Dead Harvest

  'He was bored. He had grown tired. What do you know that I don't?'

  'Nothing,' I said, a bit too quickly. 'I only meant –'

  She cut me off. 'He's dead, isn't he? He's dead and you killed him.'

  I said nothing for a moment, just squirmed beneath her withering glare. 'Yes,' I said. 'I killed him. Merihem, too.'

  'Do you have any idea what you've done?'

  'They would've done the same to me,' I said.

  'Yes, I suspect they might have – as would have been their right. But for all your talk of protecting the balance by refusing to collect an innocent, you sure have a funny way of maintaining it. This could well lead to the very thing you claim you're trying to avoid.'

  'Yeah, but if Beleth set up the girl–'

  'You idiot – Beleth couldn't have set up the girl! For a creature of his kind, his power is inextricably linked to his being, his essence. If he had set her up as you claim, his death would have released her, and I assure you it did not.' Lilith saw my face drop. Again, her smile came out to play. 'You really thought he did it, didn't you?'

  'I hoped he had, yes,' I replied.

  'Then tell me, why on Earth did you kill Merihem?'

  'Merihem's death was an accident. We needed information. He was something shy of cooperative.'

  'Should I take that as a warning, Collector? Perhaps I should endeavor to be more forthcoming. Still, I thought the two of you were… not friendly, exactly. Collegial, I suppose. I'm surprised you had it in you to kill him.'

  'I did what I had to do.'

  She appraised me a moment, frowning. 'You're lying. It's written all over your face. You didn't kill him, did you? It was the girl.'

  'One of his kind killed her family,' I shot back. 'She saw a chance to even the score, she took it. You can't blame her for that.'

  'Of course, of course. Or perhaps the girl worried that Merihem might expose her for the charlatan she is? After all,' Lilith said, caressing my cheek with the back of one blood-colored nail, 'how long do you think she'd last without her big, strong protector watching over her?'

  'You're wrong about her,' I said.

  'Maybe, maybe not. It hardly matters. They sent another to collect her, you know.'

  'I suspected they might. Collectors I can handle.'

  'Don't be so sure. This Collector is one of Beleth's own. A thousand years he's walked the Earth since Beleth first sired him, and not a shred of humanity remains. He's more demon now than man.'

  My stomach dropped. 'Bishop,' I said. 'They sent Bishop, didn't they?'

  She raised an eyebrow. 'You know him?'

  'We've met.'

  'Ah, but of course you have! Then you know full well what the girl is in for. You, too, I'd imagine. As I understand it, he was something of a pet to Beleth. You see, he thinks of Beleth as his Savior – his one true God. What do suppose a creature such as he would do to the man that killed his God?'

  I said nothing – just stood there, stunned. She approached me then, and draped one arm around my neck, pulling me close. Her body pressed against mine, and my head swam with the scent of her, all jasmine and spice and sex. I clenched shut my eyes to steady myself, but it wasn't any use. As her lips brushed against my ear, she spoke.

  'This vessel suits you, Collector – we could have had such fun with it, don't you think? It's a pity they will flay it alive for what you've done. And who knows? Perhaps I'll see you then. One way or another, I think I'd like to hear this body scream.'

  Then, suddenly, she was gone – and with her, her warmth, her dizzying scent. I stood shivering in the darkness, alone.

• • • •

A frost had settled across the cemetery, the blades of grass crunching beneath my feet as I trudged back to the treeline, and to Pinch. He paid me no mind as I approached, instead staring at the spot from which I'd come. He stood wide-eyed and mouth agape, his forearm streaked with blood. The kerchief lay forgotten at his feet.

  'Who was that?' he asked, his voice small and faraway.

  'Nobody. We have to go.' I crunched past him, into the forest. He didn't budge.

  'She was beautiful,' Pinch said. 'Bring her back.'

  'Maybe later. Right now, we have to move.'

  'I could give her more blood,' he said. I watched in horror as Pinch fetched Anders' knife from his pocket and dragged the blade once more across his forearm. Fresh blood welled, glistening black in the moonlight.

  I grabbed him by the wrist, trying desperately to still the blade. He struggled against my grip. That's when I hit him. A backhand blow across the face, hard enough to knock him down. Pinch glared up at me from the ground, eyes full of cold fury. At least it beat the moony stare of a moment before. I extended a hand to help him up. Reluctantly, he took it.