We hardly spoke the rest of the evening, keeping our secrets on the tips of our tongues where they were safe. The Thai food was forgotten on the desk once I fired up the oil lamps and Bub caught sight of the pristine, white bed. It was like a blank page, begging us to write ourselves all over it. And we did.

  I fell asleep tangled in Bub’s arms, my anger and guilt muted by bliss, the tightness in my chest releasing naively.

  A few hours later, I woke to the ring of Bub’s cell phone. He uncoiled himself from around my waist and slipped out of bed, while I pretended to sleep. It was dark outside, probably nearing midnight. The oil lamps had dimmed, casting the room in sallow light.

  Bub answered on the second ring. “What?” he whispered.

  I couldn’t make out the other end of the conversation—just an angry, feminine garble that was more than likely Cindy Morningstar. Bub’s shoulders contracted, like he had been struck through the receiver.

  “Fine. I’m leaving now.” He rubbed his free hand down his thigh nervously. “Of course not. I haven’t told a soul.” His spine straightened and he shivered. “I understand.”

  I closed my eyes as he hung up and glanced over his shoulder. He was getting ready to bail on me. I was too tired and too hurt to go through the motions with him again. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but that didn’t make it suck any less.

  Bub leaned over until I felt his breath on my neck, where he laid a gentle kiss. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

  I listened to him move around the cabin, quickly throwing on his clothes. A second later, the cabin door closed behind him.

  Chapter 13

  “Die, v.: To stop sinning suddenly.”

  —Elbert Hubbard

  I stayed on the ship overnight, having too much pride to make the walk of shame back to Holly House. I didn’t sleep though. Instead, my mind picked at the secrets I was keeping, questioning their merit. Then I pondered over Bub’s secrets. Then I puzzled over Grim’s anxiety and whatever it was he was clearly not sharing.

  Around five in the morning, Jenni called. “Where are you?” she asked gruffly.

  “Good morning to you too.”

  “You better have your shit together. We have a new mission, so you’re not going to have much time to break in your new unit members.”

  “I’ll have Josie show them the ropes.” I grimaced. “This should go over well.”

  “Make it snappy, Harvey. I’ve got an interview with Dave this afternoon, and I have souls to tend to.” She hung up without a goodbye.

  I crawled out of bed and took a shower in the tiny bathroom tucked into the corner of my new cabin. Josie or Kevin had sorted my clothing out of the closet of the old cabin and left it in a box on the desk. I rummaged through it until I found a pair of jeans and a green tank top. I dressed quickly. Then I threw on my work robe and left for Reapers Inc.

  “Oh, honey.” Ellen hopped up from her desk the second she saw me. “Let me get you a coffee. You look like you could use one.”

  “That obvious?” I snatched the harvest list off her desk as she ducked into the break room.

  “I sure hope it was worth it,” she said, poking her head around the corner as she shook a bottle of creamer. “Jenni looked like she was going to murder kittens when she left.”

  “Joy.” I scanned over the day’s harvests and began filling out the dockets. The two new reapers went a long way in lightening the burden of my absence, but I was still going to have hell to pay with Josie. There was no way to get around her suspicions this morning.

  Ellen returned to her desk and handed me a travel mug. “At least Grim took the day off, so I don’t have to deal with his destructo theatrics. Thought I was going to have to trade my chocolate for Xanax.” She adjusted the polka dotted scarf around her neck and hummed.

  I offered her a weak smile.

  “Oh! And I called a few decorators about your office. I scheduled meetings for you with three of them, but they’re a few weeks out. Busy people, decorators.”

  “You’re the best.” I raised the mug of coffee at her in thanks before heading out and back to the harbor.

  It was a little early yet, but the new reapers were waiting for me near the ship. It was a promising sight and made me feel both better about and guilty for having to skip out on their first day on the job.

  Molly Driver was five foot nothing in her stiletto ankle boots. She had a long braid that fell over her shoulder and snaked its way between her breasts. The look would have been more severe, if not for her bright green anime eyes. She smiled at me and stuck out her hand. I shook it with a grin.

