CHAPTER 49

"You're going to kill him?" Beth asked incredulously.

"Certainly, not! I cannot go around harming mortals, it's poor manners." He took off his earmuffs and pulled up his hood. "I merely intend to displace his soul for a moment. It won't cause permanent damage, but he will likely lose consciousness."

"Be careful," Lily warned while holding up her arm. "We don't know what we're up against."

"What do you think will happen?" He placed his hand on the knob of the door. "Do you suppose I will arrive to collect myself?"

He stood there, waiting for a reaction. When none came, he chattered his teeth comically, opened the door, and went outside. Death went halfway across the yard before he stopped and stuck the butt of his scythe into the ground. His eyes blazed with light as he waved a hand around, his mouth moving. Beth, watching through the window, could only pick up bits of what he was saying.

Lily had pressed her ear to the glass of the window. Her face was scrunched up in concentration.

"What's he saying?" whispered Beth.

"Hard to tell. Something about consent...wait..." Lily held up a finger. "He's giving him till the count of ten to leave."

"Oh dear." Beth watched as Death dramatically held up a finger, followed by two fingers. Murray seemed oblivious, and when Death got past five, he switched the hand holding the scythe and continued counting on his other hand.

"C'mon, get on with it," muttered Lily.

Death casually spun the scythe around and placed it so that the curve of the blade was behind Murray's spine. With a tug, he yanked the blade through Murray's chest. It passed through the man's flesh harmlessly, and Murray continued to scream.

"That was anticlimactic," noted Lily.

Beth felt her heart fall in her chest.

Death swung his scythe again, then repeated the process. When nothing happened, he used the tip of his blade and poked it into Murray's skull. He even tried forcing the man's jaw closed, but nothing happened. Death marched back up the house, then tucked his scythe away as he came inside.

"Well?" asked Beth.

"That man has no soul." Death put his earmuffs back on and walked toward the kitchen.

"Excuse me?" Beth followed him, and watched as he nonchalantly started prepping a pot of water.

"It is rare, but you see it from time to time. Souls are a precious commodity, after all. Why do you think the universe is so keen on recycling them?" Death turned on one of the stove's burners and set the pot down. "It's a fascinating subject, really. When your soul passes on, there's an excess that gets left behind. I'm not entirely certain who's in charge of that, but—"

"Why wouldn't he have a soul?"

"Oh, I have no idea. That really isn't my area of expertise, but there can be any number of reasons. For instance, it could simply be an error. Humans born without souls often find themselves with a poor moral compass. Some of them have become quite famous for their capacity for murder." Death pulled down a box of teabags. "I always found it fascinating that I would get to meet them so many times, yet never personally collect them. Oblivion is such a strange concept to me."

Stunned, Beth leaned against the counter. "Are you talking about serial killers?"

"Ah, yes. I had forgotten the term." Death picked through his tea collection. He had over a dozen tins of loose-leaf tea. "But they are on the extreme side of things. No, I suspect that the mortal in your yard is simply being used as a vessel. His soul has been temporarily misplaced while some other entity uses his body."

"Like what?" Beth moved around the counter so that she stood next to him. He looked up from his tea bags, revealing the tiny blue fire that sat in the back of his eye sockets. Despite being lit from within, the inside of his skull was darker than night. There was no bone to reflect the tiny lights that he used as eyes. "What kind of entity, Death?"

"A loud one." Satisfied, Death picked out one of the tins and set it on the counter. "Would you like some?"

"No."

"Shame. It's going to get quite busy around here, you really should take the time to drink something."

Beth grabbed Death by the front of his robes, her hand immediately going numb. "What do you mean it's going to get busy?" She was practically shouting now.

"Are you still upset with me over your money? I did apologize." Somehow, he was able to frown, the bones of his face shifting.

She sighed, then let go of his robes. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just freaked out by whatever he's doing out there, and I feel like you're not telling me what you know."

"Oh. I see." Death looked down at his feet for a moment. "I must apologize, I was under the impression that you had figured it out already."

Beth put her numb hand on the counter, her fingers tapping impatiently.

"Figured out what?" she asked when he didn't continue.

"If that man out there is making so much noise that I can hear it from a dimension away, then clearly he is calling out to someone." Death picked out a teacup and then loaded his diffuser. "Or something. The reason he's still screaming is that whatever is coming has to come from really far away."

"Oh shit," she whispered in horror. She figured that Murray was part of a society plot, but never that he was acting as a beacon. What sort of being took most of a day to travel across the world? And why did they need a beacon to lead them?

Death smiled smugly, then pulled an extra teacup out of the cupboard.

"I'll make you a nice chamomile. It'll help warm up your hand. Now would you like sugar or do you prefer honey?"

The door of the cabin creaked when Velvet pushed it open. Inside, she saw Quetzalli sitting on the couch with Bigfoot, who was sitting up.

"Uncle Foot!" She ran to his side and crouched down so he could see her better. "I didn't know you were awake!"

"Hey there, fluffy girl." Bigfoot smiled weakly and put his hand on her cheek. "Sorry I worried you."

"If I had known you were up, I would have come sooner." It was late, the hour nearing midnight. She had spent all day checking the woods for any further hint of the Nirumbi. Dana had gone with her, allowing the two of them to catch up. It was amazing to hear just how much had happened to Dana in such a short time, and it reminded her more than once of the tabletop games she played with Bigfoot and her sister.