotsa people here look uglier than they are. Low self-esteem, probably on account of being damned. Tends to have that effect."

I hacked a dry cough into my closed fist. "Then what's the mark you talked about?"

"There's darkness in the chest of everyone here. Everyone except you two. You two radiate like the sun."

Sienna and I looked at each other. I sighed. "That's not good. How are we supposed to sneak up on Hades if we're glowing?"

"Not glowing," Roy corrected. "It's more like you're blasting sunlight around yourselves. Like the sun is inside you and bursting out of every pore."

I shook my head. "Then there's no way we can hide from Hades."

"The devil's a cunning one." Roy nodded. "But sure as death and taxes, he's not the God I was raised to believe in. He can't see all, an’ he doesn't know all. Thinks he does. The devil has an ego. The devil loves himself some devil. His pride is, I suppose, his only weakness. He can be tricked."

I tucked my hair behind my ears. "How do we do that? We can't see these lights in our chests."

"Can't see the lump of coal in yours, either," Sienna added.

Roy tugged his beard. "Here's a thought. I always figured the darkness we were marked with meant we were dead. What if that's just what means we belong in hell? Y'all have light in your chests because at this stage in your lives, if you were a-gonna die, you'd go to the good place."

I shrugged. "Maybe. There isn't any way to test your theory, though. We have the same problem either way. We have to get to Hades without being noticed."

Roy shrugged. "Do something bad. Real bad. Earn your place in hell."

I furrowed my brow. "I don't want to end up here forever, Roy. I'm trying to kill the devil. I'd rather not damn my soul in the process."

Roy tilted his head. "Well, if you killed the devil, this place might not be so bad."

I shook my head. "It's out of the question. We don't know how bad we'd have to be for it to work. I'm not going to hurt someone or do anything horrible just to blacken my heart."

Roy shrugged. "Some of the mortal sins aren't so bad, you know."

I stared at him blankly. "Of course they are. That's why they're called mortal sins."

Roy shrugged. "You don't know what the seven mortal sins are, do you? Lust is one. Who ain't guilty of that? I am this very second, which I probably shouldn't admit because it might make it awkward talkin' to the two of you."

I chuckled. "It's okay. I don't mind, as long as you keep your cold, dead paws to yourself."

Roy grinned. "Just playin' with ya. Not literally. Hell, not that I wouldn’t. Never mind. Dead people don’t usually dig their own holes, but I’ve managed to figure out a way to do it. Just forget about it. After lust is gluttony."

"So, if you eat too much, you go to hell?" Sienna asked.

"So much for your momma and poppa tellin' ya to clean your plate every night. There's anger, too. Who hasn't gotten downright pissed from time to time? Oh, yeah, and sloth."

"What's sloth?" I asked.

"Being like a sloth. Lazy. You don't have to do somethin' to get sent to hell. You can do nothin' and be damned too."

I grinned. "No offense. Those mortal sins are based on one religion's beliefs, right? I don't think they're universal."

Roy shrugged. "Well, I wasn't much of a God-fearin' man. Obviously."

"We still don't know if it would work," I insisted. "Not everyone defines sin the same way."

"True," Roy agreed. "My buddy Leeroy. He croaked a few weeks after me. He was a Calvinist. He done figured he must've been predestined to end up here and couldn't do nothin' to prevent it."

I tilted my head. "I take it you don't agree."

Roy shrugged. "I don't know what I believe. Maybe that's why I'm here. I'm one of those indecisive agnostic sorts. Never could make up my mind. Chicken or steak? Left leg goes in first or right? Marry the redhead or the blonde? Usually, when I can't choose, I just do both. Who ever said you can't have chicken and steak on the same plate? I found if I sat back on my butt, I could put both legs in my pants at the same time!"

"The redhead or the blonde?" Sienna asked.

"Married the both of them! They didn't figure it out for almost two years. Oh, lord! I was in a heap of trouble when they sorted it out. They just thought I was out of town on business most of the time. Was fun for a while."

Sienna gawped at him. "You tried the two-family thing? No wonder you wound up here."

Roy shrugged. "They both divorced me. Don’t mind. I’d never do it again. Twice the wives means twice the honey-dos. Makin’ a woman happy is a full-time job, I reckon. Didn’t think about that when I married two at once. After all that, though, I ended up marrying a brunette. Celebrated forty years of marriage before I kicked the oxygen habit."

"Is your wife here?" I asked.

Roy shook his head. "My sweet Adeline. I suspect she went to the good place. She was a good woman. Didn't deserve her but spent my whole life tryin' to prove I did."

I sighed. "I don't see any reason you should be here, Roy. I mean, you did some bad things, but you lived a long time after that. You changed."

Roy shrugged. "I flipped off the Reaper when he came for me. Maybe I pissed him off."

I chuckled. "It doesn't work that way. The Reaper doesn't get a say about where you end up."

"Well, how would you know about that, young lady? You ain't dead. That means you never met no Reaper."

"She's the Grim Reaper's daughter," Sienna explained.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Sienna.

"Sorry? We weren't sharing that?"

Roy wiped his nose with his sleeve. "You're the Grim Reaper's daughter? Well, I'll be! Maybe you do have a shot at this."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Rumor is the devil don't much like the Reapers."

I nodded. "Right. That's why we're here, Roy. He wants to attack the underworld where the Reapers live, but I don't think that's because he doesn't like us. It's a power play."

"Why do you suppose the devil would spend twenty years or so raisin' an army to fight the Reapers if he didn't think y'all were a threat?"

"He makes a good point, Zoey."

"I don't think he's afraid of Reapers. He probably didn't need all this time to raise the army, either. He's been waiting to attack until my dad's power wanes and my brother takes over. From what I understand, he hopes to take advantage of the instability of the transition."

"Or attack when your dad's at his weakest and Morty hasn't grown into his power," Sienna said.

I nodded. "That's a good point. Look, maybe we can't sneak up on Hades. He might see us coming, but so what if he does?"

"What are you thinking, Zoey?"

"Hades doesn't know we're onto his plan. If he sees me here and has any idea who I am, he'll be hell-bent—pardon the pun—on ensuring I don't escape to report back to the underworld."

Sienna sighed. "That won't work if he just sends his legions after us."

I scratched my head. "Actually, it might. Look, if he doesn't know we're onto him but thinks I'm here as a spy, he'll assume my dad knows something. He'll want to question me, and if he doesn't know I can reap his ass, I'll have the element of surprise.

“Let him interrogate me. When he doesn't expect it, I'll slice and dice the devil right into Olympus, where Athena can do her worst to put him away for good."

Roy grunted. "Pardon me, sweetheart, but there are a lot of ifs in what you just said. Suppose one of those ifs ain't right?"

I shrugged. "Then we're screwed. If we don't reap Hades before we leave, eventually, we'll be screwed anyway."

"Get screwed now or get screwed later," Roy muttered. "I've never been one to delay my screwings. You gotta get it while the getting’s good."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Roy led us to the top of a cliff that overlooked a large plane. Sienna and I slithered on our bellies toward the edge. The cooling lava that covered the ground beneath us was still hot enough that it burned through my shirt. It was like lying on a steam iron. Sweat dripped from my forehead. I was surprised it didn't turn to steam on contact.

It wasn't hard to identify Hades. He looked like a man but was significantly larger than any person I'd ever encountered. He was shirtless. I can't say I blamed him. If I lived in this place twenty-four/seven, I'd go shirtless too, modesty be damned.

Hades looked like a professional wrestler. Think Andre the Giant—the dude was before my time, but I've seen the photos—with the musculature of Arnold when he won Mister Olympia. He was quite the specimen. He wore a crown of what might have been onyx and sported a scraggly beard that fell from his chin like moss on a piece of driftwood.

"Where's his army?" I asked.

"You can't see them." Roy shook his head. "You never see a demon until it's on your back, poking you in the ass with a pitchfork."

"Are you sure it's a pitchfork they're poking you with?" Sienna smirked. "Maybe demons are like hellhounds. You know, with three heads, just not on their shoulders."

"No comment." Roy narrowed his eyes. "This is hell, after all."

I sighed. "So, you're saying Hades might be down there alone, or he could be surrounded by a legion of thousands, and we wouldn't know it?"

"That's right. Still think you can take him down?"

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The plan hasn't changed. Let's assume his full legion is there. Once he sees me and realizes I'm alive and I'm Azrael's daughter, he'll want to talk to me."

Sienna took a deep breath. "I don't know, Zoey. Say we kill him. How do you think his legion will react?"

"Sienna, if you don't want to do this, you can go back to the River Styx. Wait for Charon. I'm sure he'll take you back."

"Nope. Girl, do you really think I'm going to let you face the devil alone?"

I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. It burned in my lungs. I exhaled. "Thanks, Sienna. I say we get this over with and get the hell... Get out of here."

"I'm with you. At least we won't have to worry about continually stumbling into hell puns."

I stood up on the edge of the cliff and spread my arms wide. I couldn't see the light that Roy said radiated from my bosom, but if that was true, Hades couldn't help but notice.

Notice, he did. The god turned and stared at me. Something like flames burst from his eyes and surrounded his body.

The next thing I knew, my body was surrounded by something black, and my feet left the ground. Whatever the black thing was released a high-pitched cry. I clasped my hands over my ears. With a strength that Arnold Schwartzenegger would have envied, the thing carried me to the feet of Hades.

The blackness disappeared. Hades cocked his head. "A Reaper in my domain? Tell me, Miss Grimm, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Hades’ voice was deep and had an echo that sounded unnatural. I furrowed my brow. "You know who I am?"

Hades grinned, flashing a perfectly straight set of teeth. "Why wouldn't I? For years, I have been preparing to do battle against what I believed would be an underworld full of Reapers under your command. Imagine my surprise when your less-accomplished sibling assumed control."

"What can I say? My dad's a misogynist. I suppose the underworld wasn't ready for its first female Grim Reaper."

Hades bellowed a laugh. "Nice try, Miss Grimm. The rumor I've heard from my operatives in the underworld is that you didn't have the gift."

"Is that what they told you?"

"There is an absurd rumor that you've been vested with another power. An ability to reap creatures of a different sort."

"Do you believe every rumor you hear?"

"I said it was absurd, did I not? Though now that you've shown up here, I have to assume the rumors are either true, or you've managed to secure intelligence of my intentions, and this is a last desperate attempt on the part of your father to negotiate a truce."

I shrugged. "Who’s to say both aren’t true? And, what if I wanted to negotiate a truce? What are the chances it might work?"

"You'd need to have something I want that rivals what I seek, Miss Grimm. Unless you can unseat Zeus and arrange for me to be crowned as the king of Olympus, I can't imagine what would change my mind."

I smirked. "I don't need to change your mind."

"You intend to join me?"

I grinned. "Why do you suppose I'd do that?"

"It would save lives. If you allied with me, there'd be no reason to assault the underworld. Deliver all reaped souls to me, and none would need to be harmed."

"Not exactly what I was thinking." I touched the sigil on my wrist, and my scythe formed in my hand. Hades' jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. I charged him, aiming my blade for the god's chest.

Hades extended his hand, and black energy wrapped itself around me and squeezed.

"Intriguing," Hades murmured. "You believed you could reap a god?"

I tried to respond, but his power constricted my chest. I couldn't breathe.

The next thing I knew, a blur blasted past me and struck Hades head-on. The god flew back twenty feet and hit the ground. The energy he had used to bind me dissipated.

Sienna grabbed me as my knees buckled. Her eyes were black. "You drank the blood?"

"We have to go."

"Go where?"

Sienna turned and pointed behind her. Cerberus was running toward us. This time, though, he had a different head. I had seen his hell head before. Often, when he lived with my dad in the underworld, he sported all three heads. Three times the barking when we knocked on Dad’s office door. Three times the destruction. Three squeaky toys at once. "Cerberus showed up on the cliff just after you went down."

"I don’t understand. How did he know where to find…"

"No time," Cerberus called in a voice that was more raspy than usual. "My other self will answer your questions when we get back."

"I have to take him down! We can do this!"

"We can't risk it," Sienna warned. "I took him off-guard. If he blasts us with that black shit again, we're as good as dead."

Cerberus expanded his body to three times its normal size. "Climb onto my back."

"Wait. What about Roy? We promised..."

"Right here!" Roy screamed, running toward us.

I climbed on Cerberus' back. Sienna and Roy jumped up behind me.

"Hold on tight." Cerberus took off running, and the next thing I knew, we were in front of my apartment.

Sienna and I climbed off Cerberus' back. He belched, and flames burst from his jaws and charred the pavement. Then, his hell-bound head retracted into his body, and the head I knew better reemerged.

“Thanks for the ride,” Roy offered, his form now translucent with a green glow outlining his shape. He was a ghost. I hadn’t seen many ghosts. In the Reaper Academy, preventing new ghosts by successfully reaping the souls we were sent to harvest was the number one priority of any Reaper.

I nodded. “Where to now, Roy?”

Roy shrugged. “Earth if I know.”

“’Earth if I know?’” Sienna asked.

“Hell puns don’t have the same effect anymore.”

I chuckled. “So, now you wander the Earth as a ghost? I know I promised to get you out of hell, but this must be a letdown.”

“Are you kidding? This is fantastic! I can explore the world. I can spook the bejeezus out of people. That’ll be fun.”

“Is there anyone you’d like to see?” Sienna asked.

Roy shrugged. “Anyone I knew while I was alive is long dead. Might check on my descendants, but they don’t know me, and I don’t know them. I’d be as strange to them as a booger on a butt cheek.”

“You could hang out with us for a while,” Sienna suggested.

“Butter my butt and call it a biscuit! That’d be real nice. At least ‘til I figure out what to do with my ever after.”

Cerberus pawed my leg. His hellish head was gone. "I don't understand. How'd you to know to come for me?"

Cerberus nuzzled my leg. "Your brother told your father. He came and got me. I don't usually agree with my...devilish side, but I’m loyal. Your dad has a special place in my heart. We voted to save you, three heads to none."

Sienna stumbled a little. “I’m going to need more blood or some sleep. One of the two.”

“Where’s your brooch?”

“Cerberus?” Sienna reached down. Cerberus licked his lips, then spat her brooch out of his mouth and into her hand. “If I put this on, I’ll pass out.”

“Let’s get up to the apartment. I could use some rest, too. Since we didn’t succeed, I have a feeling we’re stuck back with Plan A. I can’t imagine it will be long before Clarence sends more supernaturals after us.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I was startled when I opened my apartment door and saw my parents snuggling on my couch. I don't know why it shocked me. I didn't expect it, although I should have.

I knew my dad had found Cerberus and sent him to save us. It was reasonable, presuming he didn't have a bingo tournament on his busy retirement schedule, to expect he'd hang around to make sure we got back safely.

After I got over the surprise of seeing them, I was grateful. It could have been worse. Walking in on Morty and Carmilla had been mildly disturbing. If I ever saw my parents do the nasty, I'd be scarred for life. I knew they'd done it since I existed. That was proof. But since Morty and I were twins, for all I knew, they'd done it a total of one time, ever. That's my belief. Don't challenge it. Ignorance is bliss.

"Zoey!" My father jumped up from the couch. "Thanks be to the gods!"

My mom stood, too, and approached me. She put her hand on my back. "How'd it go?"

I shook my head. "I got close. Not close enough. If Cerberus hadn't shown up when he did..."

"She'da been done for faster than a fart in a hurricane," Roy piped up.

My dad's eyes went wide. He touched his wrist and evoked his scythe. I grabbed his arm. "Stop. He's a friend."

"He's a wandering spirit, Zoey. He must be delivered to the Boatman."

Roy shrugged. "Been there, done that. Wasn't no pleasure cruise."

My dad narrowed his eyes. "He came with you?"

I nodded. "He helped us. I told him I'd take him with me."

My father's eyes narrowed. "You broke a damned soul out of perdition? Zoey, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about reaping Hades and preventing him from taking over the world and damning all of humanity for eternity. It wasn't like I killed the guy. I gave him a second chance. Sort of."

"He's a ghost, Zoey."

I shrugged. "He's not the only one."

Dad scratched his head. "You realize that any soul Hades has claimed, he can track?"

"Say what?" Roy's jaw dropped.

"If Hades knows he helped you, and you took him, if he ever gets him back, he'll torture him for a millennium."

"Name's Roy, by the way. Nice to meet you, Mister Death."

My father ignored him. "No matter, Zoey. Hades now knows what you can do. I suspect he'll expedite his plans. I must return to the underworld and help Morty prepare."

I shook my head. "I couldn't do it, Dad. Athena wants me to reap a bunch of supernaturals. She wants me to raise an army she can lead against him. I thought If I could take out Hades and deliver him to Athena, I wouldn't have to reap anyone else who didn't deserve it."

My father clenched his hand on his scythe. He waved his hand and produced a portal to the underworld. "You should have done what she asked. It might not be too late, but you'll have to act fast. I suspect Hades is preparing his assault even as we speak."

"It's not right, Dad. I'll be hurting innocent people!"

"And if Hades takes over the underworld, how many innocent people will suffer? You have a unique power, Zoey. Sometimes you'll have to make difficult decisions for the sake of the greater good."

