Dead Harvest

34

The hall of the hospital was bright and clean and bustled with activity, its staff too busy with their evening rounds to pay me any mind. Not that there was anything out of the ordinary for them to see if they did. I'd learned my lesson the last go round, and this time, I'd snagged a napping orderly from another floor — familiar enough to anyone who passed to not warrant a second glance, but with luck unknown enough to the staff on this floor to avoid any pesky conversations. That was the theory, at least, and so far, it had worked; I'd gotten to where I was going without bothering a soul, unless you counted my orderly-suit, and there was a chance I'd have him back before he ever woke up.

I stood leaning just inside the doorway for a while, listening to the soothing rhythm of the heart monitor in the room within. Anders lay sleeping on the room's sole occupied bed, his face slack with peaceful sleep. From what little I could understand of his chart, he was gonna be just fine, and that made the whole body-swap worthwhile. I'd left my last meat-suit tied to a radiator in Kate's apartment, and I assured him I'd give the cops a ring as soon as my errand was done. It's tough to say for sure, but I think he understood. The man was a warrior, after all, and if it were one of his who'd fallen, I'm sure he would've done the same.

"Hello, Collector."

When I heard her voice, I jumped. I hadn't heard her coming, but then with Lilith, you never do.

She strolled past me into the room, tracing the line of my goateed jaw with one delicate finger. My meatsuit thrilled at her touch, her playful smile, her intoxicating scent. She was barefoot, of course, and clad in the barest suggestion of a cotton dress. It clung tight to her supple curves and halted scant inches beneath her luscious hips. The fabric was so thin one couldn't help but catch a hint of silken skin beneath.

"Evening, Lily."

She frowned — a beautiful, pouting, playful frown. "I've asked you not to call me that," she said.

"So you have."

"Nice to see you've chosen a live one once more — your second in as many vessels. Dare I hope this is the beginning of a trend?"

"Not likely."

"A shame, that — they do suit you so. Perhaps to honor the occasion, then, you and I should avail ourselves of that empty bed, and make this little errand of yours worth this meat-suit's time."

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied. Lilith just shrugged.

"You did a good thing back there," she said. "Clearing that girl. I was wrong about her — we all were. I suppose I owe you an apology."

"You don't owe me anything."

"You'll be happy to know that she's been taken care of: new name, new face, new life. Easier than bringing back her family, I suppose, and with an entire city looking for her, I guess it's best she disappear."

"I assume it wasn't you who made the arrangements."

"No," Lilith said, smiling, "when the white hats realized it was one of their own who set her up, they were quick to volunteer. Nothing like an angry Maker to whip them into action, I suppose."

"So you don't know where they put her, then?"

"No, why?"

"I'd just hate to see you hunt her down, is all."

She shot me an odd look, then — puzzled, guarded. "Now why on Earth would I do that?"

"Oh, come now, Lily — don't play coy."

"Really, Collector, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't. Only here's the thing: I spoke to Mu'an."

"Yes? And?"

"And there was something he said that I couldn't make any sense of at the time. See, he'd told me he was carrying a message, but that he couldn't tell me what it was, on account of he'd been bound by a rite of suppression."

"That makes sense," she said. "I mean, So'enel couldn't have marked the girl for collection on his own — he had to have some help. And it was angels, you recall, who destroyed Grand Central in an attempt to silence Mu'an. Maybe they're who he was there to meet, only once he'd served his purpose, he was nothing but a liability to them."

I shook my head. "I don't know — it doesn't track. See, when I asked him who it was he was playing courier for, he told me to ask my lady friend."

"Maybe he figured the MacNeil girl would know — I mean, it was the fact of her possession they were covering up."

"Sure, but Mu'an didn't know anything about the message he was carrying, and besides, we both know it wasn't Kate he was talking about."

"I don't understand. What exactly are you saying?" Lilith said.

"I'm saying he was talking about you."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? You've always taken quite an interest in me, Lily — there's no denying that. I always figured you enjoyed the game: tempting the poor tortured Collector and watching him squirm. Only maybe it was more than that."

"You flatter yourself, Collector. My interest in you is strictly professional."

"Is it? So it's a coincidence, then, that I'm dispatched to collect a girl it turns out is responsible for the murder of my own flesh and blood?"

"You think it's not?" she asked.

"Damn right I think it's not. In all my time as a Collector, I've never been sent on a job I would have taken any joy in, and why would I be? After all, this gig is punishment for a life misspent. But if this job had been legit, it would've been a gift. Except it wasn't legit, was it? And the fact that I had a personal stake in it made for a nice little ace in the hole — if I got out of line, all So'enel had to do was play the family card, and I'd do my job like a good little soldier, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart."

"So So'enel set you up as well — is that any surprise, given what he did to the girl?"

"I suppose not. But what is a surprise is that he would have chosen me to do the job, not knowing me personally, and therefore having no idea how I'd react. No, I think he had help picking me — picking her. And I think that help was you."

"I assure you, Collector, you're mistaken."

"Am I? Then tell me — where were you when I went off the reservation? You said yourself — when we met in the park — you ought to report me for what I'd done. Why didn't you? You ask me, you didn't say anything because you were sure I'd eventually collect the girl, and you didn't want to be tied too closely to the job when I did. After all, if they suspected it was you who was responsible for the war that would have certainly ensued, you'd have both sides gunning for you."

"Assuming for a moment you're right," Lilith said, "what could I possibly stand to gain by inciting a heavenly war?"

"Revenge, for a start. I mean, the story says you were cast out of the Garden of Eden for refusing to be subservient to Adam. My guess is, if anybody's got a reason to start a war against God, it's you."

"Those are bedtime stories, Collector, nothing more. You of all people should know that."

"I do know that, but I also know that most of them contain a kernel of truth as well. Tell me, how long did it take you to tempt So'enel to your cause? Years? Centuries? Millennia? And how long, now that he's failed, before you try again?"

"You can't expect me to answer that."

I smiled and shook my head. "I suppose not."

"Nor can you prove a single word of what you just said."

"No, I guess I can't."

"So where does that leave us, then?"

I thought a moment. "Right back where we started, I suppose."

"Yes," she said carefully, "I suppose it does."

She strolled over to me, rising on tiptoes and kissing me softly on the cheek.

"You should take some time here with your friend," she said. "This work of ours can wait. After all you've seen, you deserve some rest — and believe me, you're going to need it. I have a feeling there's a storm brewing."

I said nothing: I just stood there watching as she strolled toward the open door. As she reached the threshold, she called to me, not looking back.

"See you 'round, Collector." Her voice hung in the air for what seemed like forever, long after she'd disappeared from sight.

Yeah, I thought. I bet you will.