45- A Deal with a Scoundrel

"Well now, you weren't kidding when you said, 'besides the identity', were you?" Cole remarked as he looked across at Tau and Quayleigh, his head resting against his knuckles. "Does his family know?"

"No. From what we've gathered he, Dylan, set it up so his family would believe he went away for a few months and wouldn't be in contact."

"Times running out though?"

"Yeah, and quickly. His brother has already started looking for him, and with the cops aware that he's staying with me, it's only a matter of time before his family learns about it too," Quayleigh explained as she added a spoonful of sugar to one of the mugs.

"What story do the cops know?" Cole asked, watching as she poured the tea.

"I told them that I lost my memories. It isn't difficult to fake, and it isn't far from the truth," Tau spoke up as Quayleigh handed him a filled mug.

"Fair enough. It be best if you keep to your story. Even when the family starts to come around, don't deviate from it. That way when the time comes, you can use the lack of memories as an excuse. Say it was too hard to be a part of a family you couldn't remember, but that's a discussion for another time. We need to keep to the beginning for now and worry about the end later. So, tell me, any idea how this happened?"

"Show him," Quayleigh remarked as she handed a filled mug to Cole.

Standing up Tau turned around and removed his shirt.

"We found a letter in his condo addressed to his late fiancé, a woman by the name of Francesca. It sounded as if he was attempting to exchange his soul for hers, and a little over two months ago, he cast his ritual, but the result was Tauluthet stuck in his body instead. The letter basically instructed Francesca that his body was now hers along with everything he owned. Obviously, whatever he was hoping would happen, didn't. All we have to go on is this tattoo, his research notes, which are not stellar, and the remains of the ritual he left behind at his condo."

"Let me ask you something Quays; what exactly, are you trying to accomplish? What do you want to happen with Dylan and Tauluthet?" He asked before lifting the mug to his nose and taking a long deep breath in.

"I'm hoping to reverse what Dylan did. At the very least I want to return Tau to where he belongs, even if I can't do anything to get Dylan back. Regardless though, we have no idea what's happening in the land of the Dead. We don't know where Tau's body is, if Dylan is trapped in it, if anyone there has even noticed that Tau's gone. I haven't had time to try and contact any of the other reapers for answers, and while I would prefer to speak to Death over anyone else, we both know I have never found a way to do that. That's why this opportunity at the MET is something I can't pass up regardless of the risks to me. But limiting those risks does seem a wise choice."

"And what about you, faucheuse, what do you want to happen? What are you willing to risk?" Cole asked as he set down his mug, stood, and approached Tau. Pulling a monocle from his shirt pocket, he set it to his eye, and began to examine the details of the sigil tattooed on Tau's back.

"I want to make her happy, and I'm willing to risk the world to make that happen."

Cole momentarily straightened up and stared silently at the back of Tau's head before returning to his examine in a slower, more cautious manner.

Quayleigh, however, couldn't help but smile softly to herself as she closed her eyes and allowed his words to replay over again in her head. Even as he had never spoken the words directly, she couldn't help but feel, and believe, that in his own way, he did in fact love her.

"Regardless, would you prefer to stay and live out your days as Dylan, or do you wish to be parted from the corpse you're in?"

"If I could stay as I am, I would do so. My time here with Quayleigh is important to me. I will enjoy it for as long as I am able. But I know that this can't last. I've promised to be waiting for her, to be the one to greet her, to give her one perfect last day and night at my side before returning her to the river of life. I will not risk breaking that promise. I will do whatever it takes to make sure her last moments are with me, even if that means spending this lifetime searching for a way to make that happen."

"Go ahead and put your shirt back on," Cole said as he put away his monocle and returned to his seat. "I suspect you easily managed to identify the base sigil."

"Well, I think it's an altered Rowda'meth, but I haven't been able to determine what the middle section is from, and the runes along the outer ring are completely unfamiliar. But Dylan's notes mentioned both the Diama'tara and Athigoom, and that's why I want them both."

"Well, you always be welcome to waste his kind of money on a poor scoundrel like me, but I don't think you're going to find the answers you want in either of them."

"So, you know what this is? Can you help?"

"Sorry cher, I know what it isn't, not what it is. Rather, I don't know why this was the outcome. The runes are from an old mage dialect, one that you wouldn't recognize. The Adeeava, the current system of runes used today is based on the combination of this older dialect and the Haangu huaan, which is still in use in the far east. Either way, it's the layout of these runes that make no sense to me. At first glance, this ritual, regardless of what he was attempting, should have failed. But it's intricate, and I will need time to study it," he said as he looked towards Tau. "I want your permission to remove that sigil from your back."

"You can do that?"

