Page 11 of A Shadow in the Reaping
Andy smirks at my word and places 'heart'on the board. I scowl at the game until I realize what my face is doing. When Andy looks up I put on my shiniest smile mask. "Yeah, he came in claiming he was minding his own business one moment, and the next he woke up in the alley with a sword-wielding smoke demon staring down at him with fiery eyes."
The Reaper snorts a laugh that he covers with a cough. I glance over, but he's snapped his newspaper up like a shield.
I put the word 'off'on the board.
Andy snickers as he puts 'twat'into the game. "Yeah, well. Looks like he had a good bash to the head, so we took him into hospital. Must have been some dream. But you know what they say about eatingcheese Louisebefore bed," he says with a wink. He laughs as though it's a genuinely clever joke and I give an encouraging smile. When I glance at Ashen his eye is poking out at me from the edge of his paper. I see the frown in the curve of his mouth and realize he's confused.
Finally, I get to put my serendipitous word down on the board. 'Reaper'.
Fuck off, Reaper.
Andy is busy tallying points and I point down at the board as I glare at Ashen, mouthing the words with every jam of my finger.Fuck. Off. Reaper.
His eyes narrow at me, and I mouth them over and over again until Andy looks up. I give a sweet smile in return.
"Haha, look at that!Fuck off, reaper. Yeah, not today, Skeletor! Right Lu?"
I nod enthusiastically.
Andy starts singing and I grit my teeth beneath my smile. "We'll be able to fly, don't fear the reaper, Baby, I'm your maaaaan."
I hear Bian snort behind the counter and I die a little on the inside. When I look at the Reaper he's scowling daggers at me.
After the little interlude of off-key song, we finish our game and then play another. When it's finally time for Andy to leave, he dances around the question of asking me out on a proper date, as he's done for the last three visits. I somehow manage to dodge the impending question without uttering a word, as I always do, and I thank him again for the random-ass plant with a point and a hand over my heart. I even give him a kiss on the cheek. His mustache brushes my skin. He gives me the most genuine, bashful smile. And this right here is why I like him. He's sincere. He's sweet. He's thoughtful.
And he's lonely. I'm lonely too. When Andy is around, I feel a little less alone.
"Same time next week, Lu?" he asks as I follow him to the lobby door. I nod and smile, and this time it's not a mask. I watch as he walks outside, gets into his patrol car, and drives away.
When I turn around, the Reaper is looming over me.
His warm, spiritous eyes flare with flame. His hand curls around my arm, just above the bite I gave myself to save his life.
"We have much to discuss, vampire," he says, and drags me into the sun.
Chapter 7
God, the look on your face. Don't be so worried. Remember what I said? Sunlight doesn't harm me. Back in the old days, theoldold days, I used to chill on the beach for days on end with my sisters, waiting for ships to sail by so that we could crush their hulls against the rocks with nothing more than the power of our voices. It was great. I had a wicked tan.
Nonetheless, dragging me anywhere is super uncool. So I tell the Reaper exactly how I feel about it. By punching him in the face.
Which accomplishes very little, by the way, aside from making him look even more pissed off. I am happy to say that there is a nice purple bruise on his temple from the smash I gave him with his sword last night, however.
Note to self: smash Reaper with harder objects than fists.
Ashen pulls me across the street to the park, only slowing once he seems satisfied that we're clear of prying eyes and eavesdroppers.Pfft. He's clearly spent no time at all in a place like Sandford, because such a mystical location within town limits simply doesn't exist. If this is where he's going to kill me, humans are definitely going to notice.
He stops us beneath the boughs of a weeping willow, keeping hold of my arm as I squirm in protest. He looks down at me with all the fury of his realm embedded in his eyes like smoldering ash. "What is your name," he demands.
Well. That might be a good sign for my spellcasting efforts.
I point to my name tag above my heart, which says simply,Lu.
"Lu," he says, and frowns.
In retrospect, I probably should have picked a name less like Leucosia, but it was just easier that way. It's something I know I will respond to. And it reminds me of my sisters. And, really, no one thinks I've been alive since the 1700s, so I figured I could get away with it. And I love to get away with things.
The Reaper is still frowning. "Lu what? Tell me your second name."
