Page 5 of Touch of Death
Hermes shifts uncomfortably beside me at this.
“I know, but,” my guide pauses for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully, before continuing, “this one is different.”
“Different,” Charon sneers, “how so?”
“She is still warm.”
“Is that so?” Charon muses, the empty hood tilting as I feel his attention shift to me. “And what of her body? Where is it?”
“I must admit that I do not know.”
Charon’s silence is nearly as unsettling as the way Hermes refuses to meet my gaze as I glance between them. Yet again, I can’t help but feel like something isn’t right, but no one is willing to explain what is happening.
“What do you mean by that?” Charon finally asks, his gaze seeming to turn toward Hermes.
“I mean, her body, I could not locate it in the mortal realm.”
“Impossible,” Charon snorts, his hood shaking in disbelief. “Did you truly look, Hermes? We both know you have a tendency to be flighty,especiallyaround this time of the year.”
“Yes, I did,” Hermes snaps, his fists clenching at his sides, “but there’s only so much I can do when the girl does not even know her own name.”
Charon pulls back slightly at this.
“What did you say?”
“The girl, she says that she remembers nothing of her life before, let alone how she got here.”
I feel Charon’s attention shift back to me, the empty hood tilting slightly to one side as if he’s considering me in a new light. The weight of his gaze is heavy, sending shivers racing down my spine and across my skin as it bores into me.
“This mortal, where did you say you found her?”
“I did not—”
“Tell mewhere,” Charon snaps.
“At the top of the mountain.”
“You fool,” Charon hisses at Hermes before stepping closer to me, a gnarled hand suddenly appearing from the depths of his many layers as he raises it out toward me.
My eyes catch on his hand, taking in the sallow skin stretched far too taut over twisted bones. I’m so distracted by the fact that there appears to be more to him than just floating rags that it takes me a moment to process that he’s speaking to me.
“Give me your coin, girl,” he demands, his voice dragging over my skin as if challenging me to disobey.
“Coin?” I ask, my brow furrowing as I absentmindedly pat myself down in search of one to offer him before glancing up at Hermes in confusion.
“See?” Hermes says. “No body, no coin, nomemory.”
“Of course, I see that, you imbecile,” Charon hisses, cutting Hermes off as his hood snaps toward him. “Have you forgotten our orders when it comes to …livingsouls?”
“No, but … waitthatis what she is?”
“Do you know what you have done, boy? She should never have left the alter! Gods be damned, I should tossyouinto the river for this.”
“What are we supposed to do with her now?” Hermes asks nervously.
The ferryman sighs deeply, shaking his hood in thought.
“What has been set in motion cannot be undone. The mortal must be dealt with, but without a coin, there is only one thing left to do unless we both want to lose our heads over this.”
