Page 108 of Half Dead

“I will now. It would be too confusing for me otherwise.”

“Trust me, I know what it’s like to have two sets of memories. Nobody wants that.” I heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, Bruce. I feel like I’ve been unfair to you since the moment we met.”

“I was already dead when we met. You played no role in that.” He offered his hand. “Let us part as friends.”

I gave his hand an affectionate squeeze and released it. “This is where I leave you?”

“I will continue on to the tenth hell. The wheel oftransmigration is there. Chuan-lun-wang will decide where to place me in the next life.”

“I thought the god of mercy did that.”

“They all seem to think they’re in charge.” He shrugged. “Not much different from The Corporation in that regard.”

“The door is ready,” Hu Ching-Te said.

I gave the shimmering silver door a cursory glance before turning back to Bruce. “Can I come with you, maybe put in a good word for you with the reincarnation god?”

“No need, but I will tell him where to find Lucifer in case he’d like to reclaim the tablet once you’ve delivered it.” He winked. “The demon can’t prove you were double-dealing if you’ve never even met Chuan-lun-wang.”

“I like the way you think, Bruce.”

His face softened. “I’m glad the universe chose to reunite us for this journey.”

“I couldn’t have done this without you. I’d be food for locusts.” And not the least bit nutritious based on my recent diet.

“And I couldn’t have done this without you,” Bruce replied. “The mirror was right, you know.”

“I really do look five pounds heavier?”

He smiled. “You had nothing to fear from Sie-king T’ai. You’ve saved countless lives. And healed those in need of it.”

Not just them, I realized. Myself, too.

“Thank you, Bruce Huang. Maybe we’ll see each other again in the next life.” I hugged the tablet to my chest and walked through the open doorway, one trial closer to freedom.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lucifer blinkedin disbelief when I handed over the tablet. “You found it.” He ran his fingers over the etchings, reviewing the marks with childlike enthusiasm.

“You seem amazed for someone who said he wanted me to succeed with this one.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” His pale eyebrows drew together. “How did you manage it?”

“Sorry. Story time wasn’t part of the bargain.”

His green eyes flicked to me. “You may defeat me yet, daughter of the underworld.” Despite his statement, there was a flatness to his voice that suggested an astonishing lack of concern for someone so committed to vengeance.

The flash of insight unsettled me.

“Only one more trial until she does,” Kane said with a note of pride.

“We shall see.” Lucifer tucked the tablet under his arm. “Be here tomorrow at three.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “An extra hour?”

“I highly recommend that you make the most of it.” He strolled through the woods, whistling a tune that I quicklyrecognized as the jazz standard ‘Body and Soul.’ Even his casual whistling was designed to be torturous.

I ran into Kane’s arms and kissed him like I was drowning, and he was the only source of oxygen.

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