Chapter Thirty-Nine
Red Marks the Spot
Death’s Door, LLC.
Big D speaks without taking his eyes off the screen on the far wall. “What I still don’t understand is why Asher would dare to enter The Catacombs in the first place.”
He peels his gaze away from the wall of dots and flicks his eyes between Rue and me.
We’ve been sitting in his office for a while now.
I don’t particularly want to share the details I have about this current situation, but the earnestness in Rue’s and Mercy’s stare, coupled with the anger in D’s tone, gives me reason enough.
“Love, sir,” I state plainly.
“Love?” D parrots back at me.
“Yes, sir. It’s the only thing more enduring than Death.”
“Watch it, reaper.”
“Just quoting from a friend, sir. Wise words from a lost soul.”
“Put it in your book of aphorisms, Kane. I want motivations, not feelings.” D’s entire face goes red, and I swear it looks like steam is going to rise from his skull like some cartoon cat.
“Love can motivate us to do the craziest things, wouldn’t you say, D?
” Mercy chimes from her spot in the room.
The flames inside D’s eyes crackle back to life as he looks at the deity.
They share something in the silence that is only theirs to know.
I bring the conversation back to our missing reaper.
“He did also tell me he’d been struggling with memories. They were getting more and more vivid. And the pain and the loss were consuming him.”
“The pain,” Mercy whispers with an odd glint in her eye.
“Distracting him. From doing his job. For me.” D shakes his head. “This, Mercy. This is why memories and past relationships have no place in the OtherWorld. It just gets in the way.”
“It’s not in the way, Daryl. It is the way. A love strong enough to pull on him after that much time should get in the way.”
D bristles at Mercy’s point, then softens as if his body can admit the truth of Mercy’s words even if he won’t voice the words himself.
Rue finishes the story for me. “After Asher heard there was a way to find his lost love, he was committed to doing anything he could to see it through. And, according to Chance, that journey had to take him to The Catacombs, assuming he could find a way in.”
“Mortals cannot reconnect with their past lives in the OtherWorld. It’s messy.”
“Messy is beautiful, D. Messy is real.”
A silence follows after Mercy’s soft words. D returns his attention to the screen.
They say a watched pot never boils, but I’m not sure if anyone has ever stared hard enough. D’s eyes have burned themselves into this screen, and moments later, we all watch as Asher’s tracking dot winks out from grey to red.
An odd mix of relief, wonder, and fear hit me at once.
Before I can process any of it, D screams enthusiastically, “And there it is! It’s red. He’s back.”
Rue and Mercy look on expectantly.
I can hear the relief in Rue’s voice when she says, “He’s here.”
The wonder in Mercy’s when she says, “He made it.”
And the bitterness in D’s when he responds with, “Yeah, well, not for much longer. He could have stayed in The Catacombs and saved me some trouble. But I do love a good chase. So, let’s go, gang. We have a reaper to apprehend.”
“You want us to go with you?” I ask.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten that he’s made it this far because of the complicit behavior of the two of you.
I can’t even fully comprehend how you even found The Catacombs, but that’s neither here nor there.
I’m still working out my punishments for the lot of you.
So, I’d say doing everything you can to help me is in your best interest at this stage. Wouldn’t you?”
“Rue and Kane, reporting for duty, sir.”
“That’s more like it.” D smirks at the brightness in Rue’s tone, which I could tell was forced.
He touches the board to check on his status.
He reads the text on the screen that we can all see out loud.
“Asher comma Thomas. Status: Resting. Location: Edge of The Bliss, headed toward Reaper Accommodations.” He steeples his fingers together.
“The Bliss. I wonder if he found what he was looking for. Only one way to know for sure. If he’s headed to his OtherWorld accommodations, then we’ll meet him there to ask a few questions. ”
“Daryl, have you thought any of this through? Asher’s not doing anything you wouldn’t do. Remember what it feels like, D.”
“Remembering ruins righteousness.” D rattles off a ludicrous alliteration before making his way to the door of his office, in pursuit of Asher.