Past Due

*Past Due* is the fourth novel and the fifth book in the Good Intentions series by Elliott Kay, published on June 2, 2020. Zafirah has discovered a millenia-long conspiracy with ties to Onyx, and is determined to unravel it.

## Publisher’s summary

Alex Carlisle owes a debt beyond cash. Once upon a time–all of three months ago–Alex found himself in a foreign land hunted by mercenaries and demon lords. Only the intervention of a sultry, playful jinn got him home again. Zafirah didn’t help him for free. Now she’s come to collect.

With her sights set on a dangerous family of ancient sorcerers, Zafirah needs every edge. She needs not only Alex, but the friends and lovers he brings with him. Her quest threatens to extract a price from angel, demon, and mortal alike… and most especially the witch who brought them all together.

## Publisher’s warning

Past Due contains explicit sex, explicit violence, explicit language expletives, murder, attempted murder, alley murder, mayhem, perfidy, piracy, necromancy, piratical necromancy, nudity, open relationships, polyamory, casual promiscuity, straight people, depictions of beings of divine and infernal nature bearing little or no resemblance to established religious canon, casual disrespect of vampires, elitism, explosions, classism, premarital sex, oral sex, shower sex, car sex, standing sex, chair sex, public sex, sex in a police station, international weapons trafficking, eavesdropping, lewd conduct at a border crossing, presumptuous hotel arrangements, historical revisionism, arson, defenestration, decapication, drowning, demonstrations on a college campus without a permit, chemical warfare, breaking and entering, punching, kicking, stomping, stabbing, immolation, party sorcery, awkward confessions, veiled insults, open insults, Nazis, obscene wealth, panties, blasphemy, police brutality, impersonation of a licensed professional, mild erotic asphyxiation, multiple threesomes, conspiracy to commit swinging, grand larceny, underage drinking, unsafe operation of a marine vessel in Canadian waters, sexual harassment, kidnapping, raiding, destruction of private property, illegal discharge of firearms, soccer arguments, seduction, discrimination, reincarnation, pop culture references, generally rude behavior, mind control, robbery, questionable workplace relationship standards, crank calls, cultists, tentacle people, trespassing, concealed weaponry without permit, interrupted vacations, late payments, historical weirdness about penises, poor management techniques, party fouls, fraud, grandstanding, cell phone failure, surveillance, looting, gaslighting, nightclub jerks, a grumpy in-law, a megayacht, and the lizard people from beneath Los Angeles.

All characters are age eighteen or over.

### Characters

* Elena
* Marie
* Pierre, a librarian
* Simon (mentioned only)
* Malike
* Kashvi
* Ming, of the Family
* Alex Carlisle
* Taylor
* Drew Jones
* Jason Cohen
* Steve, a police officer
* Rachel
* Jocelyn
* Lorelei
* Adam, a prospective lover
* Ted
* Wade Reinhardt
* Onyx
* Molly Murray
* Orion
* Kate Oakwood
* Hector Kingston
* Chen Jin
* Sierra
* Orion (unnamed)
* Sergeant Romano, a policeman
* Michiko
* Carter
* Rico
* Wes
* Dwayne
* Austin
* Zafirah
* Mahmoud
* Abdel
* Kasseem, a museum guard
* Mei, a guardian angel
* Donald
* Javier
* Wanda, of the Blessed Church of Immaculate Virtue
* Vincent (mentioned only)
* Azazel (mentioned only)
* Ellison Addington
* Masood
* Helen Robinson
* Cornelius (mentioned only)
* Either Daniel or Marvin (unnamed)
* Colin, a guardian angel
* Skorri (mentioned only)
* Dalton McGinley (mentioned only)
* Onyx’s parents (mentioned only)
* Elizabeth Van Dalen (mentioned only)
* George
* Trish (mentioned only)
* Spencer Kensington III (mentioned only)
* Genevieve du Valois, a vampire (mentioned only)
* Dominic
* Roman
* Jackson Tyler, a werewolf pack leader (mentioned only)
* Baal (mentioned only)
* Cythera, a dark lady (mentioned only)
* Beelzebub (mentioned only)
* Trevor, a demon of sorcery (mentioned only)
* Michaelis, a demon of sorcery (mentioned only)
* Tanxin, a demon of greed (mentioned only)
* Leanne
* Jasper
* Victor
* Sepulveda
* Topanga
* Katerina Sorrow
* Johanna Matthias
* Hugo
* Gerhardt Stein
* Teheret
* Moonclaw, muscle
* The Hound of the Mojave, muscle
* Trevor, a former apprentice Practitioner and muscle
* Steve, a Canadian bodyguard and muscle
* Lilith
* Amber Maddox
* Anastacia Kanatova (mentioned only)
* Damien Blackthorne (mentioned only)
* George Wentworth (mentioned only)
* Joel
* Sheng, Wen, a man and his mother-in-law
* Li, Amit, guardian angels
* Pete, a nightclubber
* Mike, a bouncer
* Rupert, Ana, Susan, angels
* Evgeni
* Filip
* Tokol (mentioned only)
* Corinne, Amelia, Sadie, upper class girls
* Mike, a convention creep

