Of Gods and Sorrow (Of Blood and Sorrow Book 2) Page 3

  I sucked in a breath. The tension crackled around us like ice in the spring. My hands clenched, and I slid one leg farther back than the other. Abdiel hadn’t moved an inch.

  The other Allu’s face scrunched up before turning away. “Yeah, sure. Just here to do my job.”

  Abdiel stood where he was until the other two Allu had returned to their spots off to the sides. I opened my hands and breathed out. Had I seriously been ready to fight? Abdiel would never want anyone to fight for him, even if the odds were against him. If the Futakuchi thought they had been insulted, that would be a major insult to an Allu.

  And why would I fight for Abdiel? He wasn’t my friend. I walked to where the tea cart had been knocked over. Allu don’t have friends.

  But my first instinct was to back him up. He was an ally. He’d helped me on several occasions. Now he was around a lot and teaching me to fight. He was... God, was he my friend?

  I knelt down and started to collect the shards of porcelain cups. Maybe he’d been wearing Connor’s face too much. It still affected me, and maybe it was getting into his head. I didn’t know what life for the Allu was really like. Other than violent and bloody.

  Gathering my handful of cup pieces, I picked up the teapot which remained mostly intact. When I righted it and looked inside, I dropped the shards and covered my mouth. There were eyeballs in there. Real eyeballs with the stalks and gory bits still attached. My stomach roiled, and I choked back the urge to gag.

  The Azeban liked to play jokes, but this was going way too far. Certainly Cort wouldn’t let them come back after this incident. I needed to get some latex gloves and properly dispose of this.

  Ri’s family had shut their door, and as I stood, I jerked when a hand touched my shoulder.

  The dark haired woman who had denied the Azeban had placed the eyeballs there stood behind me. “I’m sorry about what happened, but none of us did it. I...” She paused and leaned over to see into the teapot. “Real eyes? Are those actually real?”

  Abdiel stood three feet behind her with his arms rigid by his sides.

  “They are.” I nodded once. Though she sounded sincere, I couldn’t believe her. The Kon clan wouldn’t do that to themselves, and Whittaker’s small family hadn’t left their suite.

  “That’s disgusting.” The woman covered her mouth and swallowed hard. She then ran a hand through her hair making it stick out farther. Closer up, she was younger than I’d thought at first. Maybe thirty. “None of my family or friends would do this. Fake ones maybe, but not here, not in this place. Aleo had always treated us with respect, and his sons continue to do so. We respect them in turn. We didn’t do this.”

  I bit the side of my tongue. Aleo had been immensely tolerant of all types of demons. He wanted to give them a place to honor their dead. A place like that was more difficult to find as the human population grew and spread to all the corners of the world. I’d met Azeban a few times through work before. Bolona had always called them the wanderers of the demon world. They celebrated their dead rather than mourned them. And that was fine as long as they kept to themselves.

  They had the largest viewing suite tonight. This woman could not keep track of all her friends.

  Instead of agreeing or disagreeing with her, I motioned to the mess. “I’ve got to get some stuff to properly dispose of this. Please go back to your suite and try to persuade anyone from coming out into the hall for the time being.”

  “All right.” She sighed and glanced at Abdiel before looking back to me. “Just please tell Cort that Adriana Tessler assures him no one in her party did this.”

  “I will, Ms. Tessler.”

  Adriana’s gaze darted once more to the broken pot before she turned and walked as far from Abdiel as she could in the corridor. Maybe she didn’t know who did it, but someone did. Where they got the eyeballs, I didn’t want to know, but my crime show loving brain was already wondering it.

  Once Adriana had returned to her suite, Abdiel stepped closer and leaned in to glance into the broken teapot. “The eyes look human. And fresh.”

  I didn’t even open my mouth to ask how he would know. His statement didn’t make the situation any better. I motioned down the hall to the basement door. “I’ve got to get the proper bags to dispose of this. Will you make sure no one comes into the hall until I have it cleaned up?”

