Page 14 of Half Dead

“I am one of the Tien-Wang.”

“Chinese deities of doors,” Libby added.

“Doors,” I repeated. “Well, that’s one I haven’t heard before.”

“I have brothers, but only two of us are members of The Corporation.”

“And how do you like working for them?” I asked.

He took a sudden interest in the spread of food. “Will you look at that? No one told me there were golden pears. If you’ll excuse me.” He hurried off without a backward glance.

At least I knew the right question to ask if I wanted to avoid a conversation with someone.

Posy’s head popped between Libby and me. She wrapped an arm around each of us and squeezed. “Isn’t this the best party?”

Libby looked as uncomfortable as I felt. We managed to slip out from Posy’s grasp.

“Have you tried Kvasir yet?” Posy asked.

I looked at her blankly. “What’s that?”

The siren swatted Libby’s arm. “You didn’t introduce her to Kvasir?”

Before Libby could answer, Posy steered me across the room to a table at the far end. Although there was a line of guests waiting, Posy pushed to the front.

“Excuse us, guests of honor coming through. Step aside.” She turned toward me holding a copper cup. I had to give the siren credit; she was unflappable. “Forget the ocean views. This is the real perk of Paradise.”

I took a sip. “Is there honey in it?”

She nodded. “The sweetness offsets the bitterness of the blood.”

I started to cough. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, I probably should’ve explained. This is a very special drink that The Corporation only brings out on special occasions.” She broke into a toothy smile. “Like my promotion.”

“Why blood? You’re not vampires.”

“Do you know the story of Kvasir?”

It didn’t ring any childhood bells. “No.”

“He’s a giant. According to legend, he was killed by dwarfs. You mix his blood with honey and then it goes through a whole boring distillery process in a magic cauldron.”

“Why do you drink it?”

She swilled more of the drink. “One glass gives you more wisdom than Aristotle and more inspiration than all the Romantics combined.”

Did it actually work—or was it basically a hallucinogenic that made them believe it did? I decided I didn’t want to find out, but I was more than happy to let them imbibe. I was far more likely to get answers to my questions while they were heavily intoxicated.

“If he was killed by dwarfs, how do you have access to the giant’s blood?”

Posy leaned over and whispered, “I said according to legend. I didn’t say according to reality.”

A lump formed in my throat. Wherever Kvasir was now, I had a feeling the giant wished he’d been killed by dwarfs thousands of years ago.

“You have dozens of departments,” I said. “Surely you have one that can create a synthetic version of his blood so you can release him.”

Posy’s laughter tinkled like a bell. “It’s comments like that one that make you so intriguing, Mel.”

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