Chapter 20

I hopped the fence."Keep it down," I said.

Xtelle did lower her voice slightly. "Did you see that? Did you see that kick? Did you see it? Did you see how amazing it was? Hooves. Why would you want squishy feet with toes when you could have hooves? Hooves bring the hurt."

Than grunted softly in a way that could have been taken as agreement, then he crouched, one hand extended toward the figure.

"Wait," I said. "I need to know you're you."

Xtelle was still mincing, her little one-two-three, step-step-step thing was going to wear a rut in the yard. Not that I even knew why she was in this yard.

"Of course I'm me," she scoffed. "There is no one as magnificent as a unicorn—"

"—pony," I corrected.

"—beautiful as a unicorn pony queen!"

Okay, that's all I needed to hear to know she was the real Xtelle, but I'd seen too many movies where a bait and switch let the bad guy get away.

"Not you," I said to Xtelle. "You."

Than withdrew his hand and, still in a crouch, looked up at me. "You wish me to prove that I am who you think I am?"

"Yes."

"And who do you think I am?"

"Nope. You're going to answer three questions. If you get them right, I'll believe you're who I think you are."

He sighed and stood. "Begin."

I bit back a smile and squinted at him.

"What is your secret hobby?"

He stilled. "I have many secrets. I have many hobbies."

"The one you hide away inside your house."

The look in his eye was part amusement, but also a little bit of warning. He was willing to play along with this game, but I was going to pay for it.

Worth it.

"I garden."

I nodded, but I couldn't hide my relief. I knew this must be the real Than—for one thing the imposter was wearing different clothes, but I didn't know how quickly a ghoul could transform into another shape. If it were instantaneous, then it was possible Xtelle could have kicked the heck out of the wrong grim reaper.

"What did you spend your recent time off doing?"

"Walking," he said mildly.

"And?"

"Is that your third question?"

"No, it's a modifier of the second."

"Ridding myself of unnecessary inventory."

"Hiding kites for kids."

He just blinked, and waited.

I had a chance to ask him something more, something important. I supposed he could lie to me, but since this was to prove that he was really him, I had a feeling he'd stick pretty close to the truth.

I could ask him if he knew if this war everyone thought was headed our way would mean we would lose people.

I could ask him why he had come to Ordinary, why he stayed. I could ask him when I was going to die, when my friends, my family were going to die. I could ask him if he could bring my father back to life.

From the sudden heaviness in the air, I thought he knew what was going through my mind.

I took a breath and braced myself for his answer. "Do you like Myra more than me?"

That startled him. It was absolutely delightful to see the honest surprise on his face, the almost vulnerable confusion.

It was only a second or two before he took in my grin and pulled his dour expression back into place. "Currently? Yes."

I laughed and nodded. "All right, you're you. Good job. I'm convinced. Let's see who we have here. Do either of you recognize it?"

I bent down next to the ghoul and moved its arms into a more comfortable position. It groaned, gaining consciousness.

I held on to its wrist for a moment. "You're okay," I said, squeezing gently, "you're safe. But I want you not to run. Can you sit?"

The ghoul groaned, bent both legs, and put its hands underneath it to push upward.

It was strange—really strange—to stare down into the face of a friend, knowing it was not my friend looking back at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

That caught it off guard. Its eyes moved between Than and me.

Xtelle just snorted from behind it. When it didn't speak, I tried again.

"I know you're new in town. My name is Delaney Reed. I'm here to help you get settled in, and also to tell you the rules and laws that all the citizens agree to follow here."

Still nothing. It had gone from staring at me to throwing short, slightly panicked looks at Than. The eyes might be moving but the mouth was clamped tight.

"You should talk to her," Xtelle said. "She's the, well, I wouldn't say leader, but she has some small authority here." Xtelle bent her leg and sort of nudged the ghoul in the shoulder with her knee.

"Gee, thanks," I said.

The ghoul finally twisted to look at Xtelle, and if I thought it looked uncomfortable before, it looked absolutely mortified now.

"Queen Xtelle?" it said, and I had a moment of vertigo as a sweet tenor voice came out of the not-Than shape.

Weird.

"How could I have not known it was you, Your Majesty? I am honored if you would forgive me?" It executed a pretty good bow considering it was sitting and half twisted around.

"Of course you are honored. Do you hear that, Delaney? Someone here is giving me the respect I deserve."

"Super neat," I said just to watch Xtelle's eyes narrow.

"So," I said to the ghoul, "do you have a name and a pronoun you prefer?"

It was interesting that the rest of the world was starting to catch up with us on the whole pronoun thing. We'd been asking that question for generations, since our population was as wide as it was varied. Asking right up front seemed to be the easiest way to keep everyone on the same page.

The ghoul gave one more bow to the ex-queen of demons, then twisted back to look up at me. "I am Artishall the Supple? You may call me Tish? They?"

"Tish." I nodded. "Were you in the car that fell out of the sky yesterday?"

"Yes?"

"How did you take Than's shape?"

"Than?"

I jerked my thumb toward the glowering god of death next to me. "Than."