  “Good morning.”

  “Yes, very good morning,” she said breathlessly. Even as a fourth generation reaper, there wasn’t a scrap of superiority about her. I wanted to like her right away.

  Tyler Ives’ face and handshake were more reserved, but at least he was polite. “Thank you for the opportunity to prove my worth,” he said firmly, militantly. Like he wanted to tack sir on at the end. He was tall and his hair was buzzed short, reminding me of Craig Hogan. A worm of anxiety swirled in my stomach.

  I tried not to be too obvious as I wiped my hand down the side of my robe. “The rest of the team should be here soon. After introductions, I’ll pass out soul dockets and set you up with your shadows for the day.”

  Molly blinked her big eyes at me. “You’re not shadowing us?”

  “I have an appointment this morning, but I promise you’ll be well taken care of.” I changed the subject before she started asking questions I couldn’t answer. “I hear your first pick was the Mother Goose Unit.”

  Molly blushed. “Yes, I enjoy interacting with children when I have the chance.”

  “Then you probably know of Arden Faraji.”

  She nodded eagerly.

  “He takes care of most of our harvests involving children. So I thought you’d enjoy working with him today.” I set my coffee down on top of a dock post and flipped through the harvest list before turning to Tyler. “You’ll be going with Josie Galla and my apprentice Kevin Kraus. Kevin began under Coreen Bendura too, so you have some common ground. The three of you will be covering a series of post war zones today. Nothing too stressful, just time consuming.”

  Tyler’s reserve cracked for a split second as a small frown creased his mouth, but he ducked his head in a sharp nod of acceptance.

  A bellow ripped through the air just before Saul plowed me down, pinning me to the dock with his rough paws so he could lap up the side of my face. Coreen wasn’t far behind, and Josie and Kevin followed.

  “Hey.” Kevin waved a hand at the new reapers.

  The rest of the team joined us a moment later. Once we were all gathered, I got down to business, passing out dockets and reiterating the game plan for the day.

  Josie’s steely gray eyes drilled through me, but she didn’t say a word. Her jaw tensed as I dismissed everyone. I made it back to my cabin before I realized she was following me.

  “You’re supposed to be shadowing Tyler.” I peeled my robe off and tossed it on the bed.

  Josie leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms. “I sent him ahead with Kevin and the hounds.” She glanced around the cabin, taking in the messy sheets and the boxes of takeout on the desk. “You have a sleepover with Bub? Or is that top secret information too?”

  I slumped on the edge of the bed and put my head in my hands. “Yeah, I had a sleepover with Bub. And before you ask, yes, I’m working with Jenni today. I honestly have no idea what we’re doing, and I honestly wish you were coming with us. Jenni tried to get approval from Grim, but he was worried about leaving the unit understaffed.”

  Her eyes quit scanning the room and landed on me. “I can’t help but feel left in the dust. You get that, right?” Her forehead crinkled. “A couple years ago, Jenni would have laughed at the notion of choosing you over me for a special mission.”

  I frowned but nodded in agreement.

  Josie unfolded her arms and held her hands out. “I don’t know how else to feel about this or what to do about it. All I know is that I want my best friend back. I made Kevin go shopping with me yesterday.”

  “Really?”

  Her eyes darkened. “Yeah. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “Sorry.” I pressed my lips together.

  “So I’m thinking I’ll forgive you for keeping secrets and avoiding me—but only if you go to Athena’s with me after work today.”

  “Deal.”

  Josie gave me a guarded smile. “Okay. I’m going to catch up to the boys and make sure they’re playing nice.”

  After she left, I made my way back to Reapers Inc., where I pillaged through my desk and geared up with all the spare holy water and angelica mace I had on hand. Whatever we were doing today, I wanted to be ready. Jenni walked in as I tucked a pair of throwing knives down in my boots.

  “We’re just doing surveillance today. You probably won’t need all of that.” She was dressed down in jeans and a tee shirt, with a tattered messenger bag strapped across her chest.

  I shrugged. “Better safe than dead.”

