Deathless

Chapter 27: Jackson

The lift pings, its metallic throb ricocheting through the lift. Muzak starts, a painfully chipper melody, which makes me feel like someone is pouring treacle into my ears. We stand silently in a row. Awkward, uncomfortable, and painfully aware of what's coming. Lucius is clasping and unclasping his hands before him, practically vibrating.

"I don't see why one of you can't do this?" he grumbles, his unhappy voice growing gruffer with every syllable. Thomas coughs to cover a chuckle.

"We've been through this..." I say, gritting my teeth as I twist my head to look down at his pursed mouth. "Ginny likes you. Ginny will be more distracted by you than me. Plus, if you ask her out, she'll be so distracted I doubt she'll even remember her own name. She's certainly been waiting long enough."

"I don't think that's true..."

"Jeez..." Thomas grumbles. "How are we even friends?" Lucius glares at him.

"And Thomas needs to dose the coffee. If the amount is off..."

"By even a drop." He nods, suddenly serious.

"It won't work or will work too well."

Lucius huffs, folding his arms tightly across his chest. More to stop the fidgeting than halt the tantrum that's rising behind his flushed, puffed-out cheeks.

"And me, I need to be ready to follow Carmel. It can't look like one of us is following her. She'll suspect it. Trust me, under the colourful knitwear, her mind is a steel trap."

"But..."

"Mate...." Thomas starts, his face failing to hold back a smirk that has Lucius glowering. "Just talk to the pretty girl you've been gawping at for decades. It was cute in the nineties. Now it's just embarrassing."

Lucius says nothing, but I hear him huff under his breath. Thomas looks my way and we're both fighting smiles. The plan was simple, if not exactly foolproof. I needed the Ghouls to select a different death than Millie's—I needed them to select an alternative. And though it was wrong, though it was tearing up my insides like I'd swallowed a chainsaw, it was what I had to do to save her. The only person, other than Death, who the Ghouls took commands from was Carmel. Thomas's little dream potion, administered at the right amount, would put Carmel in a suggestive, sleep-like state. From there, I could gently suggest she ask Louis to re-write the death.

That we needed to distract Ginny so Thomas could slip the potion into Carmel's daily morning latte, forcing Lucius to talk to her was just a bonus. Even if he seemed more bothered by that than risking Death's wrath...

"I still think..."

The lift jerks to a stop and then the doors open with a tinny ping. Thomas and I storm out before Lucius can utter another excuse. Grim Grub is just off from the main atrium, and already busy as we slip in through the glass doors. If Tim Burton ever designed a coffee shop, it might look a lot like this—all black and white, with peculiar skull wallpaper and mismatched furniture. A small queue of tired-looking office workers are already yawning by the counter. We linger by the food chiller, taking a long time to decide on a breakfast sandwich none of us want. My eyes darting back to the doors.

Now we're here. My stomach lurches with the reality of how badly this could go wrong. What if Thomas is spotted dropping the sand in Carmel's drink? What if he gives the wrong dose and something happens to her? My body is so tense I feel like I could snap in half. A cold sweat dots across my forehead.

Thomas nudges me and leans down to whisper in my ear.

"We've got this." I smile weakly up at my friend, swallowing hard. I turn to Lucius, who looks like he might throw up. His eyes fixed on Ginny in pure terror. I glance back at the glass doors, and then at the large silver clock hanging above the counter. I'd been following her for days, trying from a distance to get to know her routine. And luckily for me, Carmel was a creature of habit. She came at the same time every day. There was another thing about Carmel—she was impossible to miss. I watch as she approaches the doors, her colourful clothes gleaming through the glass before she's even walked into the cafe.