Page 8 of Definitely Dead

“No, I’m notready.”

“Sunne, it’s okay.” Gripping his arm, Lizzie pushed it down to his side and stepped forward to stand beside him. When she spoke again, it was to the Reaper. “Will I get to see my dad?”

Bane’s eyes softened, and the hard lines of his face relaxed into something almost kind. “That’s not for me to say, but you certainly won’t find him here.”

“Then I’m ready.”

“Wait.” Sunne held his hands up. “Just pause for a second, okay?” Taking Lizzie by the shoulders, he pulled her around to face him. “Think about what you’re saying. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“Not to be a stickler for details, but she really doesn’t.”

Sunne shot the Reaper a cold glare, but otherwise ignored him. “What about your mom?”

Her smile was a little sad, a little self-deprecating, but she didn’t look afraid. “She has Andrew now. He’ll make sure she’s okay.”

“But what—”

“Sunne, I didn’t mean for this to happen, but it did. It’s over, and we can’t take it back.”

“Listen to her,” Bane interjected. “She’s smart.”

“I’m just so sorry you got caught in the middle of it,” she continued. “If anyone should get to stay, it’s you.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Yeah, being dead kind of sucked, but it honestly wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to him. Hell, he doubted anyone would even notice his absence.

“Look, I really do have to go. You can come with me and have a shot at a pretty decent afterlife, or you can stay here and haunt the library.” Bane pulled his shoulders back and adjusted his scarlet tie. “It’s up to you, but decide now.”

As much as he loved the old library, he had no wish to become another footnote in the town’s mythos. Besides, the great beyond was supposed to be all singing cherubs and streets paved in gold. How bad could it be?

Taking Lizzie’s hand, he nodded. “Okay, we’re ready, but when we—”

The rest of the sentence became lodged in his throat when the library dissolved, the walls melting around him, leaving him standing atop a hill of black sand. Granted, he had never teleported before—or died, for that matter—but somehow, he had expected the experience to be…different.

“Damn,” Bane muttered. “Overshot the landing.” Then he shrugged and turned away. “Oh, well. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He glanced over his shoulder and tipped an imaginary hat. “Good luck.”

“Wait, this isn’t—” But the Reaper was already gone, vanishing without so much as a disturbance of the air. “Asshole.”

“What do we do now?” Lizzie asked, her fingers digging into the top of his hand. “Should we ask someone?”

“Who? Where?” All he saw was endless miles of onyx sand and a vast river aglow with a haunting blue light.

“Um, Sunne?” She tugged on his hand. “Turn around.”

“What are you—oh.”

Okay, he hadn’t expected there to be a whole ass town in the middle of the nothingness. Although “town” might be a bit too generous. He would barely call it a village. A settlement, maybe?

While it did, indeed, have streets, they were paved with smooth stones rather than gold, and he didn’t see a single chubby-cheeked angel in sight, singing or otherwise.

He couldn’t deny it. He was definitely dead, and frankly, the entire experience was vastly underwhelming.

Still, he supposed it could have been worse. They could have been dropped into the full fire-and-brimstone experience. So, silver lining and whatnot.

“Come on.” Smiling, he gave Lizzie’s hand a light tug. “I’m sure there’s someone here who can tell us what’s going on.”

He had taken only a single step, right onto the edge of the stone street, when a mountain of a man emerged between two of the rickety buildings. With thick, corded muscles and a permanent scowl etched into the lines of his face, he had danger written all over him.

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