Oh, Lord, how stupid had I I been, been, I thought to myself. I had never put together the truth. I thought to myself. I had never put together the truth.

Detective Davenport was was Vritra. Vritra.

"You called," the detective said. I saw that he had put on another nicely tailored men's suit and a pair of highly polished dress shoes to come out of his castle and meet me.

Talk about being Mr. Vanity, I thought disgustedly. The man was worse than Madonna when it came to costume changes. I really I thought disgustedly. The man was worse than Madonna when it came to costume changes. I really was was afraid this whole experience was gonna put me off shopping for at least the next six months. afraid this whole experience was gonna put me off shopping for at least the next six months.

"We're gonna end this now," I said, my voice coming out firm and confident-score one for me.

But instead of shaking in his shoes and cowing before me, Davenport only laughed. And it was not a nice laugh.

"Don't you dare laugh all condescendingly at me, you jerkoid," I yelled, but this only made him laugh harder.

I didn't know how to shut the guy up permanently-even though I thought a knuckle sandwich would do just fine if I were given half an opportunity to serve it. I could could try the "die" thing, but I had a feeling that he'd weather all the burning just fine. Other than that, I was at a complete and utter dead end. try the "die" thing, but I had a feeling that he'd weather all the burning just fine. Other than that, I was at a complete and utter dead end.

"Have I stymied the great Queen of Death?" he said.

I had nothing. Not one one idea that would allow me to slay Vritra and put everything back together the way it was before all this started. In truth, all I wanted was to be Dorothy and click my ruby red slippers together three times until I was home again, safely tucked in bed with a pint of Cherry Garcia. idea that would allow me to slay Vritra and put everything back together the way it was before all this started. In truth, all I wanted was to be Dorothy and click my ruby red slippers together three times until I was home again, safely tucked in bed with a pint of Cherry Garcia.

But going home wasn't an option for me; I didn't know if it ever really really had been. I was the daughter of Death-no, amend that; I wasn't the daughter of Death . . . had been. I was the daughter of Death-no, amend that; I wasn't the daughter of Death . . . I was Death I was Death-and as much as I whined about it, I was never going to escape it. I was never gonna be anything but what I was.

"No way have you stymied this this white girl!" I yelled, preparing myself for utter annihilation by goading the detective just that little bit white girl!" I yelled, preparing myself for utter annihilation by goading the detective just that little bit more more. "You're nothing but a slimy little eel that the world should've gotten rid of eons ago!"

Davenport howled, rage glistening out of every pore, as he sized me up for attack.

I was at the point of no return. I was going to have to try my "die" routine and hope for the best. I closed my eyes, said a quick good-bye to all the people in my life that I loved: Jarvis and Clio and my mom and dad, Runt- My thoughts were interrupted by a loud bark from inside the castle. Suddenly, I saw her. She was moving so fast she looked like a streak of midnight as she raced across the ground, her teeth pointed right at the detective's ankles.

"Runt!" I screamed as she made contact. I screamed as she made contact.

She was unstoppable, gripping his leg and shaking her head around to dig her teeth deeper into his flesh. All this to protect . . . me. me.

"Stupid dog!" he screamed, leaning back and kicking Runt hard in the side with his foot. She gave a heart-rending howl, and her body flew backward, limp.

"Runt, no!" I cried as I watched her disappear over the edge and into the moat. I cried as I watched her disappear over the edge and into the moat.

"Oh my G.o.d," I wailed. I wailed. "Please not my dog." "Please not my dog."

But she was gone.

I couldn't stop crying. My hatred for the creature in front of me was so great that I thought I was going to burst with it. I started to march toward him, my hands balled into the tightest fists I could manage. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I tried to shake it off, but it grasped me so hard that I was forced to stop moving forward.

I turned on whoever was behind me, my eyes streaming and anger making my heart a hard ball of stone.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, my rage palpable.

"I can't," Daniel said.

I shoved at him, trying to escape his grasp, pummeling him with all that I was worth, but he was too strong.

"I'm sorry, Callie," he said, his eyes wistful. "I can't let you do this."

He held me as tight as he could to keep me from abusing him, then leaned down and kissed me hard on the lips.

"Good-bye," he whispered as he broke the kiss and punched me firmly in the stomach. I fell forward, gasping for breath, the lack of oxygen making me see stars.

"I saved your life . . ." I wheezed.

"And I saved yours," he said, then walked away. I sat kneeling on the ground, clutching at my aching stomach. I watched him go, my heart reeling from the betrayal. I couldn't believe that I had misjudged him so badly.

He crossed the gap between the detective and where I lay in about twenty strides.

"I'm one of the other possibilities," I heard Daniel say as he held out his hand to Davenport. "I want to offer my services to you. With me at your side, we can claim the mantle of Death by birthright, and no one can contest it."

The detective looked uncertainly at Daniel. "You want to align yourself with me?"

"I do," Daniel replied. "Shall we shake on it?"

He stuck out his hand, and the detective stared at it.

"It's no trick," Daniel said, turning to look back at me. "She's less than nothing to me. I want to be be Death." Death."

