Candy Bones Read online

  “I’m sure. I am Reaper. Death. Destroyer of worlds. I think I know a non-nuit when I see one.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay. Maybe you should go out with more protection for a while,” Eris says, causing a small tornado in her hand.

  “I’ll be okay. I would take Euphrates if he were still around, but it’s okay.”

  “Dante or Eugene would be more than happy to help. I can call them,” she says. Dante and Eugene are Eris’s assistants.

  “No, you can keep your boy toys to yourself, you may need their big strong muscles in case you come across any gallu during your rituals,” I tell her, winking.

  She makes a gagging face. Considering her assistants are cala, and therefore non-magical, they wouldn’t be much more than fodder for a pack of gallu. I suppose I could pick one of them up and throw them at the gallu to get away. Neither Dante nor Eugene likes me very much, I wouldn’t miss them terribly.

  Eris suddenly smiles at me, “Destroyer of worlds?”

  “Well I would have done a number on those gallu’s world if they had hurt Bran.” I shrug even though idly I am aware my scythe was no match for them, unlike Oz and his sword. Oz, what a weird name. Oz. Ooooz. It doesn’t even sound like a real word or name. Bran crows outside pulling my thoughts away from the mysterious non-nuit, letting me know he heard me. He’s not allowed in the donut shop. Something about germs, even though Bran is a magical object and can’t carry germs, but non-nuit don’t know that. When he’s in Grim Sweets he’s usually in book form.

  “Well I can bring it up and ask around, but you’re more likely than I am to garner their attention right now,” Eris tells me honestly.

  I scuff my toe around the tile floor. “I know, it’s just,” I throw my head back whining, “Do I have to? I hate approaching the counsel.”

  “Here, this will make it go down sweeter.” Eris passes me a voodoo doll iced donut that looks suspiciously like one of the immortals with it’s serpentine eyes.

  “Uh trouble in paradise?” I ask her referring to her very immortal boyfriend.

  “No.” She grins. “This was Tre’s idea. So far they’re working, no nocturnus will come in the shop but some of the werewolves working at the jail have ordered some. I’m pretty sure they’re eating them in front of the few they’ve captured that are still on the run.”

  “Ah nothing like biting off the head of an immortal to start my day off right,” I say, ripping into the doll only to discover it’s filled with raspberry jam the color of blood. “That’s cold,” I say around the donut.

  “If you want I can go with you. I’m sure Beirdre will let me off early if I ask.” Eris picks at her nail.

  “No, it’s okay. I’m a big girl. Besides since…” I don’t finish telling her that since Anya’s passing the society has actually been kinder to me.

  Eris grabs my hand, “I get it. We’ve switched places.”

  I bite my cheek, she’s not wrong. Eris is a necromancing priestess, about as high up in high society as you can get. Being a reaper, we’re usually pretty up there as well, only reapers give even the most powerful nocturnus the heebie jeebies. I learned as a child to not even try to fit in, so I quit trying. By the time Anya and I set up shop, quite literally, in Apres LaMort I was accustomed to being on my own. Avoiding society outings. Then I met Eris, a necromancer who didn’t care at all about high society standards. She was quirky, cool, and not at all like other priestesses. We just fit. She is the best friend Death could ever ask for. Eris has always been revered by high society. I was avoided even though convention dictates I am treated well and if I show up to the counsel my opinions are taken seriously. Since Anya’s death, many nocturnus have offered me their condolences. Most even would tell me stories about someone in their family she reaped and how glad they were their family member had her by their side when they passed. It is weird for me, but I’ve survived. Going to the counsel now with the gallu sighting, without Eris who isn’t trusted by the society at the moment, can only help get to the bottom of whatever happened last night.

  “I can approach the counsel myself, but if you could put some feelers out? Maybe just see if anyone knows this Oz. He not only didn’t seem surprised by the gallu, but he had a weapon that burned them,” I say.

  “You might want to leave him out when telling the counsel about the gallu. One insane thing at a time is always best.” Eris grins at me.

