Page 5 of The Grim, Me, and The Reaper Makes Three

Atticus’ dark eyes swept over her. “And what, exactly, is your costume?”

She huffed out a breath, crossing her arms over her chest. “Tinker Bell. She’s the fairy from the moviePeter Pan.”

“Based on the play by J. M. Barrie, I believe,” Atticus said, nodding in recognition.

“Objectively, Tink, it could have been much worse,” William interjected, leaning forward in his chair to brace his elbows on his knees. A piece of his curly brown hair fell into his face, and Tati watched, transfixed, as one of his tattooed and tanned hands came up to brush it away. “And now we can get down to the business of figuring out how you want to spend the rest of eternity.”

Still in a daze, Tati followed Atticus to one of the chairs beside where William already sat. She perched on the edge of the seat, aware of the leather sticking to her thighs. She had picked the tiny green dress with the plunging cowl neck based on the fact that she looked fucking hot in it— cinched at the waist, hugging her ass and hips, and pushing her god-given tits up for the whole world to appreciate — but it had definitely been picked based on a night ofstandinganddancingand hopefullyusing the single zipper down the back to take it off as quickly as possible.It certainly wasn’t picked for being dead or in meetings requiring sitting on full display.

“So, now that you are dead,” Atticus began, crossing one long leg over the other and twirling a pen between his fingers. “You have been brought to the Afterworld, where you will spend the rest of eternity. It is an infinite place that, for the most part, mirrors the physical and natural laws that you are accustomed to from living on Earth, and yet there are certain constraints.” He leaned forward, nudging the pile of glossy brochures towards her. “There are different…regions, I believe would be the most accurate way to describe them. There is the Urban Center, where, no matter how far you travel, you will find endless urban sprawl. You have Suburban and Rural areas as well. You then have a Remote Region, where your eternity is almost guaranteed to be solitary.”

“These are all reflective of the modern world and modern life,” William cut in. “We generally shift the Afterworld every century. The surroundings evolve to match the experience of the living. So you will not find life like Ancient Greece or China under Emperor Qianlong, although you will find the dead from those eras here in the Afterworld. But in each region you have all climates represented, so whatever your preference, you can find it.”

Tati almost laughed. It all sounded so…unromantic, maybe? Was the afterlife really just an extension of life on earth among the living?

“I should probably add,” Atticus was saying, his gaze watching her carefully, “that once you choose a region, there is no going back. There is no travel permitted between regions. Wherever you decide to pass eternity is where you will be.”

“No take-backs,” William added.

Tati looked between them before looking down at brochures on the table. Each one depicted a region, splashed with glossy photographs of the idyllic cityscape or country cottage. She flipped one open at random, finding a detailed description ofthe current demographics of the Urban region – Fifty-thousand people per square mile, and within every 5 mile quadrant an eternal occupant could access all of the amenities one could ever need. Restaurants, nail salons, night clubs,a fucking zoo?

She only had a million questions, but had to start somewhere. “And what does a dead person do in the Afterworld?”

William shrugged. “Whatever you want. Opportunities and community will vary based on where you are, but you can, theoretically, do whatever you like.”

“Except build a high-rise in the remote region,” Atticus grumbled. “We had to add building codes because bloody billionaires felt like they needed to prepare for an apocalypse even in the Afterworld. Bastards do not seem to understand the fact that they are actually dead.”

Tati blinked. “Okay. Is there money? Currency? How am I supposed to do all of these things?”

“It is a gift economy. Everything is free — food, housing, entertainment, experiences, amenities — and alternately, individuals providing those services are given whatever supplies or materials they need. There is a request form, of course, but you just submit that to the Central Office and they get it all sorted.”

“That’s…shockingly simple.”

Atticus nodded, rubbing a hand across his smooth jaw. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

Tati looked back down at the table, at the possibilities laid out before her.Oh you know, no pressure. Just pick the place where you’d like to spend the rest of fucking ETERNITY. No biggie.She coughed. “Is there any way I could see a region before choosing?”

Atticus and William exchanged a long look, obviously engaging in some form of silent communication. Tati felt a waveof annoyance that she wasn’t included in whatever they were saying.

It was William who broke from the stare and spoke, a grin curving his lush mouth. “How would you like to go to a party, Tink?”

“A party?”

Atticus pushed himself up to standing, his hands smoothing down the front of his slacks. “It is in the Urban Region, at the top of one of those ostentatious towers. There is always a large crop of the newly-dead on Halloween, so it seems fitting that there be a party.”

Tati glanced down at the sparkling lime of her dress. “Am I dressed okay?”

She glanced up in time to see both men smile. The expressions, while communicating a similar feeling, looked completely different on each of their faces. William’s smile was easy, sweet, mirrored by the playful twinkle in his eyes. Atticus, on the other hand, smiled like he was actively trying to remain stoic, and his dark eyes somehow burned more intensely.

“You look perfect, Tatiana,” Atticus said, his smooth voice coming out in a low hum.

William’s smile grew. “Certainly makes our outfit choices easier.”

3

TATIANA

The clean silver doors of the elevator slid open, and Tati’s breath caught in her lungs as a wall of sound enveloped them. Deep, pulsing bass took up residence in her chest, and her eyes blinked against the flash of red lights cutting through the hazy darkness.

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