  I followed Jenni down the hall, pausing to wave goodbye to Ellen. Once we were closed up in the elevator, I nudged Jenni with my shoulder. “I’m going shopping with Josie after work today.”

  Jenni snorted. “She skipped the gym and had coffee with me this morning.”

  “Guess we’re out of the doghouse.”

  The elevator doors pinged open on the festive lobby. We made our way outside and Jenni grabbed my arm, steering me east down Council Street, away from the travel booth on Tombstone Drive that we normally took.

  “Too many eyes,” she said. “And it’s not that far of a walk to the park.”

  “The park?”

  “I called and got Devin’s schedule. He’s supposed to pick up a fare at the factory around eight. If that’s where the rebels are getting in, we might get lucky today.”

  “So we’re going to watch from the park. And then what? Jump out in traffic to stop him?”

  Jenni rolled her eyes. “We’ll confirm whether or not he’s transporting a known rebel and report back to Grim.”

  A full city block sat between the park and the factory. It was half parking lot and half picnic seating for employee breaks. The northeast corner of the park was lined with thick hedges and shaded by old oak trees. We found a secluded bench with a decent view of the factory and made ourselves comfortable. It would have looked less suspicious if we’d brought coffee, but we were far enough away to go unnoticed.

  It seemed odd that a cab would be picking someone up from the factory at this hour. The Fates’ employees would have just clocked in. A visiting deity seemed more reasonable. But why wouldn’t a visiting deity schedule a drop-off too?

  The question probably hadn’t even occurred to Skipper, the owner of a Hop, Skip, and a Jump Taxi Service. He was lucky to still be in business. The travel booths were quicker and cheaper. Only tourists cared to take in the city from the backseat of a cab anymore.

  Jenni pulled a small pair of binoculars out of her bag and peeked through them as she recapped everything she’d learned from her chat with Skipper. He had hired Devin shortly after the Nephilim Guard snatched up his best employee. He wasn’t fond of the guy, but his only other driver was a tree spirit, and she wasn’t very reliable. He was considering selling his business and going to work for Cern, the horned god who ran Bank of Eternity. Skipper was small for a troll, but he was fierce and proud. And he had a natural talent for guarding things.

  Just after eight, Devin’s cab pulled up in front of the factory. Jenni lifted her binoculars and clicked a button on the side. She pressed the button again as Devin stepped out of the cab. He wasn’t especially obvious for a demon, lacking horns and a tail. His khakis were wrinkled, and he was in desperate need of a haircut. The only thing remotely demonic about him was the sharp point of his beakish nose. He ran around to the other side of the car, touching the brim of his golf cap as he opened the back door for a hooded figure that emerged from around the side of the factory.

  “No way.” Jenni pressed a different button and the lenses rotated, adjusting the zoom and focus. She swallowed and silently passed the binoculars to me. “Is that who I think it is?”

  I caught just a glimpse before the car door closed. “Miranda.”

  Jenni nodded.

  “So. Back to the office?” I handed the binoculars to her, but she pushed them away.

  “Give me one of your knives.”

  “What?”

  “Quick.” She slapped my leg. I dug a knife out of my boot and she grabbed it, springing to her feet.

  The cab was pulling away from the curb, heading west toward Destiny Avenue. Jenni ducked low along the hedges, trying to stay out of sight as the flora thinned on the opposite side of the park. I stumbled along after her, taking cover behind trees and picnic tables, wondering exactly when her brain had fallen out. Badass or not, bringing a knife to a car fight was monumentally stupid. It all felt very double-oh-seven gone wrong.

  Jenni was still a good distance away from the road when the cab rolled by. Whatever she had planned, the window of opportunity looked pretty well closed to me. Apparently not. She dropped to one knee and launched the knife, torpedoing it into the front driver’s side tire. The rubber split with a sharp pop, and the cab came to a wobbling stop along the shoulder.

  Jenni moved quickly, doing her best to stay hidden as she closed in. A flat tire wasn’t especially suspect—but a flat tire with a knife sticking out of it would definitely raise a red flag. I hurried after her, holding my breath as the seconds stretched by.

