Chapter 21

Over the next six months, Thanatos focused my training on reaping and fighting. Fighting wasn't something that Ferrymen typically did. Still, he had taken classes over the centuries and shared his knowledge with me, teaching me to fight hand-to-hand and how to use my scythe while fighting.

The Memitim continued their killing spree. The only reason we even knew the deaths were being caused by them was that there were no souls to reap. Their scythes didn't just sever the ties that bound the soul to the body and kept humans alive; they destroyed the soul, so nothing was left. No chance for reincarnation. No spending eternity in the afterlife. Just nothingness. Complete and total nothingness.

The murders had drawn the attention of the police. Aside from Mrs. Gordon, who had been bludgeoned to death, all of the murders were clean and looked as if the person had simply died of cardiac arrest. If it weren't for the number of deaths, the police wouldn't have even been looking into them. Truth be told, if the souls weren't missing, we wouldn't even be looking into the deaths either. Our search into The Memitim was made slightly more difficult by the police doing their job.

On my way to talk to Thanatos, I noticed his office door was open a crack. Something that he never did, mainly because Kerberos loved to wander off and give kisses to everyone. Cautiously I walked into the office and, aside from the door being opened, noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Kerberos had been left home that morning when we drove in. So, not seeing him in the office was not unusual. I was about to head back out when I noticed an envelope on the coffee table with my name on it.

Picking it up, I opened and read it:

Andy,

Congratulations on getting your scythe. You are a very hard woman to get in touch with these days. I do hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to let you know that we have taken Thanatos. Since you ignored us when we killed your neighbor and that Processor, we thought this might get your attention. If you want to see him again, you will come to a meeting at 755 East Highland Avenue. Give me a call and let me know if you are coming.

Azrael

I stood there, frozen, reading, and rereading the note in my hand. They killed Mrs. Gordon and Charoon because hey wanted me? And now Thanatos was in danger, and it was all my fault. Why didn't they just take me? I wasn't that important to The Ferrymen, but Thanatos… He was the leader of this branch. They needed him. I had no choice but to call Azrael and take care of this.

As the phone rang, I paced the empty office. It was so weird being here without Thanatos. We'd spent so much time together in here talking and doing research,' especially after Charon's death.

"Come on. Come on. Pick up. Pick up," I murmured as I waited for there to be an answer on the other line.

"Andy. How nice of you to call. It's been forever since we last talked. How are you doing?"

"What do you want, Azrael?"

"Straight to the point, I see. Very well. I want you. You and that lovely scythe of yours. You come to my office, and I'll let your boyfriend go."

"He's not my boyfriend. And why didn't you just take me instead of going through with this cliche plan of yours?"

"Opportunity. He was alone. You never are." There was a moment of silence. "Come to my office tomorrow, and we'll discuss the terms of getting him back. Be here by noon. We'll talk over lunch. See you then." And with that, he hung up.