  Abdiel nodded once, and I hurried away as quick as I could without running. Eyeballs in the tea and me ready to fight alongside Abdiel. It’s like the Mad Hatter’s tea party in my world.

  S

  ince there was nothing on the schedule until the evening, I slept late. I would have slept later if Demi would have let me.

  My landlady was an ancient sun demon who preferred to be called Demi when she wasn’t in her noon hour form as the Lady. In the mornings, she was a young woman, the picture perfect merry housemaker of the 1950s. She liked to cook and clean, and to annoy anyone who wasn’t a morning person, she loved to sing.

  “Wake up, my darling girl. It’s nearly ten and breakfast is waiting.” Demi hummed as she straightened up the stacks of books by the worn couch in my basement apartment.

  “I’m awake, Demi.” I made certain not to groan as I climbed out of bed. It would only provoke more singing or an offer to do my nails or hair. Not that I had much hair to mess with these days. Nicolas had convinced me to cut it short to be more professional, more sexy, more whatever. It didn’t matter. He was gone.

  “If you wake with a smile, you’ll be happier all day long.” Demi flashed a wide smile my way and fluffed the pillows on the couch. “I made French toast this morning and some coffee. I figured I’d forgo the tea after what happened last night.”

  I stood at the end of my bed and rubbed my head. How did she even know? If Bolona were still alive, I would have had no doubt the two of them would have talked for hours already today. Abdiel certainly wouldn’t chat with Demi.

  “Did Cort call?”

  “No, no. That man has enough on his plate. He has a lunch date today with a lovely young lady I met at the market last week.” Demi sashayed over to me and clasped her hands before her. “I went over to an old friend’s this morning to show my support to her family and offer up a dish in her honor. I met her daughter and granddaughter. Sweet Shiori said she’d met you and told me all about the dreadful surprise in the teapot. Those Azeban need more than a slap on the wrist.”

  “You knew Ri’s grandmother?” It was too early in the morning to hide my surprise. Though, I didn’t know why I should feel it. I should just assume Demi knew every demon on the continent.

  “Oh yes.” Demi nodded and reached to fiddle with my hair. Was it sticking up? “When Midori was young, she was an accomplished geisha and taught me the art. My, the fun we had in those days in the tea houses. Then Midori went off and married a doctor.” She laughed and then suddenly went very serious. “This is why the eyes in the tea were a great insult. Tea is a sacred ritualistic drink for them.”

  The hair on my arms stood, and I resisted the urge to back away.

  Thankfully Demi’s face softened into a smile again. “You should spend more time with that sweet girl. I could teach you both the art of the geisha. Perhaps it will help you both find husbands.”

  Oh God. The last thing I wanted was to be set up on blind dates. I had no interest in a relationship ever again. Besides, Nicolas was still too much on my mind.

  “Need to... use the toilet.” I sidestepped Demi and went into the little bathroom, closing the door behind me. I did love and appreciate Demi, but this was a conversation I didn’t want to have. Not with anyone.

  Once I was cleaned, dressed, and fed, I left the house before noon. I’d been lucky enough not to see the Lady in her full form since last year.

  The early fall weather was still warm enough not to require a jacket, and while I always wore long sleeves, I wrapped a long scarf loosely around my neck. I hefted my duffle bag over one shoulder and walked through the neighboring cemetery to the bus sto
p.

  Last November, I’d snuck out to meet Nicolas in that cemetery. I’d been so unsure of myself back then, and he was so incredibly charming. Where was he now? I could easily find out.

  But no. That was stupid. I needed to push him out of my mind. Nicolas left me.

  And I was off to train with one of the demons that offered to kill him for me.

  That didn’t help either. It was the vampires’ attack on the funeral home that provoked the need for me to train and learn to defend myself.

  I leaned my head against the bus’ window as I remembered I hadn’t fed yesterday. Not much anyway. Just a little from that crazy woman who had thrown herself at Cort’s feet. Hopefully she wouldn’t show back up. At least not today.

