A Book of Dust and Breath

Chapter Forty Seven

When Lily opened her eyes she found herself in yet another dim room. A different atmosphere filled this space. The darkness was heavy, but not menacing or oppressive. She was certain of her safety in this place.

She saw all this from the glow of a single lamp on an old, enormous, military style desk behind which a woman with hair and eyes the same steely color as the desk peered at her over half-moon spectacles. "We don't usually see your kind here. This is an administrative office, not a daycare."

In her arms, Liam squirmed, yawned, and opened his beautiful brown eyes, so like his father's.

The truth of his safety struck her and she nearly fell to the ground. Hot tears filled her eyes. The enormity of all of the emotions she'd experienced since the moment she heard Max's cry of alarm an eternity ago in the upstairs hallway came crashing down on her. She gasped for breath.

"You're not going to faint in my office, are you?" the woman asked in her low, drowning voice.

"She'll be fine," A powerful male voice answered. "She is stronger than you can imagine." Azrael stepped into the circle of light and put an arm around her. Lacking the will to fight the tsunami of tears, she curled into his powerful chest and let him hold her while she cried.

How long was that?

A moment?

A lifetime?

Both?

It didn't matter. The strong arms of Death stayed around her, preventing her from falling down. No longer did his energy scare her. What was death, but the start of new life?

Eventually, her tears slowed and her breath came a little easier. She pulled away and he released her.

"I'm sorry," she motioned to the mess on the front of his shirt.

"It's no matter," he assured her.

Lily wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Are the others..."

"Max is free."

"Max, but what about Daniel? The companions? The demons, are they..."

Azrael interrupted her once more. "There is much to discuss. Max wasn't sure if you would want to see him. He asked that I meet you here."

Did she want to see him? The question hadn't really occurred to her, but now that he'd put it into the world, she wasn't sure what to say about it. Instead she asked, "Where are we?"

"Nowhere," he answered. With a quick glance around he explained. "This place is a void--a space between spaces. It is nowhere. Here, there is no time and no space. Nothing exists here," he paused, rocking his head back and forth for a moment as though thinking. "Except Harriet. She chose this non-plane of existence because, in her words--"

"No one bothers me here," the old woman said blandly from behind her desk. "Yet here you are. Talking. Do you know how hard it is to type these forms with all your chattering?"

Azrael's powerful, melodic voice was a lot of things. Chattering was not one of them.

"Will you come with me to speak with Max?" He asked. "There will be no danger to any of you."

She believed he was not above keeping secrets, but she also believed when he gave a flat, straight statement like that he was telling the truth. In fact, something about him made her believe he was actually incapable of telling a lie. She gazed down at her child, bright-eyed and content, watching the two of them with an interest far beyond what she would expect from one so young. He was the image of his father. Her husband. The memory of his body hanging from the chains sent shivers through her.