Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“You will accept the cash. You will accept the fact that we do not have this ID. You will give us a room fit for a king. And you will do so without any trouble.”
The man starts to slump in my grip, his eyes glazing over slightly.
“Tuoni, someone is coming,” Hanna whispers frantically.
I release the man just in time for someone to walk behind us and disappear around the corner.
The secretive man sways on his feet for a moment and then splays his hands against the counter. He gives his head a shake and then reaches for the cash. “Yes, of course. A room fit for a king. That will be no problem.”
I give Hanna a shaky, albeit triumphant, smile while he counts out his portion of the cash and hands the rest back to Hanna. He does some more clicking on his computer and hands me a slim yet hard piece of paper.
“Room 354,” he says to us. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Chapter 13
Hanna
The Shower
The front desk clerk hands Death the keys, and I immediately take them from him. The last time he thought something was a key, it turned out to be a stick of gum, which he then promptly put in his mouth and swallowed.
I give the clerk a grateful smile, watching him carefully for signs that his brain might have been permanently scrambled, or that he’s playing along and is about to call the police on us once we turn our backs. After all, Death literally had him by the throat.
But the clerk only smiles at us, dazed, before his attention goes back to the computer, as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
Imagine the power, I think to myself as I touch Death at the elbow, guiding him toward the elevators. He can get anyone to do anything. We could rule this whole entire world.
For the first time since I discovered I lost nearly a year of my life and that everyone I love thinks I’m missing or dead, I feel empowered, but I know that feeling won’t last long.
How can it?
The world might feel the same, with not much change happening on a global scale in the time I’ve been in the Underworld, but I feel as if I’ve been in a coma, just waking up. To have time taken out from under your nose is probably the most unsettling, unnatural feeling one can have.
I’ve felt unmoored before. When I had to go into recovery for my eating disorder when I was a teen and drop out of dance, I felt like I lost my place in the world. I watched as my old friends went on in their classes, progressing where I should have, while I was stuck on the sidelines, battling my mind and body. I lost my identity. I didn’t know who I was anymore if I couldn’t dance, if I couldn’t be the person my mother wanted me to be.
Then, when I graduated high school, I briefly moved to San Francisco for an internship at a fashion app start-up. Even though it was still in the same state and a long day’s drive from LA, I felt totally alone. I didn’t know a soul, and the job wasn’t what I thought it would be (unpaid internships are a capitalist scam). I ended up quitting the internship long before I told anyone, because I was too afraid to be seen as a quitter. I just wanted to go back to where the world was familiar to me. It turns out, I didn’t hate stability and comfort as much as I thought I should.
And now, well, now, the world has never seemed more at odds with my existence. I feel like a literal ghost, someone who died and came back to life in time to see that the world has moved on, as it always does.
I suppose that is what happened, though. I did trade my life for my father’s. I essentially gave myself to Death, in two different but literal ways. I was never supposed to come back here like this.
Neither was Tuoni.
Which is apparent when he reaches out and actually knocks on the closed elevator doors.
“Tuoni, no,” I say to him with a quick shake of my head.
“Ah yes, we need a key,” he says.
I sigh softly and push the button for the elevator. At least he’s taking things in stride, much better than I am. He probably feels just as unmoored as I do, yet I don’t think he’s too concerned about not getting back to Tuonela. I suppose it’s hard to lose confidence when you’re an immortal god. He has spent his existence getting everything he asks for.
The elevator dings open, and I step inside before waving for him to follow me. He does so with great suspicion, his brows furrowed together. The elevator shakes a little from his weight as he looks around.