  Chapter Five

  “Today we have a last-minute addition to our docket, Wraith Thanason,” the counsel announces finally. The counsel building was far from packed today, but these proceedings always take forever. It took even longer since as soon as I walked in I had multiple nocturnus come to talk and check on me. It’s weird. Too weird for me. I need a shower after all of these nocturnus kept touching me and my arms.

  I stand and approach the counsel, “Thank you sir,” I say.

  “What brings you here today Ms. Thanason?” Counsel Hawthorn asks me. Her hair is short, framing her chin. She’s taken a far more severe look as of late. She used to look softer. Still out of any of the thirteen counsel members, Counsel Hawthorn is the most approachable.

  “I would like to thank the counsel for seeing me today so last minute,” I say.

  “That is our job,” Counsel Darkblood says. Ah, Counsel Darkblood. You’d think out of anyone he would be the top of the list of those who are nicest to me. When the immortals took over Apres LaMort, they murdered his little girl. I was the one who helped her spirit finally cross over. Instead he’s as venomous as ever. I try to mentally give him the benefit of the doubt, losing anyone is hard, as I’ve come to recently learn. Losing a small child, that must be beyond painful. And yet Counsel Darkblood has a way of just being unlikable. Then again so does most of high society.

  “Yes,” I say slowly to him. “Anyways I had something quite disturbing happen last night and I felt it imperative for the counsel to hear about it. While out reaping, I happened across a pack of… well, I know how insane this is going to sound, but it was a pack of gallu.”

  A hush falls over the room.

  Counsel Hawthorn clears her throat. “You’re certain?”

  “There was no mistaking them. I barely got out of there myself. The reaping I was there for was not as lucky. I got his soul to cross over though,” I say. A reaper who fails crossing over a soul, well it doesn’t exactly look good. There’s no point system, it’s just better all-around that I didn’t fail at that tonight. Less chance I look like I’m bad at my job and making excuses.

  “Where was this?” one of the counsel asks.

  “Hemlock Alley,” I say.

  “That’s were the police found that murder.”

  “Murder?” I ask.

  “You don’t follow the news do you?” the elderly curmudgeon Counsel Varkus says to me and picks up the day's paper. Grisly Murder Found in Alley; Police Baffled.

  “Right. Well, now you know who the murderers are.” I shrug.

  “I find your nonchalant attitude concerning Miss Thanason. Do you realize the gravity of the situation? Gallu aren’t supposed to be able to survive outside of their realm, so what are they doing in ours? And why don’t you care?” Counsel Varkus asks.

  “If you are implying she had something to do with it, Counsel, I will have to disagree,” Counsel Hawthorn says, interrupting the old man. “Reapers, while incredibly powerful in their own way, do not have the ability to bring gallu here.”

  “I just wish for her to explain her attitude.”

  “Would it make it easier for you if I were upset even though that wouldn’t change the facts? I’m literally around death every day, I’ve seen every manner of dying, and yet I know there’s more to it. I didn’t want to come here today, I came out of a sense of duty. I don’t need unnecessary additions showing up in my ledger. I saw exactly what those things are capable of, and let’s just say my scythe was no match for them. So if you have some other way of protecting us from these things however they’ve been unleash
ed, you might want to focus on that instead of worrying about my perceived attitude.”

  “Okay,” Counsel Hawthorn speaks up, before the red-faced Counsel Varkus has a chance to stop his silent anger and speak. “We thank you Miss Thanason for bringing this to our attention. We will be working closely with the police to find out just what is going on.”

  “Will this affect the gala?” someone from the crowd yells.

  “Do you think it was the nostrae nocte?” someone else shouts.

  “Let’s get some order here.” Counsel Darkblood stands. “Of course, the gala is still on. I would also ask us all to be observant, safe, and mature about this. We already have one gallu run-in, we do not need the chaos that comes when we start blaming everything out of place on fake societies like the nostrae nocte. If you remember, we pushed a full-scale investigation at the behest of the immortals when they were in town; and found nothing. Not one sign of their actual existence, just rumors. Rumors that would have played right into the immortal’s plans had we believed them. Spreading rumors like that is dangerous. Let’s keep this inquiry supported by facts only.”

