Page 117 of Death Wish

“What was that now?” I laughed in disbelief. “You want me to cross over not on assignment and interact with the living? Is this a test or something? Who are you and what have you done with Simon?”

“No, this isn’t a test, and it’s me.” He reached out and touched my arm gently. To my even greater surprise, his palm was baby smooth and warm against my bare skin. “I’m not a callous monster. Even if you think I am sometimes.”

I wouldn’t say callous monster… Maybe a tight-ass or a stick in the mud, but not a monster.

“After everything you’ve been through, and with everything you’ve done for this woman, I think you deserve a little vacation time.” He paused, then added, “That is, if you don’t interfere with anyone else over there or reveal any more of our secrets. I’m still working on reactivating the censorship to prevent it from happening, but until then, no funny business. Visit your friend and come back. Do you understand?”

I nodded, but my mind was already in what lay beyond the spirit door. Being able to talk to Kay again and meet her new little bundle of joy. I couldn’t believe Simon was giving me this chance. It was so…unlike him. Dare I say, rebellious?

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Simon, but I like it.” I turned around, ready to speed walk back into the elevator and out of Styx Corp.

“One more thing.” Simon’s words stopped me cold.

I spun back around to face him. “Yes?”

He held out something for me to take. It was small enough to fit in his hand with a shiny, flat face and two straps coming out of it. When I strolled over to him, I noticed that it was a watch. A fancy one with the Styx Corp. emblem glowing silver in the center.

“We’ve upgraded from tablets,” he said as he passed it to me. “I always thought they were too bulky to carry around. These are lightweight and durable. It has all the functions on the tablet so your assignments can be viewed through here, and you and I can communicate if needed.”

I hesitated, remembering how I had shattered Azrael’s tablet after learning my location was being monitored through it. “Can I be tracked through it?”

“Only if you put out a distress signal,” he said. “That’s a new feature I had added in case a reaping assignment goes wrong, which seems to happen a little more than it should in your case.”

Got that right.

“Only then can I or another reaper come and find you. To help.”

I strapped the flashy new watch onto my wrist. Just the small size of it had me liking it better than the bulky tablets Azrael had given us.

“This is great. Thanks,” I said. “But does it tell the time?”

Simon nodded. “I had to pay extra for that feature.”

Was that…a joke? Holy crap. It was like Simon was a new man. Maybe he had gotten laid recently or something. But knowing him, he probably had just reorganized his closet at home to fit the feng shui. To him, it was practically the same thing.

“Death assignments will show up in green, like before, and new assignments will pop up in red.”

“Wait, new assignments?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“With the chaos of the veil thinning, especially during the solstice, many spirits were able to wander into the living world as haunts.”

I’d witnessed this myself in the cemetery the evening we preformed the demon cure. Hundreds of spirits had stood around to watch us. I had questioned it then, too.

“I know you struggle with separating yourself from the emotion that can come with reaping, so I’ve put you in charge of rounding these spirits up and bringing them back into the afterlife. Of course, you must still perform some reaper duties, but it won’t be as much as before. Edward has agreed to pick up whatever is left of the supernatural deaths to help out.”

I couldn’t help myself. I leapt forward and wrapped Simon up in a hug.

“Thank you,” I blurted out, unable to contain my happiness. To have him change so much just to accommodate me was a wonderful feeling. Especially after everything I had done to disobey him and almost cause him to get Released.

He stood there, his body tense, unsure what to do, but after a few seconds, he softened and patted my back. When I pulled away, he was smiling. This time, it was an actual one, full of pride and admiration. Like a father might give his daughter.

“Go on now. Go visit your friends,” he said, waving me off.

Wasting no more time, I turned around and hurried to the elevator.

Stepping inside, we met eyes once again.

“Don’t make me regret this, Jade,” he said as the elevator chimed and the doors slowly began to close.

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