Chapter 30-2

Death threw back his head and laughed, loud enough for people walking on the sidewalk to cast curious glances in our direction. His laughter didn't sound remotely normal - I had faked enough laughs to know when someone else was faking, too - but the fact that he was laughing at all? I took that as a good sign. "Say, Death?" "Hmm." I asked the question that had been burning in my mind for the past several minutes. "Why did Lucrezia...do what she did?" I said slowly. "I mean, she doesn't even know me, and yet she gave her life for me? Forgive me, but I'm having a little difficulty wrapping my mind around it." And it was not as if I wasn't eternally grateful for what Lucrezia had done. I had only known her for less than ten minutes, but the woman was a spitfire. I just wished that she had been able to live a new life, now that she had found Death again. Death didn't take a few minutes to answer like I had been expecting him to. "You and I both know, Archer, that there's nothing you wouldn't do for your family. Lucrezia was just doing the same thing." Death was right. There was no denying it. "But I still don't get it," I said. "If she's been a ghost for centuries, why didn't she try to find you?" I immediately regretted the question as soon as it left my mouth from the expression on Death's face. I was going to go on to apologize, but Death held up a hand before I could. "It isn't as if she had stopped loving me, Archer. I don't begrudge her for what she did. There's nothing I want more in this world than to be with Lucrezia, but if she had found me? There's no way I would have done...any of this," he said, gesturing at me. "What?" "I brought you back. Kept Havoc off your scent for as long as I could. Called in a few favors to be able to get into that nightmare of yours to get you away from Havoc. I did everything I could to keep you and Hadley and your child safe." There was that hot feeling of guilt bubbling in my stomach again as Death spoke, reminding me of all that he had done for me, to keep my family safe, even if I hadn't always seen it that way. But to be perfectly honest, I had no idea why Death had done everything that he had. I wasn't sure if I would ever know what he saw in me that he felt was worth saving. I opened my mouth to speak, but Death held up a hand to cut me off. "Sometimes it's best not to ask questions." "Death, I - " "Archer, there are things in this world you'll never understand. And you don't need to understand. You just have to...go on." I sat back against the bench, my arms crossed over my chest, feeling as if the weight of the world was suddenly back on my shoulders again. There was no way I could ever explain all that I felt about this to Death. I would never be able to thank him enough. "What now?" I said. "What happens next? What are you supposed to do now?" "Hell if I know," Death said, shrugging. "I don't know if you've realized yet, but I'm a little bit of an impulsive creature. I go wherever the wind takes me." "Will we ever see you again?" Death pondered this for a few moments, and then said, "I don't know," in a quiet voice. Despite all that had happened, I knew I would feel some sense of loss and sadness if I never saw Death again. "Well, then, what am I supposed to do now?" I got to my feet, feeling antsy all over, as if I needed to go jog for a mile. "Is this it? Everything is done and over with? Havoc's never going to come after me again, and I can peacefully live my life now? Is that what this is?" "No," Death said immediately. "Havoc won't be coming after you again. You heard Lucrezia. She paid your debt. Havoc has nothing on you anymore." I felt no sense of relief hearing him say that. Don't get me wrong, I was incredibly grateful and thankful that I was in the clear and my life was no longer in danger. But it still felt like the end somehow. I was supposed to just believe that this all was suddenly over and I would never be bothered again? Something about that didn't seem right to me. "So...so I just..." "It's really not that complicated, Archer." Death stood, still moving with a bit of a limp as he approached me, reaching out to tightly grip my shoulder. "Your wife is about to have a kid any damn day now, isn't she? Seems to me like you've already got your work cut out for you." And then there was mention of the baby again. I dropped back onto the bench with an aggravated sigh, raking my fingers through my hair. "Death, I have a confession." "Oh? And what's that?" Death said, sitting down beside me again. "That fear about being a father?" I said. "Well, I never exactly faced that." I didn't think I would ever face that fear, either. How could I? "What, and you think I did?" Death snorted. "Nobody ever does, Archer." A heavy silence fell then. A type of silence that was painful, if that made sense. "Death, I'm...I'm so - " "Don't." I shut my mouth. "I'm not going to talk to you about my son," Death said. He was staring at his feet, and I could see a tic jumping in his cheek. "But what I will tell you is that you do whatever you can to make sure your child stays safe. That they live. You do everything you can to make sure your child has a good life, because I would never wish that type of emptiness on anybody if anything happened." It felt like my eyes were burning when Death finished speaking. I didn't like the sudden wave of emotion that had crashed over me. All I really wanted then was to go to my family and be with them. "So, this is it, then," I said, glancing over at Death. "The end." Death shook his head as he frowned. "No. Not the end. Just...a new chapter, I think." "A new chapter," I repeated. "I think that sounds nice." "Yeah, well." Death nudged me with a shoulder, chuckling quietly. "Go get on it, then. You're practically vibrating on the spot." I didn't even have the time to feel embarrassed. Going to Hadley, seeing her again, holding her in my arms and seeing for myself that she was alive, that our baby was alive, was suddenly the most important thing to me. I got to my feet and offered out a hand to Death. He took it, and I pulled him upright, only to pull him into what was a very awkward hug. That was what people did when they were saying thanks, right? "Thank you," I said, stepping back quickly. "For everything." Death smiled and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Get outta here." I set off down the path with what I guessed was a skip in my step, then turned back to say something else to Death. He was gone, though. I stared at the bench he had been standing beside not seconds before. And I hoped that if I ever did get to see him again, I would be able to give him a proper thanks. I began the trek out of Central Park again, anxious to get to Albany as soon as possible to see Hadley. If this new chapter was beginning now, then I had to be there to greet it then, didn't I?