Chapter Thirty-Five
Amber Is the Color of Your Energy
Death’s Door, LLC
I sit, glued to my seat, waiting for Kane’s arrival.
I wish I could take this party to my bathhouse.
It’s been a seriously stressful couple of moonturns, and I could use a eucalyptus soak and a cocktail while floating peacefully atop Dennis the Dolphin.
I’ve had Dennis outfitted with a very smart shoulder harness so I don’t slip off his back.
The saddle comes with a nifty cupholder for my beverage as well, but I won’t get to go for a test ride on any of that until I get to the bottom of all of this.
Plus, I don’t know how well this electronic monitor would fare in that steam-filled spa.
I stare at the screen and try to will that fucking grey dot to blink another color.
I have located Asher. Well, I know where he is, but I cannot track him down.
He’s in The Catacombs, an underground cave system with few entry points and even fewer exits.
Most places in this world, most places in many worlds, I can transport myself to.
Perks of being the boss. But The Catacombs are unique.
No beings, deity or mortal, can enter anywhere but one of the entrances.
There are no portals. No energetic fields for me or anyone else to touch down near Asher’s whereabouts and drag him back.
The Catacombs are more than just a cave system.
They’re also magical. The roads, passages, and layout shift and morph depending on whoever is brave enough—stupid enough really—to venture into its depths.
Once inside, The Catacombs crafts itself to the user and becomes a challenge specific to the participant.
I can only imagine what Asher is facing down there.
All I can tell you is that it won’t be nearly as terrifying as what he’ll face when he returns and I get my fucking hands on him.
My mind begins to race with a million deliciously deviant punishments I can work up for this misfit reaper.
My knee bounces, and my finger taps aggressively against the armrest of my wingback chair.
I’m getting all worked up.
Visions of my father losing his cool in an office much like this one haunt me, and I try to calm my racing nerves.
Clarence, my well-meaning and poor-executing assistant, buzzes me on the intercom.
His whiny voice sounds throughout the room. “There’s someone here to see you, sir.”
“I know, Clarence. I called for him. Send him in.” I depress the intercom button and huff. Then, in my frustration, I press the talk button again and yell at Clarence, “Is there anything you can do that I can’t do myself?”
Before he can respond, the doors to my office open, and in walks someone whom I was most certainly not expecting.
“Don’t listen to him, Clarence. You’re doing a great job.”
“Thank you, Miss Mercy,” Clarence yells into the room as the door clicks shut behind her.
“You’re not Kane Deveraux,” I state the obvious, staring at Mercy.
The first order of business is to make sure I don’t leap over this table and take this stunning, vexing woman right here in my office. Our last encounter awoke lifetimes of desire between us, and this unexpected visit during my heightened emotional state has my feelings in overdrive.
“Can’t get much past you, now can I?” she snarks.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I attempt some humor.
“You’ve got to stop losing control of all you built.”
“Whoa. Buy a guy a drink first before you dive straight into constructive criticism.”
“You don’t have time for pleasantries. No one in this realm does. Fate’s a loose cannon, and there’s more going on in your realm than you might be aware of.”
“There is nothing going on in the OtherWorld that I’m not privy to, Mercy.”
“Don’t be naive. No one can know everything.”
“I can certainly try.”
“That hubris will get the better of you. Be careful. I know the man you are. Or at least the man you’re capable of being. Don’t lose sight of the true you.”
I think about Quinn. I think about my father. I think about the current state of the OtherWorld. And I sigh. A bone-deep sound that shakes out of me.
“Enough about me. Where have you been?”
“I’ve been around, D. Someone’s got to keep an eye on things around here.”
“You could have dropped by. Said hi.”
“Awww, has somebody missed me?” There’s a soft teasing in her voice that catches me off guard. It’s the voice I remember from before the scythe, before the Moonless Mountains, when we had … hope.
I look away. “I’ve been too busy to miss anyone, Merc. The Lost Souls Division has been resetting the balance between this world and the mortal realm. Souls are crossing peacefully. There might be something to these second chances you’ve been so keen on.”
“Every soul deserves one. Or as many as they need.”
“Yes, well, that bleeding-heart nonsense has not been without its problems. Take Asher, for example.” I gesture to the Reaper Tracking Board, and the confused look on Mercy’s face indicates she does not know what I’m talking about.
“He’s been one of my most accomplished reapers.
A model of Death Door’s efficiency and business practices.
But now he’s MIA. A couple of ingrained memories bubbled back to the surface, he’s gotten lousy at his job, and he’s costing me productivity. ”
“Everyone around here is more than just a number, D. Every crossed soul has a story they bring with them and another they desperately want to write.”
“And I have work that needs to be done.”
“And I know you can make room for both in your version of the OtherWorld. The one you used to dream up with me under the moon-kissed tree.”
The mention of that tree, those nights, those dreams hit me harder than I want to admit. I look away again, focusing on the Tracking board.
“The fantasies from my innocence have met the harsh truths of my reality. What was dreamt up moons ago does not apply to the world we live in now. It’s just not possible.”
“To dream is to create possibility. Imagining becomes reality. If it can happen here”—Mercy lays her hand over her chest. I note the silver scars glistening over her delicate hand and fingers, and a pang hits me in the chest—“then it can happen here.” On that last line, she takes that same hand and gestures to the room around us.
Before we can explore this topic any further, I hear a commotion outside the office. The large double doors slam open. Kane and Rue march into the office ahead of a scurrying Clarence.
They all stop in their tracks when they spy Mercy, her radiant glow capturing everyone’s complete attention.
Rue gasps while Kane says, “What is going on here?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Clarence. Now we’re just letting anyone into my office?!”
“I thought you said you were expecting them, sir,” Clarence mutters with a confused look on his face.