"Not if there's another way, Dad."

"Breaking into Hades and taking on the place's namesake wasn’t another way, Zoey. It was suicidal. If it wasn't for your brother telling me what you were up to, it would have been."

"I could have done it!"

My father grunted. "But you didn't. Now everyone, be they mortals or gods, has to pay the price for your mistake."

My mouth fell open, but I couldn't find any words. It was the first time in my life I genuinely felt I'd disappointed my dad. For years, I had worked to meet or exceed his expectations. Now, he was looking at me the way he used to look at Morty—like he was ashamed of me. Tears welled in my eyes. No hug. No love yous. My dad left and didn't even say goodbye.

My mom put her arm around me. "He's afraid, Zoey. Try not to take it personally."

I huffed. "Whatever."

I glanced at the couch. Sienna had replaced her brooch and was out cold.

"I'm sorry." Roy looked mournful. "I didn't know the devil could track me down."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault."

"But if he thinks I'm with you, if he can find me, he'll find you. Maybe I should go."

"No, you shouldn't. Hades has bigger fish to fry right now."

"Zoey is right," Mom added. "She is the biggest threat to Hades right now. As long as you're on Earth, he won't know if you're with her or not. He might not even notice."

Someone knocked three times on my apartment door.

I stepped to the door. One problem with the new door Kevin installed was no peephole. I opened the door.

Jessna stood outside, staring at me with black eyes. "I need you to come with me."

I shook my head. "I told Clarence I won't work with him. I'm not going to hurt innocent people."

Jessna shook her head. "I don’t know what's come over him. He's given up on the trolls. Do you remember what's next on his list?"

I allowed Jessna to step inside. I grabbed the scroll she'd given me from my kitchen table. "A gorgon?"

"What's a gorgon?" my mom asked.

I sighed. "Medusa was a gorgon, Mom."

"Is he sending one here?" she asked.

Jessna shook her head. "No, worse. He's sending her to the stadium. There's a baseball game today. If you don't stop her, Zoey, she'll turn the whole damned place to stone."

I clenched my fist. "That bastard. He knows I would not comply if he sent the creatures Athena wants in her army to me, so he's sending them after innocent people."

Jessna's lip quivered. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd resort to these tactics. You have to stop her."

"If I stop the gorgon, I'll be doing what he wants."

My mom sighed. "Is that the end of the world, Zoey? I know you don't approve of Clarence's methods. I don't blame you. I don't either but look at what we're facing. Hades knows about you now. He'll probably attack the underworld sooner rather than later. We might need to comply with Athena's plan. Her army isn't strong enough yet. You can make it stronger."

I shook my head. "I hate that you're right. I suppose we don't have a choice. Sienna is out of commission. We'll have to handle this one without her."

"How does one kill a gorgon?" my mom asked. "I know nothing about them."

I shrugged. "You behead them. At least, that's what the myth we learned in school said happened when Perseus killed Medusa. It doesn't matter. I have to reap her."

"How are you going to do that without looking at her?" Jessna asked.

"The same way Perseus did. I'll have to use a reflection. Finding her in a stadium full of people won't be easy, though."

"Here's a thought," Jessna offered. "If you can look at a gorgon through a reflection, would a digital image work?"

I glanced at her. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not great with technology," Jessna continued. "But they make VR goggles that interface with your phone screen. If we can get something like that and use the camera on your phone as your eyes, you may be able to find her more easily than you would if you were carrying a giant mirror around."

"That's a great idea," my mom enthused. "How do we get something like that? It's not like we have time to try to find one and figure it out."

"Sienna would know how to do it," I said. "We need her help."

My mom retrieved a small knife from her pocket. She cut a wound across the palm of her hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"There's only one way to wake her up right now. She needs blood."

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

It was a mid-week daytime game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals drew a crowd when they had a winning record, and it was an evening game. Neither of those conditions was true at the moment. Unfortunate for the few thousand Royals fans who made it to the game. Fortunate for those who had any intention of not becoming granite.

There were oversized statues at the entrances that represented retired baseball players. They weren't the work of a gorgon.

Sienna had picked up one of the devices Jessna suggested at an electronics store on our way to the stadium. It took her a whole three minutes to set it up. Now, I was wandering around outside the stadium, garnering stares from fans who were making their way in for the game. They probably thought I was looking for Pokémon.

Sienna, Jessna, and my mom stayed in the car and watched from afar. I suppose we could have bought goggles for all of us, but if the gorgon was there, as far as I knew, she wouldn't be a challenge. I wasn't Perseus. I didn't have to rely on a reflection in a shield.

Even though I was looking at a screen generated by the camera on my phone, I saw everything in front of me. My peripheral vision wasn't the same, though. I had to turn my head rather than move my eyes to change what I saw. The depth perception was close but off just enough that it was mildly disorienting.

* * *

Trying to find one person in a stadium with thousands was virtually impossible. That is, presuming this gorgon wasn't allowing the snakes on her head out. If she was, I'd probably be able to find her by following the trail of statues and screams. That said, if the gorgon was real, she'd managed to blend in. I couldn't recall any news reports about anyone going missing and a stone likeness of them later being found.

Even in the underworld, we didn't have historical data to support the myths we were taught. Not any more than they had in human schools. The only difference was that we were taught with the assumption that the events in the myths were true in substance. We were taught the legends as if they were history. Human schools taught myths in sociology, literature, or world religions.

Still, the lack of known gorgon activity didn't necessarily mean gorgons hadn't been around for as long as vampires. Most people didn’t think vampires were real, either. For the gorgons, it was the nature of the beast that they didn't leave any witnesses who could tell the stone-cold truth to the rest of the world. Many vampire victims survived and went on with their lives. If vampires had managed to remain in hiding all this time, why couldn't a gorgon or two?

I had been a good student, but I’d never thought knowledge about Perseus and how he slew Medusa would have a practical use in my life. There was so much I didn't know. I wasn't sure if the stories we were taught had the information and I'd forgotten it or if no one knew the truth.

For instance, did a gorgon need to turn people to stone? Did she get anything out of it? Sure, I liked a man with chiseled abs as much as any girl. Kevin's were fantastic. I could see the allure in being able to make a guy hard just by looking at you. On the other hand, no girl likes a guy who is quiet and as motionless as a statue.

Perhaps the gorgon consumed the souls of those she turned to stone. Maybe the turning people to stone thing was a big-time nuisance a gorgon had to put up with and try to minimize while doing her best to live a normal and productive life.

The long and the short of it was, I didn't know a damn thing. If push came to shove and a gorgon thought I was about to reap her, though I was reasonably certain she wouldn't hold back.

I noticed that guards at the security checkpoints were forcing people to remove their hats as they went through. If the gorgon had hidden her snakes with a hat, a stone security guard would reveal where she went in. I circled the whole stadium and checked every entrance, and thankfully but frustratingly, all the security guards were still flesh and blood.

I was hoping to catch the gorgon outside. I didn't know if they'd allow me to bring my headset in. Stadiums have weird rules about what they allow in.

I was in line to buy a ticket, the cheapest one I could get. Nosebleed was fine. I wasn't there for baseball. I just needed to get inside.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned.

"I believe you're looking for me."

I looked up. She was tall, more than six feet. She was also slender and had the complexion of a snowman. She had high, sunken cheekbones. She could have been a model. She wore a form-fitting dress that was fancier than I'd expect someone to wear to a ballgame. She had on nine-inch heels, which seemed excessive, given her height. She had a large scarf tied around her head, covering what most people would think was her hair.

I could swear something was moving under it.

"You're the gorgon?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Svetlana Petrov. I came a long way to find you. Clarence insisted you were more likely to come if we selected a large crowd."

I sighed. "Of course he did. He's a manipulative prick."

"Perhaps, but his cause is just. I am a volunteer."

"You know what I have to do to you, right?"

Svetlana grinned. "You can remove your goggles. The power you fear is vested in my companions."

"Your snake hair, you mean?"

Svetlana nodded. "They are well-behaved. They will not attempt to leave their cover. You are in no danger."

I snorted. "I'd prefer to keep these on if you don't mind. Say you wanted to turn me to stone. You'd surely tell me I had nothing to worry about."

Svetlana laughed. "You Americans. Always so paranoid. You hear my accent, and you think I can't be trusted."

I shrugged. "I haven't lived in America that long. You're Russian, I'm guessing."

"Not originally. I’m Greek, but I’ve lived in Russia for more than a century. You were not originally an American, either. You are a Reaper, are you not?"

"Of a sort."

"Of an exceptional sort."

I scratched my head. "You want me to reap you and send you to Olympus?"

"Why wouldn't you? It's not like you'd be sending me to Hades."

I chuckled. "Been there. Wouldn't wish that place on my worst enemy."

"Athena requires my aid. My power remains in force, no matter what realm I belong to. I could be of great service in the destruction of Hades."

I narrowed my eyes. "Sorry, this is a bit weird for me. No one has ever asked me to reap their soul before."

Svetlana laughed. "I suppose that under most circumstances, few would. These are challenging times. Including me, only two of my kind still exist. My sister is not as civilized as I am. She would never help. My unique skill will be required if Athena is to succeed."

"Your unique skill? You mean..."

"Getting people stoned," Svetlana stated.

"You mean, turning people to stone? That's a very different thing."

"Yes. Apologies. My English sometimes is imperfect. I am not affluent."

I snorted. "’Fluent.’ You aren't fluent. ‘Affluent’ means that you are wealthy."

"Ah, yes. I am more affluent than fluent, I should say."

I scratched my head. "This is a crazy idea, but since you don't seem crazy, I have a list from Clarence. Other supernaturals I need to reap might not be as compliant. If you turn them to stone, can I still reap their souls?"

Svetlana nodded. "The soul remains within the form. It will linger there indefinitely if not freed."

"So when you turn people to stone, you're not just killing them, you're imprisoning them. They can't move on."

"I do not use my ability often for that very reason. Most people, even those who deserve to die, do not deserve to have their souls trapped."

I ran my fingers under my VR goggles to wipe away some sweat. "Athena plans to use you to imprison Hades, doesn't she?"

"This is the plan."

"Have you ever done that with a god before?"

Svetlana shook her head. "I have not. Athena is certain it will work."

"You don't sound confident."

"I have no reason to doubt her. Anything with a soul is susceptible to my companions."

"Gods have souls?"

"They are alive. They are capable of complex thought. They have hopes, desires, and schemes. These things indicate the presence of a soul."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, if Athena has you, and you can imprison Hades, you're all she needs."

Svetlana shrugged. "If Hades was the only one she needed to defeat, that would be true. But Hades has legions. Invisible wraiths."

I tilted my head. "Wraiths, you say?"

"Thousands of them. They do his bidding."

"I think I encountered a few of them. They're bad news."

"All I know is that wherever she intends to meet Hades in battle, she needs more than she has to account for the wraiths. I do not think I can get close enough to him to turn him to stone as long as they are within his control."

I pressed my lips together. "Theoretically, what would happen to the wraiths if he was separated from them?"

"Separated?"

"I'm not talking about physical distance. I mean, in a different realm."

"Wraiths are powerful. If they are controlled by a god like Hades, they are a force. They cannot be killed. But if they were separated from Hades, they would do nothing but explore. They are not violent creatures by nature. They are curious."

"How do you know so much about them?" I asked.

Svetlana laughed. "I've been around for a long time. This is not my first encounter with a god who grew too big for his trousers."

I scratched my head. "Medusa had two sisters. I remember that."

Svetlana grinned widely. "I was once known as ‘Stheno.’ Medusa was my mortal sister. My sister Euryale was immortal like me."

I tilted my head. "So, you can't be killed? Medusa was beheaded, right?"

Svetlana nodded. "You could remove my head. I'd pick it right back up. I cannot be killed. I must confess, I seek you out for more reasons than one. You are the only one I've yet to meet who could send me home to Olympus. After thousands of years, I have grown weary of this world. What better way to return home than as the one who imprisoned Hades, who tried to rebel against Zeus and the Olympian gods?"

I smirked. "Clever. Let me ask you a question. What if I could deliver Hades to you in Olympus? Could you still defeat him?"

"Without his wraiths? Certainly."

"Athena needs an army of supernaturals. These wraiths, though, cannot be killed. They can only be freed. Correct?"

"That is so."

"Why does she need such a large army?"

"Each wraith can only be commanded once. Each can do no more than attack one person or vampire or whatever."

"What happens after they've been commanded once?"

"Then they will be free."

"What you're telling me is that Athena plans to free the wraiths by outnumbering them?"

Svetlana shook her head. "No. She only needs to thin out his legion enough that I can get close enough to him to do what I do."

I nodded. "That's helpful. You ready to join Athena?"

"Ready as ever, but this isn't the best place. Too many people."

"Good point. Let's go for a little walk."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I didn't know how to contact the Oracle again. I wasn't sure I could trust Clarence anymore. He'd deceived me too many times. Even Jessna was dismayed by his actions.

Svetlana would be my messenger. The plan was simple. Athena didn't have enough time to build a big enough army to handle Hades' wraiths. She was depending on me. Working my way down Clarence's list would take too long. Hades could attack the underworld at any time. He probably would try sooner rather than later now that he knew I was a threat.

Svetlana would stay in Olympus while Athena brought her army to the underworld. I'd go there too and rally the Reapers to defend my father's and Morty's rule. There were enough Reapers that, combined with the forces I'd already reaped and sent to Athena, we would have a chance. We just had to work together.

I told Svetlana as much as we walked from the stadium to an overpass a couple of miles away. Sienna, Jessna, and my mom followed at a distance. They were still anxious, I suspected, about looking at Svetlana. Hell, I was too. I removed my goggles. I needed to give her a sign of trust. She kept her slithery companions hidden.

Svetlana opened her arms and smiled as I summoned my scythe and reaped her soul. I had to trust she'd get the message to Athena. If Athena didn't bring the army she'd assembled to the underworld, I didn't know if we'd stand a chance. Hades believed his legion was sufficient to fend off the Reapers. He hadn't accounted for me until recently. He hadn't accounted for Athena's army of supernatural nasties, either.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. Everyone in Athena's army had been sent to her by me. Not just trolls and a few young vampires, but every vampire I'd ever reaped. That meant vampires like Vlad, Vincent, and even Katerina were part of her army. Could I trust that they'd fight for the underworld? Would they really heed Athena's commands? I didn't know. Nearly everyone in her army, Svetlana and the cultists aside, had been my enemy at some point.

I was trusting the last people I should have ever trusted. Still, it wasn't like there were a lot of other options. I was trying to reap a god, after all. The very god who some people believed to be the devil. There weren't a lot of options available to take him down. Athena was the only god who wanted to help. The other Olympians were so blinded by their own splendor that they couldn't see how genuine Hades' threat was.

"So, the VR headset wasn't necessary?" Jessna asked as Sienna drove us back to my apartment.

"She doesn't want to hurt anyone. The gorgons aren't evil, or this one wasn't. She's powerful, but all she wants to do is go home. She thinks if she goes back and plays a role in stopping Hades, she'll be given a privileged place in Olympus."

"There are other gorgons?" Sienna asked.

"She said Medusa was her sister, but she has been dead a long time. She has one other sister. The point is that Svetlana is going to help us. If she can convince Athena to send the legion that's been gathered to help defend the underworld, we stand a chance. With the Reapers plus that army, I think we can thin out Hades' army enough that I can get to him and reap him. Once he shows up in Olympus, the gorgon will be waiting."

"And a statue will be all that remains of Hades," Sienna finished.

"Exactly."

"Can I fight with you?" Jessna asked.

"Sure," I said. "But I have to be honest with you. With both of you. Each wraith can attack once. Then it will flee. Hades can only command each wraith once. There's no telling what the wraiths might do to you."

"I don't know about Clarence. My followers, the vampires you reaped at the church, will be part of her army. I am responsible. I won't let them fight and possibly die. They wouldn't be in this situation if I didn't deceive them."

"You were deceived too," I reminded her.

"But your desire to fight is noble," my mom added. "You are their sire, correct?"

"I am," Jessna said.

"Then you might be able to guide them and coordinate the attack."

"Exactly." Jessna nodded. "It will give us an advantage against Hades that he will not anticipate."

"You've been managing your new vampirism well," I said. "When all this is over, my dad might be able to get you a brooch like Sienna's. You could use that scholarship you were offered. You could resume your life."

"It's true," Sienna agreed. "I'm still going to college."

Jessna nodded. "I'd like that."

We pulled up in front of my apartment building and left the car. We made our way upstairs. I unlocked the door to the apartment, and we went inside.

"Welcome home, Zoey." My father gave us a nod of greeting, his face devoid of a smile. Cerberus was standing beside him.

"Why are you here, Dad?"

"Cerberus has been traversing the realms, monitoring Hades' activities. He's assembled his legion and boarded a ship across the River Styx."

"He can sail the River Styx like Charon?"

My father nodded. "He can. He will arrive in the underworld shortly."

"Athena's troops should be en route. I have a plan, Dad. I think I can take him out. We're going to need the full force of the Reapers to fight off his wraiths."

"Many will likely die if they engage the wraiths."

