However, his time with me was coming to an end, hence the reason I was taking a vacation. In the morning, we’d be leaving on a goodbye cruise. The nephew I’d raised approached the end of his life in a human body. Soon, a curse upon his line—passed down through generations—would strike, making him into a permanent sea monster.
Which really sucked. I still remembered the day Ian had come into my care, arriving along with news of my much younger sister’s demise. A solemn-eyed toddler, he’d gazed at me, doing his best to still a trembling lower lip. My first impulse as a confirmed bachelor was to send him to the orphanage. What did I know about raising a child?
Yet there was something in his face… He reminded me of his mother, but even more, I saw me. A mini-me, the son I’d never had.
“Guess we’d better move some books around and make room for you,” I’d said.
At the time, my home, the home of a scholar, hosted thousands upon thousands of tomes. Books that over the years found themselves returned to the library as Ian, my nephew and new son, grew. The evacuation made room in my house for a child who educated me more than any book could. He taught me that there was a world outside of my studies. Showed me what it could be like to share my day with someone else. He made me crave the company of others. Reminded me what life had been like before I became a demi-demon in Lucifer’s service.
And now, he was leaving me. It made me sad as I packed my things for our last vacation together, including a satchel of books. A proper librarian never left home without at least a half-dozen. Except, I wasn’t actually a librarian any more. I’d finally tendered my resignation to the devil’s shock. Retirement meant more time to do the things I wanted.
Like this cruise. I made my way to the port where I ran into my nephew, who managed a weak smile.
“Got your ticket?” my nephew Ian asked.
“Yes, I’ve got my ticket. I’m old, not senile.”
“Are you sure? I heard you let goblins loose in the library again.”
“Who, me?” My lips curved. “How else am I supposed to train the newbies properly?”
“One of these days, they’ll catch on to the fact that you’re playing them.”
“Who says they haven’t? On the contrary, once they realize the emergency is faked, they become part of the story that continues it.” In order to teach, I used awe. Reverence of my skills. The acolytes saw me going after goblins, snaring them with ease. They eagerly listened to everything I said after that.
“Yeah, well, they might not mind it, but I’m still pissed you had those brine burrs sink the ship I traveled on when I was ten.”
That brought back a fond memory. I’d been trying to teach Ian about accepting his kraken side. Learning to work with it in the hopes he wouldn’t completely lose himself later.
“You survived.”
“You could have warned me the burrs on their bodies would stick to the insides of my mouth.”
“How was I to know you’d lack common sense and eat them?” Never even occurred to me to tell the kid not to eat something called brine burrs. We figured out it was his monster side making him do that shit. It needed to be taught so he didn’t end up a mindless beast like his father.
“Ready for sunshine and cold beverages?” Ian faked enthusiasm as he indicated the portal. Our turn to go through.
“You forgot bikinis.”
“Did you bring yours?” Ian taunted before striding towards the inter-dimensional rip.
It rippled on the dock, and nothing could be seen through that hole to somewhere else. We could be stepping into a volcano for all we knew. Yet when I passed into the rip, feeling the pressure and cold of nothing and the sum of everything at once, I exited from the ashy heat of Hell to the moist sunshine of the Caribbean.
It had been a while since I’d tasted the atmosphere of Earth. I’d only been back a few times since I was cursed to become a demi-demon. Tilting my head back, the hot rays of the sun kissed my skin. I breathed deeply, inhaling all kinds of smells that weren’t brimstone and ash. Brine, the whiff of smoke from a stack, a bit of ocean decay. Not all that nice, yet it wasn’t Hell. “Damn that smells good.”
“Incoming!” yelled an imp waving a fluorescent glow stick.
My nephew nudged me, and we moved to allow the next person through. My steps soon slowed as I glanced overhead, noting a pair of incoming witches on brooms. An older woman and a young lady. For a moment, my heart stuttered. I used to know a girl who rode a broom back in the day.
But she got married. Had a child. Once I realized she’d moved on without me, breaking my heart in the process, I’d never looked her up again. Nor did I ever care for another like I did my sweet witch, Dorothy.
“Did someone piss in your coffee? You look so sad. Don’t tell me you’re going to be a sour-faced downer this entire trip,” Ian teased me. He’d been making light of his demise for a while now.
I didn’t laugh. I couldn’t help but feel I’d let him down.
“I will be a grumpy old demon if I want to,” I grumbled.
“Maybe putting on a bathing suit and going for a dip will soothe your crotchety tendencies.” Ian held the elevator door open, waiting for me.
What would I do without him? “You’re a mouthy brat.”
“Learned from the best.”
I hid a smile.
Ian tucked his hands into his pockets and slouched against the elevator wall. “So, I saw you eyeing those witches. You going to try and hook up with someone?”
“I am not here to get laid.”
“Why not? I’m thinking I should have a last hurrah.” He winked at me, and my heart turned sadder. I saw right through the attempt but played along.
“We should find sisters.”
“Don’t you mean a mother and daughter pair?” Age-wise, I was much older than my nephew, but in appearance, not quite old enough to be his dad.
The elevator spilled us out onto a floor well above water. Our lavish suites were side by side. A good thing because I wanted to be close to my nephew in his final hours.
We chose to split up and unpack. We’d meet again for dinner. I’d no sooner closed my door than a certain goddess decided to visit me.
Springtime flowers filled the room a moment before she swirled into view.
“Gaia, I thought we discussed knocking.”
The pretty goddess of nature, wearing a light green summer frock, a crown of woven daisies, and a chocolate handprint over her boob, inclined her head. “If I appeared in the hallway to knock, then people might remark on the fact that I was visiting you. Not a good idea since we don’t want Lucifer finding out I’m sneaking off to see another man and lying to him.”
She put it in terms of the worst-case scenario possible. The reminder brought a groan. “I really wish you’d tell your husband what we’re doing.” Because I didn’t need the hassle of dealing with an angry Lord of Hell. He tended to be quite jealous where his wife was concerned.
“You know we can’t tell! He would lose his ever suspicious and possessive mind.” She stamped her foot, and I was sure they felt the ground quake somewhere in the world.
“We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Other than going behind his back.”