It's a Wonderful Death - Sarah J. Schmitt Page 0,33
my ears, the words sound lame.
Gideon’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You thought Death Himself, the one who answers only to Azrael, would give an ounce of interest in you compared to the billions of souls he watches over every day?”
Well, when you put it that way …
But Gideon isn’t done. “You can’t possibly be that narcissistic.” I feel tears welling up in my eyes but he doesn’t seem to notice. Or maybe he doesn’t care, because he just keeps talking, his voice getting louder and louder. “I told you I would figure this out, didn’t I? I told you to keep your head low and not to make a scene.”
“Yeah, and then you left me,” I snap back. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Not run your mouth off to anyone in the Afterlife who can hear.”
Okay, he has a point. “If he’s so mad at me, why did he show up to my defense?” I ask.
My question is greeted with Gideon’s howling laugh. “That has nothing to do with your situation.”
“Of course it does,” I argue.
“You are delusional. He isn’t trying to save you. He’s trying to save me.”
I step back in shock. “Why you?”
“Because, princess, in your sad tale of woe, you name me as the Reaper who snags your soul.”
“Big deal,” I snarl.
He shakes his head slowly, tapping his forehead with the palm of his hand. “It’s a very big deal to me. Your story makes me look incompetent. Azrael doesn’t like mistakes. He brought the hammer down and ordered me cast into Hell.”
“You’re kidding,” I sputter. I hadn’t meant to get anyone in trouble. “But how does my case going in front of the Tribunal help you?”
Gideon lets out a weary groan. “Death Himself stood up to Azrael—said I was one of the best Reapers he had and that to replace me would be next to impossible. Azrael made him a deal. I can keep my position if we make you, and this whole situation, disappear in a way that makes everyone look good or …” his voice trails off.
“Or what?” I press.
“Or Death Himself will take the downward spiral with me, and his position will be reassigned to another celestial being.”
Understanding hits me like a brick wall. “Meaning Azbaugh?”
“None other.”
“So that’s why he wanted me stuck in the Lobby for the next seven decades.”
Gideon nods. “Azbaugh knew you would complain to any semiconscious person who arrived on the train and then word would spread like wildfire and before anyone could blink an eye, there’s a vacancy in the Death department. No one, well almost no one, in the Lobby is supposed to be able to hear you. But since you were able to wake up the biker, it’s possible you have the ability to communicate with the dead. Death Himself didn’t want to take any chances with you causing any more problems.”
“And that’s why he hates me,” I say, my knees buckling a little.
Gideon catches me by the elbow and leads me over to a chair. “He doesn’t hate you. To be completely honest, I don’t think he cares one way or the other about you. But he does want the best end result so he can prove to Azrael that he’s capable of solving problems on his own. For the entire span of human existence, Death Himself has run his department without anyone keeping tabs on him. He gets souls collected and transported here where he passes them off. When you showed up demanding to go back, a giant spotlight started shining on all of us. As you can imagine, he’s not too happy about it.”
“What does he mean about calling in favors?”
“You heard what he said about favors being currency, right?” I nod and he continues. “Clearing this up is going to make him, how do you say it, broke.”
I slump in my chair. “And the guides are going to cost him even more, aren’t they?”
“We can’t have angels or Reapers leading you through the tests. It would create all kinds of chances for biases. The only alternative is to use souls.”
A shiver goes through me. “But haven’t they already crossed over or whatever they do? Why would they help me?”
“Favors,” he says. “Who do you think picks the welcome committee for the new arrivals? Who do you think assigns souls to the different jobs up here? Death Himself is going to be in serious debt by the time this is over. That’s not a position he likes to be in.”