"If we don't fight, Dad, everyone will die. All we need to do is lure the wraiths to attack. When we do, I'll have a narrow opportunity to reap him back to Olympus. A friend of mine is waiting there to deal with him."

"A friend?" my dad asked.

I grinned. "A gorgon. Her name is Svetlana. Perhaps you know her better as Stheno."

"Stheno is your friend?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. I mean, we just met, but we have a plan."

My father shook his head. "Zoey, of the three gorgons, she's killed more men than the other two combined."

"That was a long time ago. I reaped her and sent her to Olympus so she could get word to Athena to send her troops."

"She cannot be trusted, Zoey. She is what you might call a sociopath. She kills, and she enjoys it."

"Maybe she's changed. She said she wanted to go home. She believes that if she helps kill Hades, the gods will honor her."

My father sighed. "If she can imprison one god, she could do the same to others."

"Athena must trust her. She was on the list that Clarence gave us."

Jessna shook her head. "That presumes Clarence is loyal to Athena. Perhaps he has been working with the gorgon all this time."

"Why would he do that?"

"I knew we couldn't trust him," my mom explained. "He was vile and conniving when I killed him the first time. I suspect he's aligned with the gorgon, with certain assurances."

"What assurances?" I asked.

My father folded his arms. "Once Hades is dead, someone will have to rule his domain."

I shook my head. "This is all conjecture. We have to stick to the plan. If we find out Svetlana has the intentions you suggest, we'll cross that bridge. Either way, we have to stop Hades."

"You still have those VR goggles?" Sienna asked.

"I do. I'll bring them along. If we have to face the gorgon eventually, it might be the only way one of us can avoid becoming a statue."

“Wait!” My mom approached Sienna. “You might need more blood when you get there.”

“Do you have a vial or something?”

My mom shook her head, pulled out a knife, and cut across her palm. “I’m not going to let you feed from me directly since I don’t want to risk getting turned, but this should work.”

Sienna removed her brooch, stuffed it into a small bag, and put it in her pocket. She knelt on the floor and opened her mouth as my mom dripped blood into Sienna’s mouth.

“What’s the bag you put that in?” I asked.

“It’s lined with lead.” Sienna licked her lips as she stood. “It allows me to carry it without its effects getting passed onto me. I’d hate to have to remove it, then have someone steal the brooch while I’m in daywalker form.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

We entered the portal to the underworld and appeared in my father's office. Morty was seated at the desk.

He stood as soon as we entered. "You couldn't have come soon enough. The Reapers are ready. They've been apprised of the coming threat and are assembled on Gehenna Boulevard."

"Good work, son." My father patted Morty on the shoulder. "We must make haste. Hades will not delay once his ship reaches shore."

I blushed as the Reapers chanted my name while I walked down Gehenna Boulevard. Sienna and Jessna followed behind on my left, Dad and Morty on my right.

Everyone knew who I was, of course. When I’d left the underworld and gone to Earth, there had been nothing ceremonious about it. I’d left in secret, ashamed that I couldn't invoke a scythe.

Later, I’d learned that my late ex-boyfriend had seeded the rumor mill with stories about my exceptional ability to reap supernaturals. It had made me even more of a celebrity than I already was. I didn't know how I felt about that. All I knew was that the Reapers I'd grown up with were ready to fight beside me for their home. More than that, they were fighting for humanity. No one on Earth would know. If Hades won this battle, though, everyone would learn when they universally ended up spending their eternities in perdition.

I let Morty step up beside me as we paraded down the street, and the army of Reapers gathered behind me. They weren't carrying scythes. They couldn't in the underworld. Mine was the only one I knew of that could appear here. Common Reapers only had access to their scythes on Earth. They were carrying weapons like those we'd trained with at the academy: javelins and spears. They wouldn't do much to fend off a wraith. There wasn't much they could do other than draw the wraiths away from me so I'd get a clear shot at Hades. I just had to make sure none of the wraiths took me out before I got my shot.

I looked at Morty. "Any sign of Athena's army? You'd see a bunch of vampires, a few werewolves, several trolls, and, you know, other things."

"Other things?"

I shrugged. "There should be a Minotaur in the bunch."

Morty shook his head. "Haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

I took a deep breath. "Let's hope they show up in time. They might come on the River Styx like Hades."

Cerberus tugged my pant leg. "Should I go to Olympus and let them know we're ready?"

I nodded. "Couldn't hurt. Be careful, though. Don't look at the gorgon."

Cerberus shivered. "Snakes. I hate snakes."

"I feel you, buddy. Most of hers are attached to her head, as far as I know. Just don't look at her through anything but a reflection. If you can find Athena, let her know we need her army in the underworld. The Reapers will be joining her forces to stop Hades."

Cerberus allowed his three heads to pop out of his body and nodded them all. "I'll be back."

After Cerberus disappeared, I led the Reapers down the wide stairwell toward the River Styx. Charon wasn't ashore, but a cluster of bright red lights, presumably flames, sailed our direction in the distance.

"That must be Hades’ ship," Sienna stated.

"It is," Morty agreed. "It has to be. Charon's the only other one I've ever known to sail these waters."

"At least it's a single ship," Jessna remarked.

I shook my head. "His army of wraiths probably doesn't take up a lot of space."

"That's true," my dad confirmed. "He can gather them in a much more concentrated location than he could a traditional army. Make no mistake, though. When he releases them, they can cover a vast distance very quickly."

I sighed. "That's why we need the second army. We need to divide his attention. Hopefully, Cerberus will be successful. The only way I can think to do this is to hit him with a two-front assault. Athena's army will go at him on one side. Morty, you'll need to lead the Reapers the opposite way. I'll have to be fast. I'll sneak up alone from a direction he isn't focused on and reap him before he knows what hit him."

Morty grunted. "Too bad you don't have any more of that powder or ash from Hades, Dad. The stuff you said could make you go invisible in the underworld."

I sighed. "I didn’t think of that. If I had, I would have grabbed some when we were there."

My dad shook his head. "It wouldn't have worked. If you’d brought it back with Cerberus, it would have lost its properties. The only way to get it here would be the same way I got it before."

"From the Boatman?" I asked.

My dad nodded. "He brought some here with its mystical properties still intact. There's one problem with that, though. Hades is the lord of the realm. He might be able to see you regardless."

I sighed. "We're running out of time. Hades' ship draws nearer to our shores."

Then, I felt a tug on my leg. It was Cerberus. He was only showing two of his heads this time. The Earth head and the hell head.

"Cerberus! What's going on?"

Cerberus sighed and spoke to me through his Earth head. "The gorgon. She's already gotten to Athena."

I stared at Cerberus blankly. "She turned Athena to stone?"

"I was afraid of that," my dad added.

"More than that, I can't go back to Olympus, either."

"Why?" I asked.

Cerberus allowed his other head, his celestially oriented one, to emerge from his body. It appeared between the other two. It had been turned to stone.

"Damn it, Cerberus. I told you not to look at her."

"I tried not to. I didn't see her. She was hiding behind Athena. The statue of her, anyway. As I looked, the snakes popped out. Thankfully, it didn't affect my other two heads."

I sighed. "So, we don't have Athena's army. We can't even go there."

Jessna cleared her throat. "I can go there."

"How would you do that?" I asked.

"You'd have to reap me. Send my soul there. I can command the vampires from the church. I'm their sire. I can bring them here."

"How are you going to get them here?"

Jessna scratched her head. "Good point."

"I have an idea," Sienna interjected. "The Boatman goes between all three realms, right? Hades, Olympus, and here?"

"He can," my dad agreed.

"How many souls from Olympus could he carry on that little boat?"

"Thousands," my dad said. "A soul only assumes what appears to be a physical form when free in one of the three ethereal realms. He can bring them here as spirits. I don't know how you'd convince him to do it, though. I pay him a hundred bucks for every soul he ferries across the River Styx."

"Easy." Sienna reached into her jacket and pulled out a bag of Sour Patch Kids. She tossed it to Jessna. "Bribe him with this."

My dad sighed. "I hardly think he'll agree to ferry hundreds of vampiric souls to the underworld for a bag of candy. How much did that cost, anyway? A couple of bucks?"

"He doesn't want money," I countered. "He only uses the money you give him to give to Dionysus, who brings him candy. He's a fiend. Charon can't resist sugary sweets."

My father scratched his head. "You're certain?"

I grinned. "He told us when he took us to Hades."

Dad shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"I'm ready, Zoey," Jessna said.

"Are you sure? We talked about this. You could resume your life from before. We might be able to get you something like Sienna's brooch, and you could go to school. Maybe even have a family."

My dad stepped in. "It would be possible. But if you are reaped, if Zoey sends you to Olympus, you won't be able to resume your human life."

Jessna sighed. "I understand that. Those people wouldn't be in this situation if I hadn't fallen for Clarence's bullshit. If I hadn’t acted as his prophet. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to go back to my old life. It wouldn't be right to abandon all of them to do it, though. Their sacrifice would be for nothing. And if you don't stop Hades here, they'll all suffer in hell. So will everyone else. I have to do this."

I nodded. "All right, Jessna. Just remember—"

"I know. Don't look at the gorgon."

"I'd give you my goggles, but I don't think they'd make the trip."

"I don't need to look at her. All I need to do is command the vampires I sired. I'll bring them to the River Styx, bribe the Boatman, and hopefully convince him to bring us here."

"That might take too long," Morty protested. "Hades will be here very soon."

"Not an issue," Sienna told him. "Once Charon is hopped up on sugar, he can row that boat so fast that it only took us a few seconds to make the trip from here to Hades."

"This might work," my father agreed. "But you must hurry."

Jessna sighed and spread her arms. I paused before summoning my scythe and hugged her. "Thank you for what you're doing."

Jessna nodded. "It's the only way. It's the least I can do."

I touched the sigil on my wrist. My scythe appeared in my hand to the sound of oohs and aahs from the Reapers who'd followed us to the shores of the River Styx. With a single swipe, I cut Jessna's soul out of her body.

A shower of golden energy illuminated the cavern. Jessna was gone. Her body was a pile of ash at my feet.

My father tilted his head. "Is that hellfire that courses through your scythe, Zoey?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. It looks similar. Why?"

My dad gestured at the pile of ash at my feet. "If it is, your friend might have just helped you in a way we couldn't anticipate. We don't know if it will work. Hades might see through it. But it just might."

"Are you saying the ash her body turned into is like the ash in the soil at Hades?"

"It's just a theory, Zoey, but it might work."

"So, what do I do? Put her ashes on me like I did with that powder you gave me?"

"That's so nasty!" Sienna said. "Dead-person ashes?"

I chuckled. "If it saves our lives, I'll give it a shot."

I grabbed a handful of what used to be Jessna and sprinkled it on my arm, then my shoulder.

"It's working!" Sienna exclaimed.

"It is? I can still see myself."

"Right. And I can see myself on the astral plane, just as you can. Trust me; I can't see your arm. It looks freaky as shit."

I chuckled. "All right. Here goes nothing.” I grabbed another handful of ash and spread it across my body.

"Zoey?" Morty asked. "You here?"

"I'm here!" I shouted.

They couldn't hear me.

"She's here," my father assured them. "We know her plan. Let's just hope Jessna is successful and returns with her vampires. They might be few compared to the army Athena intended to assemble, but it might be enough to give Zoey a short window of opportunity to get to Hades. Remember, our goal isn't to kill the wraiths. That can’t be done. All we have to do is fight off their attacks. We have to survive long enough for Zoey to take Hades down. Once she does, the wraiths will be free and leave us be."

I smiled and nodded. "I know, Dad. I'll be fast. I have to be."

He couldn't hear me. I said it for myself. I had to take Hades out fast. I didn't know what a wraith's assault would do to the vampire souls Jessna was bringing. These Reapers were very much alive in their own way. They'd suffer. They might even die. If all the Reapers died, we'd have a new problem, even if I managed to stop Hades.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Morty attempted to make an emotional pre-battle speech. All I heard him say was, "Ye can take our lives, but ye can never take our freedom!"

It wasn't relevant. He stole it from Braveheart, but most of the Reapers cheered him.

Meanwhile, Sienna and my dad were focusing on pragmatic issues. These Reapers weren't trained as soldiers. They had trained in the academy and were like individual dark-ops soul assailants. They were good at subterfuge, anti-resonance, and harvesting human souls.

They were prepared to do battle with a god and his demonic wraiths, especially since these wraiths couldn't be defeated in a conventional way. All we could do was let them attack and assess the damage. Then the wraiths would be free from Hades' compulsions.

Or I could free them by reaping Hades.

Hades probably didn't want to kill all of the Reapers. Even if he took over the underworld and overthrew Morty and Dad, he'd need Reapers to gather souls and consolidate his power. He would try to eliminate my family. If he saw me, he'd try to kill me, too. I was his biggest threat. Morty and my dad stood in his way for otherworldly domination.

The banks in the caverns through which the River Styx ran were broad. That said, if a battle took place there, it would be cramped. The wraiths didn't need space, though. We just needed the acreage, presuming Jessna arrived with her vampires, to try to separate the wraiths into two groups. I just needed a little room, now that I wasn't visible, to squeeze through without accidentally touching any of the wraiths. Then I’d invoke my scythe and send the god of hell to Olympus, which would be like his personal hell once the gorgon got her snakes on him.

I didn't know much about Olympus. I knew it wasn't a mountain. The ancient Greeks had called it Olympus because that was where the gods had chosen to emerge when they came from their ethereal Olympus and appeared on Earth. Since a lot of people thought of it as a mountain, it struck me that combined with the gorgon's intrusion, if you went there now, you were likely to end up high and stoned.

My chest tightened with nerves as I watched Hades' massive ship make its way to shore. Surely he knew we were there. He was a god, after all. I imagined the hellish giant had a grin on his face. He had known the Reapers would be there. He'd planned for that. What he hadn’t expected was that we'd have a second army joining us—hopefully.

I spotted Charon's boat some distance down the shore from where Hades aimed to land. His boat was stopped.

I pressed my lips together. He never just stopped and floated in the middle of the river. The current took him downstream from us, but he'd shoot back upstream to his original location. Who needed an engine when you had a sugar-powered gondolier?

Charon was floating in mid-stream for one of two reasons. Either Jessna had succeeded and he was acting strategically, waiting for Hades to disembark so the vampire army could take him by surprise. Or he saw Hades' ship and was frightened to come ashore. When the devil showed up, it had a way of screwing up the best of plans.

Our hopes hinged on whether the Boatman of the River Styx liked Sour Patch Kids. The world didn't hang by a thread at that moment. It hung by the delectability of sour gummies. Hopefully, he tried the red or blue ones first, not the yellows. Yellow candies are trash. It doesn't matter what kind of candy it is. I always eat around the yellows until they’re the only things left in the bottom of the bag.

The eternal destiny of every human and the lives of every Reaper I knew was in the balance, and all I could think about was candy.

If I sent Hades to Olympus, I'd be giving the gorgon just what she needed to take over. She was every bit as big a threat. If Hades succeeded and expanded his domain, everyone went to hell. If he went to Olympus and the gorgon turned him to stone along with all the other gods, that realm would be as bad as hell.

The outcome of either of them prevailing was equally bad.

One thing at a time. One bad guy at a time. I couldn't save the world from both threats at once. If I tried, I'd fumble the whole operation like a football player who drops a catch because he's too focused on what he’ll do after he grabs the ball.

Hades’ body glistened in the light of the hellfire torches on his ship. The wraiths flew around him. I couldn't get a count. I had no way of knowing if we'd have the numbers to beat him since I didn't know how many there were.

I hoped I'd forced Hades to act faster than he'd intended. I imagined he was hopeful of victory but not sure of it. Jessna's vampires numbered around two hundred. I had to believe they would be enough to tip the balance in our favor.

Hades' ship was like a giant raft with massive pontoons on the bottom. It had large black sails to propel it across the river. It wasn't a fancy vessel, but it served its purpose. He’d probably built it for this very assault.

The ship crashed ashore, and the pontoons grated across the gray sands of the underworld until the ship came to a halt.

I glanced past the ship to see Charon's gondola start moving. It appeared he was rowing toward the underworld shore. That was a good thing. If he'd moved the other direction, I'd have lost hope that Jessna and her vampires were aboard.

"Hades!" my father shouted, stepping out from his crowd of Reapers. "You have no business here."

Hades left his ship. For a normal-sized person, it would have required a jump. For Hades, it was barely a step. "Azrael! How long has it been? Two centuries? Maybe three?"

My father narrowed his eyes. "However long it's been, it hasn't been long enough."

Hades laughed. "Come now, Azrael. Is that any way to greet a guest?"

"I know why you're here, Hades. You'll never get away with it."

A grin split Hades' face. "There's no reason to fight, Azrael. I've always had a great appreciation for your talents. I'm grateful for the many souls you've gathered who now belong to my domain. I had no choice but to come here. Your daughter invaded my domain."

"She went there knowing you intended to conquer the underworld. She went there to stop you, Hades."

Hades laughed. "I'm aware of her unique talents. Did you really believe she could defeat me? I'm a god, Azrael. The sooner you and yours accept that and cede to my demands, the less you will suffer. It is not my desire to cause suffering. I do not delight in it."

