A Book of Dust and Breath

Chapter 30

Daniel sat on the porch, watching Max rake leaves. His feet were propped on the railing as usual, but one of them sported a thick brace. His beer hung, forgotten, from the fingertips of one hand. "You can't be surprised, mate. It was only a matter of time."

Max redoubled the speed of his work, not looking up as he spoke. "Of course I'm surprised. How many women have you been with? You don't have a trail of children across the globe."

"You don't know that. I never stuck around with any of them. And you're not one of the Created. The same rules don't apply." He said no more but sat watching the birds flit around near the riverbanks across the road.

Max gave thanks for a friend who knew when to sit in silence.

When Lily told him her news he let her see his joy and kept his fear buried within. Like a seed, it had sprouted and grown into a mighty oak, casting a shadow across everything else. If his wife could hear hissing and see shadows, the shadow crawlers already knew about her. They remained held at bay by the laws of life and death, but the day would come when she came too close to that line. It happened to every human at some point. It happened to women in birth every single day.

He felt the pull and stood in the void. Harriet was nowhere to be seen. Azrael stood behind her desk.

Max gritted his teeth. "You get demoted?"

His father's head, tipped a little to one side like he was considering the question. "I've heard congratulations are in order."

"Yeah. Following in my father's footsteps."

"It is not the same. You are not one of the Created."

Max threw up his hands. "Why does everyone keep telling me that?" He stepped closer, the desk the only barrier between them. "Don't you think I know my own frailty? Do you think I don't wonder every single day if I will be killed and have to start over? If I'll be dragged into the pit for a time that would seem like eternity to my wife? Do you think I don't live in constant fear that she'll die and be lost to me?"

"She will die," Azrael said, his voice as soft and soothing as a breeze. "It is the way of mankind."

The strength of Max's anger drained away. "I know."

His father came around the desk and put a hand on his shoulder. "The woman loves you. She is loyal to you. There is no great harm in staying with her if you can stay focused, but can you do that Maximus? Can you guard your heart against what you know must come and never forget the importance of your duty? You've struggled thus far."

Like a temperamental child, Max shrugged off his father's hand and moved away from his reach. "I have never forgotten my duty." Something about his father's words nagged at his mind.

"You have accomplished more than I could ever have dreamed."

"And now more is to be asked?"

"Raboch moves against us in the name of Corzor," Azrael said, his voice still low.

"He's not the first."

"And he will not be the last, but at this time, it is Raboch and his disciples we must shield man from."

Max paced, making a wide circle around the desk. She is loyal to you. The words tugged at him. He stopped and faced his father once again. "Have you spoken with Lily?"

"I have, just yesterday. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

"She..."

His father nodded in understanding. He had been with enough women to know what had happened. "She found out about the baby. She focused on that."

"Send me home, please. I have always done my duty. I would have thought I'd earned your trust by now."

It seemed his father would say more, but then he was back at his house with Daniel. He cracked the rake handle across his knee and whipped the pointed shards toward the nearby field.

"Dad gave you the heart-to-heart?" Daniel guessed.

"I will make this work," Max said.

"If anyone can do it, it's you, mate. You've always been a big-picture kind of guy."

Max looked up at his friend. "Is it enough to love her?"

Daniel took a long swallow of his beer. "I don't know. Seems to me love without wisdom is Anakin Skywalker killing the Jedi to find healing for his wife."

"You're saying I'm Darth Vader?"

"It all worked out OK in the end."

"Yeah, but not until everyone was dead," Max reminded him.

"I wouldn't think that would bother the son of the Angel of Death."

Max sank down onto the step. "Shit."

The watcher took another long drink. "Yeah."