Chapter Seven
Grym
Iknew the second my beloved was in trouble. I felt it in my gut. It twisted, then ached. That was right before the contract to ferry his soul into the afterlife ignited on my kitchen counter.
I stared at his name on the paper. Elliot Coyne was firmly set in red letters.
The parchment it was written on contained fine print, but it was always hidden from me until a soul walked through the door to the afterlife.
Then I saw it, though I never read it even after it appeared.
It was just legal mumbo jumbo that meant nothing so long as I did my job according to Bureau policy.
Until Elliot’s contract. I was desperate to find out what it said.
Instead, I turned to Morgana. My hands shook as I picked up the contract and showed her the name. “This is my beloved’s contract. I know it’s him.” I didn’t want her to doubt me.
“He’s right.” Ozzy was the most attuned to his intuition. Thankfully, he was also the first to back me. “It’s like he has a tracker under his skin. I don’t feel drawn to him the way Grym does, but there’s something there. An instinct.”
“Let me see that.” Cael took the paper from me when I handed it to him. He sucked in a breath, then cursed. “He’s right. There’s a knowing. He feels like family.”
Cael handed the paper to Neo, who confirmed both Ossy’s and Cael’s reactions.
“What does the fine print say?” I asked Morgana. That was the burning question. I needed to know the consequences of failing to fulfill the contract. I’d never considered not following through. I had a perfect record, but I had a feeling Elliot was about to change that.
“The contract will go to another reaper. If no one fulfills it, the Bureau sends an enforcer. They’re usually demons. The powerful kind. They’re usually grade-A assholes, too,” Morgana explained.
Morgana made it sound as if Elliot Coyne’s death were a foregone conclusion. I wanted to tell her it wasn’t and that I wouldn’t honor the contract. Before I could, she began talking again. “The consequences are loss of life, Grym. For you and him.”
She didn’t have to tell me the last part. Unemployment for a reaper meant I’d die in that river with the prince. I’d be ferried off to Donn’s realm where he’d torture me for eternity.
Perhaps I was wrong about Donn and my time there would be grand.
Perhaps even Elliot would be with me if he wanted that, too.
Maybe I’d spend my days on the ranch I’d always wanted, with the stable full of horses.
Being a stable hand had always been my favorite job.
I would have been happy living that life and dying when I grew gray and my body gave in to old age.
But that wasn’t the deal I’d taken when I agreed to become a reaper.
And since I’d signed up for the job, I’d lived long beyond a single human lifetime.
She sighed. “What to do about Elliot Coyne?”
Cael raised his eyebrows at her. “It seems he’s already slotted for ferrying. One of us could just take the contract.” Cael met my gaze as if silently saying I was the one who needed to, since it was technically mine. The right thing, according to Cael, would be to take my beloved to the afterlife.
But shouldn’t Elliot be the one to decide whether he wanted to move on or stay?
Was the question just my mind’s way of justifying keeping him here? Was it selfish to want to get to know him while I was in the living realm? Would he choose me if he were standing in my kitchen with the rest of us?
Anyone would choose their known existence over the unknown, right?
“His mother died. Her name was Brenda Coyne.” I remembered her well. She’d been worried about her son.
“He can be reckless. He sees it as having fun. But his behavior will get him killed one day,” she'd said.
And I’d made a joke about her son seeing me and how it wouldn’t be that bad of a thing, now would it?
She'd laughed and said I was a pleasant enough person. “I pictured Death as more... skeletal and ugly. You certainly aren’t either of those things.”
She’d made me smile.
Her son would give me hell. I was certain of that.
I grabbed the contract, stuck it in a drawer in the kitchen island, then headed out of the room.
Morgana dogged my heels. “What are you intending to do, Grym?”
“To ask him what he wants.”
“You know you have twenty-four hours to fulfill his contract. If you don’t, the prophecy will begin.”
I grabbed my keys. “Would it be so bad to have immortals among us?”
“They threaten the Bureau’s existence and your job.”
Cael came up behind Morgana. “Elliot Coyne threatens us all. We’ll all need to pick a side, even you, Morgana.”
“No pressure or anything.” Ossy pushed Cael. “Give him a fucking break, man.” His gaze met mine. “I’m with you, no matter what.”
“Me, too,” Ivar yelled from the kitchen.
