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“Is it cheating if she was never with you?” Aiden asks her, closing his eyes. I poke him on the side as a warning. He knows he’s getting her riled up. A faint smile forms on his face.

Yirah grabs her chest dramatically and leans against the door frame. “I’ll never forgive you, Joyce.”

I roll my eyes. “Oh, shut up. You were pushing for this to happen since day one.”

Still holding her chest, she hangs her head in defeat. “Doesn’t mean it hurts any less.”

I sit up, holding the covers to my chest. I lean over the bed and grab Aiden’s shirt. I pull it over my head then climb out of bed and head into the bathroom to brush my teeth with Yirah on my heels. If she is here this early, there must be something wrong.

“Yirah, babe. Why are you here?” I pick up my toothbrush, wet it, put on the toothpaste, then wet it again. Because only psychopaths put toothpaste on a dry toothbrush.

As if a light bulb went off, she says, “Oh yeah! The whole Eden system is down. We need all hands on-deck. I know today is your day off, but Director Taevian needs you to discuss with the reapers the do’s and don’ts of their departments to avoid any possible violations of the RCC.”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“You are the only one familiar with this new Reaper’s Court.” She leans in and whispers, “Everyone is worried about ending up like Aiden.”

I pause brushing my teeth and reply dryly, “Well, they need to relax and worry about themselves. Not Aiden.”

“Wow. You really aren’t a morning per—” She is cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.

She pulls it out of her purse and answers, “Hello, Director Young?” I finish rinsing my mouth and begin to wash my face.

“Yes. I can let her know. Okay. Goodbye.” She ends the call then says to me, “Seems as though every department wants you to brief them on how to approach this in order to avoid going to Reaper’s Court.”

I pause from washing my face to give her a look of exasperation. “Why doesn’t Reaper’s Court brief everyone on how to avoid going to Reaper’s Court. You would think this is the first time this has ever happened.”

“Actually, yes. It is. Since Eden has existed, this has never happened. Everyone wants to get the job done, but we rely on technology to do it. A lot of the reapers are new, so they aren’t familiar with how things used to work. Also, Reaper’s Court is packed with cases, and we have no reapers to spare. So, it’s you.”

No wonder they are all freaking out. There has yet to be a boring day since I’ve arrived. First, Aiden is accused of breaking the RCC. Then, souls are released from Hell. If it couldn’t get any worse, someone breaks into my apartment and steals all my materials for Aiden’s case. Now, the whole Eden system is down. Something is not right here. Sure, it could be all a coincidence. But four coincidences? This is becoming a pattern. But what would be the motive behind all of this? Destroy Eden? And then what? That would be the stupidest plan in the world, with zero benefits. I haven’t mentioned any of this to Aiden yet, because I have no solid leads. To him this might all sound like conspiracy.

“How long have you been a reaper?” I ask curiously, because she has never really talked about her life before Eden. I dry my face and do my skin care routine.

“Oh, you know. It’s been a while. I don’t even remember the year at this point. I lost count after twenty,” she replies. Damn, she’s way older than me. If she lost count after twenty, who knows how long she’s been a reaper. But it’s also interesting that she cannot remember the year she was born. Who forgets their birthday? I table that thought. I’ll push her for answers on her age on a later day.

Using this opportunity to learn more about her, I ask, “How did you pass away? If you don’t mind me asking of course.”

She grips the bathroom counter, and her eyes lower in sorrow. She replies softly, “Someone I love betrayed me.” She said love in present tense, meaning she still has those feelings for them. Hopefully, one day she trusts me to share.

I place my hand on top of her hand gripping the counter. “I’m so sorry, Yirah.”

“It happened. All we can ever do is move forward.” She smiles brightly at me, her eyes telling a different story.

“So, I need to brief every department?” I ask, changing the topic. I don’t want to push on what seems like a touchy topic.

I take off my head scarf and part my braids down the middle. I thank God every day that my hair is braided. Once I get to Heaven, my first request is braids that last forever.

“Yes. They are waiting on you before they continue their duties with the system down,” she says as she fixes her hair and touches up her lipstick.

I nod. “Oh alright. I’ll get dressed and start with the Collection department.”

“Quickly please. People are dying. Souls aren’t being collected or processed. The whole order of everything can collapse.”

I roll my eyes at her dramatics. “I said alright. I’ll meet you at my office.” She winks at me, then disappears.

I walk into my closet, quickly get dressed, then head over to the bed where Aiden is asleep and tap his forehead.

“Aiden,” I whisper. He opens his eyes, blinking away the sleep. He wraps an arm around me and pulls me down on top of him. I lean back to look at his face, into his dark brown eyes. His hair is wild, with some strands laying on his forehead.