I could ask him why he had taken my father. Could ask him if he knew the details of his death. Ask him if he knew why Dad drove off the cliff on a road he’d been driving since he was fourteen.
It had happened so suddenly.
But that wasn’t the question I most needed to know. That wasn’t the death I had to solve today.
“Do you know how Heimdall died?”
He was silent for long enough, I wondered if he was just ignoring me. But finally, just as I was turning into Raven—or Crow’s—glassblowing shop, he spoke.
“I am Death, Reed Daughter. I know each light that enters the darkness.”
“Useful. But what I’m asking is how Heimdall—his mortal body—how he died.”
“Quietly.”
I parked the Jeep. “Are you being vague just to tease me, Than?”
“That doesn’t appear to be my way, does it, Reed Daughter?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think you’ve got a wit.”
His mouth twitched. Not a smile, but as close to one as I’d seen today.
“He was peaceful. Content. That I know.” His voice took on a sonorous tone while the air in the car dropped five degrees. “He did not struggle into the darkness, but welcomed it, his soul at rest.”
I waited, hoping he’d have something more specific for me. “Uh…right. That’s nice to know. But I was really asking if it was an accident, and where the head wound came from.”
“I am the god of death, Reed Daughter, not an enthusiast of murder.”
“Murder? You think this is murder?”
He regarded me with gravestone-black eyes.
“I need you to be very, very clear with me, Thanatos. Do you think Heimdall was murdered?”
“Yes.”
I waited for more. But trying to wait out Death was sort of a dumb tactic. “Would you care to tell me who did it?”
“As I said, Reed Daughter, I am not a prognosticator of murder, nor do my ambitions include dime-store divination. I believe I have signed a binding contract which states I will only be allowed to remain in Ordinary if, upon entry, I immediately relinquish my power onto a resting state.
“I have been within these borders for twenty-eight minutes. If I remain much longer, I shall be in breach of contract. You would find the results of breaking a contract with Death most regrettable.”
“I liked you better when you were vague.”
That got another not-smile out of him.
“I shall strive to acquiesce to your wishes, Reed Daughter.”
“Good. Start by calling me Delaney. Let’s stow that power.” I got out of the Jeep, and Than followed suit.
Crow’s shop used to be a Mexican restaurant. He’d hired Ryder to redesign it. Between the two of them, they’d turned it into something that looked more like a piece of art than a restaurant.
Dark brick was scattered by marble stones of red, white, and deep turquoise. Set on top of, under, over, and between the bricks were the glasswork that Crow was so good at creating. The side of the building facing the main road was decorated by an ocean of sea creatures from starfish to gray whales, and of course the famous float orbs, all hand blown out of glass.
On the side facing north, the glass pieces became whimsical. Some sea life, yes. But intertwined with that were fantastical birds, reptiles, and little fey creatures that didn’t exist in nature (except maybe in Ordinary) and a truly stunning waterfall and river that looked like real water when traffic headlights or the afternoon sun caught it just right.
The nature-scape of glass was strategically placed so that darker brick around it created the very clear impression of dark wings and a raven’s head above it, the black door its center.
