Page 3 of Taking Orders in the Underworld

Enjoying the fresh night air on her skin, Nika spent the next five minutes listening to the clattering sounds of the kitchen behind her. The sounds felt just far enough removed to not feel like her problem, especially when she was looking out at a quiet cobbled street. Firebugs danced in the air above her, the trees rustled and swayed as the wind nymphs danced through them. Occasionally the odd deity, daemon, or Soul would wander past.

Nika didn’t feel like going home. She felt like a drink.

***

“Another one, bar keep.”

Savvas refilled her glass with golden wine for the fourth time, that delightful glugging noise that came out of the bottle making Nika sigh.

“Thankyou.”

“You’re going to regret this in the morning, you know.”

“I have no regrets, Savvas,” Nika said, swirling the liquid while looking him square in the eye. “I only have calculated moves and consequences. And my calculated move right now is to continue to drink this delicious nectar you brewed.”

“Suit yourself. A warning though, boss man is heading over this way.” Savvas nodded behind him as he went back to drying glasses.

The bar was almost empty now, there was only one straggler at the other end of the bar. Garth had sent the chefs home, the only one still in the kitchen was Melamene. Being the pastry chef really did suck when it came to being the last one to get to clock off. All the wait staff had clocked off too, all that was apart from Tomas, who was cleaning the coffee machine and waiting for the final table to pay their tab.

Nika watched as Ross – their water nymph in charge of the dishwasher – delivered a caddy full of clean crockery to place on the coffee shelves above Tomas’ head; a collection of terracotta kylikes with different designs on them that made the shelves as decorative as they were storage.

“What are you still doing here, Nika? I told you to go home,” Garth said behind her.

“This is my home.”

“Don’t be glib.”

“I’m not.” Nika hiccuped.

“How much have you had to drink?”

“I’mfine.”

“Really?”

“Reeeeeally.”

“I’m about to walk Rae home. You want me to walk you, too? Or are you going to let Savvas here take you home once he’s closed up tonight?”

“I don’t need walking home like your precious Rae. Where is she, anyway?”

“Doing your job of making sure all the tables are set up for tomorrow.”

“Well,” – another hiccup – “if you’d have let me stay on, that wouldn’t be a problem now, would it?”

Garth let out a sigh and took the bar stool next to her. “Look, Nika, I know you’re not happy about my decision to step away from the libation agreement. But it’s not like it was going to last forever anyway. You and I both know more and more mortals choose to believe in different gods these days. Hell, some of them choose to do away with all of us altogether. I know now is the time for us to strike out on our own. You have to trust me on that, because I can’t have you going around causing fissures in the team with your insubordination.”

“Insubordination? When have I ever been … subordinate?”

The only indication that she’d managed to get under Garth’s skin was a brief clench of his fist that was resting on the bar.

“You know what I mean. You know the sway you have on the team. I’m just asking you to trust me, to back me.”

“Trust is a tricky commodity. Slippery as one of those eels in the Cocytus river.”

Garth rose from his chair, and tapped with his fist briefly on the bar when he saw Rae coming round the corner, coat in hand. “Yeah, well Nika, have I ever let you down before?”

Nika threw her head back and tipped the rest of the golden liquid down her elongated throat. When she looked forward again, Garth and Rae were gone.

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