Page 34 of Reaper
“How else would I be able to really help them? Angry and bitter Warriors do not make the best followers.”
“If you have all this and your screens, why send us to get progress updates?”
“I do that for you and them, not for me. I know that it’s tough as a Valkyrie to be away from your charge, and it’s equally hard for the Warriors to be away from home.”
“I don’t know what to say, Sir. But this is still prying.”
“I didn’t say I don’t pry. I said I don’t always like to pry. There’s a difference.”
“Okay.”
“I want you to read me the complaint you see listed in his file the most,” I tell her. “Can you do that?”
Skuld looks back down at the papers and flattens her free hand on them to absorb the information at a much quicker pace. When she lifts her eyes to me again, there’s tears in them.
“He misses his kids and having someone to share his life with.”
“That’s right. Now, I can’t very well give him those things back, not exactly. But Icanput him in the path of happiness that’s similar.”
“Kyra, Heidi, and Hunter.”
“Yes.”
“I just worry that it’s too much for him,” she admits. “He’s really struggling with the memories of what he had as a human, with the thought that what he wants is unattainable.”
“Those memories will never go away. We both know that. Hecanmake new ones though. How about we give him a little more time? In doing so, Reaper will see for himself that what he wants, what heneeds, is not only attainable but well within his grasp.”
“Is that a question or an order, Sir?”
“Would it make it easier for you if it’s an order?”
Skuld locks her gaze on mine. “Yes, it would.”
“Then it’s an order.”
19
Kyra
“I’m bored.”
I reach for the remote and turn the TV off. Saturday morning cartoons and pancakes have always been something Heidi and Hunter have enjoyed, but apparently not today.
“Well, what do you want to do?”
“You really don’t have to go to work?” Heidi asks.
“Nope, not today. The diner’s covered so you’re stuck with me.”
I lean toward my daughter and tickle her ribs. She giggles, and it hits me just how much I’ve been missing with working so much.
“Stop it, Mommy,” she says, barely able to get the words out past her laughter.
“Okay.” I pull my hands away and turn toward Hunter. “What about you, young man? You think you can fend off the tickle monster?”
My son rolls his eyes, but his laughter quickly spills over the second my fingertips touch the soles of his feet. It doesn’t take long for Heidi to jump in and defend her brother, and before Iknow it, we’re rolling on the floor, a tangle of arms and legs. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this much fun together.
Unfortunately, the doorbell rings, breaking up the party.
