Page 20 of Currency in Flesh

Young Grace, with her shiny retainer and chin length wedge of hair, was gone. Today’s Grace knew how to tame her long, warm-brown waves, paid a pretty penny to maintain her thick, curling lashes, and groomed her naturally unruly eyebrows to sleek perfection. I might not be built like an influencer, but if my middle-school self could have seen me now, she’d think I was the picture of sophistication and style.

As though it knew my intention, the wall of my room shimmered out of existence, opening to waving stalks of grass and balmy air. People bustled about, and I smiled warmly at each soul I passed. I didn’t have a destination in mind, but there were at least things to do here—businesses, orchards, people to talk to. I sort of hoped I wouldn’t run into Anna. She was a nice girl, but I wanted company who had some lived experience, a woman to bitch to over coffee or something. Lady Cora had called this place mundane, and right now? Mundane sounded nice.

I strolled down the well-maintained streets, peeking into shop windows and taking in the city and its various smells. I hadn’t realized how devoid of sensory input my room and Lady Cora’s chambers were until I faced a full civilization’s worth. I walked past a restaurant from which the spicy fragrance of curry wafted, a shop that appeared to sell candles that perfumed the air with red roses and the salty sea. At last, theone smell I truly wished to find made its way into my overloaded nostrils.Coffee.

The little cafe was decorated with pale blue and white striped wallpaper and white wrought-iron tables and chairs with blue damask cushions. A smiling woman with dark skin and braided, midnight-black hair greeted me with a wave as I walked in, my arrival announced by the ring of a strand of bells. There were two other patrons, a small, round man and an older woman who reminded me of my mom. The man sketched as the woman wrote, and I had the sense that each was secretly writing or drawing the other.

“Hi there!” called the lady behind the counter. Her voice was deep and rich, and I’d be willing to bet she was a great singer. “Welcome in!”

A little menu stood on an easel, the beverages surrounded by watercolor flowers and curling vines. My mouth watered as I read; lavender latte, iced raspberry white chocolate mocha, cinnamon and honey flat white… I wanted everything. I realized I didn’t see any posted prices, nor did I have any money, and wondered how this worked. Seeming to notice my confusion, the woman chuckled. “You must be a recent arrival,” she said. “We don’t charge for anything here, so order whatever you’d like!” She gestured to a glass-front case behind her. “We also have some pastries if you’re hungry.”

I hadn’t noticed the baker’s case, and I almost moaned out loud. Cupcakes, macarons, small sandwiches and fresh fruit sat inside. I wanted everything. “How ‘bout you give me your favorite, and whatever iced drink you like best!”

Tapping her chin with a finger, the barista hummed before grinning widely and turning to the espresso machine. I took a seat at an empty table beside the window and looked out at the meadows. Would I ever be able to retire to this place? It’s where I’d likely have ended up, and it struck me as a bit unfair thatthanks to Sean, I probably wouldn’t ever have the life I’d wantedorthe afterlife I’d earned. A young boy and his mother walked past, and I tried not to wonder how they’d ended up here.

The more I considered Lady Cora’s multitude of responsibilities, the more I thought I understood why she might want some sort of companionship. Not that I was really her companion, so to speak, but I was a facet of her life that didn’t carry any real duty. If anything, my having not come here organically absolved her of feeling like she owed me some specified experience of eternity. I was an outlier, a hobby, a distraction.

A drink adorned with a swirl of whipped cream and caramel appeared on the table in front of me, accompanied by a small plate with a purple macaron and fresh berries. “Here you are!” the woman said, and I shook off my musings to look up at her gratefully. “Coconut caramel latte with white coffee and a tiny pinch of salt, and a taro-coconut macaron.” Her head tipped back, and she laughed. “Damn, I guess I like coconut.”

“I do too!” I replied. “I’m Grace, what’s your name?”

