Grim Crush (Grimly Ever After) (8 page)

Chapter 9

“I can’t do it anymore,” I told Jayza and Ziri. We sat with our legs dangling off the roof of a ten-story building. It wasn’t hard to guess I was the one who had chosen this location.

“Xia, don’t talk crazy,” said Ziri, who was sitting on my right. “How could you want to give up on the hottest Native American in Arizona?”

Jayza, who sat on my left, grinned. “I agree. Plus, you must like him a lot. If you stopped seeing him, wouldn’t you miss him?”

“Yeah,” I replied, the thought alone paining me. “It hurts to think about never seeing him again.”

“Well, if you
did
decide to give him up, could I have him?” Ziri asked.

Jayza and I gawked at her. Then we all burst into laughter.

“Okay, let’s put it like this, Xia,” Jayza said. “Would you rather be friends with him and let him know you’re a reaper, or be without him and keep the secret?”

“When you put it like that…” I sighed, dropping my face into my hands. “I don’t know.”

“You break our code all the time,” Ziri stated. “What’s wrong with breaking a Rule of Reaping?”

“Nothing, according to Shilah’s grandmother. Rule One is the only one that counts.”

“It’s not like Shilah’s going to die any time soon anyway. In fifty years, maybe.”

“I know. I guess I better think about telling him.” I stood up, gazing down at all of the lights on the busy night street below. It was windy up here, the gales tossing my braids around my face. “Time to go, Ziri. And I know you don’t like hospitals, but people die in them all the time. You have to get used to it.”

Ziri grudgingly got to her feet too, wobbling on the edge of the building. I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling off.

“Thanks,” she said. “Heights and falls scare me, even though I can’t die.”

“In that way, we are complete opposites. Are you ready to go?” I asked.

“I guess so, since I still get to hold your scythe.” Ziri grinned.

“And this will be your last time,” I warned.

“But this is only the third time! I get two more. You said five.”

“I said five
souls
. We reaped three souls at once last time, so this one will be the fifth soul.” I smirked.

Ziri frowned. “You tricked me. I meant to say five different occasions.”

“But you didn’t.”

Ziri exhaled heavily through her nose. “I hate you, Xia.”

“I know. I hate you too.”

Jayza snickered, shaking her head as Ziri teleported away with a furious look on her face. I grinned at my best friend, then followed after the grim-in-training.

* * *

I waited by the stream this time for Shilah. He would probably check Chad’s Cliff first, but he could see me from up there. It would give me a little more time to myself while he made his way down here.

I thought a lot about what Granna had suggested and what Jayza had said. I
wanted
to tell Shilah what I was. It would make things less confusing between us, if he wasn’t creeped out by it. Granna had said he could handle the truth, but I was unsure.

When Shilah arrived, he was carrying a large basket. Today his hair was in a ponytail, and I loved watching the way a loose strand kept blowing across his face in the breeze.

I raised my eyebrows at the basket. “What’s that?”

“Since I can’t take you out on a date, I decided to bring a date to you,” he replied. He set the basket down under the shade of a blossoming tree.

Curious, I walked over and sat next to it. “What’s in there?”

Shilah gave me a funny look. “Food, of course. This is a picnic basket. Haven’t you ever seen one before?”

Uh oh. This could be a problem. “No, I haven’t. Uh…I can’t eat anything.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not hungry. But you can eat, I don’t mind.”

“Oh, I’m so stupid. I should’ve told you first. You’ve already eaten, haven’t you?”

“Um…Shilah, I need to tell you something…”

He got out a light blue blanket from the basket and spread it out. “I think I’ve already figured you out, Xia.”

“You see…wait, what?” That was the last thing I’d expected to hear from him.

He sat on the blanket, patting the spot next to him for me. I crawled onto the blanket, staring at him.

“I’ve been thinking a lot,” he said. “And I think I’ve figured you out.”

My heart skipped a few beats. “What do you mean?”

“I know you’ve been lying to me. And you act…well,
too
weird. You leave suddenly at unusual times, you seem to know a lot about death, and I know you’re not from Italy. Then yesterday, I tried to follow you when you left, but…you just
disappeared
behind some trees. I must’ve lost track of you. But I think I know why you’re so mysterious.”

My heart was beating faster. However, through my panic, I was peeved. “You
followed
me?” Okay, so I was being a hypocrite, since I’d done the same thing to him.

“Yes. And I know exactly what you’re hiding from me.”

“I highly doubt that,” I disagreed, but my heartbeat still kept hammering in my chest. “What do you
think
you know?”

“Your dad is involved in something illegal. He’s part of the mob, isn’t he?”

I relaxed a little, then bit my bottom lip and looked away. I could let Shilah believe his new theory, or I could tell him the truth. Decisions, decisions…

“That’s the only reason why you would keep it a secret,” Shilah continued. “He wouldn’t want anyone to know what business you do for him. You also said something about rules when we first met, so you must mean the rules of the mob. And you don’t want me to meet your dad because he’s dangerous–”

“Shilah, stop. There
is
something I’m hiding from you, but it’s not that. It’s not anything you could think of.”

Shilah fell silent, watching me intently.

I moved closer to him, placing my hand on his knee. “What I’m about to tell you might freak you out, so promise me you’ll still like me after this. I don’t want you to be scared of me.”

“Xia, I don’t understand…”

“Just promise you won’t run away from me. You already think I’m weird, so I’m just going to get a little weirder. Maybe a lot weirder.”