"I can. It won't change your situation, but it will make it easier for me to study the details. If I can understand what it was that caused this to happen, I'll be able to at least give you some answers, and possibly even guide you in the right direction. It'll take time to remove, but I can do it this afternoon. That is if you don't mind sticking around."

"I can't stay much longer, I have to work this afternoon, and I'm not willing to give up a tooth, given the option of an alternative. Question is, are you willing to provide me with that alternative?"

"Yeah cher, I'll provide it for you," he replied as he dropped his gaze, seemingly none too pleased by the idea. "What time you get off work?"

"I'm usually home between twelve and twelve thirty."

Cold nodded his head, his eyes shifting in thought before he emptied his mug in a final swig.

"Alright then. I'll bring him with me back to your place and set up what's needed there. That way I won't have to charge you extra for his delivery."

"How abnormally altruistic of you," she remarked as she leaned over and topped up her mug.

"Oh no cher, it not be altruism, but greed. I'm going to help you with all of this, but in return, you're going to do something for me."

"I think I would rather just pay you cash," she remarked, always leery of doing favors in return for favors.

"Please mon amour, you haven't even heard me out yet." He chuckled and smiled while stroking his goatee in an ominous fashion.

"Fine, out with it, Cole, what could you possibly want more than money?"

"I want you to tell me everything you learn from the MET. More precisely, I want you find a tome in their collection. It's called the Miéa Gorhän'dahl. It's going to be smaller than most of the other books. Its binding will be unique, and runes will cover its spine. I have a feeling that you will know it when you see it."

"I'm not stealing a book from the MET for you."

"Who said anything about stealing it, cher? No, no, I just need you to read it. Line by line, page by page. Let it be the last thing you read in a day, and then come to me. I'll take care of the rest. If you can do this, I won't charge you for any of my time."

"You truly are a scoundrel right down to the core of your bones," Quayleigh replied with a bright grin and shake of her head. "I'll see what I can do for you but given that I don't know how exactly any of this is going to work, I can't make any promises. For all I know I'm going to be put in an empty room and what I'm allowed to read is going to be closely monitored. I might not even get a chance to find it for you."

"If that be the case, that be the case, and I write you up a proper bill."

"Are you even certain they have the book in their collection?"

Cole nodded. "On this you trust me. I know they have it."

"Fine, you have yourself a deal, IF you tell me what I might find inside this book."

"No worries cher, ain't nothing dangerous. In fact, you may just find answers suitable for the police. But I urge you to hold out. Don't tell them what they want to hear, until after you find what you be looking for. Truth though, I don't think you're going to like the answers you find. Death isn't like no magic you know. It ain't really no magic at all. Not like how we mortals understand magic to be."

"Won't this put you in danger?" Tau questioned, taking a hold of Quayleigh's hand.

"She'll be fine, faucheuse. And if she not, she has you to rescue her, no?" he remarked in a glib way.

"I'd sort of like to avoid being the cause of a mass murder at the Turnage City MET, if at all possible. Distancing myself from the current deaths is one thing, that however, might be a little harder to explain."

Cole laughed. "Fair enough, chére. Just don't get caught using that special gift of yours and you'll be perfectly fine."

"Special gift? I'm afraid you lost me on that one."

"Your eye cher. If these books truly be written by Death's follower from times passed, you need to read them with the eyes of the dead. But you, you have something even better. A beautiful eye touched by Death itself. Whether you know it or not, it be able to see things that mortal eyes are blind to."

Quayleigh gasped and giggled. "I'm such an idiot. How could I have not realized that sooner? Thanks Cole, now I know exactly what I need to do."

"You think her eyes are beautiful too?" Tau questioned out of curiosity.

"So, it seems you and I have found common ground after all. That is something we can build on."

"Anyways, Tau, before we go shaking hands and making deals, are you okay with everything that's been discussed here?"

"Yes," he replied with a tilt of his head.

"Ultimately, it's your choice if you want to let him remove your tattoo. If you aren't comfortable with me leaving you here, you don't have to stay."

"Quayleigh, do you trust this man?" Tau asked as he reached out and set his hand to her cheek forcing her to look him in the eye.

"I do. I don't think Cole would do anything to hurt you."

"You don't think?" Cole spoke up, acting as if she had deeply offended him with her choice of words.

"I know," she sarcastically rephrased tossing him a smirk, "I know he won't do anything to hurt you."

"Thank you," Cole muttered under his breath.

"Then that is all I need to hear. I will stay with Cole for the afternoon, and I will return with him to our home when he is ready to bring me."

Her eyes softened as she set her hand to his and lowered it to her lap. "I'm glad. I think it's the right decision. I promise Tau, we are going to figure this out and I'm not going to lose you in the process. I swear it."