They studied her. She was tall and beautiful, and she stood with a grace that spoke of great confidence. Benny recalled the word he had thought of when he first saw her: regal. Queenly. But queen of what?

There were other reapers around her. Men and women, all of them dressed in black with angel wings and red tassels. They all carried weapons. Swords, axes, knives.

“I don’t see any guns,” whispered Benny.

“Not much of a comfort,” replied Nix sourly.

Then they gaped at a man who came out of the woods to take up a very protective post just behind the queenly woman. He was a giant, and he carried a massive long-handled sledgehammer.

“What is he?” asked Nix. “A troll?”

“Close enough.”

The air was split by the roar of quads as more reapers appeared from the forest until there were at least two dozen of them gathered around the woman. Except for her, all of them had shaved and tattooed heads like Saint John. And Riot, thought Benny.

None of them stood very close to her, though every eye was fixed on her. None of them paid much attention to the plane, and it was clear that they had all seen it before, or did not care about it. The woman ignored it completely.

She beckoned over a grim-faced young man, and for several moments they stood apart, their heads bowed together in an intense discussion while the giant guarded them.

“I can’t hear anything,” complained Benny. “Can you?”

Nix’s face was screwed up with concentration. “No.”

That changed a moment later. The young man bowed deeply to the woman, turned, and melted into the forest. The woman stepped onto a small, flat rock, and the other reapers clustered around her. She raised her arms out to the sides and stood for a moment in silence, the wind making the red streamers snap and pop.

Then, in a loud, clear voice she addressed the reapers. “You are the blessed of Thanatos!”

“All praise to the darkness,” they cried.

“In you he is well pleased. As I am pleased.”

“All praise to Mother Rose!”

Nix turned to Benny and mouthed the name. “Mother Rose.”

It was the name Saint John had mentioned.

“My children,” said Mother Rose, “you have all done exceedingly well. Your faith and devotion lifts my heart.”

They smiled, and a few even dabbed at wet eyes.