"Azrael! It's me! Taylah!"
Sure enough, Taylah slowly came into view through the fog. She wasn't in her uniform like she had been on Halloween, but blue jean shorts, a pink corset, converse and a dark sweater. Her hair was down, her bangs brushed out of her face and her fatal wound merely a thin white line across her throat. We'd never been close, but the sight of a familiar face had my arms around her in a tight hug.
"Oh, I can't believe it's you! Tuck, this is Taylah, one of my sister's friends." I beam, my companion giving her a slight nod of greeting.
"No kidding. I can say the same about you! Not everyone can say that they know death herself!"
"Heh…Yeah…" I rub the back of my neck sheepishly, "I…I knew you were here, but I had no idea we'd run into each other…are you alright…all things considered?"
She sighed, "I wish I could have done more …On Halloween…I…I tried to stop them…God, Abby's an idiot…"
"I know…Come on…Walk with us." We continued on our walk, the fog not seeming as daunting now.
"Ya know…You're kind of a legend here…In the Third at least."
I shot her a weird look, "Well…Yeah I'm Death?"
"No No…I mean besides that…everyone here knows about how you broke the royal jack ass's heart and how your brother banished him back here…I knew Mr. Church was too hot to be normal…"
"She's right…He mentioned you before all that but after…You're all he'd talk about." Tuck nodded, "Kept goin' on about how he was gonna bring ya here and win ya over."
"Oh yes, because Stockholm syndrome is so endearing." I roll my eyes, shifting my heels to my other hand.
"He sure seems to think so…Hey…Azrael…If you're here…who's…ya know…being death?"
Taylah's question gave me pause and I took a moment to consider it, "Well…The reapers will do their best to cover for me but there's only so many of them…Me just being on earth does a lot to make the job easier… It's our job to separate the soul from the dying body…so I suppose the souls would just stay put in their corpses until a reaper can get to them…"
"Like zombies!?" Taylah made a sound of disgust.
"I…I honestly don't know…I've never been away this long…"
Tucker put his arm out in front of us making a shushing noise. We held our breaths, listening…waiting…. hearing a rumbling sound…
"Traffic? Come on! We must be close!" The teen took off in the direction of the sound much to my dismay.
"Taylah! Wait!" I sprinted off after her, "That doesn't sound like…."
I nearly skidded into her. She was stopped in her tracks, eyes wide in fear and I immediately understood why. In front of her, peering through the fog where four sets of glowing red eyes, the rumbling getting louder as they got closer. The shadows of huge creatures a few yards away.
"…traffic…. Taylah…" Dropping my heels, I gently twisted my wrist to summon my scythe, holding it tightly in both hands as the hounds inched closer, "…run…"
She took of through the mist and I charged toward the demonic canines, two barking and snarling at me, the other two taking off, one after Taylah and the other the way we'd came. One of the beasts lunged at me and I reflexively held up my scythe, jaws that would have been around my throat clamped around the smooth black snath. Swinging the weapon, I sent the thing flying a few feet, the other charging while my back was turned. Quickly gripping the handles, I bring the blade around to pierce the hound through the side, it's body disappearing with a fading welp.
Making quick and similar work of the second, I run through the fog, calling out for my companions, finding Tucker quickly. "Oh God are you alright? It didn't get you did it?"
"What?" His brow furrowed and he eyed my scythe warily.
"The hound! There were four of them, one came this way…"
"Oh…Nah…The hounds only ever go after escaping souls that wander out here…Where's your friend?"
I pushed the door open to Jake's office, marching over to his desk, clearly startling him. I would have smirked if I wasn't so determined.
"Oh, hello dearest…I was wondering when you'd be…Why are you barefoot?"
"Jake…We need to talk…"
"Of course." He stood with his usual grace, walking around to lean against his desk in front of me, taking my hands in his, "…Though I can tell by your face this isn't simply for the pleasure of my company."
"I know Taylah is here."
His brow furrowed a moment then a smirk of recognition crossed his face, "Ah yes…The spare friend of your sister's. What of it?"
"I…" I bit my lip, hating what I was about to say, "I want her."
"What?" for the second time, he looked genuinely surprised.
"I want her…You…You have Tucker and Hanna…I…I want someone of my own…who better than someone I already know?"
"Princess, I don't know…"
I inched closer, biting my lip, "Jake. Please? I…I want to feel at home here…with you… Having someone from Venus Cove will help me. Please."
I saw a small twitch of a smile and mirth in his eye as he turned his face and tapped his cheek twice. Swallowing my pride, I leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss against it, feeling his arms wrap around my waist. "Very well. You know I'd do anything to make you happy here. I'm glad our cordiality is going both ways now. Come…Let me walk you back up to your suite…"