“Never mind, Clarence. Back to the desk, please.”
He droops his shoulders and makes his way back out of the office.
“And no more visitors, Clarence.” I think about it for a second. “Unless it’s pizza. There’s always time for pizza.”
Once Clarence closes the doors behind his retreating form, I turn my attention to the two souls who’ve entered my chambers. I specifically recall requesting an audience with only one of them.
“Kane, I told you to come alone. I don’t need the Girl Wonder for this.”
“Too bad, sir. We’re kind of a package deal these days.” Kane doesn’t hesitate, his loyalty steadfast.
Mercy steps in front of me and interrupts the conversation that Kane and I haven’t been given an opportunity to start.
“You must be Rue Chamberlain. Another lost soul found,” Mercy chirps and smiles at the orange-and-raven-haired head of LSD.
“Mercy,” Rue whispers reverently back.
“Excuse me?” Kane interjects.
“You’re Mercy, aren’t you? The lost triplet.”
“In the flesh,” Mercy confirms, moving closer to Rue. “And I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
“Me?” Rue gestures to herself. “What did I do?”
“You’ve reintroduced forgiveness into a world designed solely for productivity. You’ve shown that kindness always has a place, even in the most rigid of systems. You helped bring me back.”
“Oh, I don’t know about all that.”
“I do,” Mercy says insistently. “My Sisters banished me in the name of simplicity and order. But you and your work lit a spark. Literally.”
“Really? What do you mean? How?”
“I can’t quite explain how, but I believe that the first soul you helped cross brought compassion back to the OtherWorld. The warmth of your spirit brought actual warmth to so many, including myself. Your work brought a light to a lightless place and helped me navigate my way back into the story.”
Rue’s face lights up with wonder and admiration. Something that hasn’t happened when talking to me before, which I find rude. “That’s incredible. I can’t believe I’m meeting you. There is so much I want to discuss. There are so many things we can do together. I have so many ideas.”
Mercy laughs at Rue’s overenthusiasm. “I’ll bet you do, sweet one. I’ll bet you do.”
If this room gets any sweeter, we’re all going to get diabetes.
I speak up sternly. “I hate to cut this touching meeting of your compassionate minds short, but I’m kind of in the middle of stopping everyone from disobeying me, and this little chat is slowing things down.”
All eyes turn in my direction, and I sit up a little straighter in my chair.
“Kane—and, Rue, since you’re here, too, against my wishes—I have uncovered the whereabouts of Asher.” I pause, waiting for recognition that does not come. Angrily, I continue. “Are you going to pretend to be surprised? Or admit now that you helped him?”
“If they did, there would be nothing wrong with that.” Mercy comes to their defense, annoyingly.
“There would be everything wrong with that. I am in charge. Name on the gold nameplate, remember? I make the rules.” I push back before my entire kingdom turns into a giant knitting circle.
“He’s in The Catacombs,” Kane admits, which pisses me off for multiple reasons. One, I had just figured this out on my own, and he stole my epic thunder. Two, he came clean and admitted his complicity, which is annoyingly admirable.
“He’s in The Catacombs,” I announce, the weight of it having lost all its punch. “Where he’s safe from capture.”
“But not from everything,” Mercy says ominously.
“What does she mean? What do you mean?” Rue questions quickly.
“The Catacombs cannot be breached by denizen or deity,” Mercy explains, filling in for me since, apparently, everyone has forgotten the title of the damn show.
The Big D Show. It’s The Big D Show. “If you enter, you must find your own way out. Everyone’s path is different.
All paths are tortuous and treacherous. So, Asher is safe from D or my Sisters hunting him down, but he’s not safe from whatever is waiting for him in there. ”
“And he won’t be safe when he comes back out either.” I pause, then correct myself, “If he comes back out, I should say.”
“I wonder why he went in the first place,” Mercy ponders aloud.
“He was given a chance, and he took it,” Kane informs us.
“What did you say?” Mercy and I speak at once. Then we both press in on the reaper and the soul saver. “Did you say ‘chance’?”
“Yes,” Rue answers for her partner.
“Did you meet him?” Mercy asks.
“Who?” both Kane and Rue respond, though the tone of the question comes off differently from each of them.
“Chance,” Mercy states.
A silence follows. All eyes lock on Kane.
“Yes,” he answers finally.
“What?” I boom. “When? Where?”
“On the Vegas reap. He told Asher he could find his love again. That all was not lost in the OtherWorld.”
“The insolence and petulance of that meddlesome misfit really grates on my nerves.”
“Easy there, Captain Thesaurus. No harm done.”
“No harm done?” I seethe at Kane.
Rue’s voice cuts off my tirade. “Who is Chance in all of this?”
“Chance is my brother,” Mercy answers. “He comes and goes as he pleases. Bit of a black sheep, but super fun at family events. He’s always stirring up trouble, and he always brings the best games to play.”
“Mercy, is now the best time for this?” I ask, losing some of my patience.
“Sorry. But he does. He’s the best game player I know.” Mercy cracks a smile at the memory, and I wish that look didn’t do the things that it definitely does to my entire being.
I focus on the task at hand. “Well, he also seems to have brought some chaos into a world I am very much trying to keep in order. So, if he is running around, stirring shit up, then he’s just one more soul that has to answer to me. And I am not happy.”
“What are we doing now?” Kane asks.
“Now, Dr. Know-It-All—”
“Good comeback.”
“We wait. Until that light turns red, and when it does and Asher gets out of those interminable Catacombs and returns to my OtherWorld, then he will feel my wrath.”
To punctuate my little speech, I press the intercom button and speak to my secretary. “Clarence?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Order us that pizza.”
“Really, sir?”
“No, Clarence, not really. I was going for dramatic effect. Gah.”