"You and I both know that's not true. All you do in your domain is exact suffering on the souls who languish there."

"I do my duty, Azrael, even as you have done yours all these years. Tell me, are we that different? No human wishes to die, but when you and your Reapers show up, they have no choice. None of the damned wish to suffer, but they made their choices. They suffer justly."

My father narrowed his eyes. "I know you brought your wraiths with you. You've been gathering them for years. If your intentions here were noble, you'd have no need of such a force."

"Call it leverage, Azrael. If you grant me control of your domain, I will see to it that your ascension is expedited."

"My son will inherit my mantle, Hades. What we do is too important to be managed by one of the gods. We serve the collective will of all gods. We deliver souls to their determined eternal destination. We do not turn them over to one god who seeks to accumulate them to gain power."

I glanced at the river. Charon was still driving in our direction, but he was taking his time. Hades hadn't attacked yet. Perhaps that was what he was waiting for. Or maybe he hoped, as all of us did, that Hades and my dad would manage to talk it out. It wasn't likely. Hades was too arrogant to compromise with anyone he deemed a lesser being.

"I grow weary of your piety." Hades stared at my dad, rage in his eyes. Then he waved his hand. One of his many wraiths appeared and enveloped my dad's frame.

I had half a mind to charge him straight away. With all the wraiths he still had aboard his ship, though, I could not get to him. I might be invisible on account of Jessna's ashes, but I remembered how in Hades, a bright light had blasted from my chest. If I got too close to the god, he'd see or at least sense me before I had a chance to slice him down.

"You intend to kill me, Hades!" my dad screamed as the wraith squeezed his body.

"I don't wish to kill you, Azrael. I simply think it's time you gave up whatever remains of your power. Youth these days. They're quite progressive. Perhaps your son will listen to reason."

"Let him go!" Morty shouted. "I'll never turn over the underworld to you."

Hades laughed. "Congratulations, Morty. As of this moment, you are the Grim Reaper. Your father’s powers are gone."

Morty directed his scepter toward Hades. "Charge!" he screamed. The Reapers behind him ran toward the god. With a swipe of his hand, Hades directed hundreds of wraiths at them.

Charon must've taken it as a signal. In a blur, his boat approached. His torch blazed as he made shore. He stepped out, touched the ground, and Jessna and two hundred vampires appeared. She'd done it!

"Take him down!" Jessna commanded.

The vampires rallied around her and charged Hades from the opposite side. Hades extended his other hand and sent a few wraiths at them. There were not enough to take them all out. He'd committed too many to the Reapers.

That meant I had a chance. Sienna emerged from the crowd of Reapers and ran at Hades.

Hades grinned. "Fool me once."

The god of hell shot a single wraith at Sienna. It wrapped around her as it had my dad. She fought it, but even with her augmented strength, she couldn't break free.

My feet hit the ground hard as I ran. Did he have any wraiths left? He'd kept one in reserve for Sienna before. Did he have another?

I couldn't risk getting too close. As long as I maintained a distance, my scythe would remain a javelin. I could hurl it at him and pray the blade appeared in time to take him down. I'd done it before. It wouldn’t be easy since I couldn't risk Hades seeing me. At least now that most of his wraiths were occupied, I could get close enough.

I pressed the sigil on my wrist. My staff appeared, still devoid of the blade, as I'd planned. I widened my legs and threw it hard. The sharp tip struck Hades in the chest. He grabbed it as if he would pull it out of his body, but my blade appeared. As he yanked it out, he reaped himself.

I pressed the sigil on my wrist again to return the scythe to my hand, then approached Hades. When I got close, a bright light enveloped me. I had been right. Too close, and he could have seen me.

I looked right and left. The wraiths floated above the crowds. They were not in Hades' control.

"Gotcha." I smirked. "I'd say see you in hell, but, you know, I think you are going someplace else."

Hades narrowed his eyes. "I'm counting on it."

The god’s body exploded in a blast of golden light that was so bright, it threw all of us back.

Sienna ran to me, extended her hand, and helped me up. "You did it!"

I shook my head. "I did, but he didn't look shocked or upset when my scythe struck him. I told him where he'd be going. He said he was counting on it."

Jessna approached with her crowd of vampires. "He's right. When I got to Olympus, it wasn't just Athena who had been turned to stone. Several of the other gods were as well. Clarence was there, too. He saw me and didn't even try to stop me. It was like they wanted me to leave. Clarence and the gorgon knew what I was doing."

"Of course the gorgon did," I replied. "She knew I was going to try to reap Hades so she could turn him to stone."

"She didn't tell you she intended to use her snakes on Athena or the other gods. And she didn't tell you Clarence was working with her rather than Athena."

"If Clarence was in cahoots with the gorgon..."

"I think the two of them were working with Hades."

"So, he didn't want to take over the underworld?" Sienna asked.

"He genuinely hoped to take over the underworld." My father’s legs shook beneath him as he stepped up next to me.

"Dad!" I hugged him. "Is it true?"

My dad nodded. "I have no more power. I am little more than a man."

"You're still a Reaper, Dad. He can't change what you are."

My dad nodded. "A man who goes impotent in old age is still a man, Zoey. I'm still a Reaper, but I am powerless to help. Hades did hope we'd give him control. He also knew that there was a chance he might not succeed if he attacked. He needed Reapers to accomplish his plan. The gorgon, I fear, was his backup plan from the start. Clarence must've been a double agent, working for Athena so he could deliver the contract that Hades wished."

"The contract to reap the gorgon," I murmured.

My father nodded. "She will be his most powerful weapon when he challenges the other gods."

"Can she turn any of the gods to stone?"

My father nodded. "Yes, but it will not last. They will break through. Any the gorgon turns to stone will return to their natural form if you remove her from the realm in which she resides. Still, if she can get some of the gods out of the way even for a little while, it will give Hades an advantage when he challenges Zeus."

I clenched my fists. "Damn it. We had a good plan. It worked beautifully."

"Your mistake was trusting the gorgon." My father shook his head. "I cannot blame you. Remember, Hades has been planning this day for your entire life. It's not surprising that he had a contingency plan. He might have yet another one."

"We have to stop him. We can't let him take Zeus down."

"I agree." Dad’s shoulders slumped.

"I can't take you," Cerberus added, stepping out of the crowd of Reapers. "Right now, with only two heads, I can only move between the underworld and Hades or Earth."

"Can you ride with us on the gondola?"

Cerberus nodded. "I suppose I could."

"What are you thinking?" my father asked.

"Jessna, you can return to Olympus with the Boatman, right?"

"He will gladly bring us back, provided we bring him more Sour Patch Kids. He said we could owe him, though, so we're good."

I grinned. "I can handle that. Here's the thing. I don't know what my scythe will do in Olympus. I know it sends supernatural souls there, but if I use it in that realm, I can't say what will happen. I'm not going to send Hades anywhere if we don't know where he'll end up."

Jessna sighed. "I suppose we don't have time to experiment and find out."

I shook my head. "Even if I reaped you or any of your vampires there, they might disappear. We wouldn't know where we sent them. There's only one who might know, and unfortunately, Athena is currently a statue."

"Be careful," my father warned. "Remember, with Athena out of the picture, there's no telling how those other creatures you reaped will behave when they see you."

"That's a good point," Sienna agreed. "Katerina is there. So are all those other bloodsucking pricks we’ve dealt with."

I sighed. "Along with Vlad and Vincent. Apart from Jessna's vampires, pretty much everyone and everything we'll find there has a vendetta against me."

Jessna nodded. "That might be the case. We will do what we can to back you up. We're just a bunch of youngling vampires. I don't know how well we'll be able to stand against the ancient vampires you've reaped. We'll fight, though."

"How are we going to take down Hades?" Sienna asked.

I shrugged. "We'll send him back to hell. There has to be a way. Maybe if I reap him in Olympus, he’ll go to the bad place instead."

“Maybe?” Sienna asked. “You’re hinging this on a maybe?”

I took a deep breath. “We don’t have a lot of options. It’s the best idea I can come up with.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Charon was waiting in his boat by the River Styx. He was popping Sour Patch Kids into his mouth one by one. "I see you were successful."

"Yes and no," I replied. "Can you take us to Olympus?"

Charon cocked his head. "We just came from there."

"I fear Hades intends to use a gorgon to defeat the other gods."

Charon narrowed his eyes. "Then I must ask that you provide me with a much larger bag of these children of the patch of sour. In fact, if you could one day take me to this patch that I might feast upon these children, I would be forever indebted to you."

I grinned. "I don't know that doing that would be possible, but I can certainly get you more bags."

"Bigger bags?"

I nodded. "Bigger bags."

Charon licked his front teeth. "For the time being, I'll have to settle for Pixie Stix." He reached into his cloak, pulled out a purple one, tore open the top, and emptied it into his mouth.

"Ah, yes! To Olympus, you say?"

"Yes. Jessna and the other vampires are with us, as are Sienna and Cerberus."

"You've got the VR goggles, right?" Sienna asked.

I nodded and grabbed a pouch I'd tied to the waistband of my pants. "They're in here."

"Then we should be good to go."

Charon grabbed the torch from his boat and held it over the land. "Come, all those spirits who would join us."

Jessna and her vampire army approached. Each touched the flame on Charon's torch and disappeared, causing the flame to swell before the next one touched it. It was a fast process. Despite how many vampire spirits there were in Jessna's cult/army, it didn’t take more than ten minutes to incorporate them all into Charon's torch. When the last one entered the flame, Charon lowered his oar into the water and started to row. As before, he rowed so fast that the oar was a blur. This time, he took us farther upstream. He rowed just as vigorously as when he'd taken us to Hades, but the gondola didn't move as fast since the current fought us.

"We might need a ride back to Earth," I remarked.

"I cannot do that," Charon replied. "But I might be able to bring you back to the underworld."

I grinned. "That's what I meant. Sorry, I should have been more precise. From the underworld, we can portal to Earth."

Cerberus huffed. "Or I can take you to Earth. Only the two of you will be returning."

I nodded. "That's true."

"Either way," Charon said. "Return trip or not, I'm expecting my candies as soon as possible after you return to Earth."

I grinned. "We'll try to take Cerberus back. If for some reason we can't, we'll hitch a ride with you."

Charon nodded. "I'll make periodic passes by Olympus to make sure. Due to the conflict on the underworld shores, there's a backlog of souls that must be delivered to their respective resting places. Surely not all of them will be damned. I expect I'll be here several times an hour."

Sienna shook her head. "You make that many trips every day?"

Charon nodded. "A lot of people die, you know. By the latest count, there are more than six thousand deaths every hour. That's more than a hundred each minute and two per second."

"That's a lot of trips." Sienna whistled.

"I can take several hundred each trip, but you are correct. Even at full capacity, that's a lot of trips. Thus, I need candy."

I chuckled. "We haven't forgotten, Charon. Thank you for the ride. I know you're a busy...man or whatever you are."

Charon shrugged. "I am what I am."

We reached the shores of Olympus. The place was as beautiful and pleasant as Hades was horrific. The beaches were white like those on the Florida Panhandle. I'd never been there, but I've seen pictures of the emerald coast. The sky was open and bright, but I saw no evidence of a sun or any other source of light. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

I scanned the horizon as we touched the shore. I didn't see anyone nearby. No vampires. No gorgon. No gods. Not even any statues to suggest that Svetlana, aka Stheno, had been there recently. If she had been there, she hadn’t stoned anyone in the vicinity. I suppose saying she "stoned" people evoked a different way of killing people. For lack of a better term, though, "stoning" was the best term I could think of.

Charon removed his torch from the boat and released Jessna and her army. They appeared on the shore beside us.

Jessna looked around. "This isn't where we took off from."

"Charon?" I turned, but his boat was already offshore.

"I think he dropped us off somewhere else on Olympus," Jessna offered.

"He did," Cerberus told us. "The River Styx surrounds this domain. He took us to the opposite side."

I snorted. "Why would he do that?"

"Perhaps to keep us safe," Sienna suggested. "Hades knows we'll be coming for him. They're probably waiting for us on the other shore. My guess is the gorgon is there too, ready to turn all of us."

I nodded. "Remind me to grab Charon a few extra bags of candy. He might have saved our lives."

"There's only one problem with this scenario," Cerberus continued.

"What’s that?" I asked.

"It's at least a day's walk to the other beach."

I pointed at a mountain peak in the distance. "Is that Olympus?"

"It is," Cerberus confirmed. "That is where the gods dwell."

I nodded. "If Hades and the gorgon are waiting for us on the other beach, I'm pretty sure that's where they'll go. I believe Hades hopes to use the gorgon to defeat the other gods."

"And since they're waiting for us to show up on the other beach," Sienna grinned, "we should have a head start."

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

While I didn't have a phone signal, the clock and most of the apps still worked. It took us six hours to reach the base of the mountain. When we did, we saw a large tent with red and white stripes, the kind that might be used for a circus. Upbeat music featuring stringed instruments and tambourines came from within.

"What's growing in the field next to the tent?" I asked.

"It looks like grapevines," Sienna replied.

I furrowed my brow. "Let's see who is inside."

I pulled open a flap on the side of the tent. Several females, all naked, were dancing. They had laurels in their hair. Their ears were slightly pointed. There was one man in the bunch. He had a long gray beard and swung a small canteen as he danced with the women.

He saw me and smiled widely. He stumbled toward me.

"Zoey!"

I frowned. "You know me?"

"Of course! I was in your realm recently."

"For the audit?"

"Yes! Yes! I'm sorry I missed you! Come, remove your clothing and dance with us!"

"I think I'll keep everything on, thank you very much. I take it you're Dionysus?"

"Of course I am! But if you’ve had a few, my Roman name is easier to say. Call me Bacchus if you like. I’ll respond to Dio…Diony… Blah. Too many syllababbles, and I’ve been drinking steadily for the last thousand years. And before that, I only took a day off. Call me anything you like. Just don’t call me sober! Come, let us drink together and be merry!"

"We aren't here to be merry. Would you mind stepping outside for a moment?"

Dionysus took a sip from his canteen. I suppose it was a wineskin. He nodded and followed me outside.

"Oh, there are so many of you! Though right now, I probably see three of each of you! No cause for alarm! There's more than enough wine to go around!"

Sienna and Jessna glanced at each other. "Do you not know what's happening?"

"We're celebrating!" Dionysus exclaimed.

"Celebrating what?"

"Our existence! What is life if not a cause to celebrate?"

"So, you pretty much party all the time?" Sienna asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Dionysus furrowed his brow. He looked at Cerberus. "A hellhound, or is that just the booze making me see double? No, not that. The two heads I see are different from each other. Why does he not have the proper head for this realm?"

"It was turned to stone," Cerberus explained.

"To st-stone, you say?"

"That's why we're here. Hades invaded your realm. He's in the company of a gorgon and several other creatures."

Dionysus wiped his nose with the shawl he had draped across his shoulders. That was all he was wearing. "Then you must all drink with me!"

"I don't think you understand, sir. Hades is hoping to take down the other gods. He intends to challenge Zeus for power over this realm."

Dionysus snorted. "You said he intends to use a gorgon to accomplish his goals, did you not?"

"I did," I nodded.

"Then that is why we must drink! It keeps the vision blurred. She cannot turn to stone those who cannot fix their eyes upon her! Come and imbibe the elixir of our salvation! Let us drink and confound the gorgon!"

"If we're drunk, we will be at a disadvantage."

"Not as much of a disadvantage as if you are turned to stone." Dionysus grinned as one of his legs splayed out from beneath his body. He quickly caught himself.

"He has a point," Sienna pointed out.

"What are you?" Dionysus asked, fixing his eyes on Sienna. Then he looked at Jessna. "And you? You are similar to her."

"I'm a daywalker," Sienna explained.

Dionysus narrowed his eyes. "I do not know this word."

"We're like vampires," Jessna added. "Except we only gain our power as vampires under the sun. We're the inverse of most vampires. Our abilities are the opposite."

"So, you enjoy garlic?" Dionysus asked. "I have much!"

"Actually, we do!" Jessna told him. "It strengthens us when it might weaken a common vampire."

“It does?” Sienna asked.

Jessna grinned. “You need to get out in the sun a lot more.”

Dionysus paced, losing his footing every third step or so. "But these others. They are not like you. They are common vampires."

"They are," Jessna replied. "I turned them. My bite will not create vampires like me. Only Sienna's bite can do that. She is the original daughter of First Light."

Sienna raised her hand. "That's me. I'm Sienna."

"Curious. Well, be that as it may, you must drink with us. No matter your peculiar nature, you are as susceptible to the gorgon as the rest of us if you do not indulge! Come, come! The wine I make, while fresh from the vine, has the flavor of a vintage aged for more than a century."

I scratched my head. “That’s an interesting talent. Not particularly useful, but I can see why it might make you popular.”

“Yes, yes! These days, I am the patron deity of frat boys everywhere!”

I nodded out of courtesy, then turned toward the steep hill that led up the mountain. "We must climb the mountain and warn the other gods before Hades and the gorgon reach them."

Dionysus shook his head. "What good will your warning do? No matter, they won't remain as stone forever. The gorgon's curse can only affect a god for a short time."

