Laz tried to get my attention. "Death. Wait. Let me help."

I scowled at him. "Help how?"

He swallowed. "There is a way to grip the soul that makes it easier to collect a reluctant one. You will need to do that here. She will fight you."

I looked at the woman and saw the fierceness in her eyes.

"How?" I whispered, desperately not wanting to do what I knew I must.

"Grab her wrist and her neck. The wrist is the soul's trigger to release and, where the neck goes, the rest will follow."

I was horrified. "I have to choke her out to take her?"

"Not exactly, but it will feel much like that," Laz explained.

"Death, let me come closer so that I can take her quickly," Lucifer requested.

I wanted to drop to my knees and wail. I wanted to throw a portal and run. I did neither. I shrugged off Laz's touch and nodded to Lucifer. We stepped to the woman together, and she screamed again, weakly. I held out my hand to her, hoping that she'd take it, but I knew she wouldn't.

"Do it quickly, Death," Laz instructed. "As much as one fluid motion as you can."

I lunged and grabbed her wrist, but I put myself off balance so that, when I tugged on her soul's neck, and it resisted, I fell forward. I had to let go or risk crushing the child.

The woman wailed again. Hot tears spilled and ran down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, but you must come with me," I said to the woman.

"No! My baby needs me!"

I sobbed once but got myself into a better position to grab her wrist and neck and pull hard. I felt her soul tear from her body, separating it from the flesh. As soon as it was free, Lucifer took it and portaled away.

I dropped to my knees and vomited up the bile that had risen in my stomach. Peter handed me a handkerchief, and I wiped my mouth. I glared at Nyx. "How long until I can take the child?"

"Two hours."

"Nyx!" Laz spat her name. "This should have been scheduled as two collections. You know that!"

She chuckled. "Oops."

"What are you talking about, Laz?" I asked, wishing I had a cold washcloth for the back of my neck.

"Once a collection starts, it cannot be stopped or interrupted. You are now bound to stay here for two hours until you can collect the baby's soul."

"Well, you might have to stay, but I do not," Peter said. "This is a travesty, and He will hear about it, rest assured."

I threw his handkerchief at him. "Yeah, you tell Him all about it. He's the one who put me here and set this crap in motion. Go ahead and run back to Him."

Peter regarded me with hot eyes before he waved a portal and disappeared.

"My, my," Nyx said, chewing on her reading glasses. "The plot thickens. He put you up to this? Really?"

"Shut up, Nyx," I ordered. She merely chuckled.

I reached over and picked up the child and held it in my arms. His body was listless, but he breathed on. I looked at Laz, my vision watery with unshed tears.

"What happens if I take him early? There is no one else here. What is the difference between taking him now or in two hours?"

Laz came to me and took him, placing him back next to his mother's cooling body. He tugged me to my feet. "Come away, Death. We cannot interfere. We can only watch and wait."

"But..." I began to protest.

The tattered curtain that functioned something like a door to the hut swept aside. A young woman stepped in, calling for the mother. I clung to Laz as we watched her discover the mother dead. The young woman stared down at her and the boy. After some time, she sat on the floor heavily and gathered the infant to her.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. He won't be alone. Laz put his arm around me, and I tucked myself under it.

The woman rocked and sang to the baby for over an hour. I was checking the time when I'd have to take the child's soul compulsively. My stomach rolled with the tension, but I managed not to heave again.

When Lucifer's portal opened again, Laz cursed. "Fuckin' Hell."

My Fallen Angel strode through and went to the young woman and knelt to her.

"Laz? What's going on?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"A deal."

I watched in horror as Lucifer extended his hand to her, and she took it. I felt the shift that indicated they had struck a deal. He stood but didn't leave.

My phone dinged.

"And, here we have collection three for the evening," Nyx announced.

My phone indicated that I was to take the woman. My head snapped to look at Lucifer. "What?"

"She is trading her life for someone to come and rescue the baby," he explained.

I looked at the young woman, heart pounding. "Will he be rescued?"

"I have arranged for missionaries to sweep through the camp. They should find him within minutes." He cleared his throat. "Death, you need to be quick. She must be dead before they get here."

I blinked, hesitating for a split second before I scrambled to the woman and held out my hand. She smiled when she saw me and took it willingly, and I helped her leave her body. "Does she have to go with you, Lucifer?"

"Yes, love. She made a deal. She will, however, have as pleasant an afterlife as I can give her. Perhaps she would like to help raise the children." He held his hand out for her, and I turned her over.

Just as I did, the curtain opened, and two nuns entered the hut. When they saw the baby moving between two dead women, they exclaimed and called for the doctor. He joined them in the tent as well, and, as one of the nuns took the baby, he declared the two young women dead.

Lucifer had allowed the woman to watch. She turned to him and smiled, nodding that she was ready. He opened a portal and took her to Hell, walking into a lush landscape filled with flowers and a buffet of food and drink.

