Page 50 of Death Wish

“Hmm… I don’t know how I feel about that. I love my breakfast foods. Can eat it any time of day.”

“I suggest you don’t die, then,” I said.

“Easier said than done.”

“Since you were on my assignment list for reaping, I would say so.”

He laughed again, smacking the steering wheel with each wheezy breath in. “You got me there.”

After a moment, he said, “So…breakfast? I know a pretty decent place downtown. It’s pretty hipster-y with its clientele, but if you can get past all the college kids and teens, the food is tasty. Portion sizes are huge, too.”

I was shaking my head no, but my stomach made another animalistic sound. “I was thinking about going back and seeing if there’s been any word there about what’s going on.” Which reminded me about my tablet. I pulled it out and tapped the dark screen. Still no notifications from Azrael or Styx or even Simon. Nothing. Not even an update to my reaping list. Cole Masters was the last name for my assignments and the only one without a little check mark next to it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain that one, but I’d figure it out once this entire thing with Kay was fixed. Just another thing for me to worry about later.

The weight of all my unanswered questions pushed against my shoulders. Things must have been still crazy at Styx Corp., and with no updates from Simon, the itch to return back to Styx and see what was up was overwhelming. I was completely cut off on this side of the portal. It was unnerving.

After clicking the screen off again, I slid the tablet in my back pocket.

“You’re going to go back?” Cole asked, glancing at me. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Why would he care if I went back or not?

“I feel out of the loop. Maybe I can find out some more information about all these demon attacks and influx of haunts before the solstice. Maybe someone knows something about the box we found and the demon cure, too.”

His lips pressed into a hard line.

“What?” I asked.

“What if you can’t get back? You said it yourself you were breaking all kinds of rules by not reaping me and by being involved with the living like this. What if you get reprimanded or something and aren’t allowed to come back?”

He had a point. I hadn’t thought about that.

I guess I had been lucky Azrael hadn’t tried to contact me through the tablet. If he got ahold of me and didn’t like what I had been doing over on this side of the veil, worst case scenario was I could be Released. Then there was no coming back at all.

Cole was right. I couldn’t risk it. Without the cure, Kay was as good as dead, and I couldn’t do that to her. I had to stay in the living world, at least until Kay was safe. Then I could receive any consequences Azrael wanted to dish out to me. If and when he came back.

“I guess I’ll stay, then,” I said but then quickly added, “for now.”

He grinned. “Breakfast it is, then!”

The diner was located in a small refurbished church, with tall, stained glass windows, pew booths, and a service counter where the altar would have been. As Cole had said, the place was crawling with young people. Only a few older patrons sat at the counter, chatting happily with the waitstaff there, but for the most part, the clientele were twenty-one years old at most.

It made me feel really old.

We sat in a booth by one of the stained glass windows. The light streaming in painted the table and wooden floor in beautiful patterns of ruby and violet. I couldn’t stop staring at the high ceilings, gold pillars, and angelic sculptures decorating the space.

A half-demon and a chaser of death in an old church? A blind man could see the irony there.

“Jade.” Cole’s voice snapped me back to the present. He stared at me over his menu. When I looked up, I noticed a young woman—our waitress, I assumed—waiting patiently with a pen and notepad in her hand.

“Do you know what you want?” he asked.

“Oh.” Truth be told, I hadn’t even picked up the plastic-covered menu. Hadn’t even glanced at it. Frazzled, I just said, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.”

“Are you sure about that? It’s a lot of food,” Cole said.

“Yeah, what the hell.” I handed the waitress my menu. “You bragged enough about this place. Might as well.”

“Thanks, Jill.” Cole winked at the girl as he handed her his menu.

---