Did you not receive my first summons? You cannot avoid me forever.
The scribbling stopped with an image that left him irritated. What kind of deity added a smiley face to its messages?
Gabriel crossed his arms. Fate was getting more persistent. Gabriel was too busy to answer. At least, he told himself he was. He didn't look forward to meeting the deity past-Death considered viler than the Dark One.
A knock kept him from cursing the book and Fate out loud. The door opened to reveal Daniela, the headmistress, a severe-looking woman wearing the brown robes of the convent.
"You are in time for tea," she said. "Unless you want to blow up my Sanctuary again?"
Immortal Code, Rule 35: Sanctuaries and the shadow world between places are part of Death's domain to protect.
"Tea sounds good." Gabriel sighed. No one ever spoke to his predecessor that way. They'd been either enamored by her beauty or terrified of her, rightly so.
The stern woman whirled away from the door, leaving it open for him to follow. With a last look at the Oracle, Gabe trailed. His gaze took in the new wall they'd installed after the last one was destroyed by his best friend, Rhyn. The ultimate peacekeepers, the nuns running the Sanctuary would likely never let him forget the day the half-demon took out their wall.
The cafeteria where she led him looked medieval at best, a stone hall with lines of crude picnic tables and dark hearths. The only difference was the electricity powering lights in the heavy iron and wood chandeliers overhead and the intercom system installed into the walls beside each entrance. Located right off the kitchens, the cafeteria was awash with the smells of bread, fruit pies and the jerk-spiced meat the Caribbean was renowned for.
She poured them each a cup of steaming tea. Gabriel didn't touch his.
They sat and stared at each other. A man of few words, Gabriel hadn't gotten used to the political side of his job yet. Someone his size with his specific skills didn't ask for favors or need to be polite. Past-Death had only played nice with those she needed something from. Thus far, he didn't know what it was he was supposed to need from the nun in front of him, and he was too cautious to set this bridge on fire.
"You don't even like tea," Daniela accused him finally.
"No."
"Then why do you come here?"
"I'm maintaining Death's routine."
Daniela's eyes narrowed. "Friendship isn't a routine."
"She had no friends," he replied. "And the ones she did, she fucked over twice as bad as her enemies, like dumping her job on me with no instruction manual."