Page 51 of Death Trap

“Prayer beads?” I asked, confused. What the heck was that?

“Some hold a bracelet of colored beads when they pray. Some hold gemstones or crystals. Do you have anything like that?” he went on.

Kay said nothing for a second while she thought about it. “I have my grandmother’s rosary. It was the only thing of hers I asked to keep after she died. She prayed with them every day, and when she wasn’t praying, she was wearing them around her neck. That rosary and her cooking are what I remember most about her.”

“Perfect. If you ever get in a situation that you find too dangerous, hold on to your grandmother’s rosary and pray to me. You must mention me by name in the prayer.”

She glanced at me, unsure. “What do I say exactly? Is there a certain script?”

Eli shook his head. “A prayer can be anything. As long as you are speaking from the heart. If you say my name—Elijah—in the prayer, I’ll be able to hear you anywhere, anytime. And I’ll come to help.”

I stared at Eli in disbelief. He didn’t even know Kay like that. Sure, he’d seen her during our fight with Xaver, but he didn’t know her like I did. Yet, he was willing to come to her if anything went wrong and help her? I couldn’t believe it.

“Wow, Eli. That’s amazing. Thank you.” And I meant it. If there was no way for me to know Kay needed me, it made me feel a whole lot better to know Eli could. Especially if he still had that deadly spear of his.

Eli turned to me, his hazel gaze all seriousness. “I know how important Kay and this family is to you, Jade. I saw you almost give up your eternal life to spare hers. If you need them protected, I will do it. It will be my honor.”

I wasn’t going to question that. He understood how I felt about them, and that’s all I cared about. These people were the closest thing to a family I had. Even though they were still alive and I… Well, I wasn’t anymore. But somehow, fate had crossed our paths one day, and here we were. Now I couldn’t imagine my afterlife without Kay. Even Laurence had grown on me, and together, they had little Zachary. This family meant everything to me, and if I was put in a situation like I had been in before with Xaver, would I trade my afterlife for one of theirs again?

Without hesitation.

When we left Kay’s, I was feeling a little better about leaving her with an opening to Hell so close by. But only slightly. Sure, it was great there was a way for Eli to come to the rescue if need be, but what if Kay couldn’t reach her rosary in time to summon him? What if it took Eli some time to get to her? The idea of her, or Laurence, or Zach getting hurt because of some kind of runaway Halfling made my skin crawl with anxiousness. Like thousands of little ants running over my arms and legs.

I had to talk myself down before my anxiety climbed too high. I couldn’t be there every second of every day to protect her. If I didn’t like Eli doing it to me, I was sure Kay wouldn’t like me doing it. Especially now that she had a family and so much happening in her own life. I also had to remember I wasn’t responsible for everything in the afterlife. It wasn’t my fault if demons and Halflings crawled out of their hole and attacked people. More importantly, I couldn’t save everyone. But then, why did my shoulders suddenly feel so much heavier with obligation? Why did it feel like this was my job—to protect them all—and I was failing at it?

A sudden heavy hand on my shoulder stopped my mind from visiting that dark place of regret and self-disappointment. When I lifted my head, Eli was standing there giving me a look of understanding. If anyone knew about the weight of responsibility and the sinking sensation of failure, he did, right? He had told me losing track of me and being unable to protect me had been the hardest thing for him. And his kindhearted stare said all of that again as he searched my face.

It was comforting to know he could relate. That I wasn’t alone.

“Do you two need a minute?” Lisa’s laughter had me automatically stepping away from him.

His reassuring touch fell away, and he cleared his throat.

Guess angels could get a bit flustered, too.

To prevent the embarrassment from seeping into my skin, I tried to change the subject. “We need to get back to the afterlife,” I said as I reached into my back pocket for my chalk. I stepped up to the brick-faced wall on the building beside Kay’s and started drawing the symbols to activate the spirit door.

“Then I’ll be able to be with Wyatt again?” Lisa asked.

I was about to say yes but then realized I couldn’t for sure. Since Lisa had been dragged directly to Hell right after her death—or so I suspected—this would be her first time entering the afterlife this way. That meant she would have to go to spirit orientation and choose what afterlife to live the rest of her days in.

There was a chance she’d end up right back in Hell again, or worse, in that endless line in purgatory. If that were the case, there was nothing I could do to save her again. Hell was truly where she belonged, and I had made a mistake.

But if she went through the orientation and was chosen a normal afterlife for the good-spirited people, she would most likely end up in a human one. Unless she fought for her afterlife, like Wyatt had. Maybe whoever ran that part of Styx Corp. would put them together, then. Was there someone I could talk to there and put in a good word or something? A manager? The whole place ran like one of the Wall Street banks, so why not? It even had the corruption, too.

When I realized I hadn’t answered her question and she was still waiting, I said, “When you pass through, you will most likely go to what I call ‘orientation.’ It’s where they examine your life and decide where to put you. Humans and supernaturals are separated in the afterlife, but your husband somehow convinced the powers that be to put him with the magical folk. I’m assuming they allowed it because of how much he knows about them. So do you, so if you want to be with him, plead your case and don’t take no for an answer. Be strong and you’ll hopefully be placed with him.”

She suddenly looked very nervous, and I didn’t blame her. “And if I’m not? If they don’t listen?”

“Well, then, I’ll have to step in.” I drew the final squiggle on the door, and it glowed orange. “Don’t worry. It’ll work out.”

Wow. I repeated that lie—more like half-truth—so many times to the spirits I reaped, it was becoming a bad habit. I didn’t exactly know what the heck came after they stepped through the door. But honestly, who wanted to hear that, especially after trying to deal with the fact that they were dead? People wanted to be comforted and reassured everything was going to be all right, and since I was the first one they saw after kicking the bucket, it was my job to do that. One I had appointed to myself, but still.

Just like the other spirits, Lisa was still unsure but was hoping for the best. What other choice did they have at this point? They had to go to get to their final destination. My only hope was that I had been right with her and Lisa would be able to have the afterlife she deserved.

I stepped aside to allow her to go through the spirit door first. She walked up to it and glanced at me.

“I’ll see you on the other side,” I told her with a confident nod.

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