"Oh?" Tish said. "There was a broken fingernail? On the beach near rocks I was hiding behind?"

Everything the ghoul said came out as a question, but I didn't think it was actually asking me to confirm what it was saying.

I glanced at Than, who held up his left hand. The nail on his forefinger was broken and much shorter than his other nails.

"All right. So that answers that. Good." I smiled, and Tish head-tipped as if not quite sure what to do with approval.

"Why did you come to Ordinary?"

I didn't think Tish was going to answer, but then Xtelle nudged them in the back again.

"I was working? Helping? I was helping a friend?"

"Okay, who's the friend?"

They shook their head.

"What work were you doing?"

Another shake of the head.

"Who were you helping?"

Shake.

"Did you steal the god weapons?" Than asked and his voice dropped the temperature in the surrounding area by twenty degrees.

The ghoul opened and closed their mouth.

"You shall speak now," Than invited, though it sounded more like a command. "I require it."

"But here you cannot, can you, god?" they whispered.

Brave. Stupid, but brave.

"The god may not," I said, "but I can. Where did you get the car?"

They wouldn't look away from Than and even though they were wearing his face, I could see, maybe, the actual shape of the creature beneath it. The eyes were set farther apart, I thought, the mouth wider.

A woman laughed as she strode by with three dogs on leashes, a cell phone pressed to her ear. We were partially hidden from view behind the fence, but there was still a chance someone would look over and see me, two identical twin Reapers, and a talking pony.

Add cell cameras to the mix, and it was a very real possibility Vivian Dunn could find out something odd was going on here by scrolling through social media.

"We're going to need to talk somewhere a little more private," I said. "Come with me please, Tish."

"What about me?" Xtelle asked.

"What about you?"

"Why aren't I going somewhere private to talk to them? I know all the ghoul secrets."

"You told me ghouls are acquaintances. Neighbors."

"And you believed me? Really, Delaney, I thought you had to be clever to be a detective."

"Why are you even here?"

"I ask myself that every day. I signed the contract. You said I had to stay in Ordinary, no backsies."

"I never…no," I said. "Why are you in this yard?"

She looked around as if just noticing she was not at Hogan's house where she belonged. "This isn't my house?"

"One, you don't have a house. Two, no, this isn't the house where you're staying. And three, you know that."

"All these shacks look the same to me. Square, square, square, roof, roof, roof. Someone should put numbers on them so people who are used to living in interesting places like castles, palaces, and fiery volcanic pits, can tell them apart."

"They have numbers." I pointed.

"Well, I ignore those," she said, turning her head to one side.

"Were you spying on me?"

"No."

"Were you meeting up with Tish?"

She snorted. "I discovered Tish at the same moment you did. Well, a few moments earlier than you. And I wasn't spying on Ryder."

I rubbed at my forehead. "I didn't ask you if you were spying on him."

"Good. Because I wasn't."

I knew she was lying. "Ryder's out here?"

"How would I know? I'm not spying on him."

"Xtelle," I warned.

"Fine. He's right over there. For someone who says she's in love, you are shockingly unaware of his presence."

I took a couple steps back to the fence and sure enough, Ryder was out there on the sidewalk at the corner of the block, pointing at a manhole cover.

Next to him stood an aggravated Vivian Dunn. He might not be boring her to death, but he was certainly annoying her.

The look of wholesome sincerity on his face, the way his hands moved like the history of our manhole covers was the most interesting thing in the world, the way Vivian's eyes were glazing over—I couldn't love that man more.

He was, however, between me and my Jeep. Taking Tish out there was a risk. Tish was new to town, and working for someone, and possibly a thief who had access to some very powerful spells. That made Tish a flight risk. Unless I slapped handcuffs on them, which would only draw more attention, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't run for it again.

"Can you take on your normal shape?"

Xtelle gasped, and Tish's eyes flew wide.

"You want me naked?"

"No, not naked, just…the shape you are when you're not something you've eaten."

That all sounded bad, and I was pretty sure I had offended them, but I wasn't sure why.

"Naked?" Tish repeated.

Xtelle cleared her throat. "I'm sure Delaney doesn't want that." She was addressing Tish, but staring straight at me. "No one would ask a ghoul to gadabout in their first skin, because it is incredibly rude and invasive. You're not rude and invasive today are you, Delaney?"

"I am not," I said. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Tish. You're the first ghoul I've met. I'll do better as I learn more about you. Thank you for being patient with me."

Xtelle's mouth dropped open, then she closed it. The look on her face was something close to grudging respect.

"You are welcome?" Tish replied.

"Plan B. Than, can you take Tish into the station? You can use my Jeep if you want."

"I have a vehicle," he said mildly.

"Okay, is it here?"

"It is not. My house is not far. We will walk."

Like that wasn't going to draw even more attention. "I don't think it's going to be a good idea to see two yous strolling down the streets."

"Then perhaps you would give them a strand of your hair," Than suggested.

"What?" I said a little too loudly. "Are you kidding? You want Tish to be me now?"

The wicked glint in Than's eyes said he wasn't kidding. Also, he was enjoying this. Payback time.