"How short a time?" Sienna asked.

"A few hours. After the gorgon infects us, she cannot do so again for a whole Olympian cycle."

"How long is that cycle?"

"Roughly three Earth months. We are in no danger. Hades can only do a little damage in a few hours. When the gorgon's curse fades, the others will expel him."

I shook my head. "A lot can be done to you when you're turned to stone for three hours."

Dionysus shrugged. "Perhaps. That is why we must drink!"

"We can stop him from hurting the other gods?"

"We can avoid him doing to us what he will do to the others!"

I snorted. "Say he figures out how to imprison the other gods. Do you really think that in your condition, you can fend off Hades and free the rest before he takes control of Olympus?"

Dionysus took a big gulp from his flask. "All right. I see your point. But if all of us, if all of you, are at my side, surely we can fend him off together. Provided we are all merry and drunk when the gorgon arrives!"

"You're not thinking straight!" I shouted. "You're wasted!"

Dionysus laughed. "I'm always this way. I think as clearly now as I ever do!"

"Which apparently isn't all that clearly," I shot back. "No offense. Hades has been planning this for decades. We need to have our wits about us to stand a chance."

"How much do we have to drink before we're intoxicated enough to thwart the gorgon's curse?" Sienna asked.

I sighed. "You aren't actually considering this, are you?"

"Not much," Dionysus replied. "Just enough that you cannot see clearly. If the serpents she has for hair appear as one mass and you can't focus to see what they are, you have drunk enough."

"It's not a bad idea," Sienna stated. "You have your goggles, Zoey. You don't have to drink. But if we can't even look at the gorgon, how much help will we be? We might not be able to fight as well as we might otherwise if we're a little tipsy, but we'll be able to fight better than we would if we couldn't look at the gorgon."

"See?" Dionysus exclaimed. "She sees the truth! The fruit of the vine will save us all!"

"What about all those topless girls you have dancing around inside?"

"My nymphs! Yes! They can help, too! They are lovers rather than fighters. Trust me, I know! But if Hades takes over and makes our realm like his own, there will be no more grapes. That would mean no more wine! We have reason to fight! I'm sure my nymphs will agree!"

"Could you ask them to put on some clothes before they go into battle?" I requested.

"Clothes? What need have they for clothes? This is Olympus! Here, we celebrate the beauty of the nude form."

I snorted. "Well, you won't be celebrating mine. I also won't be drinking. You all do you. I'm going ahead."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Sienna warned. "Remember, he has a whole host of supernaturals fighting for him who would like nothing more than to get revenge on you. Besides, we don't know what your scythe will do here. For all we know, it will send them right back here. In other words, it might have no effect."

"That is not true," a female voice said. I turned. A woman stood there. This one was fully clothed in white robes. Her hair was long and golden-blonde.

"Athena!" Dionysus said. "Have you come to finally take me up on my proposition?"

"I'm not here to sleep with you, Dionysus."

"I don't understand," Jessna murmured. "I saw you turned to stone."

Athena grinned. "I anticipated this, so I took precautions to ensure that the curse would have an even more limited effect on me than the other gods."

"Athena." I bowed my head. "It's an honor. I'm told you're the one who gave me my gift."

"Indeed, Zoey. Your scythe will work here. I fear, however, that it will not do what you hope."

"Why?" I asked.

"Any whom you reap here will be sent to Earth."

I snorted. "So, if I strike Katerina, the vampire..."

"She'd return to your world, as would the rest. Even if you struck Hades, he'd enter your realm. That would be disastrous for the people of Earth."

"What about Clarence?" Jessna asked.

"He betrayed me by tricking you into sending the gorgon here. He is aligned with Hades."

I shook my head. "That's what I suspected."

"I am not fully immune to the gorgon. However, if I were to do battle with Hades, my chances of prevailing alone would be slim. I do require your aid, Dionysus."

Dionysus took another gulp from his wineskin. "What's in it for me, beautiful?"

"How about your survival? The preservation of this realm?"

Dionysus shrugged. "Yeah, those things would be nice. I'd like something more."

"I'm still not sleeping with you, Dionysus," Athena cautioned.

"Could I trouble you for one kiss?"

Athena sighed. "Very well. Help us rid our realm of Hades and send him back to his domain, and I will give you one kiss. But I insist you gnaw on a leaf of mint first. "

"Good enough for me!" Dionysus exclaimed. "First, though, we need to drink! Imbibe! Imbibe! Imbibe! Gosh, I love saying that word. It’s so fun, isn’t it? Imbibe!"

* * *

I followed Athena up the mountain. Everyone else was drinking wine with Dionysus. He promised they wouldn't be far behind. Cerberus followed Athena and me.

"No wine for you?" I asked.

Cerberus shook both his remaining heads. "The way I see it, I have a head to spare. Besides, you don't want to see me drunk."

"You’re a lightweight?" I asked.

"No," Cerberus shook his Earth head. "But I'd make an ass of myself. It also might affect my other abilities."

Athena smiled and looked at me. "You have grown up."

I snorted. "Excuse me?"

"It seems like just yesterday that you were born, and I invested you with the seeds of my essence that would make you what you are today."

"The seeds of your essence?"

"The Reapers were made by the gods," Athena explained. "Many of us played a role. All I did was alter the gift that was yours by birthright. I knew it was only a matter of time before you would be needed to help stop Hades."

I sighed. "Much good that did. Most of the creatures who are fighting alongside Hades are here because I sent them."

"All things have a purpose, Zoey. Not all things are clear at any moment."

"What was the purpose?" I asked. "Why did I need to send all these vampires here? It doesn't make sense. It seems like it all is working counter to your plan."

"I don't know. Hades would have succeeded in the underworld had it not been for you. In that case, I would have been powerless to stop him. You could not have succeeded there if you didn't have your friends, the ones you call daywalkers, and all the vampires who are fighting alongside you. They will fight here again, and we will prevail."

I shook my head. "If I can't use my scythe without sending them to Earth, how much help will I be?"

"Right now, Hades believes you are his greatest threat. He does not yet know I've awakened. He suspects that if you were to strike him again, you'd send him back to his domain, only now, he'd have no wraiths. He spent years gathering those he commanded. To draw a single wraith from the ether is difficult, even for a god. If he thinks you would send him back to Hades, your presence could very well affect his actions."

"I don't understand. You're saying that I’m a diversion?"

Athena nodded. "Precisely. But do not think that diminishes your importance. It will help me anticipate his actions."

"You can send him back to hell?"

"There is an effective means for that at our disposal."

I scratched my head. "I'm not in the mood for riddles right now. Can't you just tell me the plan?"

"The plan is to defeat Hades and the gorgon and preserve Olympus."

"That's the goal. That's not the plan. The plan is how you hope to accomplish that goal."

"I have many plans, Zoey. All of them are contingent on the actions Hades takes. We do not have the time to go over them. Suffice it to say, I believe I've anticipated any move he might make. Keep your ears open. I will tell you what to do when the circumstances demand it."

"I would like to know more. I don’t follow anyone, not even a god, on blind faith."

"Of course you don’t, and I suppose I cannot blame you if you do not trust me. After all, your trust has been betrayed more than once as Hades' plans have unfolded."

"You'll tell me the plan?" I asked.

Athena sighed. She opened her mouth, but the ground beneath us started to shake. We weren't even halfway up Mount Olympus.

"What is happening?" I asked.

Athena placed her hand on the ground. When she did, a loud bang echoed in the sky. A fountain of lava blasted out of the top of Mount Olympus.

"What is happening? I didn't think this mountain was volcanic."

Athena sighed. "It wasn't. Hades has made it so. He is attempting to transform this realm into one identical to his own."

"That must mean he's gotten to the other gods."

"They have likely been turned by the gorgon."

I scratched my head. "You said you had a plan for every contingency you could imagine. What's the plan for this?"

Athena shook her head. "This I did not anticipate."

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

"You have a device to protect you from the gorgon?" Athena asked.

"I do."

"Good. New plan. You have to take her out."

"With my scythe?" I raised one eyebrow.

"It's the only way. As long as the other gods are stone, there is nothing I can do to stop this eruption. We will need all of us to do it."

"But it will send the gorgon to Earth if I reap her."

Athena nodded. "She has been on Earth for centuries, Zoey. She's been wise enough to refrain from using her ability during most of her existence. We must hope she will persist in that attitude when she's sent back."

"What about Hades?"

"The first priority is to stop what he's trying to do. That means we have to focus on the gorgon. After that, we'll have to hunt Hades down. Ares should be able to overpower him. If he's subdued, Poseidon might be able to send him back across the River Styx to his own domain and create a current that will prevent him from leaving again."

"Do you know where we can find them?"

Athena nodded and directed her eyes toward the top of the mountain. A black cloud billowed above it. After the initial burst—thankfully, none of the lava struck our position— the molten rock was flowing steadily out of the top of the mountain. "He is melting the rock deep within Olympus. This is what he can do. He must be at the apex of the mountain. I suspect that if he is there, so is the gorgon."

I sighed. "And probably all the vampires and everything else I reaped and sent here."

Athena nodded. "Let us hope Dionysus and your friends haven't overindulged and are close behind us. Getting to the gorgon will be a challenge otherwise."

"You're the goddess of war, are you not?"

"Among other things," Athena agreed. "I can fight. However, I cannot stand against Hades and his army. We need Dionysus and your friends. I will try to distract Hades. To do what he's doing, he has to send a constant channel of his power into the core of the mountain. When the lava flow stops, it will be the best chance you'll have to get to the gorgon."

"What should I do?" Cerberus asked.

"Whatever you can," Athena replied. "You can either help me with Hades, or you can fight the rest of the army."

Cerberus snorted. "Got it. I'll just try to avoid looking at the gorgon. She got me once. I can only afford to make that mistake once more, and I'll be done for."

"You might want to put one of your heads away," I said. "Keep it safe in case you need it."

"Good thinking," Cerberus said as his hellish head shrank and retreated into his body.

Athena placed her hands on the sides of her head and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Communicating. Dionysus and your friends are on their way. They aren’t far behind us. Let us move. Once we draw near the summit, we will wait for them to catch up."

We continued hiking up the mountain. The temperature rose as we got closer to where the lava flow originated.

"Stop here." Athena pointed ahead, then grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a rock. "You recognize that vampire?"

I sighed. "Unfortunately. It's Katerina. I hoped I'd never have to see that bitch again."

Athena chucked. "I don't blame you. Still, I suspect the others are nearby. We need to let Dionysus and your friends catch up. They're only a minute behind."

"How do you know that?"

"Like I said, I was communicating with him."

"How does that work?"

"Hades will not hear us if that's what you're worried about. All the gods can speak to one another across vast distances as long as we are within the same realm. We must intentionally reach out to the one we want to talk to. Hades thinks I'm still stone, so I wouldn't dare try to reach out to him right now. I don’t think I'd be able to talk him out of doing this anyway."

I saw Dionysus, Sienna, and Jessna hiking up the trail behind us a moment later. Jessna's two hundred vampires and Dionysus' naked nymphs weren't far behind.

Katerina saw them, too.

"Zoey Grimm. I know you're here somewhere."

I snorted. "Damn it."

"Let the army deal with her," Athena suggested. "Remember, your goal is to get past her and the rest of them and take down the gorgon."

I nodded and stepped out from behind the stone. "Well, I'd like to say it's nice to see you, but that would be a lie."

Katerina laughed. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Stand down, Katerina." Sienna and Jessna stepped up beside me. "We have you outnumbered."

"Do you?" Katerina asked. "If memory serves me, I was one of the vampires who first bit your friend, the daywalker. The other vampire, my sire, is nearby as well."

I gulped. I hadn't thought of that. "You can't control her!"

"I can! And she can control the others, can she not? She sired the other daywalker, who in turn sired your army. With a single word, I can claim nearly all of them. Except, of course, the drunk god and his harlots."

"Zoey!" Athena screamed. "You have no choice. You have to take her out!"

Katerina smiled. "You don't have a choice, do you?"

I screamed, touched the sigil on my wrist, and charged Katerina with my scythe ablaze in my hand.

"See you back on Earth," Katerina called.

I winced as I sliced through her. Her body dissipated in an explosion of green energy.

"Damn it!" I screamed. "Now I have to find her sire. He could do the same thing."

"I know this is disappointing," Athena cautioned. "But you defeated these vampires on Earth. You can do it again. Right now, the preservation of this realm is of greater importance."

"Sienna! Jessna!" I shouted. "There's one more vampire in the group who might be a threat. I have to find him and take him out before you attack."

"Clarence too!" Jessna shouted. "He bit me, too, remember."

"I'm also your sire," Sienna said. "If we can't get him, hopefully, you'll still listen to me over him."

Jessna sighed. "I'll try. You are right; your influence is stronger. If you're telling me opposite things, if I have any vote, I will side with you."

"I hope so," Sienna said.

"I'm going to trust that's the case. If I have to go after all these vampires before I can get to the gorgon, we might not be able to awaken the other gods fast enough to stop Hades from transforming this place into a second hell."

"Do vampires still crave blood here?" Dionysus asked.

"We do," Jessna confirmed.

Dionysus grinned. "I think my nymphs would be quite enticing to them. If we can lure the vampire you're concerned about away, will that buy you enough time?"

"I think so. I just have to get rid of the gorgon. Then the other gods will be free to fight."

Dionysus hiccupped. "Consider it done, milady." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. His nymphs gathered around him, and he led them forward. Nosferatu, Katerina's sire, was there somewhere. He'd been reaped before most of the others. If any of the vampires here were craving blood, it was him.

I didn't see Nosferatu. I had to trust that Dionysus' plan worked. It probably wouldn't for long. A vampire could sate his cravings quickly.

I put on my goggles. As Dionysus led some of the vampires from the group away, Sienna and Jessna left with the other vampires to take on the trolls, the Minotaur, and the other non-vampiric entities I'd managed to reap in recent months.

I found the gorgon standing beside Hades. He had his fist planted in the ground, and red energy blasted out of his body.

Athena charged him. Cerberus was behind me.

Athena delivered a swift kick to Hades’ head. It was enough to send him back and force him to stop channeling fire into the ground. She dove after him. I still had my scythe in hand, so I went after the gorgon. Before I could get to her, she tried to stare down Jessna and Sienna. They were too drunk.

The gorgon turned. I pivoted and turned to run past, but Cerberus was between us. The next moment, Cerberus' Earth head—the one I knew the best—was stone.

I screamed. "Damn you, Svetlana!"

The gorgon laughed. A blast of lava flew past me. Athena was within it. I turned. Hades had struck her with the power he'd been using to transform Olympus. Athena tumbled down the mountainside.

I took off after the gorgon and a blast of his power struck me in the back. It was hot as hell itself. As I flew past the gorgon, I swiped down at her and caught her with the tip of my scythe.

Another shower of green energy and she was gone. I'd sent her back to Earth. I had a feeling I'd regret that someday, but that feeling didn't linger when Hades’ lava sent me flying into a tree. At least I didn't leave the mountain. I struggled to my feet, although my back burned. It felt like my skin was boiling beneath my leather top.

A second later, lightning bolts struck the ground around us.

"Zeus!" Dionysus shouted from a distance. "He's awake!"

"You’re too late!" Hades shouted into the sky. "I've almost melted the core of the mountain. You cannot undo it once it's complete!"

I sprang to my feet. I didn't want to send Hades to Earth. Hell on Earth was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't know what else to do.

The next thing I knew, Cerberus ran past me. This time, his hellish head was in charge. I supposed his other heads had returned since the gorgon was gone. Why his hellish head, then?

The answer came quickly. Cerberus expanded his body until he towered over Hades, then opened his jaws and swallowed the god whole.

Then he belched. Flames blasted out of his mouth.

"Holy crap!" I laughed. "You just ate a god!"

"Spicy!" Cerberus growled.

"And since you ate him with that head, does that mean—"

"When I begin to digest him, he'll awaken in hell."

"Bloody brilliant!" Dionysus declared.

Hades was gone. Lightning was still crashing down around us.

"Doesn't he realize we got rid of Hades?" I asked.

"Come on," Dionysus said. "We need to get you out of here. You might have taken down Hades, but Zeus isn't one to show gratitude, especially to mortals or supernaturals."

"Cerberus, can you take us back to Earth?"

"I cannot cross dimensions until I've digested Hades and he's back where he belongs."

"Then we need to get back to the Boatman. Everyone, follow me!"

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

We made it to the shore of the River Styx. Charon wasn't there. As many souls as he had to ferry into the afterlife, it was probably a matter of time. He could have dropped them off on the other beach, on the other side of Olympus, but he knew to meet us back here. I presumed he'd row this way eventually.

If he didn't, we'd be waiting a while, and Zeus still didn't seem too thrilled about our intrusion into his realm.

Lightning continued crashing down around the mountain after we left.

"You'd think he'd be grateful that we just saved his ass."

Athena grinned. "He might see it that way in a century or two. Right now, he's embarrassed and butt-hurt by Hades' betrayal."

"He seriously didn't see this coming? You told him."

Athena nodded. "He is my father. He's always been a stubborn bloke. He also has a temper."

