CHAPTER 99

"She would?"

"I assume so. She's been a pool of motionless slime for a couple of hours now, so the fact that she's up must mean she heard you."

"Great." Disgruntled, Beth took the aspirin and swallowed them with the water. What the hell was she supposed to say to a slime version of herself?

When she walked into the bathroom, her clone was waiting. She felt a little relieved to see that it had changed its features slightly. It still had her face, but its hair now dangled in thick, fat drops that indeed made her think of a jellyfish.

"Hey. Lily said you wanted to talk to me?"

Yes. The ooze moved its hands with purpose, but the words were tough to decipher. Beth didn't know how much of this was an inability to remember the right signs and how much was that pieces of the ooze fell off if she moved too quickly. We need to prep for mediation.

"Mediation? Oh, right. With the horsemen."

The slime nodded. This is weird for you, but it's also weird for me. I keep thinking that I should be you, and that you've somehow stolen my life from me.

Beth nodded. It made sense. If she had woken up in the bathtub as a sentient ooze, she would have assumed the same thing. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The slime shook her head, casting sticky blue droplets onto the cold tile. No. The horsemen are coming back soon, and you need to have an answer for them.

"I get that, but I have other problems to deal with as well. Someone put Tink under a spell and opened the Vault."

I see. That sounds familiar, but my memory is blurry. Slime-Beth slumped over, and Beth half expected her to collapse back into the tub. I'm afraid that I can't help with any of that. I haven't figured out how to make legs yet.

"You're stuck in there?"

Not unless you bring a really big bucket. A thin smile appeared on Slime-Beth's face. I'm still new at this.

"Welcome to the story of my life here. Or our life, however you want to phrase it."

I was going to suggest we put our heads together to figure out how to handle the horsemen. It's stressing me out so much that I've got a case of the ripples. As if to illustrate her point, ripples spread throughout slime-Beth's body.

That is really convenient, Beth thought as she looked at the floor, pretending to consider her clone's idea. Was Slime-Beth part of some insidious plot? To what end? For all she knew, the slime had been sentient since Oliver had been filtered out of her soul.

And why was there so much of it? Did it replicate over time? There were too many questions, and the only person who might have answers was in a magical Labyrinth back on Earth. Or under it. She really had no idea how any of that worked.

"You think we should divide the work?"

Slime-Beth nodded. The angel is highly likely to consider whatever the other horsemen bring to the table. We need to find a way to counter in a way that isn't obvious.

"Agreed." If the slime was part of the plot, she wasn't really telling Beth anything she didn't already know. "I'll come up with some ideas and we can talk later?"

Slime-Beth nodded. You know where to find me. Can I have a pen and paper?

"You've got it." Beth walked out of the room and saw Lily waiting on the bed.

"And?" Lily asked.

"Apparently, she's going to brainstorm ideas to outwit the horsemen while we try to figure out what's up with the Vault."

"That's really--"

Beth put her hand over Lily's mouth. "Nice of her. C'mon, I need to get her something to write with." She didn't need the succubus voicing any more suspicions out loud and tipping off her slimy double.

Lily licked Beth's palm, then smirked when she yanked her hand away. "Lead the way."

Beth went to her room to retrieve a pen and paper. She also managed to find a couple of pencils, figuring that the pen might quit working if it got slimed. She gave everything to Slime-Beth, who thanked her and started making notes to herself.

Once out in the hallway, Lily closed the door.

"We assume she's just gonna stay in the tub and not go down the drain or anything." The succubus lifted an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"I think I hate this. Hold on." She opened the front door and walked outside. Death and Cecilia were sitting on the porch swing, deep in conversation.

"Ahem." Beth cleared her throat to get their attention, then turned toward Cecilia. "A word, if I may?"

Cecilia nodded and floated from her seated position through the chains of the swing. "Do you need something?" she asked.

"I do. Can you be invisible for a bit and keep an eye on our bathtub buddy? I just want to make sure nothing happens to her." It wasn't that she distrusted Cecilia, but what if the ooze could read her mind? Or maybe she would be able to see the banshee and the two of them would hit it off?

"I can." Cecilia waved to Death, who waved back, and then went inside. Beth followed her in, then watched Cecilia ascend the stairs, slowly vanishing with every step.

"Let's check on Kisa and Tink." Beth led the way to Kisa's bedroom on the second floor. The room itself was sparse of decoration. One of the walls was mirrored with a ballet barre and the floor consisted of polished hardwood. Kisa had a bed, a wardrobe, and a record player, and that was it.