“And me,” Janus said.
Four other guys backed me too.
“Yeah, whatever. Can you pick up tacos on your way back? Or maybe a pizza? I’m starving, and you have no food,” Zoran said.
Grym sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think getting tacos is in my job description.”
“Considering you’re probably going to screw us all, feeding us is the least you can do.” Cael wasn’t budging. He had an opinion. That much was clear.
But Grym would do whatever Elliot chose. And buy tacos for everyone, of course.
****
I transported to the restaurant. All it took was thinking about it, but the cloak kept me hidden from other humans, except for the soul in need of transport. The cloak itself held a great deal of power.
By the time I arrived, Elliot was still clinging to life, but that would change soon.
The paramedics weren’t exactly panicking, but they were desperate to save Elliot.
They worked to stabilize him enough to move, but they would fail, depending on Elliot’s choice. The longer they worked on him, the more he faded.
When he left his body, he seemed to know what was happening. He focused on the paramedics as they spoke about losing Elliot.
“Holy shit, I’m dead. Right? Maybe?” Elliot shook his head. His back was to me. I knew he hadn’t noticed me. His focus was on himself. “Dude, this isn’t how I wanted to go. You’re a stupid motherfucker, Elliot Coyne.”
“How did you want to die?” I asked. It was a serious question, posed in a serious moment, but when Elliot jumped and clutched his chest, I chuckled.
His dark eyes sparkled with mischief, even though I knew he didn’t intend to cause trouble. Or maybe the intent was always there, waiting in the wings to unleash chaos. “Fuck, man. You scared me.”
“Elliot Coyne.” I wasn’t sure why I said his name. I wanted to hear how it sounded when it rolled off my tongue.
“Are you looking for me?” He stepped closer, away from the scene.
I willed everything to fall away, creating a smokescreen around us. I wanted him close to me, for it to be just us.
I cupped his cheek. “I am.”
“Why?” Elliot moved into my touch. Was he aware he had done it? I had my doubts. “Who are you?”
I didn’t want to answer either question. Would he understand the gravity of my role to him? Would he accept me?
Those questions came to the forefront of my mind. I took too long weighing whether to tell him about us.
“You’re an angel, aren’t you?”
But I held back the information and told myself it was for his sake. I didn’t want to influence his decision or bombard him with details. The weight of death was enough for him to carry.
I smiled. “Some might say so.”
“What would you call yourself?”
I would call myself many things. Stupid, because of what I was about to do. Flushing my career down the toilet wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever considered. There went Sector Two and a tropical paradise.
I was also smitten with Elliot. He was young and energetic.
He had the stupidity of youth dogging every decision.
That was why he’d risk his life and might still lose it.
His mother had called him reckless. Perhaps that was a good word for it.
But the recklessness didn’t come only from his age.
Pain lay in the depths of his eyes. Loss created a lonely existence, even with a thousand people around.
Everyone could love you, but all it took was losing someone you loved to change everything.
I might have taken for granted what happens to a person when the soul leaves a body. That person lived whatever existence they wanted in the afterlife. And maybe they saw their loved ones who had passed on. They were able to live eternity with them.
I could see the damage his mother’s death had done to him. It was the shadow in his eyes, casting just enough darkness for Elliot to want something to bring out the sun. But it always clouded over again once the fun was over.
“I’m here for you.” It wasn’t an answer. I knew that. All I had to do was say why I was there, but I put it off, not wanting Elliot to make a choice. If we stayed in the between, he wouldn’t have to decide, and I would have forever with him.
“Did I die?” Elliot already knew the answer. I could see it in the way tears pooled in his eyes. Elliot had already experienced a change with the death of his mother. He knew what to expect. Knowing didn’t make it an easier pill to swallow.
“You have a decision to make.” Saying it aloud made me wary. What would he do? “I can escort you to the door if you’d like, or you can go back to your body.”
Elliot frowned, taking a step back.
My hand fell away from his cheek.
“Why would I get a choice?” That was a great question. One I didn’t want to answer. I sighed and did it anyway. “You’re special.”
Elliot scoffed. “Yeah, right. Try again, Death Angel.”
Death Angel. I couldn’t help but smile at the accurate nickname. “That’s the truth.”
“Why me?”
Why indeed. I took a deep breath in, then let it out again, shoring up my courage.