"Artishall, will you don a Delaney skin?" Than asked.

"May I?"

"May he?" Than asked. "Unless you have another letter of the alphabet you would like to use as a plan?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. It didn't bother him in the least.

Because, no. I didn't have another plan.

I could call for back up, but every minute I dithered, was another minute wherein Ryder and Vivian could see us, or Tish might run.

"Dammit," I said. "No, I don't have a better plan." I plucked a hair out of my ponytail, wincing at the tiny sting. "Is this enough?" I held it out for the ghoul.

Tish, who was still sitting on the ground, took the hair from me, and nodded. They stuffed the hair into their mouth, swallowed, and literally between one blink and the next, I was now looking at myself sitting in the grass.

It was uncanny and set off my fight or flight instincts. An awful lot of my brain was agreeing I should be fighting. Fighting the heck outta that Delaney. Or fleeing. Fleeing before Delaney-ghoul caught me and ate me whole.

I inhaled through my nose, exhaled through my mouth, making space for reason. Settling myself with being around this being's nature, this kind of magic.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen someone do something I thought was unsettling, but that was completely normal for them. I'd get used to it if they stayed here. Just the first time seeing myself, a whole living, breathing me right there in the grass was weird as hell.

"Excellent," Than said. "Shall we?" He offered his hand to me, well, to Tish, and I stepped back, nodding and nodding.

"Are you going to give Than any trouble?" I asked.

Tish shook my head, and I wondered if my hair was always that color—more streaks of blonde now that the sun was out, little glints of red. "I don't want to die?"

"He won't kill you."

Than grunted like that was still to be decided. Xtelle snorted like she didn't believe a word coming out of my mouth.

"He won't," I said, glaring at Than, "kill you. He will put handcuffs on you if you try to get away. And as we both just saw, he can outrun you. Even if you're me."

"I am to be tortured?"

That voice coming out of my mouth made my throat close up for a minute. It was the uncanny valley turned up to the max.

"No torture," I assured them. "Just talk. Go with Than. We'll figure this all out. Why you're here, how we can help, what part of the god weapons deliveries you're involved with."

My eyes, well, Tish's eyes went wide. I hoped that was not what surprise looked like on my real face.

"Let me go distract Ryder and Vivian," I said. "Give me about two minutes, then you can head off."

"I'll come with you," Xtelle said.

"No."

"You need back up. Every police show says so."

"I don't need a talking pony for back up."

"Of course you don't. You need a unicorn demon queen."

"No, you're going to go back to Hogan's house where you belong, Xtelle. Unless you want the government taking over Ordinary and starting a war with every single supernatural in town, you will cool your jets, keep a low profile, and go home."

I thought she was going to argue, but she tossed her head, making her mane shine. "Fine. I'll go back to a boring existence in this boring town. When do I get to have fun? When? A nice shopping spree, the theater, a consensual virgin sacrifice?"

"I'm not even going to unpack all that. But if you want a life that is something more than what a pony is allowed to do, choose a different shape."

"But responsibilities come with different shapes."

"Yep. You got this?" I asked Than.

He was a god. The god of death. He had probably met a lot of ghouls before. The ghoul certainly knew him on sight. I didn't think it would be too terribly difficult to keep the ghoul from running.

"If there are problems," Than said. "I will just torpefy them."

The ghoul made a little eep sound, and now I wondered if that's what panic looked like on my face.

"Sounds good," I said, not knowing how Than would do that exactly or why the mere mention of torpefying a ghoul would get that kind of reaction out of them.

"But remember to follow the law. No one will be harmed under our watch."

"The ways of Ordinary are clear to me, Reed Daughter." He extended his hand once more to Tish. Finally, Tish accepted.

For a moment I was standing face-to-face with myself. Tish held my gaze, maybe a little fascinated to see me this way too.

"Do you get any more of me besides my shape?" I asked. "Like my thoughts? My memories?"

"I am not a mind reader? Your memories are not mine?"

"So, no?"

"No?" Tish smiled. I knew it was not my smile, because it was shorter, pursed more in the center. And while I thought it was strange to see it on my face, it still was genuine, joyful.

I smiled back, because how could I not, and watched as Tish changed their smile to duplicate mine.

"You're good at this," I said.

Tish nodded quickly. "It is my great pride?"

"I can see why. Okay, Tish, we'll get this all figured out. Go with Than, don't run, or try to escape. If you're hungry or thirsty, let Than know. He'll see that you're taken care of. I'll meet you both there."

"You," I pointed at Xtelle, "go home."

"You can't make me."

"I can," I said.

She rolled her eyes and trotted over to the green space behind the house where the fence was lower. "I do what I want," she said. Then she hopped over the fence and took off at a slow trot.

"The queen is your friend?" Tish said.

"I don't think so, Tish."

Tish-me just smiled back at me and looked smug.

Whatever. I didn't think a ghoul had a very good grasp on the dynamics going on in this town, much less whatever relationship I'd built with the ex-queen of hell.

"Delaney?" a woman's voice called out. "Is that you?"

I glanced over the fence. Vivian Dunn was headed this way, fast, Ryder right on her heels.