“Okay, I promise I’ll still talk to you. What is it?” He looked concerned.

I took a deep breath. “Before I tell you, I should admit that I followed you one day too. And I met your grandmother. You call her Granna?”

Shilah appeared shocked. “When was that?”

“Two days ago. She told me some things. Do you remember her ever talking about grim reapers?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “She’s always talking about crazy things. Did she talk to
you
about grim reapers?”

“Only because I asked.”

“
Why
?”

I paused, trying to figure out how to put this. “What do you know about reapers?”

“Besides the fact that they’re made up? Why are we talking about–”

“Just tell me what you know, please.”

Shilah sighed. “They…take the souls of the dead or something.”

I nodded. “They guide the souls. And they’re not human. They’re neither dead nor alive. And reapers aren’t supposed to be seen by the living, but…you and Granna are the only two people who
can
see them.”

“Wait. You believe in grim reapers?”

I looked at the ground, ignoring his question. “You’re not supposed to be able to see me. Because I’m a reaper.” My voice was barely audible as I said the last sentence.

Still, Shilah must’ve heard me. He had a strange look on his face. “
What
?”

“I guide souls of the dead. Please don’t be scared, but I’m about to show you something, so you’ll believe me.” I stood. I closed my eyes and hesitated, then willed my scythe to appear in my hand. I opened my eyes at the same time to see Shilah’s reaction.

He jumped, drawing back away from me. I cringed at the fear in his eyes.

Swallowing, I spread out my arms. “I am a grim reaper. Every time someone dies in my area, I have to go pick up their soul. That’s why I always leave so quickly, sometimes without warning. When I ‘disappeared’ yesterday, I teleported away.” I would show him that trick later, if he wanted me to. He had enough to process already.

Shilah continued eyeing me and my weapon. There was silence between us for several seconds. Finally, Shilah ripped his gaze away, looking down.

“Oh my God,” he muttered. “Granna…Granna told me…she
knew
…she said I knew someone who was part of Death. And she said…I should believe…I thought she was talking nonsense as usual…”

I got rid of my scythe and dropped to my knees on the blanket. I stayed as far away from Shilah as I could get to give him time to take this in.

After a minute, I asked, “Is there anything you want to know?”

Silence.

“What are you thinking about?” I pressed.

More silence.

“Shilah? Please talk to me. Yell at me. Tell me to go.
Something
. Please.”

He didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t even look at me.

My eyes watered. “Well, you wanted to know the truth. It’s against the Rules of Reaping for us to be friends, anyway. So…I’ll go now. Goodbye.” I rose to my feet again, tears streaming down my cheeks. Since reapers weren’t human, why did we have to have the stupid ability to cry? I hadn’t done this since I picked up my first child soul when I began solo reaping.

As I started walking away, Shilah said, “Xia, don’t go.”

I stopped and turned back to him, sure I hadn’t heard right. Maybe he wanted to tell me he never wanted to see me again to my face.

His eyes bored into mine, as they had the first time we’d met. “Sit, please.”

“Are you sure?” I croaked.

He nodded. I sniffed and wiped my face, walking back over. I slowly lowered myself onto the blanket, keeping to the far corner away from Shilah.

“You…see
death
…all the time?” he asked. “Every day?”

“Yes,” I answered. “It’s my job.”

“Do you
cause
death?”

“No, definitely not. Death can’t be controlled; it just happens. The Angel of Death, the main reaper, is the one who gives me information about people’s deaths.”

“The Angel of Death…your father?”

I smiled grimly. “Yeah.”

“That explains a lot.” Shilah paused. “And your friend, Jayza?”

“She’s a reaper too. And Ziri. She’s a grim-in-training, and I’m her trainer. She’s not my cousin, but we
are
reaper sisters, since we are Death’s children.”

“And what you said earlier…you’re really invisible to all other humans, except me and Granna?”

“Yeah. Which is why I can’t be seen in public places.”

“I didn’t know you meant that literally.” Shilah was quiet for another few seconds, then he asked, “How did you become a reaper? Were you ever human?”

“Maybe for a short time. A human woman probably gave birth to me, but I didn’t live long. Do you know about stillborn babies and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? The Angel of Death occasionally claims newborns because they don’t have strong connections to the living. They don’t know their family, so they can grow up to be reapers and not know what it would’ve been like to be human. So I left behind a body when I died, but I didn’t go to Purgatory. I went to this place called The In-Between, which is my base. Then I was taken care of by reapers.”

“Wow. So, where do you live?”

“Nowhere. Everywhere. Reapers report to The In-Between to meet with our superiors and each other. Our base is like a dimension between the living and the dead. Dead spirits pass through it. It’s the closest thing to a home, I guess. I don’t really need one because I’m constantly out reaping souls. I don’t need to eat or change clothes or take baths or several other things humans need homes for.”

Shilah nodded. “That’s why you didn’t want any of this food.” He gestured to the picnic basket. “And now I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Sorry. So…are you scared of what I am? If you never want to see me again, I’ll understand.”

Shilah studied me. “You said something about rules of reaping. Can we even
be
friends?”

“Well, I’m not supposed to get emotionally involved with anyone living. That might include friendship.”

“So you’ve been breaking the rules by coming to see me?”

“I guess. Another rule is to not show myself to humans, but since you can see me anyway, I don’t know if I’m breaking that rule. Besides, I’m always disobeying my superiors. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been scolded. In fact, Ziri is my punishment for recent behavior.”