I shook my head. "Not a great personality trait for a god who throws lightning bolts like Mardi Gras beads. He should see a therapist about that."

Athena smiled. "The creatures you sent here are native to this realm. As a Reaper, you are, too. Nonetheless, it has been some time since Olympus has been populated by the likes of trolls and vampires. Zeus will have to adjust."

Dionysus stumbled down the hill. His harem of nymphs surrounded him, helping steady him as he walked toward us.

Sienna had her hand to her head. "I'm going to have such a headache in the morning."

"There's a cure for that!" Dionysus tripped over his own feet as he made his way toward us. "More wine!"

Sienna shook her head. "No, thank you."

Dionysus looked at Athena and closed his eyes. "Pay up."

"Excuse me?"

"You promised me a kiss if I helped."

"I also said you'd have to chew a mint leaf first."

Dionysus opened his mouth and extended his tongue, and several green leaves fell out of his mouth. Some of them stuck to his chest. "Done."

Athena sighed. "Fine. Close your eyes again."

Dionysus closed his eyes.

Athena bent over and picked up Cerberus. She held the hellhound to Dionysus' face. Cerberus licked the god of wine’s mouth.

Dionysus buckled over, gagging. "Ugh! I didn't agree to kiss the dog. His breath smells like hell!"

Cerberus huffed. "Like Hades, actually."

Athena smiled. "I agreed to give you a kiss. I didn't say it was my lips that would provide it!"

Dionysus rubbed his forehead. "Damn words! I have to be better with my words!"

"Lay off the wine for a day or so," I suggested. "Words are easier when you're sober."

Dionysus tilted his head and pinched his chin in thought. "Nope! Screw words. Give me more wine!"

Athena chuckled and shook her head. I looked at Jessna and the vampires who'd previously been a part of Clarence's cult and sighed.

"You can help them, you know."

I tilted my head. "What can I do?"

"You can reap them back to Earth."

I grinned. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"We might need their help against Katerina. I don't understand why she was able to compel me like that."

I shook my head. "She's your sire. Well, she's one of them."

Sienna sighed. "But I was the one who turned her into a daywalker before you reaped her."

Athena raised her hand. "You can command her when the sun is in the sky. You will have more power over her on Earth than here."

Sienna's eyes widened as if a light bulb had just turned on in her head. "Of course! That makes sense."

"We'll take her out again," I assured her.

"I'll be waiting for her when you do," Athena stated.

Jessna turned from her group and stepped up beside us. "What about Clarence? What is going to happen to him?"

"He betrayed me," Athena replied. "I'll likely ask Poseidon to float him across the river. He can join Hades after Cerberus defecates him into his realm."

"It doesn't work that way," Cerberus countered. "He'll revive there during the digestion process, though I can't say I'm looking forward to my next dookie. Spicy on the way in. Spicy on the way out."

"All your heads back to normal now?"

Cerberus allowed his Olympian head to emerge. "We are well," his heads said in concert. Then his earthly and Olympian heads retracted into his body. His hellish head looked at me. "I must remain in control until Hades is dealt with."

"You can do that? I thought that the head of whatever realm you were in became alpha."

"My other heads have voted me temporary control to deal with this matter."

"But you can't come back with us? Not even on the boat?"

Cerberus shook his head. "I cannot. I'll come back soon. Give me a few days. Gods are notoriously difficult to digest."

I chuckled. "I bet they are."

Athena narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

I turned to Jessna. "So, do you think your scholarship is still available?"

Jessna shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, maybe, but I made my choice when I asked you to reap me."

"I can reap you again, Jessna."

Jessna cocked her head. "It would return me to Earth?"

I nodded. "It would."

"You could do that for all of us?"

"I believe so."

Jessna bit her lip. "Would I be human again, or would I still..."

"You would remain what you are," Athena interjected. "But I can sense within you a great deal of control. You will not have the same limits as other vampires."

Jessna sighed. "I don’t know. Zoey, can your dad get me a brooch like the one Sienna has?"

"I can ask."

"No need for that," Athena said. "I will give you what you require."

"I'll be able to live a normal life?" Jessna asked.

"Mostly," Sienna said. "Even with the brooch, you still have access to your abilities. You can go invisible, too, which is pretty damn cool."

Jessna grinned. "I can see how that might come in useful."

Athena asked, "What form would you like your device to take? I can make you a brooch like the one Sienna wears or something else."

"Could it be a ring?" Jessna asked.

Athena bowed her head. "Allow me to see your hand."

Jessna extended her right hand. Athena clasped it. A bright light formed in the goddess's grip. When she released it, a golden band was on Jessna’s right ring finger.

Jessna's eyes lightened a few shades, and she gasped. "Oh, my. I can feel the change! Thank you!"

"Your spirit must still be reconstituted and recalibrated to Earth before you can return. Zoey will do that for you. Know that you may turn the ring a hundred and eighty degrees to activate its enchantments. As long as you wear it, you will remain human. If you turn it, you will come here."

"She won't go to the astral plane?" I asked.

"The brooch Sienna wears was fashioned by your father," Athena said. "It serves the purpose of the Reapers. This way, Jessna, you can reach me should the need arise."

"Thank you!" Jessna exclaimed. Then she sighed. "What about them? The other vampires?"

"There is little we can do for them," Athena said. "Still, you are their sire. You can help them a great deal if they require guidance."

Jessna sighed. "They all live in Kansas City. I don't know if I can go to school on the West Coast."

I grinned. "You don't need to babysit your progeny forever. I'll keep an eye on them. You can come back any time. You deserve to live your life."

Jessna shook her head. "So do they."

"Then give them a choice," Athena said. "They can stay here with me, or they can return. I realize it is not the same as giving them back the lives they lost, but you can offer them the option. And please realize, just because they are vampires, it does not mean they must be evil or succumb to their lust for blood. Apart from the daylight problem, they can live productive lives."

Sienna sighed. "What if I bit them?"

I narrowed my eyes. "All of them?"

"It will not affect them here," Athena said. "But if you wish to give them your gift, I can give Jessna more rings."

"We can save them?" Jessna asked.

I smiled. "It seems we can."

"They'll all be your progeny and mine." Jessna nodded at Sienna.

Sienna nodded. "I'm pretty new at this, too."

Jessna sighed. "We all are."

"But I can help them as much as you can. Go to school. Pursue your dreams. That's what I'm doing."

"Let me talk to them. I'm sure they'll all be thrilled and eager to return. Thank you."

I glanced at the River Styx and saw Charon's boat approaching. "We have to leave soon, so they'll have to make their decisions fast. Charon is a busy fellow. He won't wait around."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

It didn't take long for Jessna to convince the rest of the vampires to take her up on the offer. Sienna agreed to meet them at the church to complete their transformation into daywalkers after we got back.

I wasn't inclined to reap myself back to Earth. I wasn't even sure that would work. Athena didn't think it would. Sienna was inclined to go with me. Don’t get me wrong. My scythe could save the vampires who wished to return to Earth, but getting your soul sliced out of you isn't the preferred way to travel if you have other alternatives.

Jessna and the vampires gathered around me. I invoked my scythe, and they took turns diving into the path of my blade as I spun it. The green energy that blasted around us made it look like a light show in honor of St. Patrick.

Athena nodded. "It is done."

"They will have bodies again?"

"Flesh and blood," Athena confirmed.

"Where will they return to?" I asked.

"Since they are supernaturals, they will be revived in the place where they were turned."

"They'll be at the church," Sienna said.

"No clue where Katerina is. She's been a vampire for a long time."

"We'll find her," Sienna told me. "Since I’m her sire, it shouldn't be hard. I believe if she's close, I'll be able to influence her."

"Do not place too much confidence in that," Athena warned. "There are ways that the bond between a vampire and their sire can be weakened or strained."

"What ways?"

Athena shrugged. "Spells, mostly. A vampire as old as Katerina is will likely know the rituals to do so, but they will not be painless or easy to complete. The time you have to find her while she can still be controlled may be short."

"Can I use the same process to break her hold on me?" Sienna asked.

"You could," Athena agreed. "But despite my divinity, I know nothing about how it is done. Josephine might know more."

I grinned. "We'll ask my mom when we get back."

"Hey!" Charon shouted from the shore. "We getting out of here or what?"

"Thank you, Athena, for everything. Not just helping us defeat Hades. For my gift, too."

Athena nodded. "I have more use for you. Nonetheless, I must thank you, Zoey. You've lived with a burden that you did not understand. I hope you do, indeed, embrace your ability as a gift."

"I do. Good luck with Zeus, by the way."

Athena shook her head. "Taming Dionysus might be easier. Nonetheless, I'd much rather deal with my father's temper tantrums than Hades. At least we know he will soon be back where he belongs and things will return to normal. As normal as they usually are, at least."

I took one last look at Olympus. It was a marvelous place. Would I ever see it again? Hopefully not for a long time.

I boarded Charon's boat. Sienna hopped aboard behind me. "See you soon, Cerberus."

Cerberus nodded. "Don't wait up for me. This might take a few days."

Dionysus ran toward the gondola. "Charon, good buddy!"

Charon reached into his cloak and handed Dionysus a stack of hundred-dollar bills.

Dionysus smiled. "I have your Gummi Bears ready."

Charon nodded. "I will wait."

I tilted my head. "How does Dionysus get Gummi Bears?"

"We gods can go to Earth," Athena explained. "We just choose not to most of the time. Given Dionysus' proclivities, he mostly goes to party. Charon's money pays for his booze and the parties he throws on Earth. He uses the rest to buy candy for the Boatman."

"It's an arrangement that's worked for me for some time!" Charon said. "But that does not mean I do not still expect you to feed me more of those children I requested."

I chuckled as I watched Athena's jaw drop. "I'll bring you some Sour Patch Kids. Don't worry."

Athena shook her head. "Good luck, Zoey. You know where to find me."

I nodded. "I do."

Charon popped several Gummi Bears into his mouth. "To the underworld, I presume?"

I nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Charon. I don't think we'll be requesting any more trips to Hades."

"Not many do!" Charon exclaimed. "Come, I have souls to deliver to the afterlife. I cannot afford to linger."

* * *

My dad insisted Sienna join him for a round of bingo at the Satyrs’ Lodge before we returned home. Bingo wasn't my thing. I felt bad for him. He'd just lost his powers, after all. We didn't know when he'd ascend, if ever, given all that had happened, so the least I could do was join him for one round of bingo.

The prize if you won? A brand-new coffee pot. Oh, joy. As a former barista, albeit not a very good one, I was a coffee snob. I didn't drink the stuff much. When I did, I needed the perfect brew. I doubted the cheap coffee maker they were offering would satisfy. Besides, even if I won, I wouldn't keep it. Kitchen appliances are much harder to come by in the underworld. Someone had to import the thing from Earth. It would be silly for me to take it back with me. If I won it, I'd give it to Morty. Sienna would do the same. She was a much better barista than I was. She was also twice the coffee connoisseur. She'd never drink anything name-brand.

It didn't matter. We weren’t going to win the prize. I just didn't have the heart to tell my dad no. Given the way he'd lived his life for years, settling into retirement couldn't be easy. It would be an adjustment. I imagined he'd go stir-crazy sooner rather than later. At least he had the Satyrs.

He was waiting for us when we reached the shore of the underworld. He listened with more attention than he'd ever given me in my twenty years of living with him. I could see him beam with pride as I described how I’d reaped the gorgon and told him Cerberus had swallowed Hades whole.

He insisted we take a short nap in my old room and meet him at the Satyr Lodge before we left. We couldn't linger for long. Jessna and the vampires were waiting for us at the church.

I pushed open the door to the lodge. Sienna walked in first. I followed her. The lights were off. The club was dark.

"Well, this is odd," I remarked.

Then the lights went on, and hundreds of people jumped up from their chairs, which had been arranged around dozens of rectangular tables.

"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted in unison.

Morty and my dad walked up, shit-eating grins decorating their faces.

"What is this about?" I asked. "It's not my birthday."

My dad gestured to the giant sheet cake on a table against the wall. The writing on it read 1st Annual Zoey Grimm Festival.

I snorted. "What the hell?"

"A new holiday," Morty explained. "It's my first official act as the new Grim Reaper. It's a way to honor the day when one of our own, my sister, reaped a god and saved the underworld."

"Holy crap," I said, staring at the cake. "You named a holiday after me?"

"To be commemorated annually for eternity," Morty confirmed with a nod.

I chuckled. "A thousand years from now, people are going to treat it like Labor Day. No one will know what it means, but they'll all enjoy the day off work."

Morty chuckled. "On Earth, they have a holiday called Labor Day, but people don’t work? How does that make any sense?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Ironic, right?”

“Well, that won’t be the case here,” Morty replied. “Unfortunately, we can't celebrate the day with a day off for obvious reasons."

I nodded. "Right. People don’t stop dying."

"But at the very least," my dad added, "we can take the time to recognize the occasion my daughter saved us all."

I glanced around the room. There was a giant piñata hanging from the ceiling. Several imitation scythes, plastic blades mounted on poles, leaned against a nearby table.

"What's up with the piñata?"

"It's Hades!" my dad exclaimed. "Can't you tell?"

I snorted. "It looks like a lot of papier mâché with a fake beard."

"It was the best we could do," Morty explained.

"What's inside?"

Morty chuckled. "Sour Patch Kids. You know, to honor the Boatman's role in your victory."

Sienna laughed. "That's classic. Well, it will be. We still have to bring him some."

Morty nodded. "I bought plenty. Now that we know his taste, it's a lot more economical. You realize by paying what he demands in candy, we can save more than nine thousand percent?"

I grinned. "Well, in that case, what are we going to do with all our money?"

"That's up to you," my father replied. "We realize the gig with the Horseman didn't pay out. Consider managing our accounts and skimming as much as you need from the top as your payment for both completing a contract on Hades and for handling the underworld's financial affairs on Earth."

"Isn't that Morty's job?" I asked.

Morty nodded. "It is. I suck at math. Besides, you live there. It'll be way easier for you to handle all that shit."

My father narrowed his eyes. "Language, son. Remember, you're the king here now. You must behave as the dignified governor of the realm."

"This is incredible!" I gushed. "A holiday named for me? I would never have imagined that. The day I left, embarrassed that I couldn't reap—"

"That's in the past," Dad interjected. "I know you have to leave soon. Before you go, please enjoy a piece of cake and sign some autographs. You wouldn't believe the line waiting for you. And I insist on one round of bingo."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

My hand ached by the time I finished signing autographs. It was awkward, really. I didn't feel like a celebrity. I had only done what had to be done. Still, it would have been rude to turn the Reapers down. You'd be surprised how many older Reapers were fanboying and fangirling over me.

Did I say it was awkward? More than that, it was damned uncomfortable. I was Zoey Grimm. It wasn't like I was a pop star or anything. The discomfort reached its peak when one of the Reapers, an older gentleman with gray hair, asked me to sign his left pectoral. He swore after I did that he'd never bathe again. I hoped he was joking.

Carmilla, Morty's girlfriend, won at bingo. I was relieved. I didn't want the coffee maker. She didn't even know how to make coffee. Sienna promised to teach her before we left. It wouldn't take long. I might have been a horrible barista back in the day, but I knew how to brew a basic pot of the divine liquid.

I was honored by the whole thing, don't get me wrong. I wasn't in this for recognition, though. I just wanted to save lives. That's the thing when it comes to receiving glory for one's accomplishments. Those who seek glory never find it. Those who just do their best to do what is right often find it difficult to avoid.

Handling the finances for the underworld made me feel less apprehensive about using my daddy's money. It wouldn’t be a tough job. I just had to make sure it was invested well and we bought enough candy to keep the Boatman happy. Not to mention, Sienna said she could make me a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. That would help, given my inability to handle numbers.

We ducked out of the party as soon as we could. I did have a piece of cake first. It was delicious. Sienna passed on the cake and drank nothing but water. I couldn't blame her. Wine hangovers were the worst.

We made our way back to my dad's...I mean, Morty's office, and used the portal to go back to my apartment.

My mom was there, with her legs kicked up on the couch. She was watching Vampire Diaries on Netflix.

I snorted. "Hey, Mom. Whatcha doing?"

"You're back!" She jumped up, and before I knew it, she had her arms wrapped around me.

"Yup. Hades was dealt with. The underworld and Olympus were saved. All is well, almost. Katerina is back."

"What did you say?"

I sighed. "I had to reap her when we were on Mount Olympus. She was trying to manipulate Sienna. When I reaped her, it sent her back to Earth, wherever she was first turned."

"I see. That will eventually be a problem."

"The gorgon is back, too. Let's hope she stays hidden as she has for centuries. I'm betting she won't, though."

Josephine shook her head. "But you saved the underworld. You stopped Hades."

"Clarence betrayed us all. He was working for Hades the whole time."

"Did you reap him back to Earth too?"

I shook my head. "I didn't. He's still on Olympus. Athena promised she'd deal with him."

"Where's Jessna? She went with you. And Cerberus?"

"Jessna is back. All the vampires from her cult are. We have to meet her at the church. Athena provided us with rings like Sienna's brooch. Sienna has to turn them into daywalkers before they’ll work. After that, they should be able to go about their lives as long as they keep their rings on."

