Page 24 of Guarded By the Reaper

Grim was silent for a moment. “That’s why you followed it.”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I knew it couldn’t really be her, but... I had to know how it knew that.”

“They can get inside your head, use your memories against you. You can’t trust anything they say or show you.”

“I know,” I replied. “But it felt so real. For a moment, I really thought...”

“That your mother was back,” Grim finished for me.

I nodded, feeling tears prick at my eyes again. “I miss her so much, Grim. Both of them. Sometimes, it feels like there’s this huge hole in my life, and nothing can fill it.”

Grim reached out, his bony hand hovering over mine for a moment before pulling back. “Grief is complicated. Even for someone like me, who deals with death every day.”

I looked at him, curious. “Do you ever get used to it? Seeing people die, I mean.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “No,” he finally said. “You’d think after a century, it would get easier. But every life is unique. Every death leaves its mark.”

His words made me think about my own impending death. The deal I’d made with Ma-Vasha. Would Grim be the one to reap me when the time came?

“What’s it like being a Grim Reaper?”

Grim tilted his head, considering. “It’s a duty. A responsibility. We guide souls to their next destination. It’s not always easy, but it’s necessary.”

“Do you ever wish you could go back? To being human, I mean.”

His skeletal features seemed to soften. “Sometimes. But this is who I am now. There’s no going back.”

I nodded, understanding. We all had things in our past we couldn’t change. Secrets we carried with us. As I sat there, sipping my tea and talking with Grim, my mind wandered to the secret I’d been carrying for so long. The truth about Elysia. Now, with my parents gone, I was the only one who knew...

Part of me wanted to tell Grim. To share this burden with someone else. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t just my secret to tell. It would change everything for Elysia, and I couldn’t do that to her. Not now, not ever.

Grim’s dark eye sockets seemed to bore into me as he leaned forward, his bony fingers tapping on the table.

“Millie,” he said, his voice low, “I think I know how the Poppets got that information about your mother.”

I wrapped my hands tighter around my mug, the warmth seeping into my palms. “How?”

“They’ve been digging into your mind,” Grim explained, his words sending a chill down my spine. “These creatures are more invasive than we thought. They can access your memories, your deepest thoughts.”

My stomach dropped. The idea of those things rifling through my head, seeing my most private moments made me feel sick.

“So, they know... everything?”

Grim nodded slowly. “Potentially. This makes them far more dangerous than we initially believed.”

I slumped back in my chair. It was too much. The deal with Ma-Vasha, the threat to Elysia, and now this invasion of my mind.

“This is horrible,” I whispered. “I don’t know how much more I can take. I should just end it now. It’s going to happen anyway.”

The words tumbled out before I could stop them, a moment of weakness I instantly regretted. Grim’s reaction was immediate and intense.

“Please don’t talk like that,” he said, his voice sharp with what sounded like genuine concern. It caught me off guard, hearing such emotion from the usually stoic Grim Reaper.

I looked up at him, surprised by the intensity in his eye sockets. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean... I just feel so overwhelmed.”

Grim reached across the table, his hand hesitating for a moment before gently resting on mine. His touch was cool and strange.

“I know this is difficult,” he said. “But you’re stronger than you realize, Millie. I’ve seen it. And you’re not alone in this.”

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