Page 56 of Reaper
“What do you think?” I ask Reaper.
“I want to watch them grow. I want to see them live and love.”
“But I don’t want to watch them die.”
“Nothing dies here unless sent to the Fire Pits,” Odin explains. “So, it’s either they become elderly, or they stop aging when they reach your current age.”
“Let them grow old,” I finally say. “I want to see them at every stage of life.”
“Afterlife,” Odin corrects.
“Afterlife, yes.”
“Okay. That concludes our meeting. Reaper, welcome home,” Odin says, shaking his hand. “And Kyra, welcome to Valhalla.”
Reaper leads me out of the office, then out of the palace. Once we’re outside, he turns me in his arms.
“Now what?” I ask.
“I love you,” he says rather than answering.
“I love you, too.”
Reaper grins. “Now, we go christen our new quarters.”
Epilogue
REAPER
Six and a half years later…
“Ialready told you… No.”
Heidi pouts like only a teenager can when they’re denied something they really want. It’s the twins’ thirteenth birthday, and both of them asked for time in the fighting ring. I’m all for it as they need to learn how to defend themselves in Valhalla, but Kyra isn’t having it.
“But, Mom,” Heidi complains. “You learned how to fight before you became a Valkyrie. Why is it okay for you and not me?”
“Because I’m your mother,” Kyra says. “And you and Hunter are still children.”
“Uh, babe,” I insert. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re gonna have to learn some time.”
Kyra’s golden eyes burn bright. “And they will when they’re old enough.”
Lifting my hands in mock surrender, I grin. “They just want a chance to do what all the other kids are doing,” I remind her,referring to Viking and Makayla’s son and Inferno and Emmy’s two daughters.
One good thing Odin has done over the years, aside from making sure me and my brothers found love, is make it possible for children to be conceived in Valhalla. Being dead always meant that new life couldn’t be created, but that’s a thing of the past.
“But I only have to worry about my kids, no one else's.”
“Our kids,” I correct.
Kyra smiles sweetly, resting her hand on my chest. “Yes, Reaper, our kids.”
Heidi and Hunter arrived in Valhalla exactly three days after Kyra did. They died at the ripe old age of ninety-four and only six days apart. Odin held Hunter in a state of limbo at the transition house with Ms. Steinbeck until he and Heidi could come together. At Kyra’s request, he wiped their memories so that there wouldn’t be too much confusion.
When they arrived, it took some time to adjust, but Krya and I explained to them that it was the grandest adventure of their life, and that did the trick. As they get older, we give them more and more details. Just enough to satisfy their curiosity and never more than they can handle.
“Speaking of our kids,” I say. “Where’s Polly?”