"Were you seriously watching the Vampire Diaries?" Sienna asked.

Mom grinned. "It's funny. Why is every vampire on that show attractive? It's like whoever made the show thought ugly people were immune to vampirism."

I laughed. "Well, I suppose if you had to choose who you were going to bite, you'd go for those most pleasing to the eye."

She shook her head. "Doesn’t work like that. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of good-looking vamps out there. They use it to their advantage. There are just as many hideous ones, though."

"About that. Athena said she expects Katerina might try to perform a ritual so Sienna can't control her. You know, since Sienna turned her into a daywalker."

My mother nodded. "That makes sense."

"Do you know anything about the ritual?" Sienna asked. "I can control Katerina when the sun is out, but she also sired me. Without the sun when we were on Olympus, she was able to use that to manipulate me."

My mom scratched her head. "I know about the ritual. I don’t know how to perform it. I'll do some digging and see what I can come up with."

Sienna nodded. "I’d appreciate that."

"And Cerberus?" my mom asked.

I laughed. "He swallowed Hades whole. I think he has indigestion. No worries, though. He swallowed him with his hellish head. Hades will get shat back into hell eventually. Once that's done, Cerberus will come home."

"Well, if Jessna and the vampires are waiting, we should get going."

"You're coming along?" I asked.

My mom nodded. "Might as well. I've had my fill of television vampires. Besides, Kevin is still working all those missing person cases. I'll reach out to him and let him know what's up. I'm sure he'll be relieved to be able to report that the subjects he's been looking for have been found. I also suspect he's eager to see you. We were worried about you, Zoey."

I grinned. "I get that. Truth be told, I wasn't sure we were going to pull it off."

My mother smiled. "I never had a single doubt."

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

We entered the church. This time, my mom was with us. Everyone was seated in their pews like before. We went to the front row. Sunshine was seated behind us.

"Hey there, Sunshine!"

"Zoey! I'm so excited!"

"We're glad we can help."

"Today, we will realize the true meaning of the First Light!"

I snorted. "Sunshine. You realize all that stuff Clarence fed you people was bullshit, right?"

"It was, but Jessna remained faithful. We saw the heavens! We watched you defeat monsters and gods! Now, we have a chance to bear the First Light in the world."

I sighed. "Is that what Jessna told you?"

Sunshine nodded. "It was why we agreed to return to Earth. Many of us wished to stay and bask in our newfound glory. She told us that we had a duty, though."

I scratched my head. "What duty?"

"To live our lives as beacons. To shed light in the darkness. To defend the weak and the vulnerable with our newfound strength."

I smiled. "I suppose that's how we share the light, isn't it?"

"Exactly!" Sunshine giggled. "Jessna is so wise!"

The woman in question appeared from the back room. She was wearing the robe she’d worn before. She looked at us and smiled. Then she gestured to the floor in front of her.

Sienna and I took our cues, rose from our pew, and approached Jessna.

"You guys ready for this?"

"Jessna, you're still feeding them this First Light crap?"

Jessna shook her head. "They bought in the first time so deeply that it was the only way I could get them to agree to this. We're saving them. They'll realize the truth in time."

I grunted. "All right. Well, what do we do?"

"I'll explain it to everyone else. It's pretty simple."

I nodded. Jessna stepped in front of us.

"Greetings, children of the light! We come today to realize the true meaning of First Light. We have all seen the divine. We have felt the glow of Olympus. We have witnessed the defeat of darkness. Now it is our unique calling to represent the goodness of the divine to the world. Each of you will approach, and the true First Light, my friend Sienna, will give you the same gift she gave me. Then, approach me, and I will give you a ring to signify your commitment to our cause. You must wear it at all times. You may only remove it when your shadow self must enter the darkness to save those who are lost."

I frowned. It was a lot of pious-sounding mumbo-jumbo, but I got the point. She was basically telling everyone to live their human lives. To do good deeds. To only use their vampirism when necessary to defend the weak and the vulnerable. I could support that since Sienna would be able to handle them if they got out of control. It was a solid plan.

One by one, the vampires approached Sienna. They formed a single-file line that extended to the back of the church. After one row of pews received their bite and their rings, they returned to their rows. The rows behind then took their place at the back of the line.

I didn't have much to do other than stand there and look pretty. I suppose I was an inspirational prop. I was the Reaper who'd slain the "dark one." I chuckled. That was what Katerina used to call Hades. I could only hope his hold on her wouldn't persist. Even if it did, he was trapped where he belonged for the foreseeable future.

My mom motioned for me. I figured it was fine. There were only a few vampires left. I stepped toward her.

"Kevin is waiting outside," she whispered. "I told him what happened, but he needs to do a few interviews to wrap up his cases.”

I nodded and returned to Jessna. I explained what was going on, and she nodded.

"Children! One more thing! Most of you were reported as missing to the local authorities. A detective is here to interview you as to what occurred. I will not ask you to lie. However, keep in mind that what he puts in the report must make sense to those who still dwell in the shadows."

"What would you have us tell him?" Sunshine asked.

"Tell him you were deceived by a charismatic man who is no longer in the world. You followed him. His deceptions were exposed. He is, for all intent and purposes, in the afterlife now. You wish to resume your normal lives. No more needs to be said."

Jessna looked at me for confirmation. I nodded. "That will do."

She looked at my mother. "Tell the detective he is welcome to come inside."

* * *

Kevin interviewed every person in that church. He didn't speed through the process, either. You'd think, given that everyone in there was giving him the same story nearly verbatim, he'd cut corners, make assumptions, and write his report. Apparently, his superiors had demanded he record each interview.

I don’t know what they suspected. Did they think Kevin was up to something? Perhaps they'd stumbled into evidence that suggested he was doing things beyond his department's usual jurisdiction. Since the church was in Independence, he had to bring along a detective who didn't know about vampires, Reapers, gods, or the rest. Perhaps it was the other detective who was responsible for the time this was taking.

I was just tired. I hadn't had more than just a few hours’ sleep in nearly a week.

Sienna agreed to stick around. She and Jessna were co-sires to these new daywalkers. Due to all the blood she'd consumed, Sienna was going to need a few days of rest after this was handled. Not to mention, since Kevin would be tied up in interviews, I figured I'd get my sleep when I could. That way, I could have plenty of time to spend with him later in the evening.

Mom and I went back to the apartment while Kevin, Sienna, and Jessna handled the debriefing process.

I walked in the door to my apartment to find Cerberus scooting his butt across the floor.

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! It buurrrrrrrns!"

I smirked. "Welcome home. That didn’t take as long as I expected."

"Eat something like a god, and you have one of two results. A serious case of constipation or the runs. I expected the former. The latter was what occurred."

"You made sure he got shat back into hell, right?"

Cerberus huffed. "He rematerialized in hell before the eruption occurred. I swear, it was like all the magma he hoped to make on Olympus was deposited in my bowels instead."

"So now you're doing the booty-scootin' boogie on my rug?"

"What else would you have me do? My asshole burns, Zoey!"

I smirked. "Want me to stick an ice cube up there for you?"

"For the love of all that is good and decent! No!"

I shrugged. "Dip your butt in yogurt, then. It's supposed to help with spiciness."

"I'm not putting my butt in yogurt, Zoey!"

I grinned. "Just an idea. It works when I eat something spicy. It might not have the same effect on your anus."

"This is horrible! Remind me never to ingest the ruler of hell again....ever!"

I laughed. "Well, I need some sleep. Have you tried the astral plane?"

"Ass-tral plane? Funny, Zoey."

"No, I'm serious. It wasn't a joke. Maybe, you know, since you aren't technically material in that plane, you can leave behind whatever's burning your butt and return soothed."

Cerberus grunted, then disappeared. He reappeared a couple of seconds later. "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! It doesn't help! If anything, it made it worse!"

I shook my head. "Nothing seems to help, huh?"

"Not true." Cerberus resumed scooting his butt hole across my rug. "This helps."

I shook my head. "Whatever. Remind me to shampoo that rug after I wake up."

My mother smiled. "I'll clean the rug. Get some sleep, Zoey. You deserve it."

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

No sooner did I close my eyes than I was asleep. I don't know if I dreamed. They say you only have dreams when you're in REM. I was much deeper than that. At some point, I felt something drape across my body. I reached up and felt skin and hair. It was Kevin. I grabbed his arm and rolled over, pulling him in closer to me.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

I groaned.

"We have one hour before we leave."

"Leave?" I muttered.

"I have a romantic evening planned. You’ve had a good long nap. Trust me; it will be worth it.

"No gondola rides, please. I've had my fill of those."

"No gondolas, I promise."

"I need to shower first."

"You have an hour."

"How can I shower and get ready in an hour?"

Kevin chuckled. "You don't need to dress fancy for tonight. This might not be the most romantic date idea, but we should have a good time."

"No baseball games, either. Those have bad connotations for me at the moment."

Kevin chuckled. "I'm not taking you to a baseball game, Zoey."

"And no wine! Lord, I don't want to even smell wine for at least a month."

"I promise. No alcohol will be involved unless you want it. Even then, you'll have to buy. It's not cheap where we're going."

"I said, no baseball! No movie theaters, either."

"It's neither of those things. Come on! It will be fun!"

Kevin lifted his arm off me and rolled out of bed. I thumped onto my back and took a deep breath. I rubbed my eyes, lowered my bare toes to the floor, and forced myself to stand.

"What time is it?"

"Six o'clock in the evening."

I nodded. "All right. Well, if I want to sleep tonight, I better get going. No peeking while I'm in the shower."

"I wouldn’t do that!"

"Yes, you would."

"How do you know?"

I smirked. "Because I'd peek at you, silly."

Kevin laughed as I stumbled my way down the hall. I felt like one of Dionysius' drunken nymphs. My body was clear of all mind-altering substances, however. This was pure fatigue.

I stood in the shower doing nothing for a few minutes. The water running over my head was hypnotizing. I managed to shampoo my hair and scrub my body. I rinsed and dried off. I brushed out my hair. It was a good thing Kevin didn't have anything fancy planned for tonight. I put on a pair of jeans, a black tank top, and tennis shoes.

"This good enough?" I asked.

"You look stunning," Kevin replied.

"Yeah, right. You're just under my spell. I could probably bathe in urine and shave my head, and you'd still find me attractive."

Kevin grabbed my hand. "I'm sure your bald head would look very nice. I won’t make a joke about it, though. You know, making jokes about women with bald heads tends to get you slapped. As far as bathing in urine? Sorry, Zoey. You're hot. You're not that hot."

I ran my fingers through Kevin's hair. "I imagine if you lose your hair someday, I'll still be into you. In the meantime, though, don't you dare shave it off."

Kevin kissed me softly.

"Ready to go?"

I nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be. Why don't you tell me where we're going?"

"Ah. You know me and surprises."

"Ah. You know me and my impatience!"

Kevin grinned, "That I do!"

Kevin drove half an hour from the Missouri side of Kansas City across the border into Kansas.

He pulled into a parking lot. There was a circus tent on the property. It had a different pattern, and it was a little smaller, but it reminded me of the tent in which Dionysus had held his wine-drinking shindig with the naked nymphs. There was more than the tent on the property. There were also rides. Booths with games. This wasn't just a circus. It was a carnival.

I laughed. "I've never been to one of these."

Kevin nodded. "That's the great thing about dating you, Zoey. It's not hard to find things you've never done. Makes my job easier. Plus, I love seeing the look on your face when you experience something new. It's like, despite the fantastical things you've seen, done, and experienced, something simple like a carnival brings the childlike wonder out in your eyes."

I smiled. "I admit, this looks like a lot of fun."

Kevin smiled. "First, we have to buy some tickets. I think they have bracelets. Twenty bucks, and you can ride as many rides as you want."

"Cool. I'm game."

Kevin and I got out of the car. We got our bracelets from a small booth manned by one of the carnies.

We rode every ride, even the ones meant for kids. I didn't go on rides like these as a child. Could you blame me for enjoying the teacups and the carousel? Kevin even got me some cotton candy, which was good for about two bites. After that, it was too much. I’d have to send some to Charon. It was just the sort of thing he’d love.

Oh, well. You live, you learn. It's good to try new things.

We passed a small booth that had a picture on the side that looked eerily familiar. A woman with snakes for hair. Beneath the image were details describing the attraction.

Gaze upon the reflection of Medusa, it said. Then in small letters, Do not look at her directly or risk changing into stone.

There were two statues standing on either side of the entrance to the attraction. They didn't look real. They were almost comically posed, with shocked expressions on their faces as if they'd just gazed at a gorgon.

"Too soon?" Kevin asked.

I pressed my lips together. "Yeah. It is. It's probably a coincidence. Still, I need to get a look."

"Why?" Kevin asked.

I shrugged. "I reaped Svetlana, also known as Stheno. If what Athena said was true, she'd have revived wherever she was born on Earth. Presumably, based on the legends, that was somewhere near Greece."

"So, it isn't her. It's just a gimmick."

"Probably. I still feel like I have to find out. It will either be absurdly fake and I'll get a good laugh out of it, or..."

"Or what?" Kevin asked.

"Never mind. Who am I kidding? It'll be good for shits and giggles, at least."

Kevin nodded. "Well, have at it. Your bracelet will get you in."

I nodded. "Here goes nothing."

I stepped into the attraction. I showed the guy who was taking tickets my bracelet, and he let me through. I followed a narrow corridor. At the end of the hall was an angled mirror. A sign above it read, Warning: Gaze Only into the Mirror or Risk Certain DEATH!

The word DEATH wasn't just in all caps. It was written in a font made to look like it had been written in dripping blood. A bit overdramatic, but this was a carnival attraction. What could one expect?

I looked into the mirror and saw her. It wasn't Svetlana, the gorgon I knew. Her face was rounder. She was shorter. The snakes slithering around her cranium weren’t identical to Svetlana’s. Then again, people have many colors of hair. Perhaps the same was true of gorgons and their snakes. They certainly looked real.

There had originally been three gorgons. Medusa had been slain by Perseus. Stheno I'd met. She was probably somewhere in Greece. Then there was the third. The one Stheno—Svetlana—had led me to believe was a few crayons short of a full box.

I stared at the gorgon's image for a second. "Euryale?"

The woman looked at me and hissed. I narrowed my eyes.

“Is that your name? Euryale?”

“Who is Euryale? I am Medussssssa!” The woman in the reflection held onto the S of her name to give the impression that she had the diction of a snake. I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t real.

I laughed as I stepped away from the attraction. At the same time, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. It must’ve been obvious from the expression on my face.

“Are you okay, Zoey?”

I sighed. “I think so. It’s like everywhere I turn, I see things that remind me of the supernaturals I’ve slain. If not, something from Hades or Olympus. Back in the underworld, they had a party and named a holiday after me. It’s surreal. My gut tells me this isn’t over. Another shoe is going to drop, but I don’t know when.”

Kevin took my hand and interlaced his fingers in mine. “I get that. I have that feeling sometimes after I’ve solved a case. What are you thinking? Something about Katerina?”

I nodded. “It could be that. Also, more was going on in Olympus than met the eye. When I looked at that fake Medusa, it made me remember…something. It made me wonder if things were as they seemed.”

“You think Athena wasn’t honest with you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think she’s a good goddess. She means well. My gut tells me that there’s something she isn’t telling me, though.”

“Like what?”

I scratched my head. “Svetlana, the gorgon, told me about Hades’ wraiths. My plan to take him out depended on her information.”

“From what I understand, she wanted you to reap him so he would go to Olympus.”

I shook my head. “Hades wanted to claim the underworld. That was his Plan A. She thwarted that by agreeing to turn him to stone after I reaped him.”

“But she didn’t,” Kevin mused.

“Right. Maybe he avoided her. He must’ve seen a statue or something first and figured it out. That doesn’t make sense either, though. The gorgon attacked the other gods, including Athena, and she was standing right beside him when I got up to the top.”

“I think the problem is that you’re looking at this as if the whole thing had good guys and bad guys. What if there are a lot of different bad guys involved in this scheme, all with different agendas?”

I narrowed my eyes and tucked a strand of loose hair behind my right ear. “What do you mean?”

“When I’m dealing with criminals, I assume that they all have their own agendas. Loyalty doesn’t run deep among the bad guys, Zoey. What if the gorgon had another agenda? She turned the other gods to stone, not because she was trying to help Hades, but because she wanted to eliminate them for her own reasons? We still don’t know what Clarence was up to. I’m sure, given what your mother had said about him, he had his own motives, too. Are you a hundred percent certain Athena’s only agenda was to stop Hades?”

I grimaced. “I suppose I can’t assume that. Still, she did help the other daywalkers.”

“Again, you’re making assumptions. When you’re investigating, you have to consider any and every possibility until you can rule it out with evidence.”

“All I know is that Zeus was firing lightning bolts from Olympus with a vengeance after I reaped the gorgon. Maybe Athena was right. Perhaps he’s a xenophobe who doesn’t like outsiders in his realm, or maybe Hades was only one of several threats he was attacking.”

“All possibilities, Zoey, but not certainties. You might never know the truth. You should remain open to any possibilities, even remote ones, without committing yourself to one theory and neglecting the alternatives.”

