As we walked, I realized what he meant by a hole. Also, I still couldn’t see the trail, although as I concentrated, I could see that the glamor was…thinner. I could see through it too, given time.

Just not as easily as my dad. Which was only to be expected. Kanesha followed Loki, but the owl had taken to the air again.

The hole was a gap in the local reality. Or rather, a gap in the glamor. It wasn’t what I’d expected, though.
The cliff, the black desert, those had been dark places, not ones you wanted to linger. Brother Death’s hole was a pleasant pool surrounded by flowering trees.

But it had a different quality to it. “Might not be so easy.”

The death god was reclining on an old fashioned English deck chair. “Oh. Visitors.”

He sounded a little bit…out of it.

Loki stepped back around Kanesha and whispered, “Side effect. It makes you kind of…happy to be wherever you are.”

I whispered back. “Slap him?”

“Tempting.”

Kanesha, though, was stepping forward. “Brother Death.”

“A living mortal?” He peered at her. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”

“Anansi’s stealing your power and trying to use it to make everyone immortal.”

“He is?” He still sounded out of it. “Well, uh…”

“And we need to stop him.”

“But it’s so pleasant here.”

I let Kanesha do the talking and just studied the god. He seemed quite relaxed, a little overweight, and this was a beautiful spot.

He was also fading away. I could see it. If Anansi continued, there would be nothing left of Brother Death. Slapping him became more tempting.

Loki added, though, a little more loudly, “But we can’t touch him.”

I thought that was aimed at Kanesha.

“I know, but you’ve got a job to do. Vacation’s over.”

“For you?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. One day, but not yet.”

“Are you sure of that?”

I wanted to ask him to leave her alone. And I knew she would…gods, I knew she would do it if it would get him back to reality.

My mouth opened to speak her name, but I stayed silent.