  The bus was a few minutes early to the funeral home. I hopped off. With it being Saturday, the parking lot was empty. Gracia didn’t work weekends, and Cort was on his lunch date. That thought made me smirk a little. I had no doubt any woman Demi set Cort up with would be lovely, but I didn’t think Cort was looking for a wife any more than I wanted a husband. He wouldn’t dare say no to Demi, though.

  I searched through my bag for the keys as I approached the front entrance. We had both traditional locks and a security system with a keypad. Cort updated everything in the remodel, adding twice as many cameras outside than there had been before.

  Pushing my special compact aside, I found the keys. I lifted my head and froze on the spot.

  Spray painted in red across the double front doors was AMMUT LIVES.

  Shit. Chione had come back. Cort was going to be furious.

  My shoulders sagged as I rolled my head to one side than the other. We should have called the police yesterday. With the graffiti, we probably could get a restraining order against Chione. Not that it would likely keep her away, but if we caught her coming back after it, then she was the cops’ responsibility.

  The roar of Abdiel’s motorbike echoed in the distance and fast filled the empty lot. My gut clenched, and I had to breathe out a few times before I could get it to loosen just a bit. I set down my bag and turned toward him as he shut off his bike. Connor’s face frowned as he dismounted and walked toward me. No, toward the doors.

  Abdiel stared at the graffiti for ten seconds and then swung his head toward me. “You should have killed that bitch.”

  If it was Connor, I would have whacked him on the arm. I didn’t dare do that with Abdiel. “No. Chione won’t hurt Cort. She wants to worship him. She might annoy him, piss him off, but I’m not going to kill someone for being annoying.”

  “She’s a problem.” He reached into a pocket of his black leather jacket and took out his cell.

  “Don’t bother Cort with it right now.” I sighed. “He’s on a date.” Part of me wanted to hide this incident as Cort had enough on his mind, but he needed to know. He didn’t need to see the graffiti ruining the doors, though. “I’ll get some of the cleaner from the mortuary and wash it off.”

  Abdiel slipped his phone back into his pocket. “You’re training with me right now.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with him. And what idiot would argue with an Allu? But I gestured to the doors. Maybe I was feeling like an idiot today. “We can’t leave it like this. It needs to be cleaned off before the viewing tonight. Putzkammer and Sons has a reputation to maintain.” Yes, bore him with tedious work stuff. “And if it doesn’t come off with what we have here, I’ll have to go buy something that will do the job.”

  His mouth twitched. Was he going to yell at me? Tell me to get inside and take out the mats? Yes, we used the funeral home to train in. We couldn’t go anywhere else. No public dojo would do for obvious reasons, and Abdiel wouldn’t go into the Lady’s house. I had no idea where he lived. So we agreed here was the best place. There was plenty of room, and we knew the times when no one would be there.

  “You get the cleaner then. I’m going to check around the building to see if there’s any more damage.” He stalked off around to the east side.

  I let out a long, slow breath and punched in the security code on the little pad to the left of the doors. I then unlocked the bolts with my key and swung one door open. Grabbing my bag, I dropped it just inside as I flicked on the lights.

  A place that most might feel uneasy in eased the tension in my taut muscles. It was like a second home to me. So it occasionally housed dead bodies, that didn’t bother me. While I once didn’t like the living so much, the Putzkammers changed that. I enjoyed my work here, helping people when they most needed it, and it had nothing to do with the fact it was often a buffet of sorrow for me. That was just an added bonus.

  I fetched the cleaners we used down in the basement along with some gloves and scrub brushes. Then I stopped in the receptionist’s office to pick up the regular cleaners Gracia sometimes used if need be. We had people that came in and cleaned twice a week and after particular funerals, but sometimes we had to do a bit ourselves.

  In the office, I stopped as my memory slammed me with a certain envelope. I’d put the letter from Virginia in here the day before and totally forgot about it after last night’s events.

  The pitter-patter of my heart picked up. This was it. I was going to learn the name of my father.

  I turned to the single bookshelf and stepped toward it. Closing my eyes, I reached up to where I had placed it on the top. I didn’t expect him to know about me, if my mother hadn’t killed him. Maybe I had some half-brothers or sisters. Would they accept me into their family?

