may thank me.’
I take a deep breath. ‘Yeah, thank you. Thanks a lot.’
‘That is not what I mean. You will thank me, by being what you are, by becoming the job that I have provided.’ Charon growls. ‘And you didn’t even think to ask me what it cost me? Now, be gone!’
He gestures in my direction, and I find myself in Aunt Neti’s parlour (my parlour now) alone.
So that is what I am. Steve and not Steve, bits of the best and worst. I’m salvage, driftwood.
We all are. I’m not quite whole, but then again, I can never think of a time when this wasn’t true. Not before my parents’ deaths, and certainly not after.
You can get used to anything.
I dig another beer out of the fridge, take a deep satisfaction in levering open the bottle cap with one of the Knives of Negotiation. My arm tingles and then Wal slides free of the ink. ‘She seemed pretty mad at you.’
‘She? Charon is a she now?’
Wal shrugs, his wings beating. ‘It’s subtle. I mean, like all of you people he doesn’t exactly leave it hanging out there, but it’s there, it’s definitely there.’
Neti was a woman. I’m a man. Charon was a man, now he’s a woman.
‘He, I mean she, thought it would be easier on you.’
‘Maybe I should go back and –’
‘Don’t make it any worse. My, but you can be an ungrateful shit,’ Wal says. He flits around the room, grabs a beer from the fridge. ‘You’ve got these nice new digs, you’re alive – sort of. And you’ve got a chance to win Lissa back. Give it time. You both have time.’
And I really can’t argue with that.
There’s time enough for everything. Time to heal old wounds, time to start a new job, time to find out about all those crazy things James was speaking of. I can’t help it. I smile, just a little, and Wal smiles back.
‘Welcome back, you bastard.’ He raises his beer high. ‘Now, up ya bum!’
‘Yours too,’ I say, seeing far too much cherub arsecrack in the process.
*
The American RM shakes his head. ‘So Steven is back?’
‘ Yes,’ I say. ‘No Steves plural now, just one.’
‘ To put it bluntly,’ Cerbo says, ‘is he an enemy or an ally?’
‘ I don’t know, but I need you to do something for me,’ I say.
‘ Anything.’
‘ I need you to research Aunt Neti, I need you to find out any weaknesses.’
‘ The Knives of Negotiation for one,’ Cerbo says.
‘ Yes, well, Steve has those now.’
‘ What?’
‘ We couldn’t keep them. That’s his role, to protect them. Very powerful forces decided to apply pressure.’
Cerbo shakes his head. ‘Those damn knives. They’re nothing but trouble; worse than the Hungry Death itself. At least that is contained.’
‘ Just do the research.’
Cerbo nods his head. ‘There’s nothing I like doing more. Do you want to bring your Ankou in on this?’
I shake my head. ‘Tim can’t be trusted. He’s too close to Steve. He took him the knives. To be honest, I’m not even sure I can be trusted.’
Cerbo gives me a big grin. ‘Ankous that can’t be trusted. Enemies in the Underworld. Why, it’s just like the old days.’ He rubs his hands together. ‘I’ll get to work.’
‘ Be fast and thorough,’ I say.
‘ You expecting trouble?’
‘ This is Steve we’re talking about.’
‘ Yes. The one who saved the world, who gave us his powers. The only one of us alive who has ever performed a successful Orpheus Manoeuvre, won a Negotiation, become Death of the Entire World and defeated a god.’
‘ Exactly, though he did have help.’ First time I ever saw Steve, I was dead. I was his successful Orpheus Manoeuvre.
‘ I really thought things would calm down after the End of Days. Hardly any Stirrers, no revenant gods, just good old-fashioned pomping and time for a holiday.’
I smile at him, show too many teeth. ‘Do you really want to get bored?’
Cerbo laughs and shifts back to Boston and his books. The man really loves research.
I drop into my throne, feel my
I take a deep breath. ‘Yeah, thank you. Thanks a lot.’
‘That is not what I mean. You will thank me, by being what you are, by becoming the job that I have provided.’ Charon growls. ‘And you didn’t even think to ask me what it cost me? Now, be gone!’
He gestures in my direction, and I find myself in Aunt Neti’s parlour (my parlour now) alone.
So that is what I am. Steve and not Steve, bits of the best and worst. I’m salvage, driftwood.
We all are. I’m not quite whole, but then again, I can never think of a time when this wasn’t true. Not before my parents’ deaths, and certainly not after.
You can get used to anything.
I dig another beer out of the fridge, take a deep satisfaction in levering open the bottle cap with one of the Knives of Negotiation. My arm tingles and then Wal slides free of the ink. ‘She seemed pretty mad at you.’
‘She? Charon is a she now?’
Wal shrugs, his wings beating. ‘It’s subtle. I mean, like all of you people he doesn’t exactly leave it hanging out there, but it’s there, it’s definitely there.’
Neti was a woman. I’m a man. Charon was a man, now he’s a woman.
‘He, I mean she, thought it would be easier on you.’
‘Maybe I should go back and –’
‘Don’t make it any worse. My, but you can be an ungrateful shit,’ Wal says. He flits around the room, grabs a beer from the fridge. ‘You’ve got these nice new digs, you’re alive – sort of. And you’ve got a chance to win Lissa back. Give it time. You both have time.’
And I really can’t argue with that.
There’s time enough for everything. Time to heal old wounds, time to start a new job, time to find out about all those crazy things James was speaking of. I can’t help it. I smile, just a little, and Wal smiles back.
‘Welcome back, you bastard.’ He raises his beer high. ‘Now, up ya bum!’
‘Yours too,’ I say, seeing far too much cherub arsecrack in the process.
*
The American RM shakes his head. ‘So Steven is back?’
‘ Yes,’ I say. ‘No Steves plural now, just one.’
‘ To put it bluntly,’ Cerbo says, ‘is he an enemy or an ally?’
‘ I don’t know, but I need you to do something for me,’ I say.
‘ Anything.’
‘ I need you to research Aunt Neti, I need you to find out any weaknesses.’
‘ The Knives of Negotiation for one,’ Cerbo says.
‘ Yes, well, Steve has those now.’
‘ What?’
‘ We couldn’t keep them. That’s his role, to protect them. Very powerful forces decided to apply pressure.’
Cerbo shakes his head. ‘Those damn knives. They’re nothing but trouble; worse than the Hungry Death itself. At least that is contained.’
‘ Just do the research.’
Cerbo nods his head. ‘There’s nothing I like doing more. Do you want to bring your Ankou in on this?’
I shake my head. ‘Tim can’t be trusted. He’s too close to Steve. He took him the knives. To be honest, I’m not even sure I can be trusted.’
Cerbo gives me a big grin. ‘Ankous that can’t be trusted. Enemies in the Underworld. Why, it’s just like the old days.’ He rubs his hands together. ‘I’ll get to work.’
‘ Be fast and thorough,’ I say.
‘ You expecting trouble?’
‘ This is Steve we’re talking about.’
‘ Yes. The one who saved the world, who gave us his powers. The only one of us alive who has ever performed a successful Orpheus Manoeuvre, won a Negotiation, become Death of the Entire World and defeated a god.’
‘ Exactly, though he did have help.’ First time I ever saw Steve, I was dead. I was his successful Orpheus Manoeuvre.
‘ I really thought things would calm down after the End of Days. Hardly any Stirrers, no revenant gods, just good old-fashioned pomping and time for a holiday.’
I smile at him, show too many teeth. ‘Do you really want to get bored?’
Cerbo laughs and shifts back to Boston and his books. The man really loves research.
I drop into my throne, feel my
Similar Books