There was a long pause, and a bit of the warmth bled from her kind face. Her lips parted, but closed again without a response. I watched as she forced a false grin onto her face. “Nice to meet you, Grace! Silly me, leaving my nametag at home today,” she said, words trailing off as she walked back to the counter without answering my question. I felt my own smile fall as well. Did she not recall her own name?

She didn’t visit my table again, and after I had finished my cookie and drank half of the coffee, I left. The bells jingled as the door closed behind me.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Istopped by the shop with the candles, a bookstore where I found a copy of my favorite fantasy series, and picked up a wild-looking bouquet and vase from a florist who carried flowers that could never have all grown in one season in the real world. Everyone was nice, but I kept thinking about the nameless barista and what that meant for the rest of the people here. Lady Cora had mentioned the souls in the isles, and how they generally spent a rather short time there. Did people stay in the meadows so long they forgot who they had been? That didn’t seem like a good afterlife. I couldn’t imagine wanting to work for all time at a basic, boring job—until I literally forgot who I was. What purpose did that serve? Sure, plenty of people liked their jobs, and Lady Cora had said that those in the meadows did what they wanted, but had that woman’s entire life faded away until all she knew was how to make lattes? Is that what she’d have wanted?

I didn’t realize how long or in what direction I’d been walking until a gruff, male voice stopped me. Turning, I saw the man from the bar, Charis?

“Interesting, that she lets you wander all over,” he said in a voice like gravel. “Last I saw, you were locked in a room without doors.”

I couldn’t tell if he was being nice or critical, so I tried to keep my reply casual. “I’m just as surprised as you,” I said. “I was bored, and the walls opened and let me out.” Something tugged at my thoughts, but I couldn’t quite get ahold of it.

Even with his long, scraggly beard, I could see his jaw flex. “Bored?” he asked, sounding more surprised than irritated.

I shrugged. “It isn’t like there is much to do.”

His answering chuckle held no mirth. “Lucky you, I’ve got plenty to do. More than I’d like, in fact.” I hadn’t expected him to sound particularly eloquent. He looked like a rough man from a rough life, but he spoke like one of Sean’s business buddies and it put me on edge. Usually, conversations like this led to all the ways I couldhelp, which usually included things I neither wanted to, nor felt safe doing. My pulse quickened with that old fear thrumming in my chest.

“Well,” I threaded my tone with nonchalance, “guess I’ll be getting out of your hair, then!”

He adjusted his ball cap, looking at me from beneath heavy, wiry brows. “You know, in the last three centuries, she’s never kept anyone.”

“What?” The statement takes me by surprise.

“I’ve never been instructed to bring a soul to anywhere other than the pit or the meadows. After you drank of the river, I brought you to her personal bedchamber and was tasked with watching you until you awoke.”

I didn’t recall having been in her bedroom when I arrived, but maybe the place I regained consciousness in was her sitting room or something. But still, what did it even matter? Charis must have read my expression, because he gave me a small shrug. “I don’t have any answers. But clearly, the boss thinkssomething of you, and if I was in that position, I’d be mindful of what I was doing with my time.”

What did he think I’d been doing? It’s not as though Lady Cora couldn’t see for herself that I was behaving or whatever he was implying. “I’m not doing anything wrong,” I said a bit defensively. “I’m sure she knows that.”

He tapped a gnarled finger against his temple. “If she was watching you all the time, she wouldn’t have advised us to keep an eye on you. I’m just saying, even my brothers and I do not have free rein in the Underworld.” He turned, pushing aside a curtain of reality like Lady Cora had, and he was gone.

I didn’t think I’d ever get used to that.

I had hoped to occupy my mind with easy pleasantries by leaving, but now I felt even more confused and frustrated than I had been before. What was her game here? She had laid some sort of claim upon me, but gave me this unexpected freedom. She had honored my request to stay out of my head, but still told her lackeys to spy on me. She hadn’t touched Sean, letting me have the opportunity to do to him whatever I wished, even though his debt had been to her. She called me her pet and tortured and teased me in equal amounts. What did she want from me?

---