Page 65 of Dead Serious Case 5 Madame Vivienne

And that quiet understanding and empathy in his voice has my eyes welling. Lifting my hands, I press the heels of my palms to my eyes and suck in a breath in an effort to not let the tears fall. Over the past year I’ve become extremely fond of Martin, and knowing what I now do about Death and the afterlife, I can see that as hard as this is for us, Martin will finally be free of a physical body that has become a prison for him.

All the overwhelming emotions I’m currently battling are all tied to Tristan. I’ve never felt another’s pain like I feel his, and I’d do anything to spare him that.

Chan’s arms wrap around me and hold me gently, his fingers stroking my hair like my mother used to when I was a child. I breathe in the scent of one of his favourite perfumes. He’s always preferred the lighter, more feminine fragrances over some of the overpowering male colognes, and this one suits him. I think I’ll always associate the smell of Miss Dior with this beautiful man.

“I’m so sorry, Danny,” Chan says, his voice low and soothing.

“I hate to see him hurting like this, Chan. I’m scared this will crush him.”

“He’s tougher than he looks.” Chan sways slightly, as if he’s rocking me comfortingly. “You know he is, but I get it. It’s hard to watch someone you love in pain when there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” He releases me and reaches for my hands, pulling them away from my face and placing his slim fingers under mychin to tilt my face to his. “All you can do is be there for him and let us be here for you.”

I release a slow breath and nod. “Thank you.”

“Of course, darling. Now, tell me what you need, the practicalities. I’m guessing you’re both going to be encamped at the care home with Martin. Or are they transferring him to hospice?”

“They’ve made the decision to keep him at Sunrise. Reading between the lines, I don’t think he has long enough to make the arrangements to move him.”

“Okay.” Chan nods briskly. “Then you’ll need clothes. Why don’t you go and pack some things? I’ll call Tom and get him to come and pick up Jacob Marley. I’ll also phone and speak to Henrietta at the mortuary. I have her phone number from when we met at your flat-warming party.”

I let out a small huff of a laugh. “I really think you missed your calling in life as some kind of high-powered super PA.”

“Are you kidding? Working in some soulless corporate world, arranging meetings and taking meeting notes on boring facts and figures?” He laughs happily. “Believe it or not, I love my life. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Even when it now apparently includes the existence of demons.”

“Harrison told you about that?” My brows rise and Chan nods. “You don’t seem particularly freaked out about that little nugget of information.”

“Honey, I’m dating Death, and my dead best friend is a spirit guide in training whose boyfriend guards a magic doorway to the spirit world.” He snorts. “Trust me, that alone kind of changes one’s world perspective.”

“I guess I’ve not thought about it that way,” I muse. “I don’t know why I’m surprised when things like this happen.”

“It’s because we were all raised to believe none of this is real. Witches were for Halloween, ghosts and demons belonged inhorror movies. But surely if one thing is real, then it means a lot of things must also be real. I mean, Dusty nips back to Heaven regularly and knows honest-to-god angels, so if actual angels exist, that must mean conversely that demons exist.”

“You’ve obviously spent a great deal of time thinking about this.”

He shrugs. “I get bored sometimes.”

A random thought occurs to me. “You don’t think vampires are real, do you?”

Chan snorts even louder. “Christ, I hope not.” Then he pauses and pouts thoughtfully. “That’s piqued my curiosity though. I’ll have to ask Death.”

I blow out a breath.

“Anyway, that’s enough for now. We’ve got all the weird crap covered, so all you need to do is take care of our Tristan. Make sure you call me and let me know what you need, any time of the day or night, okay?” I nod. “Good. Now go pack some clothes for you both. I’ll start by calling Tom.”

“Please tell him to stop spoiling Jacob Marley.” I sigh as Chan pulls his phone from his pocket. “Not only does he behave like a brat when he gets home, but he’s getting really chunky.”

15

Just as Lois predicted, Dad had lost the ability to swallow within hours of Danny returning.

It’s the beginning of the end.

In some ways, I’ve been preparing myself for this since the moment Dad was diagnosed. I knew it would be hard, but I’d thought I was ready.

I’m not.

A heaviness crushes my chest, making it hurt with every breath I take. Danny sits behind me on the sofa and reads Dad’s favourite book aloud, more to comfort me and fill the silence than for Dad’s benefit.

It helps… a little.