Masters of Death

Death addresses the reader, discussing humanity’s obsession with him. Death describes a sick couple who had a son. The wife died, and the husband tried to find someone to care for his son before his own death. The husband met an angel, but he remembered that God condoned suffering, so he decided not to give the baby to the angel. He met a reaper, a foot soldier of Satan, but he feared that the devil would lead his son into temptation. Finally, as the man died, he gave the son to Death. The man asked Death to be the baby’s godfather. Death explains that this fable is the beginning of the mortal tale about the godson of Death—Fox D’Mora—who eventually gained mastery over Death.

In Chicago, a woman visits a medium named Fox D’Mora to speak with her dead fiancé. Fox summons Death. The woman cannot see Death, so Fox speaks quietly to his godfather. Death does not want to speak to the woman’s fiancé, and Fox reminds him to snap the rubber band on his wrist. Fox does not convey Death’s information about the fiancé’s infidelity, instead telling the woman that her fiancé wants her to find love again. Death is frustrated, knowing that his godson wants to sleep with the woman. Death leaves, and Fox has sex with the woman.

Viola Marek, a vampire real-estate agent, enters the Parker mansion and announces herself. The mansion’s ghost, Thomas Edward Parker IV—or Tom—bemoans the fact that Viola is trying to sell his family home. Tom knows that Viola is a vampire because she never eats and she is the only person who can see him.

Later, Viola meets her friend Isis, a demon. Isis offers her a juice box filled with blood. Isis warns her that this will never fully satiate her, but Viola does not want to think of the other option. Viola reflects on her college years, when she studied archaeology. During her senior year, she traveled to a dig site in the Philippines. A man approached her, offering her water and food. She later woke as the man stood over her, licking his lips. The wound in her side suggested that he ate her liver. Viola suddenly remembered the man turning into a boar and goring her. Viola then watched as her skin repaired itself, healing the wound. The man tried to marry Viola, but she knocked him out and escaped. At night, she shapeshifted into a cat, turning back into human form in the morning. She could not eat regular food, so she starved for days. When her professor accidentally cut himself in front of her, the smell of his blood overcame her. She killed him and ate his heart. Viola then moved to Chicago, where no one knew her.

Viola first met Isis at a house sale. Isis knew that she was a vampire and invited her to a meeting of Creatures Anonymous. Viola learned that the meeting was for creatures who did not want to murder humans. Viola introduced herself as an aswang, a kind of vampire from Southeast Asia.

Viola explains her problem with Tom to Isis. Isis says that Tom must have unfinished business. Viola says that Tom does not know how he died or who killed him. Isis explains that as a Parker, Tom must be cursed, as all the men in the family died mysteriously. Viola must find a way to get Tom out of the house if she wants to sell it.

The reaper Calix Sanna, or Cal, visits Fox. Cal asks Fox if he has seen his guardian angel, Mayra Kaleka. Cal and Mayra love each other, but since they work on opposing sides, it is difficult for them to talk. Fox picks up Mayra’s relic and summons her.

When Mayra died, she was summoned to the next world, where the archangels Raphael and Gabriel went over her leger. Mayra confronted the angels about the suffering on Earth, but they told her that evil must reign sometimes because “balance is king” (64). Since Mayra’s ledger did not look good, the angels offered her afterlife employment as an angel. This work would shift her ledger, preventing punishment in the afterlife.

When Cal was alive, he lived in Mykonos. Cal was killed defending his brother in a drunken fight. When Cal woke up in the afterlife, Raphael and Gabriel offered him a job as a reaper. In Fox’s home, Cal and Mayra reconnect. Someone knocks at the door.

Thomas Edward Parker I was born into a poor family but grew his fortune. His son, Ned, built the Parker mansion. However, Ned died suddenly, and his estate went to his son Ed. Ed died mysteriously and passed the inheritance to Thomas Edward Parker IV (Tom). He was found stabbed to death in the Parker mansion, resurrecting the gossip about the Parker curse.