He interrupted before I could answer. “Actually, what I would really like to know are the pros and cons. That’s a more important question. And also, why isn’t this death thing scary?”
“I don’t know why people aren’t scared when they get to the between other than it’s not a scary place.
Neither is the afterlife.” I held Elliot by the arm, and we turned.
Darkness faded into light. A door appeared ahead of us.
I could keep the door at a distance for a bit longer. Sadly, not forever.
Elliot widened his eyes. “So people go...” He pointed to the mist-covered ground and shuddered, as if something ominous lay beneath our feet.
I point to the door. “Whatever awaits you in the afterlife is through that door.”
“Even if it’s bad?” He had several more questions. I could read them between his words.
“Even if it’s bad,” I repeated.
“So what happens? I open the door and walk through. Or do you just shove me through if it turns out I’m destined for hell?
” Elliot shuddered again. “My grandma on my dad’s side of the family was a religious nutjob.
Like, fire-and-brimstone kind of shit. I’d visit her for a week every summer.
One week was enough.” He shook his head and shuddered.
“If hell is anything like what her preacher yelled about, then no thanks. That shit isn’t for me. ”
I chuckled. “I have no idea if hell even exists.” What I did know was that sometimes people saw what they feared when the door opened.
A dark shadow would emerge from the door and grab them, pulling them inside.
Sometimes hounds would come out, nipping at them and herding them through the door.
“You’re not the type who’s typically destined for hell. ”
“How do you know that?”
“I just know.” How would he feel if he knew I knew everything about him? I couldn’t tell what his feelings were or what the future held, but I knew his past. I knew the life he had led. It was like a memory that didn’t belong to me, something borrowed and filed away for when I needed it later.
“So, if hell isn’t on the other side, what is?” That was the million-dollar question, one I didn’t have an answer to.
“What would you like to see?”
Elliot’s chin wobbled. “My mom.”
“Then you’ll see her.” It was an incentive I shouldn’t have offered him, but I couldn’t deny him the truth. “Others have seen their loved ones, too. Some see a beach or a forest. It all depends on what your heart desires.”
“My mom, then. And blueberry cheesecake. My heart has always desired those two things.”
I chuckled.
“Come with me, and we’ll eat all the cheesecake we want.” Elliot smiled. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.
I stopped.
He turned to meet my gaze.
“If you go through the door, you leave everything behind, including me.”
A crease formed between his eyebrows, and he stuck out his bottom lip. “I’ll die. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
“What if I stay with you?”
“You’ll never die. Your body will never grow old. But your life will change almost immediately.” Because it would include me. I wouldn’t say it. At least not yet. I wasn’t sure how to bring up the Bureau hunting him, but that would change his life, too.
“How will it change?”
“That’s a very complicated question. One that requires more time than we have.”
Elliot seemed to consider his choice. He didn’t linger on the weight of each decision for long. “I still need to see the Grand Canyon. And I still want to fall in love. And become a successful carpenter.”
“You’re choosing to go back?” I wanted to make sure he was sure.
“Yeah. Yes. I want to go back. My mom would want me to live.” That she would. Staying in the living realm would change everything. But none of it was Elliot’s fault. He shouldn’t have to pay the consequences. I would do everything in my power to make sure he didn’t.
I held out my hand.
When Elliot took it, we walked back through the mist and into the darkness, then landed back at the restaurant.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Elliot leaned in and hugged me. I was so startled, I didn’t hug him back right away. “I’m going to remember all this, right?”
“I’m afraid not.” I kissed his temple.
He chuckled. “Kissed by Death. Nice.”
I chuckled, too. No one had ever said that to me before. Of course, I’d never kissed anyone just before making them immortal, either.
“Will I see you again?”
“Yes.”
“How will I remember you?”
“I’ll order a pizza.”
“What name will you use?”
“Grymley Reaper.”
Elliot lifted his eyebrows as he met my gaze. “Ordering a pizza will shake loose the memory. Is that your theory?”
“It will. I promise.” It would feel like a dream until the memory was fully formed. “Time to go, beloved.”
“Beloved?”
Elliot’s soul was spirited back into his body before I could answer.
The paramedics shouted about bringing Elliot back. They stabilized him, then wheeled him out of the restaurant and into the ambulance.