This seemed to cinch it for the detective-the jerk. He took Daniel's hand, and they shook.

But not for long.

"Go to h.e.l.l," Daniel said, slamming his other hand into the side of the detective's head. He lost his balance, and they both pitched forward off the side of the drawbridge.

What the h.e.l.l had just happened?

I barely had time to wonder at the insanity I had witnessed before there was a gut-wrenching earthquake, and the whole world seemed to go upside down.

Rising from the bottom of the moat was Vritra-in full serpent mode.

He was a hideous thing to behold as he thrust himself onto the ground and started sidewinding toward me. I quickly climbed to my feet, my stomach still aching, and started to run.

Right for Vritra.

I had forgotten something. Something I should've remembered a long time before this: I have the Sea Foam. I have the Sea Foam.

And I was gonna use it to kick the demon's a.s.s.

But before I could reach the serpent, it stopped moving forward and instead began to shake itself like a giant cat. I looked farther down its body and saw that Indra Indra had the monster by the tail and was pulling him away from me. had the monster by the tail and was pulling him away from me.

"Indra!" I screamed. "Wait, I have something for you!"

I didn't know how to transfer the Sea Foam to him manually, so I was gonna have to do it by magic.

I closed my eyes and wished wished with every ounce of my being that the Sea Foam would leave me and go over to him. My skin began to burn like it was being slathered in hot coals, but then the heat was gone, replaced with a shower of coolness that drenched me from the inside out. with every ounce of my being that the Sea Foam would leave me and go over to him. My skin began to burn like it was being slathered in hot coals, but then the heat was gone, replaced with a shower of coolness that drenched me from the inside out.

When I opened my eyes, I knew the Sea Foam had left me.

Indra, still holding Vritra's tail with one hand, reached inside his tattered pants and pulled out his scepter.

"I am avenged," he yelled as he plunged the scepter into Vritra's neck. Then, he took Vritra's tail in both hands and leaned forward, sinking his teeth into the slimy scales. The demon howled in pain and rage and tried to turn back on itself to get at Indra, but it was no use; the scepter was in the way.

I watched, fascinated, as the Sea Foam raced out of Indra's body and injected itself into Vritra's skin, turning the giant demon tail a bright shade of gold.

It took only a few moments for the rest of his body to follow suit, each muted brown scale transmogrifying into a brilliant golden hue until the monster looked like a humongous, golden statue of itself. Then Indra pulled the scepter from Vritra's body, and the giant demon exploded, sending tiny shards of golden gla.s.s in every direction.

Indra smiled and gave me the thumbs-up-which I weakly returned. He looked as pleased as punch that he'd vanquished his mortal enemy-with a little help from his friends.

"Callie," Clio yelled as she and Jarvis led my father and the rest of the Death, Inc., Executives out of the castle and down the drawbridge. They all looked the worse for wear, but at least they were free and in one piece. Clio dropped our father's arm and ran over to me.

"We couldn't get them out of the chains with magic because they were spelled, but then I thought of summoning up some bolt cutters, and that totally did the trick," she said, extremely proud of herself. It turned out that sometimes the practical choice worked far better than magic ever ever could. could.

"Good job," I said, my voice catching in my throat as I ruffled her hair. She gave me a funny look.

"What's wrong, Cal?"

More than anything in the world, I didn't want to have to tell her about Runt and Daniel. Runt, who had saved my life more times than I could count, and Daniel . . . whose last lie saved us all. I still didn't understand why he'd done it, why he'd sacrificed himself for me. Maybe I never would. And the awful part was that I'd totally thought he was a traitor, right up until the very moment he'd pushed Vritra into the moat and forced him to take on his true form.

Oh, Daniel . . .

"Where's Runt?" Clio said, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice. I couldn't answer, or I would've started crying again.

"Where's our dog!" she demanded, grabbing my arm and shaking it, trying to force me to speak.

"Clio . . ." I started to say, and then I heard something. It was very faint at first, and I put my finger to my mouth to shush her so that I could hear better.

If that's what I think it is . . .

"Do you hear that?" I said frantically. I pulled away from Clio's grasp and ran over to the side of the moat, crawling onto my belly so that I could see down.

I'd like to say that I believe in miracles . . . but this was almost too much.

Down inside the moat, on a piece of rock sticking out of the side of the dirt wall-the only only such outcropping I could see in either direction-was Runt, standing on her hind legs and barking up a storm as she pawed at the sheer dirt wall. I don't know how the dog managed to land on the only safe piece of real estate down there, and frankly I don't care. The only thing that mattered to me and to Clio was that she was alive and very, such outcropping I could see in either direction-was Runt, standing on her hind legs and barking up a storm as she pawed at the sheer dirt wall. I don't know how the dog managed to land on the only safe piece of real estate down there, and frankly I don't care. The only thing that mattered to me and to Clio was that she was alive and very, very very eager to get back onto safe ground. eager to get back onto safe ground.

"Someone help me get her up!" I called as I looked back to Clio. She ran over to my side and slithered onto her belly so that she could see over the edge, too.

