Queen of Nothing (Marla Mason Book 9) (33 page)
Read Queen of Nothing (Marla Mason Book 9) Online
Authors: T.A. Pratt
Tags: #action, #Fantasy, #urban fantasy
“If I created my perfect afterlife, it would likely involve me working with a simulacrum of you, Mrs. Mason, so I am pleased to help the real you, instead. How may I be of assistance?”
Marla smiled. Good old Pelly. “I need a steward to help me rule here. I’ll take a few weeks to show you the ropes, and set everything the New Death screwed up back to rights. Once I make sure it’s all ticking along smoothly, I’ll put day-to-day operations into your hands, but only temporarily. I won’t be gone long. A month, at most, I think.”
“Where are you going?” Bradley said.
“Well...” She leaned back in her throne. “You and Rondeau haven’t quite seen the last of me. Before I settle in here permanently—or however long I last—I have a few pieces of unfinished business to take care of on Earth. I’d really love it if the two of you would help me. Call it one last hurrah.”
“Like the party you throw for your buddy, right before he has to start a prison sentence,” Rondeau said. He sounded glum, but then he perked up. “I
do
like parties.”
“So that’s the party bit taken care of,” Bradley said. “What’s the business part?”
“First of all, I need to unfreeze Nicolette, and try to set that whole mess right.” She sighed. “That’s not a conversation I’m looking forward to. Nicolette’s not gracious at the best of times, and she’s got legitimate grievances this time. I have some other wrongs I need to set right, too. Plus some people I need closure with, some farewells I need to say, some hash to settle, that kind of thing.”
Bradley cocked his head and stared at her.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m being perceptive at you, Marla. What aren’t you telling us? What
else
do you have to do?”
She tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling. “Look. It’s just. Here’s the thing. I’m the main god of Death, now. There’s a way things are done here. It’s halfway between tradition and natural law. Basically, if I’m going to rule down here... I need to find a mortal consort to rule beside me.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Rondeau began to cackle. “Oh, man. This is the greatest thing ever. You have
got
to let me write your online dating profiles.”
“I can set you up with some guys I know,” Bradley said. “Or girls maybe too? Or neither, I’ve got some genderfluid friends who’d make good gods, I bet. Just let me know your parameters. I never got a real handle on your sexual orientation, to be totally honest.”
“There are some eligible descendants of royalty,” Pelham said thoughtfully. “It is important to think strategically when considering a marriage. After all, you aren’t
just
Marla Mason any more, you are also a regent. We should wait a respectable interval after the death of your first husband before we plan the wedding, of course....”
“A wedding!” Rondeau howled. “Yes! We have to throw a
big
wedding! I know just the right chapel of love in Vegas, the officiant dresses up like an elf from
The Lord of the Rings
movies, it’ll be great.”
“You can all go straight to Hell,” the queen said.
Acknowledgments
Thanks first and always to my wife Heather Shaw and our son River, who love and support me, and who both in their own ways give me the help I need to keep doing this strange book-writing things. Thanks to my tireless agent Ginger Clark, to my inventive artist Zack Stella, to my splendiforous cover designer Jenn Reese, to my patient copyeditor Elektra Hammond, and to the indomitable John Teehan of Merry Blacksmith Books. My occasional writing buddies Effie Seiberg and Erin Cashier make this less of a lonely business. Finally, and most importantly, my great thanks to the more than 300 people who supported this project on Kickstarter. (The future is a wonderful place.) 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Table of Contents
A Woman with a Past, Presumably