  The nostrae nocte is an infamous rumored secret society. One that the counsel obviously doesn’t believe in. Neither do I. Grandma Anya used to tease me about them when I was small. We weren’t afraid of boogey men or monsters under our bed, because the monsters were afraid of us. I used to beg her to tell me scary stories, I loved the thrill fear brought. Where most hid from their fears I reveled in them and wanted to find more. I was always interested in the macabre. In order to scare me, my grandmother used to tell me scary stories about the wildly evil adventures of the nostrae nocte. I smile slightly remembering and a pain clenches around my heart.

  I walk away from my podium where I had approached the counsel. I’ve done my duty, told them relevant facts without adding too much. I don’t like being in crowded rooms like this, it’s less fear and more an annoyance. Someone in the small crowd still watching today’s counsel meeting grabs me, halting my escape from the offending room.

  “Wraith.” Julietta Lacy pulls me close to her. The Lacy’s are close with Eris’ family. Since losing Grandma Anya, Eris’ Mémère has all but adopted me. Each of the Lacy’s have all reached out in one way or another. “I was wondering if you plan to attend the Nocturnus Gala coming up? No one has heard if you’ve responded to your invite and we were all wondering.”

  The gala? I mention demons are loose in town and all she’s curious about is the gala? The Nocturnus Gala is just an excuse for high society members to show off how much money they have compared to the rest of town. It’s the same families talking about the same dull things they do at every gathering. I do not attend them. I suppose I’m not the only one with the wrong attitude around here.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” I lie.

  “Oh, you must come! Anya was always such a presence there, it would be an honor to have you in her stead.” Julietta pulls out a card and waves it in my face, “If you need a dress, hair, makeup, anything just call this number. Gustava will take care of you. You’d be her new muse with your features.”

  “Erm, thanks.” I take the card just to get it out of my face.

  Chapter Six

  Pouring the candy into the skeletal shaped molds is so oddly satisfying. I could watch it all day, it's mesmerizing, even in the large quantities I had to make for this project. I’m making a life-size candy skeleton to put in the front window. I thought about putting a reaper’s cloak on it, but I want everyone to see the different levels and colors to it. With a cloak it would be all covered up. This is going to be a masterpiece. I am even going to name it, Rickets. Just to annoy my spectral stalker out front. I smile. This is the first time I’ve decided to change the window since Grandma Anya passed. I used to have a small notebook I filled with things here or there I would pitch to her to fix or change in the shop. She took on some of my ideas, others she ignored. I kept the notebook swearing that once she retired, I would change it all. When she did hand over the shop to me, I just didn’t feel like listening to her crow if I did something she didn’t like. I think it’s time to do one small change. That’s all. Hopefully it will steer me in the right direction of learning to live without Anya’s loving protective presence around me.

  The candy bones will have to set for a few hours. I put the molds into the drying room on some shelves. I still have to pull out and wrap today’s candies, once I fix a problem I created myself. I went through a whole orange cremesicle flavored theme the other day. I had this weird urge to put orange cremesicle flavoring in every single candy I was making so I just went with it, and now I’m left with a ton of orange candies. I could stick them in a bag bin. Customers could fill a little bag with as many as they like and pay by the weight. The only problem is any nocturnus doing so will be very surprised when one candy numbs their mouth, and the next blows steam out of their ears or lifts them two inches off the ground with the levitation potion I put in some of them. When non-nuits eat my candy, they can have bad reactions, like, chocolate factory type reactions. When Nocturnus eat the candy that I create here using the old recipes passed down the generations of Thanason women, well it packs a bit of a punch and gives them certain abilities. I get special orders day and night from nocturnus looking for magical remedies in candied form. I have non-nuit candy set aside for when the tourists come through.