“It’s just, a feeling in my gut right now tells me there’s a lot more to this than I saw. I’m pretty sure that Athena wanted the gorgon out of the picture. I can see why, regardless of her motives. Clarence wanted me to send her there. The gorgon also helped me thwart Hades’ first plan. Clarence must have an agenda of his own, too. I wish I knew what it was.”

Kevin squeezed my hand. “You know, when I get a feeling like that after I’ve solved a case, there’s generally something to it. It’s not always big. Sometimes it’s just a piece of evidence I missed that supported a conviction that was a sure thing. Other times, it’s a biggie.”

“Like, you’ve got the wrong guy?”

Kevin nodded. “It’s happened. When it does, my gut tells me to dig deeper.”

“So, you think I need to investigate this more?”

“Not tonight.” Kevin grinned. “Focus on trying to locate and monitor Katerina and the gorgon. Chances are they’ll lay low for a while before they try anything, if they do. I’d be willing to bet both of them know things about what happened that you don’t.”

I shook my head. “I highly doubt Katerina will share information with me.”

Kevin released my hand and put his arm around my shoulder. “You don’t know that. It depends on what she knows and what’s in it for her.”

I shook my head. “My head might explode from trying to sort all this crap out.”

Kevin laughed. “Then there’s no sense in worrying. I learned a long time ago that taking my cases home doesn’t help. You need to live life and step away from a case for a while. Sometimes, that’s what it takes to get the clarity you need to solve it. If you don’t know what’s bothering you, chances are it will reveal itself in time.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m going to enjoy my night and try not to think about it. What do you say we try the Ferris wheel? I’ve never been on one of those.”

Kevin smirked. “You’ve never been on a Ferris wheel?”

“Never had the chance!”

Boarding the Ferris wheel was the hardest part. It was nerve-wracking to start and stop, then rock back and forth until the seats were full. We stopped for a moment at the very top. I nuzzled my head into Kevin’s chest as he pulled me close.

Two kids in front of us were disobeying the sign and rocking their car.

“Hey!” Kevin shouted. “Stop rocking the car!”

One of the kids turned around and glared at Kevin. “What are you going to do about it? Come over here and stop me?”

Kevin reached into his pocket and flashed his badge at the kid. “Rocking the cars is against the law. Consider this a warning.”

The kid’s eyes went wide as if he’d just seen a ghost. He didn’t say a word but turned around and stopped rocking.

“Rocking the cars is against the law?”

Kevin chuckled. “Against the law of the carnival.”

I grinned. “I really need to get one of those.”

“A police badge?” Kevin asked.

I nodded. “Could come in handy.”

Kevin laughed. “Impersonating a police officer is a crime, Zoey. Unless you want to go to the academy and become a cop.”

I shook my head. “Nope. Not interested. My bad guys are way more interesting than yours.”

“But my job comes with a health plan and a 401K option.”

I shrugged. “Who needs that when you have access to the Grim Reaper’s bank account?”

Kevin laughed. “Fair point. It’s probably for the best. Couples who work together don’t often stay together.”

I kissed Kevin on the cheek. “I know we’re together now. Hearing you call us a couple, though? I really like hearing it. It’s totally different than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

“How so?”

I snorted. “I was with Gabriel for a long time. He and I never made anything official about our relationship, though. We started dating, we had a good time, and he started calling us a couple. I didn’t correct him. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Still, I never really felt good about it. I was embarrassed when he said it.”

“It’s not like that with me?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. I want you to show me off to your friends. I want you to take me to work parties. Eventually—you know, a long time from now—I want you to introduce me to your mom.”

Kevin smiled. “I’d like that. A long time from now.”

I giggled. “I guess what I’m trying to say, Kevin, is that I’m falling in love with you. I’m not there yet, not completely, but I’m getting there a lot faster than I ever expected.”

Kevin looked into the distance, taking in the view of the city as the Ferris wheel started moving again. “I’m falling in love with you, too.”

CHAPTER FORTY

Three Weeks Later

Sienna was at school. Jessna was working with her new daywalkers while trying to finish an essay to convince Stanford to allow her to use her scholarship for the next fall rather than the year before that she’d missed. Cerberus, me, and my mom hung out, ate too much ice cream, and prayed we didn’t get fat. So far, so good, except for Cerberus. He’d gained a few pounds for obvious reasons. Too much barbecue, a god on the side, and now ice cream. I really needed to start taking that hellhound for walks.

He was sleeping on the rug in front of the couch. I had my feet kicked up. My mom did the same. She had the remote since she had control issues. I didn’t care. I was counting down the hours and minutes until Kevin got off work. We didn’t have much planned, but an evening at his place sounded a lot better than a Netflix binge with my mom and Cerberus.

I still had a couple of hours to waste. I needed a hobby besides kicking supernatural ass. Something constructive. Singing was out. Didn’t have the voice. Maybe I’d learn an instrument. I briefly considered picking up crochet, but the idea of it made me feel old, so I dismissed it. I’d eventually think of something.

I was dozing off when a bright light passed through the front door of my apartment. I rubbed my eyes. The green outline of its form gave its identity away before he opened his mouth. “Zoey! Good golly, sweetheart! Somethin’s after me. Somethin’ bad!”

“Roy?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

“I just done told you! Somethin’ chasin’ me. Of course I’m not okay!”

“What is it?” I asked. “Did you get a good look at it?”

“A woman! It was a woman fer sure!”

My mom tilted her head. “That’s a bad thing?”

“Not a natural woman.” Roy shook his head, panting for air more out of exasperation than a need for oxygen.

“You mean a dead woman?” I asked.

“Yes! I mean, no. Not exactly. At first, I thought it was one of my ex-wives. Caught up with me in the afterlife to give me the hell I skipped out on. But when I got a better look…”

“Describe what it was,” I ordered.

“It was a woman!”

“You said that. We don’t all look the same.”

Roy nodded. “Right. Yeah, I know. A woman with white hair. Whiter than my grandma’s, and sharp teeth to match.”

I cocked my head. “Your grandma had sharp teeth?”

“No! The teeth were white like the rest of her. She opened her mouth and screamed somethin’ fierce. All I knew was that she was a-comin' for me, so I headed here.”

I sighed and looked at my mom. “That sounds like a banshee. I encountered one in the woods.”

“The one that warned you about the Minotaur that was hoping to kill me?”

I nodded. “This doesn’t make sense, Roy. A banshee isn’t a Reaper. They don’t police souls. As far as I know, they herald someone’s death.”

“This one is tryin’ to take me in! I don’t wanna go, Zoey! You busted me outta the big house. You know, the hot place, and I’ll be damned before I get damned again.”

Josephine looked confused. “That didn’t make sense.”

I raised my hand. “It’s an expression, Mom. Roy has a license not to make sense.”

“I’m not talking about being damned. The thing about a banshee. It’s like it was trying to do a Reaper’s job and collect Roy for the afterlife. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure as a sermon on Sunday, I’m tellin’ the truth!”

“I’m not saying you aren’t, Roy. Where is this banshee now?”

“Don’t know. I think I lost her. Just a matter of time ‘til she finds me again. Oh, I’m scared as the dickens, Zoey. Please help.”

“I don’t know what the dickens are, but I assume that means you’re afraid. Thankfully, my brother is the new Grim Reaper. I’ll check with him and see what he knows. If there’s a banshee trying to do a Reaper’s job, he’s as likely to know as anyone.”

“Can I come with you? Please? If you go to the underworld and that woman shows up, Lord Almighty, I don’t know what I’ll do!”

I nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

My mom helped me set up my crystal. We formed a portal to what was now my brother’s office. Fortunately, he was fully clothed and alone. The first thing I noticed was that he’d redecorated. He also had dyed his hair black and painted his nails to match.

I looked around the room. He had a Marilyn Manson poster on the wall.

I snorted. “Been shopping at Hot Topic, I see.”

Morty pressed his hands together. “I’m the Grim Reaper now. I figured I needed to embrace the persona.”

I nodded. “What’s going on, Morty? Something’s up. There’s a banshee hunting my spirit friend Roy here.”

Morty sighed. “I have it under control. At least, I will.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just temporary.”

I snorted. “Does Dad know?”

“He knows.”

“Then tell me, or I’ll go ask him what’s going on. Banshees aren’t supposed to reap people, Morty.”

Morty scratched his head. “I’ve been benched.”

I cocked my head. “Say what?”

“All my duties have been temporarily reassigned.”

“To whom?” I asked.

Morty shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Dionysus showed up to pass along the news. Took him a whole night’s worth of drinking on Gehenna Boulevard before he told me.”

“Is this forever?” I asked. “Dionysus isn’t the most responsible god out there, but he seemed to think the audits before were clean.”

Morty shook his head. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the audit, Zoey.”

“Then what?”

“It has something to do with you. There’s a lot of shit going on in Olympus. Creatures who don’t belong there. You sent Hades there, and some of the other gods aren’t happy about it.”

“If I hadn’t, he would have taken over the underworld!”

Morty nodded. “I know, Zoey. Still, the gods are pissed. Some of them, at least. Until they’re sure I’ve got things under control—until they know I have you under control—they won’t let me resume my duties. Even then, I’m not sure they’ll return our responsibilities to us.”

“Why are they taking this out on you? I’m the one who sent Hades to Olympus.”

“Along with the gorgon, Clarence, a whole bunch of vampires and other creatures. The point is, I helped rally the Reapers against Hades. When it comes to the afterlife, Hades governs half of all of it. You might have beat him, but he’s still the lord of hell. As long as the other gods are divided, they can’t overrule him.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Hades is still in control of the damned. That means his vote counts for as much as all the other gods combined. To overrule his vote with respect to the Reapers, the other gods would have to be unanimous. Until a decision is made, until I’ve satisfied whatever god isn’t happy with the job we’ve been doing, someone else is running the reapings. Apparently, he’s using banshees and who knows what else to do it.”

“I’ll figure it out,” I stated.

“No!” Morty shouted. “Stay out of it. You’ll just make a bigger mess of things.”

I snorted. “Well, it sure seems like you have it all under control.”

“I do!”

“I was being sarcastic, Morty. Look, this ghost is my friend. I gave him my word I wouldn’t let him get sent back to hell.”

“Might not be your choice, Zoey.”

“Oh, please, Mister Grimm! I did my time. I just want to wander around. I’m a harmless ghost. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody!”

Morty smiled. “Sorry, Roy. It’s not my decision.”

I shook my head. “What are you going to do about it, Morty? You have to do something.”

“There’s nothing I can do, and if you try to do something, you’ll make it worse! You don’t have any authority here, but you are part of our world. The Reapers honor you more than they do me, I’m afraid. To the gods, no matter what you do, you’re our problem, and if you get involved, you’ll screw things up more.”

I sighed. “Is that what Dad thinks too?”

“Go ask him.”

I shook my head. “Dad wouldn’t tell me to stand down, Morty. If this is the result of the things I’ve done or I had any role in this, I have to try to fix it.”

Morty shook his head. “I asked you to leave it be. Fat chance of you actually listening to me.”

“Yup. Fat chance.”

“Just try not to make things worse, Zoey. If we don’t get our responsibilities back, the Reapers will get restless. Gehenna Boulevard is already out of control.”

“I won’t make it worse, Morty. I’m going to fix it.”

THE STORY CONTINUES

The story continues with book four, Deadly Beasts available at Amazon.

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AUTHOR NOTES - THEOPHILUS MONROE

MAY 23, 2022

There’s a steady tradition of witches, wizards, and even vampire private investigators “for hire” in the Urban Fantasy world. I suppose this book is a way of paying homage to a well-tread trope in the genre. Even world-saving heroes and heroines must make a living, after all. Why not co-opt your unique abilities into a steady stream of income?

Unlike other books that follow this “supernatural whatever-it-is for hire” trope, Zoey struggles a bit with whether it’s really right to make a buck saving lives. On the one hand, it’s a dumb question. Doctors make money. So do paramedics, firefighters, and several other professions involved in life-saving and heroic acts. Why would it be any different for a supernatural reaper like Zoey? Well, the “reaper industry” isn’t well-tread, there aren’t agencies to establish protocols or standards of practice. There is no Hippocratic Oath. Does money taint one’s motives or blind someone to the ethical/moral issues involved when taking a job?  Can one person really make those decisions without accountability?

There are some difficulties associated with self-employment. Take it from an author whose income is entirely royalty-based. Health insurance usually comes with the choice between exorbitant premiums or not-unless-you’re-dying deductibles. You can write off a lot on your taxes, but then that lowers your income and affects your ability to apply for mortgages. There’s also a freedom, though. You can set your own schedule and work wherever you’d like. Zoey doesn’t have that much freedom. The Horseman’s contracts are more defined.

Freedom is a funny thing. In Western philosophy/political theory there’s a distinction between what’s sometimes called “negative” freedom or “positive” freedom.  That is, a freedom from restrictions or constraints (negative freedom) contrasted with a freedom for opportunity and possibility.

I’ve always had authority issues. Maybe that’s why I’m an author. No one really tells me what to do on a daily basis (except for the wife). The few times I’ve had traditional “jobs” it never ended well. Why should I call this joker “boss” anyway?

I tend to resent it when someone tries to restrict me or place limitations on my life. However, limitation is a part of life. Gravity is a limitation. It prevents me from flying (negative freedom). It also protects me from the problem of floating off into the galaxy and gives me innumerable opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I can’t slam dunk a basketball. I’m not tall enough and my coordination on a basketball court is a constant blooper-reel. If it wasn’t for that limitation, though, I don’t know if I’d ever discovered my calling as an author. Limitation can give us real freedom for the life that will bring us true happiness, even if we never realized it before.

That’s a part of Zoey’s story. It’s a part of all our stories. When we find we have limitations we can focus on what we can’t do or we can open our eyes and discover a new opportunity, a new passion, a new life that’s more thrilling and filled with more happiness and enjoyment than we ever imagined.

Best!

Theo

AUTHOR NOTES - MICHAEL ANDERLE

MAY 24, 2022

Thank you for not only reading this book but these author notes as well!

Freedom…or the lack thereof.

I didn’t realize my collaborator and I shared the intense desire not to answer to anyone.

As a young person, I often idolized entrepreneurism as the ultimate way to be your own boss, not realizing that your boss was your dozens, hundreds, or thousands of customers.

The reality is we are servants to our needs for food, water, and shelter each and every day. What we choose to accomplish to acquire those things is what we are really talking about.

I was talking to my wife yesterday morning and mentioned that when I got LMBPN off the ground, I knew it was working, NOT because I knew what success was like and it was similar. No, I knew it was a success because of the massive number of efforts I had undertaken for over thirty years (and had failed at) that I realized I had at least an MS or maybe a Ph.D. in failure. Therefore, I recognized what LMBPN was doing was not THAT.

Therefore, it must be that success thing I was working toward.

Now, years later (seven in September), I am looking back, and I realize that I still have bosses and—probably like Theo—I am forever turning my horse and lowering my lance to tilt it at the latest authority figure or PITA I encounter.

Don’t get me started on governments. I railed against the corruption I see inherent (humans!) in governments both in my country and around the world in my first books in 2015… Time has proven me right in my assessment but wrong about the deepness of the rot.

While Theo didn’t ask me, I’ll answer his question. Heroes need to be paid to be out there “heroing.”

Whether that is saving someone (cops / firemen /…ughh, lawyers) and those who provide a service we need (like authors / artists / musicians / babysitters / etc.).

One of the interesting aspects of my collaboration with Theo is that he and I don’t shrink from telling stories with an attitude. Those attitudes sometimes get us in trouble because of a religious slant (see the 1-star reviews in our series The Elven Prophecy (Click here) or talking about having attitudes in life.

Or…dad bods. That’s coming; just you wait ;-)

If you want, you can read a couple of short stories I am sharing in the STORIES with Michael Anderle newsletter here: (No requirement to sign up.)

https://michael.beehiiv.com/

Regards,

Michael Anderle

BOOKS BY THEOPHILUS MONROE

Chronicles of Zoey Grimm

(with Michael Anderle)

Family Squabbles (Book 1)

Revenge of the Scythe (Book 2)

Reaper For Hire (Book 3)

Deadly Beasts (Book 4)

Angry Gods (Book 5)

The Elven Prophecy

(with Michael Anderle)

Who Let the Dogma Out (Book 1)

Old Dogma New Tricks (Book 2)

Three Dogma Night (Book 3)

Junkyard Dogma (Book 4)

Dogma Days of Summer (Book 5)

Dogma of War (Book 6)

The Druid Legacy

Druid’s Dance

Bard’s Tale

Ovate’s Call

Rise of the Morrigan

The Voodoo Legacy

Voodoo Academy

Grim Tidings

Death Rites

Watery Graves

Voodoo Queen

The Legacy of a Vampire Witch

Bloody Hell

Bloody Mad

Bloody Wicked

Bloody Devils

Bloody Gods

The Legend of Nyx

Scared Shiftless

Bat Shift Crazy

No Shift Sherlock

Shift For Brains

Shift Happens

BOOKS BY MICHAEL ANDERLE

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