"How did she get down there?" she asked me.

"It's a long story-"

"And I know. You'll tell me all all about it later," Clio said. I nodded, glad that we finally had an understanding. about it later," Clio said. I nodded, glad that we finally had an understanding.

"So, how we gonna do this?" I said, looking down at Runt, who was whining pitifully. Clio gave me a devilish smile.

"Can you get some of the Gopi to come over here?"

with a little help from the last few remaining Gopi, we were able to get Runt out of the moat. It's very interesting what you can do with body parts when they're not attached to a body.

Jarvis, Indra, and Father stayed to help us with Runt, but the rest of the Executives hightailed it out of Vritra's realm as fast as the wormhole they conjured could take them. Not that I blamed them. The place was was pretty horrible, and now that Vritra had been destroyed, the castle was starting to disintegrate, ravaged bodies falling every which way. It was pretty disgusting. pretty horrible, and now that Vritra had been destroyed, the castle was starting to disintegrate, ravaged bodies falling every which way. It was pretty disgusting.

The Gopi had made short work of Thalia, wrapping her up in their tattered saris and presenting her to me like some kind of weirdo Christmas present. I hadn't wanted to offend them, so I'd just smiled and nodded as nicely as I could. I did did notice the small star tattoo on Thalia's lower leg, and I instantly remembered the first time I saw it. notice the small star tattoo on Thalia's lower leg, and I instantly remembered the first time I saw it.

She'd come home from her first semester at college proudly brandishing her new tattoo at anyone who came into her sight. I'd been soooo jealous because Mother wouldn't even let me get my ears pierced, let alone have someone ink something permanently onto my skin. Thalia had spent the whole weekend lording it over me, and I had totally detested detested her for it. her for it.

It's funny the things we forget.

Well, I didn't know what was going to become of my sister, but I had a pretty good idea that she was not not gonna be at Thanksgiving this year. After what she'd pulled, I didn't think that gonna be at Thanksgiving this year. After what she'd pulled, I didn't think that Purgatory Purgatory was good enough for her. I mean, she was good enough for her. I mean, she did did try to kill me, Father, a bunch of other innocent people-and she'd absolutely ruined Midori Sours for me. try to kill me, Father, a bunch of other innocent people-and she'd absolutely ruined Midori Sours for me.

Apparently, she'd committed a similar injustice to Father: at the Executive meeting where they'd all been kidnapped, they had drunk a toast in honor of Thalia's promotion to Vice President in Charge of Asia. Of course, they had no idea that they were actually toasting with a Brandy Alexander-paralysis c.o.c.ktail-that she and Vritra had whipped up especially for the occasion.

I don't think my father or I would ever look at an alcoholic beverage in quite quite the same way. Nor did I think the same way. Nor did I think I I would ever look at my father's job in would ever look at my father's job in quite quite the same way, either. the same way, either.

As much as I loved loved my family, I was still so my family, I was still so not not ready to join the family business. The minute we'd pulled Runt up to safety, I'd been at Father's arm, begging to be released from my suffering. I wanted those Death powers-and that nasty little voice-out of my head, and I meant now. ready to join the family business. The minute we'd pulled Runt up to safety, I'd been at Father's arm, begging to be released from my suffering. I wanted those Death powers-and that nasty little voice-out of my head, and I meant now.

"Callie," my father said, "we can only make the transference if we have the Cup of Jamshid."

"But we do!" I said. "Jarvis, get your b.u.t.t over here-spit spot, on the double now!"

Jarvis didn't even bat an eyelash at my words, but came trotting over with the cup in hand. I took it from him and pa.s.sed it to my father.

"But how did you-" my father began, but I cut him off.

"I gave it to Jarvis before Thalia came into the room."

Jarvis nodded. "And I put an invisibility spell on it the moment it came into my possession. Just to be on the safer of sides."

Father looked down at the cup, and once again it was a shiny, silvery color, all the tarnish completely gone. He handed me the cup, and I saw that it was full of liquid.

"Drink," he said, and I did. It was cool and tropical and left a coconut aftertaste on my lips. Yummy Yummy.

I handed the cup back to him, and he lifted it to his mouth, drinking deeply. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, his body began to glow, and all the grief and exhaustion of the past few days was lifted from his face and shoulders. I didn't need to be a magical rocket scientist to know that I was finally free of my burden.

"Why did you rescind my birthright?" I said suddenly. I didn't know where the words had come from, but there they were right there for everyone to hear.

I expected Father to be mad at me for being so blunt, but instead he laughed.

"You were a child, Calliope. You weren't ready for the job yet," he said soothingly. Jarvis nodded, backing him up.

"The Devil made that wormhole in the bas.e.m.e.nt so that he could lure you to the Cup of Jamshid before you were of age. If your father hadn't asked the Board to rescind your birthright, you'd have been forced to take the job," Jarvis finished, pleased with himself.

"So, it wasn't wasn't because you didn't think I could handle the job," I asked. because you didn't think I could handle the job," I asked.