"Aww. Wasn't that sweet?" Nyx cooed, sarcasm dripping.

I glared at her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"The baby? He doesn't make it after all. You'll be coming after him in about two weeks."

"Nyx!" Laz shouted. "That's enough!"

She crossed her arms and grinned smugly. "You have no authority here, Lazarus," she reminded him.

My phone dinged.

"Ah! And now we must go," she declared with mock cheerfulness. "So much to do, so little time. Oh, wait, not, we have plenty of time. All of eternity, in fact!" She cackled, opened her portal, and left.

I stared where her portal had closed. "She's going to keep this up, isn't she?"

Laz shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm afraid she will, darlin'."

"What can I do?" I whispered. "How do I get rid of her?"

"Only He can remove her from office unless she chooses to retire."

"Shit. I'm betting that costs something."

He nodded. "I either case, hon, I'm thinkin' you're right."

My phone dinged again, reminding me that I had another collection. "This is going to be a long night, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so, darlin'."

It became abundantly clear that Nyx was trying to break me by the time we had collected the fifth child. Lucifer had shown up for three of the five. At the last one, Nyx showed her hand.

"Lucifer, why don't you bring Azza with you next time?"

He looked at her sharply. His nostrils flared in disgust, and, for the first time, I saw hatred on his face. "I will not. Azza belongs to Death and I."

She cackled. "Oh, really? Has he fallen for the 'sovereignty before authority' crap you spew? And, you think he loves her? You know him better than that. He'll betray you both sooner or later."

I moved to say something, but Laz caught my attention and shook his head. "Now's not the time," he whispered, watching Lucifer.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed as he studied her. "What do you want, Nyx?"

She strode to him and put her arms around his neck. I seethed. Lucifer showed no reaction whatsoever.

"What do I want? Azza, of course. And, when I'm done with her," she declared as she flicked her head in my direction, "you'll gladly give him to me."

"No. You had your chance with him, and you threw him away."

"That's not the way he tells it," she purred as she pressed her body to him. "We ended quite amicably."

Lucifer reached up and physically removed her, setting her away from him as far as his arms would allow.

"Everyone but Azza sees that you're playing the long game, Nyx. You are hoping that, given enough time, he will return to you. But he will not."

She forced a laugh. Lucifer's declaration had affected her.

My phone dinged. I closed my eyes and sighed. I was getting tired and emotionally raw. When I looked at it, I saw that the rest of the list lit up all at once.

"Shit," Laz cursed again. "Who's your conflict buddy, Death?"

"I—I don't know. I didn't know I had to choose."

"Text Charlie. Right now."

I obeyed.

~

Me: Laz says I need a conflict buddy. Tag, you're it.

Charles: What's going on that you need a conflict buddy on your second day?

Me: Nyx.

~

I had no sooner hit send on the text than Charles' portal opened next to me. "Nyx!" he bellowed.

It surprised me that she flinched when he did.

"What do you want, Charles?" She sauntered away from Lucifer, trying to maintain her atmosphere of superiority.

"What are you doing, Nyx? There are no collections tonight that Death had to do beyond the one I gave her."

"What?" Laz yelled.

"Bitch," I heard Lucifer curse.

Nyx waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, well, I thought she needed a crash course, so I assigned her a few."

"Sixteen!" Laz shouted. "You assigned her sixteen!" He turned to Charles. "We have collected five children and two adults so far, three of them being deals. Now, we have a conflict collection of nine. There's no telling how many secondary deaths there will be."

Charles rounded on her. I'd never seen rage rise in anyone the way it rose in him. He started for her, and, to my amazement, she scrambled back.

"Stay away from me, Charles," she said.

"Leave," he demanded, circling her as a lion would its prey, "Now. And you will not assign Death collections anymore. You are relieved of that duty."

She laughed, though there was a twinge of nervousness to it. "You don't have the rank to keep from doing as I please."

"You're right, Nyx. I don't have the rank. But, you know what? I'm willing to risk His wrath to keep your ass in check."

"You wouldn't!"

He suddenly stepped into her personal space and grabbed her back the neck. He picked her up and held her, suspended, while she fought him, "Try me, bitch."

She waved a portal open and fought desperately to get loose. She didn't need to; he was more than happy to toss her through it.

When the portal closed, we all stared at him. He fumed and paced, rolling his shoulders under the tension.

"Charlie," Laz called to him. "You need to take yourself out, buddy. You know you can't go into conflict collection like this."

Charles nodded. He waved a portal. "I'll send the top-tier to help." His portal closed, and soon after, a dozen portals belonging to my office's top hierarchy opened. Laz quickly explained what had happened.

My phone dinged again, insistent.

"Laz, we have thirty seconds," I read from the display.

"Text the list to the tier."

I nodded, "Thank you, Charles, for putting everyone in my phone," I murmured to myself.