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She nodded at his pendant, which he’d already put around his neck. “It looks good on you.”
“Thanks,” he said, looking down with a small smile. “It’s just like yours.”
“Yeah. Only yours takes souls and mine gives them.” She squinted at him speculatively. “Do you remember anything else? Since coming out of the Between?”
“No.” He pressed his lips together in a thin line, face serious. “But Roberta said that she had some ideas to try. So, I think I’ll head off with her for a bit, if that’s okay? You’re probably sick of me by now anyway.”
“I’m not sick of you,” she said quickly, not wanting him to think she didn’t want him around. “I just feel like…” She floundered, her old pal guilt coming back for another visit. “Like I cheated you.”
He frowned. “How?”
“Because I’m pretty sure this is all my fault,” she admitted. She heard her voice starting to crack and clamped her teeth shut, determined not to say anything else.
“It’s not,” he insisted.
“Okay.” She shrugged, feeling defeated. “If you say so.” She offered him a sad smile, before she began to back away. “You know where to find me if you need to.”
“Get some sleep.”
“I’ll try,” she promised.
* * *
Bunny sleptthe sleep of the dead.
No dreams. No feelings. Nothing. A complete and utter vacuum, from the time her head hit her pillow until she heard someone knocking on her apartment door later that evening. It took her a minute to remember where she was. To remember the conference had happened—that the Soul Dealer had happened—and wake up enough to be capable of walking from her bedroom to the front door.
She eventually opened the door to find Death standing there. He had more color in his face, if such a thing was even possible for him.
“Good evening,” she said, lifting a hand to rub her eyes as she moved aside to let him in.
“Good morning,” he said, knowing that nighttime was when she usually started her day. He held out a large takeout coffee cup from the Midway Diner. “I brought you this.”
“Thanks,” she said, accepting it gratefully and taking a needy swig. It hit her soul like liquid fire. “Mmm, my favorite.”
“I know,” he smiled. “I remember.”
Bunny had placed the coffee cup on the counter and was starting to rummage for bread to make toast when she realized exactly what he meant. Her eyes widened as she turned to face him.
“How?” she breathed.
“I went back to the Between,” he said.
The same cheeky sparkle was back in his eyes, and Bunny felt tears springing to hers when she recognized it.
“Have you been there since I left you in the Lobby?”
“There,” he said. “And in an Upper Management disciplinary hearing."
"What?"
"It's fine," he assured her. "They reacquainted me with space and time and gave me back something precious.”
“Your memory.” She smiled, lifting a hand to swipe at a tear on her cheek.
“My memory of kissing you,” he corrected, closing the space between them.
He lifted a warm hand to her tear-streaked cheek, cradling her face as he tilted it upwards and leaned closer.
