All Who Wander Are Lost (An Icarus Fell Novel) by Bruce Blake Page A

you when
she’s gone.”
    “ No,
I--”
    Her palm touched my
cheek and instead of seeing flesh and lust, visions of hamburger
platters and soft beds came to mind. My stomach gurgled and my
eyelids fluttered with fatigue.
    “ It’s
okay, she’s in good hands.”
    She removed her
hand and I opened my mouth to speak but the hunger pangs and
tiredness didn’t dissipate with her touch; apparently they
were real. I nodded and went to Beth who looked more relaxed than a
few minutes ago. I knelt beside her and took her hand in both of
mine.
    “ I’m
going to take care of some other business.” Not exactly a lie.
“Piper will make sure you get where you’re supposed to
go.”
    “ Are
you sure that’s okay?” Her eyes flickered to the angel
standing ten feet from us then back. Some of her former nervousness
returned.
    “ It’s
fine. She’s been doing this a lot longer than I have.” I
laughed and looked down at my hands. “Shit, I can barely find
the moving sidewalk to purgatory, never mind the stairway to heaven.
Piper has a direct connection.”
    Beth put her free
hand on top of mine and squeezed; I looked up to see tears gleaming
in her eyes.
    “ Thank
you for this, Icarus. Thank you for everything.” She leaned
forward and kissed my cheek.
    If she knew the
circumstances surrounding her trip to Hell, she might not be so
thankful.
    I didn’t say
anything, only nodded in case my conscience went rogue and let the
cat out of the bag. When I stood and turned to leave, I laid my hand
on Piper’s shoulder, partially to show appreciation for her
help, partially out of a desire to feel the electricity touching her
sparked in me. It didn’t this time.
    “ See
you soon,” she said with a bright smile. I felt like she meant
the smile and lack of shock therapy to tease me; it opened a hole in
my chest.
    “ Yeah,”
I managed before redirecting my attention to the task of finding a
way out of the maze of outdoor furniture, fatigue, hunger and empty
longing in tow.
    †‡†
    I walked right by
my usual haunt: Denny’s. Poe had found me there too many
times, I didn’t want to chance it if she was looking for me. A
few blocks north and a couple west brought me to the door of a
charming little place called ‘Benny’s BBQ Pit’.
And when I say charming, I mean kind of dirty and peopled by
overweight men looking for plates heaped with meat slathered in
barbecue sauce.
    A great place to
disappear.
    Half-way through my
plate of Jack Daniels-infused pulled pork, baked beans and
coleslaw—the weight of it in my belly increasing my
fatigue—the little bell above the diner’s door chimed.
Normally, I don’t bother looking up at such things, but this
time I did. I’d like to say the sight of Poe standing in the
doorway surprised me, but I’d be lying. She has a knack for
finding me when I don’t want to be found.
    The server stepped
up to seat Poe as my guardian angel saw me attempting anonymity
jammed against the wall in the back-corner booth. She pushed past
the young lady without a word of explanation or apology, a very
un-Poe-like action, and approached me with jaw set and golden eyes
blazing. Her blond hair was down and the way her eyebrows angled
toward her nose gave her an unfamiliar intensity. It actually made
her more attractive. I threw on a smile in the hope of disarming her
apparent irritation and wondered how much barbecue sauce I had
smeared on my face.
    “ Hey,
Poe. What are you doing here?”
    She stomped across
the restaurant, halting at my table, arms crossed and nostrils
flared.
    “ Where
have you been?” she demanded without benefit of salutation.
    I shrugged.
“Around.”
    I swallowed the
beans in my mouth and looked down at the partially demolished pile
of meat left on my plate, picked at it with my fork. Poe sat down
across from me, angry heat radiating from her.
    “ Around
where?”
    “ Just
around.”
    She remained silent
for a minute, waiting me out. I looked up again and saw the