“He works tomorrow,” I said. “He’s there late afternoon. You could come in around four or so, and I could introduce you. Actually… he’s into heavy metal, too.”
Grim looked my way again. “I have more enemies than just Cedric,” he said, “and you already know Johann’s and Flora’s enemies are mine as much as they are theirs.”
“Package deal,” I said with a nod. “Families are like that.”
“So is the Mafia,” he grumped as he restarted the car.
I swallowed hard, my heart leaping into panic mode, thrumming with the fear of parting ways with him again.
“You have to go back to work,” I guessed, “is that it?”
“What?” he asked, which was becoming a common response from him. Perhaps a sign that I did, at least in some capacity, rattle him. “There’s always work, but no pull for any Fated Souls.”
“So you don’thaveto go? And speaking of the Fated, do… you retrieve them often?”
“I don’t really pay that much attention,” he said, “but maybe a few times a year.”
“Wow.” I got quiet, because that was somewhat of a bombshell, wasn’t it? Here I’d been thinking one in ten people must be a Fated Soul. Apparently, they were much rarer than that. No wonder there was so much hubbub around me. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything. Maybe there would be comfort in knowing.
“Listen,” I said, “if you’re not pressed for time, would you want to get something to eat? I mean…doyou eat? Sorry, again, if that’s an offensive question.”
“Why would that be offensive?”
“I don’t know.” Again, I started talking with my hands, my own telltale sign of nervousness. “You never touched your coffee and, well, if you didn’t because you’re unable, then it’s kind of like asking someone who can’t swim if they want to go deep-sea diving.”
“It’s been a long time,” he said.
“Since you’ve deep-sea dived?” I asked. “I thought you went just the other d—”
“What do you want?” he half asked, half barked.
I shut my mouth and turned to stare forward. Now heat did crawl up my neck.
Of course I was wasting his time, and he could see straight through me, too. He was the Grim Reaper—ageless and important. He wanted me to tell him what I was after so he could ditch me and get on with his unlife while he waited for mine to expire.
On any given night, he saw—and handled—innumerable souls. Why wouldn’t mine be just another number to him?
“To eat, Helena,” he clarified, the words sending my startled gaze straight back to him—because he must have read the hurt in my expression. Did the softening in his tone mean he cared about that? “There’s a Chinese place right there.” He pointed to the strip mall. “Do you like egg rolls?”
I smirked—lopsidedly, my heart buoyed again.
“I do,” I allowed, “but… to be honest, I could go for something a bit more substantial than a snack.”
“Are you calling me a cheapskate?”
I blinked at him, taken aback, but I recovered quickly—andsmoothly. “Well… youdidtake me to McDonald’s on our last date.”
“Hey,” he said, turning to hold up a finger between us, “that shit’s expensive now.”
A broad grin spread onto my face—impossible to suppress or subdue. “Did… you just make a joke?”
Anotherjoke?
“I don’t joke,” he said, shifting the car into gear, and when he pulled out of the parking lot again, rejoining traffic, I didn’t bother asking him where we were going a second time.
So long as I was with him… I didn’t care.
31GRIM