  Although if I were to put all different kinds in a bin and by chance just forget to warn my nocturnus customers of that happening, it could be fun to watch. Decisions, decisions. I pull out a dollie and pick up a giant clear plastic bin with it that I keep in the corner.

  “A bin it is.” I say to myself. Sheet by sheet I pour the candy into the bin. It only fills it half full since I hadn’t planned for this all to be bin candy, but it will do. Rocking the dollie back ,I begin the backward ascent out of the storage and drying rooms.

  Bran’s rattle pulls me out to the library. I can hear his book rattling on his stand. He only does that when the ledger gets new names or when he’s nervous. We’ve finished our reapings early today, he shouldn’t be shaking.

  “Honey, I’m home!” Eris calls from the front of the shop.

  I rush past Bran, stopping to pet his feathered cover. He’s still shaking, trying to warn me of something. He shouldn’t be nervous, it’s just Eris. He knows her as well as he knows me.

  “Back here!” I call to Eris. Something is wrong.

  “Hey, I’ve got news for you.” Eris enters the library. She must have stopped by the front; she already has a hex candy she’s unwrapping. Grandma Anya had an agreement with Eris, all the candy she wants for free. My grandmother always did have a soft spot for her. I was more of a daughter to her than anything. She never got to have the real grandmother experience, so she chose to adopt Eris in that way and spoil her. Just as how Eris’ Mémère has now taken to me. Grandmothers. I sigh. “Woah,” Eris stops, “I just got a weird vibe, what’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure, Bran is acting out,” I tell her.

  Eris looks around the room and her eyes get wide. “Is that maybe because there’s a demon in your shop?” Eris whispers. Her eyes dart back and forth between me and the top corner of the room.

  I look up. I have to really focus, but I see it. It’s some sort of serpentine shape. It’s invisible to the naked eye but there are slight ripples around the shape. Definitely not a gallu. Over the last week there have been more and more gallu sightings. Along with people coming across other demons. All of which have been small, which is lucky, because no nocturnus has any of those nifty weapons Oz with no last name had. So mostly anyone who has come across the demons haven’t lived long or gone unmaimed. Our hospital has been having quite the higher rate of incidents coming in. It’s been one to two attacks a night at least. Demons can’t survive in sunlight so its just the nights that stuff like this has been happening. Apparently, the sun has set and I didn’t even notice. Such is the life of a grim reaper I suppose.

 
I back up slowly. “So you said you have news for me,” I say loudly to Eris trying to play it cool. “Does it have to do with the problem with my scythe?” I ask, immediately conjuring up my scythe and covering myself in my robe.

  “Uhh yeah sure!” Eris almost yells at me. It causes me to startle, I glare at her. Easing my way towards the corner, I hold up my scythe as if I’m about to show her something.

  “Well, we will just have to talk about that in a minute, for now I just need to-" I lunge towards the invisible beast, “Aha!” I yell as the tip of my scythe knocks it out of the way. I doubt I can kill it, but I’ll still try. If not, maybe I can just hockey it out of my shop.

  A demonic screech comes out of the thing. It hits the floor with a thud, causing it to become visible again. It’s a shiny black lizard creature with a green tint. Its mouth is gaping with a row of sharp teeth. It’s tongue is undulating with the screech. Eris covers her ears.

  “Shut up!” I yell at it and swipe my scythe right into its mouth. The screeching stops as it gags.

  Eris jumps in using her little wind tornado to throw the thing across the room. It flies right through my shop into the front room hitting the display window and falling into a candy-filled cauldron I have up there.

  “We can't beat it,” I tell Eris. “Best we can hope for is getting it out of the shop, even that might not hold it.”

  “What do you mean?” she asks.

  I hold up my scythe. The tip is gnarled from being in the little demon’s mouth. Eris looks between me and scythe nervously.

  “We can do this,” I tell her. She still looks nervous. “Eris! You defeated the immortal clans; we can do anything together.”

  “It’s not-" A loud clang stops Eris midsentence.

  The cast iron cauldron is rolling across the stone floor, candy scattered. The once again invisible lizard is nowhere to be found.