When Tom realized that he was a ghost, he looked down at his bloody body and knew he’d been murdered. Viola arrived to sell the house, and Tom was shocked because she could see him. Tom remembered that his ex-girlfriend Lainey called him on the night of his murder. She asked him to come over to her house because she needed a favor. Tom remembers having sex with Lainey at her house. Then, he woke up standing over his body in the Parker mansion. Viola says that Lainey must have murdered him, but Tom doesn’t believe this.

At Creatures Anonymous, Viola complains about Tom scaring away all the buyers. The creatures suggest that she contact Death through Fox to learn who killed Tom. Isis agrees to show Viola where Fox lives.

Fox opens his door to find Isis and Viola standing outside. Viola says that she has a problem with a ghost. Fox says that he does not see creatures, but Mayra persuades Fox to see Tom because his ledger is in the negative. Fox agrees to come to the Parker mansion the next day. Isis asks Fox how old he is, but he evades the question. As they leave, Isis tells Viola about demons. She says that she feeds off mortals’ suffering, which is why Fox felt so uncomfortable with her. She explains that Fox has suffered abandonment and guilt, but she does not know why.

Fox has the same dream every night. In the dream, two lovers lie in bed talking to each other. Fox thinks of them as the fool and the thief. The fool, Fox himself, asks the thief if he will love him when he is old. The thief avoids the question, telling the fool that they will never grow old. The thief tells Fox that he will cause him pain in life, and he apologizes for that. The thief promises Fox that he will stay with him always, but they both know that he is lying.

At an open house at the Parker mansion, a man asks Viola about the house tours. The man says goodbye to Viola, then Tom. Tom and Viola stare at each other in shock, and Tom goes after the man. Viola sees a woman walking through the room, and she can smell that the woman is pregnant. Aswang crave babies, but she wants to prove herself better than her instincts, so she talks to the woman about her pregnancy. Viola feels hungry near her and excuses herself abruptly.

Tom stops the man at the gate and asks him what kind of creature he is. The man does not respond but says that his name is Brandt Solberg. Brandt wants to rob Tom’s house, not buy it. He says that there is an item in the house that belongs to him. Tom offers to help him break into his own house.

Raphael tells Gabriel that Death has not been tending to his duties: The souls for the afterlife are piling up. Raphael says that they should visit Death, who lives at the base of the Tree of Life, to find out what is happening. They cannot find him. Gabriel and Raphael must find Death before anyone notices that he has gone missing.

When Mayra rests, she hears the whispers of wishes from mortals on Earth. She hears Viola wishing that she could experience emotions again. Mayra hopes that Viola finds peace.

Fox arrives at the Parker mansion with Cal. Viola, Tom, Mayra, and Isis wait inside. Viola is surprised that Fox cannot see Tom. Brandt searches the house for his item, and he hears a familiar voice downstairs. Fox twists the ring on his finger to call Death, but Death does not appear. Brandt greets Fox from behind, and Fox whirls around. He never thought he would see Brandt again. Fox has a flashback to meeting Brandt. Fox accused Brandt of being a thief, and Brandt told Fox that he was a fool. Fox thought that Brandt kidnapped Death, but Brandt explained that Death was at the tables. Fox told Brandt to take him to the tables. There, Brandt tells Fox that Death has a gambling obsession. He plays a game called the immortals’ game, where one person tries to expose the other’s weaknesses.

In the Parker mansion, Fox accuses Brandt of hurting Death. Brandt denies it. Mayra and Cal try to intervene, but they suddenly disappear. Fox explains that God and Lucifer must have summoned Mayra and Cal. Brandt and Fox argue. Fox has another flashback to the first time he went to the tables with Brandt. Brandt insisted that Death cheated at the game, which Fox refused to believe. Brandt said that whether Death wins or loses, he takes something from his opponent. Brandt offered Fox an immortal apple from the goddess Iðunn, as he explained that he was a Norse demi-god. In the Parker mansion, Brandt says that something must have happened to Death, or they never would have found each other again.