Page 42 of Death Wish

I hesitated. Guess it was my turn for the interrogation.

“Another one of your demon pals?”

“Does she look like one? Come on, Wyatt. Don’t be an idiot.”

“She was in the trailer when I got here. I saw her…” Sean rubbed his shoulder nervously. “She just appeared. Materialized out of thin air. The wards didn’t work on her.”

Wyatt turned back to Cole. “Was she here the entire time? Why couldn’t I see her? Is this a trick?”

I cleared my throat. Nothing like being talked about as if I weren’t right here in the room. “Can I explain this part? I mean, it does pertain to me, and I am still here. I’d like to be included in this conversation.”

Cole’s knitted brows and pinched mouth said he didn’t think that was a good idea, but I ignored him.

“My name is Jade Blackwell. At least I think it is anyway.” Why did I even say that last bit? I wasn’t going to go into the specifics of why I wasn’t sure who I was. I would just confuse them even more. After clearing my throat again, I continued, “I’m a reaper. Meaning I’m not alive.” Again, no magical celestial censor obscured my words, so I guessed I was still free to talk about the spirit world.

“We have spirit wards written around the house, too. It should have repelled you,” Wyatt shot back. “You’re lying.”

“I don’t know why they didn’t,” I said honestly. “But things are a little more complicated than even that. Things in the spirit world are a bit of a mess. And now, my friend Kay, a Medium, has been more than likely impregnated by this Xaver fellow, and I need to find this cure to save her life. While being attacked by these demon Halflings, I suddenly solidified, and you all can see me. I don’t know what that means exactly. It’s never happened before.”

“Are you alive now?” Sean asked, seeming intrigued.

“I honestly don’t know.” I held out my still bleeding arm. “That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

Wyatt, though, didn’t seem convinced. “And you and Cole are friends?”

“More like working associates I would say.” But that title didn’t even fit, especially after finding out he’d been using Kay’s situation to his benefit. “I was assigned to kill him and help him cross over as part of my job, but it turned out he wasn’t even close to dead.”

“Sounds like a setup,” Wyatt replied.

“Or a mistake.”

“Do they make many mistakes in the ghost world?”

“Uh… Not usually.”

Wyatt’s crinkled face crinkled up even more.

“Like I said, things are a little crazy right now.”

“A reaper…” Sean started, rubbing the dark stubble on his chin. “Is that what that emblem means? The one on your upper…”

I glanced down at the tattoo on my upper left breast, over my heart, clearly visible with the simple tank top I wore. I’d always had it—at least for as long as I could remember. It was a symbol, kind of like the ones painted on the trailer walls, but it reminded me more of something out of a classic painting, with swooping curves and elegant swirls. More delicate than the harsh circles and straight lines in, say, the spirit door design. At least I thought so anyway.

I figured it was something I had gotten during my life that had carried over to death. A rebellious teenage act, maybe? Or an invitation into a club? It was pretty—that could be why I had got it too. Just ‘cause. I never thought too much about it.

“No. It’s just a tattoo,” I said.

Sean pressed his lips together into a hard line. “I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

My eyes widened. “What? Really?”

He nodded. “I’ve seen it before…” He glanced at Wyatt. “Pop? Any ideas?”

Finally, Wyatt put his shotgun down and leaned it against the wall. He walked over to me and looked me over with a scrutinizing eye. I stole a glance at Cole, who shrugged.

After a long, tense moment of this older man staring at my chest, saying nothing, I interjected, “Look familiar to you, too?”

“This part here—the main structure with the stem-like middle with the branches—looks very similar to the symbol for rebirth in the ancient Celilian texts.”

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