The Golden Age of Death (A CALLIOPE REAPER-JONES NOVEL) by Amber Benson Read Free Book Online

road, the Aspire’s prospects looking very uncertain.
    Jennice pulled out her cell phone, remembered she’d let her AAA membership lapse and that there was no one to call, then dropped the phone back into her bag. She was just gonna have to hoof it the rest of the way to Sea Verge and hope the policedidn’t impound the Aspire. That would cost her even more money she didn’t have in her bank account.
    Maybe after she’d sold Sea Verge she could buy herself a new car. Nothing expensive, just something that ran well and didn’t break down every time she drove it. That thought gave her something positive to hold on to and she used it to begin the long slog to Bellevue Avenue.
    She hadn’t gotten ten steps when a little green Honda Element swooped past then slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder in front of her. A woman with long, dark hair and the palest buttercream skin Jennice had ever seen jumped out of the passenger seat and jogged toward her, the woman’s brown boots making crunching noises as they churned up the dirt.
    “Your car break down?” the woman asked—and as she got closer, Jennice realized she wasn’t much older than she was. Twenty-five, at the oldest.
    “Yeah, it’s been on borrowed time for a while now,” Jennice said, hands on hips. “I guess it was finally time to pay the piper.”
    The woman laughed and extended her hand.
    “I’m Noh. My friend, Clio, and I can drop you off somewhere if you need us to.”
    Jennice took Noh’s proffered hand, it was cold as ice and there were hard calluses on the ridge of the palm.
    “Actually, I’m just going to Bellevue Avenue,” Jennice replied. “If you guys wouldn’t mind dropping me there, it would be much appreciated.”
    Noh wrinkled her brow.
    “That’s odd. We’re going to Bellevue Avenue ourselves.”
    Jennice smiled. It must be her lucky day after all.
    “Well, that works out, then,” Jennice said, pleased not to put Noh and her friend too much out of their way.
    “Come on,” Noh said. “I’ll let you have shotgun.”
    As she followed the strange young woman back to the Element, she couldn’t help wondering what Noh’s story was. Jennice loved to make up imaginary lives for the people she met. She didn’t really have any friends, mostly because she’d spent her teenage years looking after her mom, but she liked to pretend the people she made up stories about—who they reallywere and the fascinating secret lives they led—were actually characters in a giant tapestry she was weaving…and there was something about Noh that inspired a fairytale-sized addition to her project.
    “By the way,” Noh asked as she climbed into the backseat of the car, her face turned away so Jennice couldn’t read her expression. “You don’t happen to be going to Sea Verge, do you?”
    All Jennice could do was nod, strangely frightened by Noh’s question.
    Maybe this wasn’t her lucky day, after all.

four
    The name? What was the name of the card game they were playing?
    The old man had a terrible memory, but that hadn’t always been the case. When he was young and spry, he could recite whole passages from the King James Bible like he was reading out a grocery list. But these days he was lucky if he could remember to put his own pants on.
    The thought made him look down at his legs just to make sure he’d
actually
put his pants on. Yep, they were on. At least, he’d remembered to do that this morning.
    Ever since his wife, Flora, had died six months ago, he’d been getting steadily worse. He had moments of lucidity—like right now—but those didn’t last and they were always followed by long stretches of lost time.
    Lost time. He wondered where it went? He knew it had to go somewhere…he just couldn’t put his finger on where that might be.
    He looked around the room, his brain trying to remember how he’d gotten to the recess room, but for the life of him he couldn’t fathom how. He knew he was safe, that the other denizens of the