### Locations & organizations

* The Family
* Seattle
	+ University of Washington
	+ Seattle Police Department
	+ King County Correctional Facility, Downtown
	+ Columbia Tower
	+ International circle
	+ Native circle
	+ Suite 1705
	+ House 12573
	+ Ahmed Kovac’s pool hall (mentioned only)
	+ The Light (mentioned only)
	+ Anastacia’s Court (mentioned only)
	+ Brotherhood of Apollo (mentioned only)
* Alexandria
	+ The Alexandrian Museum of Antiquities
* Vancouver
	+ A very posh hotel
	+ A cathedral
	+ A mansion of decadence, intrigue, and evil
	+ “Girl in a Wetsuit”, Stanley Park
* *Silver Delta*
* Rio de Janeiro
* Special Task Force (mentioned only)
* Rico’s team

### Items

* Alex’s *gladius*
* Iron crown (mentioned only)
* Gargoyle automata

## Continuity

*Past Due* is set in March, during Spring Break.

It follows from the events of the earlier books. The relationship between Onyx, Molly, and Alex is important during this book. It was earlier developed in the short stories “Date Night” and “More Than Friends”.

Key events in the story are the Alexandria raid, the Family party, and the Battle of the Silver Delta.

## Theories

George says that all the guardian angels for the Crew were hurt during the Battle of the Casino and thus could not accompany them to Vancouver.⁠ However, Marvin served as Rachel’s replacement as Dominion while she went to Alex’s rescue, so cannot have been too badly hurt.⁠⁠ Either Marvin or Daniel (angel) accompanied Wade and Jason when they supported Alex’s attempt to break into Masood’s apartment.⁠ Angels are also shown to have very strong recuperative powers at need. Last, it leaves the question of Sierra’s guardian angel open—does she have one, and if so, why does Rachel replace them?

One possibility is that Rachel replaces Marvin et al. at this time not because they are wounded, but because Heaven wants to make efficient use of Rachel, not expose other guardians to danger, or perhaps most interesting, don’t want to expose them to Rachel anymore.

It is left unsaid if it was Marvin or Daniel who accompanied Wade and Jason on the roof assisting Alex against Masood. However, waving and doing thumbs-up to Rachel fits much better with Marvin than with Daniel, since Rachel and Daniel have very poor relations.⁠⁠

## Trivia

Jason says that “Alex is looking pretty Genji”.⁠ This is a reference to Overwatch.

Alex notes that does not have the means to cover the mortgage for Suite 1705, but Lorelei bought the condo using cash only.⁠⁠ He might be using “mortgage” for some other costs, like condo association fees.

Wade discusses why he chose not to bring an assault rifle into Canada.⁠ Later he is equipped with one.⁠

Molly says the protective ward washes off in a shower.⁠ Earlier, Onyx’s warding spell stayed active on Alex despite the salts having been washed out in the shower.⁠

Drew is unpracticed with his shotgun—his primary weapon during the Battle of the Silver Delta—but had regularly practiced reloading his pistol with Sierra. Why no shotgun practice?⁠⁠

See also Pop culture references in Good Intentions.

## Publication history

*Past Due* was released as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook on June 2, 2020. The audiobook was narrated by Tess Irondale.

## References

1. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 20
2. ↑  *Personal Demons*, chapter 8
3. ↑  *Personal Demons*, chapter 25
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2  ***Past Due***, chapter 8
5. ↑  *Natural Consequences*, chapter 5
6. ↑ Elliot Kay blog
7. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 10
8. ↑ “Live Like This”
9. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 11
10. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 23
11. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 12
12. ↑  *Good Intentions*, chapter 12
13. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 24
14. ↑  ***Past Due***, chapter 25