  They were silly hopes. A child’s wishes. But I hadn’t known what a real family could be like until I met the Putzkammers. Bolona, and even The Lady, were better mothers to me than my real mom had ever been.

  My fingers brushed something cold and slimy. I frowned as I opened my eyes and tilted my head back. Did Gracia leave a sponge or a bouncy ball up there? Taking hold of the strange object, I picked it up and took it off the shelf.

  Another damn eyeball.

  It came only half into view when I dropped it. I darted back, flipping my hand around as if I could undo the fact that I touched it. Bile rose up my throat, and I whimpered at the soft sound of it knocking against the shelves as it fell to the floor.

  This was a trick gone too far.

  And later, I discovered that too far had no limits when Abdiel and I found another dozen eyeballs in the funeral home.

  C

  ort jerked open another button on his shirt. His jacket and tie had come off as soon as he walked in. I rarely saw him without all the buttons up because of the vicious scar on his neck given to him by Hessa the vampire. “Goddammit. There’s nothing. It’s all static.”

  Sitting in the chair beside him, I curled and unfurled my fingers over and over. I’d washed them a half dozen times, but I still wanted to clean them again. I motioned to the computer screen. “But why? None of the cameras were tampered with. There’s a gadget that could do that, right? Or could they have been hacked?”

  “We’re not connected to an outside server.” Cort squashed the hacking theory.

  “Then it has to be something interfering with the system. Maybe a temporary power outage or a solar flare or there could be grounding issues.” All logical reasons why every camera would be full of static at the same time.

  “But at the exact time our doors were painted?” Cort raised his brows. He shook his head as he leaned back. “You watch too much television.”

  “I do not.” I did. I really, really did. More recently than before.

  “It was a spell.” Abdiel said from behind us.

  Both Cort and I turned in our chairs to look at him. I wanted to say that the simplest reason was usually right. But it was too much of a coincidence. Great, the Azeban had left eyeball surprises around the funeral home and Chione knew magic. It upgraded her from annoying to a threat.

  “Are you certain?” Cort’s voice tightened.

  Abdiel shrugged. “No one tampered with anything. The security system didn’t sound an alarm. Why would the cameras
go down and not that if there was a power outage?”

  I inclined my head to him. He had a point.

  “Okay, so does this mean she could easily do it again? I won’t have her defacing my business.” Cort stood and went to the front of his desk to pace.

  “You could just order her not to do anything like that again.” I offered. Partly as a joke, but if Chione was as fanatical as she seemed, she’d obey her god.

  Cort rolled his eyes.

  “I’ll take care of it.” Abdiel wore a bearded face I didn’t recognize as he walked from behind the desk to the door.

  I stood and widened my eyes pleadingly at Cort. No killing was needed here. Yes, I believed Chione was more than just an annoyance now, but she wouldn’t harm Cort. I was certain of that.

  “Wait.” Cort sighed as he stopped Abdiel just outside the office door. “We’ll deal with Chione reasonably. If she doesn’t go away after I have a few words with her, then I’ll get a restraining order. The police might even take her in for a psychiatric evaluation. It’ll all work out without violence.”

  Abdiel’s mouth pressed together in a hard line. His nostrils flared a few times as if he might argue, and his gaze came to settle on me.

  I shifted in the chair, drawing one leg up and resting the foot on the edge of the seat. Did Abdiel hate me for ruining his fun? I couldn’t read his expression, and I didn’t dare dip into his emotional energy. The last time I had done that at Hessa’s warehouse, I thought he would kill me.

  “So what now? We wait for her to show up?” Abdiel leaned against the door frame and scratched his beard. His glare still bore into me.

  I looked down at the static feed on the cameras from last night. Not seeing him staring at me didn’t help at all.

  “We wait. Not much else we can do.” Cort sat on the edge of his desk with his back to me. If only he’d move over another foot to block me from Abdiel’s line of sight. “So. More eyeballs. Did you find them all?”