  Devin’s door opened. His boots crunched along the sparse gravel that lined the road. He yanked his cap off and tossed it back in the taxi, mouthing a few choice words before slamming the door. When his eyes fell on the hilt of the knife, they swelled with panic.

  “Go! Go! Go!” He pounded his fist on the side of the car.

  The passenger door opened and Miranda took off, running back toward the factory. Jenni gave up seeking cover and tore after her.

  Devin reached for his door, and then glanced back at the blown tire. He kicked the car with a growl before taking off down the road in the opposite direction as Jenni and Miranda. By then, I had reached the road. My breath was short, but I was quiet as I approached. I tapped Devin on the shoulder, and when he spun around, he got a face full of angelica mace.

  While Devin writhed on the ground, trying to claw his eyes out, I called the Nephilim Guard and gave them our location. I wasn’t equipped to detain or haul in villains. Jenni wasn’t either, I noted as she led Miranda back toward the cab by the hood of her robe. Miranda wrenched herself free, shedding the robe with a shriek.

  Jenni threw a punch like she expected it to go right through Miranda’s face and out the back of her skull. It almost sounded like it had. Miranda’s lip exploded. She sucked in a ragged, bloody breath and jerked her knee up, but Jenni blocked it just shy of her kidney before delivering an unforgiving elbow strike to Miranda’s temple. Miranda crumpled into an unconscious heap on the ground.

  I nudged her with the toe of my boot. “Guess I missed Grim giving you a license to kill.”

  Jenni squatted down and wiped her knuckles off on Miranda’s sleeve. “She’s not dead. Not yet, anyway.”

  The Nephilim Guard didn’t take long to arrive. Two winged guards climbed out of a black SUV and cuffed Devin and Miranda before shepherding them into the backseat. Another guard saluted Jenni and I before opening a door and offering us a ride back to the office. I crawled inside ahead of Jenni, not giving her a chance to say no. I’d just sprinted across the entire length of the city park.

  Miranda came to during the short ride to Reapers Inc. She took in the interior of the SUV and her features pinched together, making her look like a possum. “Congratulations on murdering our beloved general, Jenni. I hear it was a gory affair. If you weren’t such an obedient cunt, we probably would have recruited you by now.”

  Jenni looked amused. “Our? We? Such camaraderie. Tell me, if you’re so well-connected with the rebels, why didn’t we see you among the nude hell raisers on Caim’s ship? Didn’t you get an invitation to the nightmare orgy?”

  Miranda ignored her, flashing her bloody grin at me with a frosty laugh. “You’re not off the hook either, Lana. Don’t matter that you got passed over for the big promotion. We see your fingers pulling strings. We remember your sins. Seth’s not done with you yet.”

  Jenni ran her hands over the leather seat and glanced down in the floorboard. “I’m sure there’s something in here we can use as a gag.”

  One of the guards chuckled. “I’ll sacrifice my socks, if need be.”

  Miranda’s nose crinkled and she turned away from us, looking out the window past Devin, whose eyes were nearly swollen shut. He hadn’t said a word, just curled himself into the corner of the SUV and rested his head against the window.

  Miranda didn’t look quite so smug once we pulled into the parking garage of Reapers Inc. Her eyes dilated and her breath grew labored as we parked. A dozen more guards waited near the elevators, ready to stave off any last minute escape efforts.

  Everyone piled out of the SUV and crammed into an elevator. It was a tight fit, even though the guards all folded their wings tightly against their backs. The silence felt heavier with so many bodies, and the climb to the seventy-fifth floor took longer than ever. When we arrived, Miranda was practically hyperventilating.

  “You’re wasting your time,” she rasped. “I’m no traitor. You won’t get me to talk.” She thrashed between the two guards flanking her.

  Jenni snorted. “Well, you’re right about one thing. You’ve definitely wasted our time.”

  The elevator opened and Grim stood waiting in front of Ellen’s desk, his hands folded behind his back. Miranda’s legs went out from under her and the guards grunted as they bore her full weight.

  “Please,” she wailed, shaking her head as they dragged her forward.