Page 73 of Grave Robbing and Other Hobbies (Grave Concerns 1)

That sounded rather nice. The idea that they had that sort of freedom. Then I thought about the rest of his life. Living in hell, hunting down things that escaped.

Yeah, no thanks.

“Does who matter if we still don’t even understand the what? Unless you all have figured it out, I still am at a loss to what is actually happening. Where are the souls going?”

Hunter lifted his hand. “I have an idea about that, but no one is going to like it.”

Grant offered a sharp look in Hunter’s direction. “Please tell me you aren’t thinking of the Elder Ones.”

“Do you have anything better?”

“Slitting my own throat and seeing what happens to me personally might just be a better idea.”

Hunter only chuckled at Grant’s statement before turning his gaze to me. “I have a…friend.” The way he said friend was enough to tell me it was a bad idea. No one needed to pause and use the emphasis he did if it wasn’t someone who might just kill them. “Who passes between the living realm and the dead. They’ll be able to let us know if the missing souls are there.”

“And what is the likelihood that this friend is going to try to kill us?”

“Oh, very high.”

* * * *

I jolted awake from a dream, thankful that this time it was only the normal, run-of-the-mill scary dream.

No killer shadows, no memories that I wasn’t sure were real, no searing pain or burns. I never thought I’d be so happy to feel as though I were drowning in that mist, but damn, that was like coming home.

The car bumped, and I gazed around the cab to reorient myself. Hunter was behind the wheel, and I’d had my face plastered to the window…

Along with a nice drool spot.

“Sleep well?”

I pulled myself from the window, sitting up and shifting the seatbelt away from my throat. “Not really. How far are we?”

He peered out the window, as though the directions were there. Then again, I didn’t understand where we were going or how he knew where it was. He hadn’t mapped it on a phone—he didn’t actually have a phone. After a moment, he sat back. “Another three hours or so. I thought we’d stop at the next place we pass, get a bite to eat? No idea how long the meeting will take, so it’d be better if we ate first.”

“Should I update Grant?”

He shook his head. “He knows where we’re going. When we get there, he’ll show.”

The whole idea of Grant being able to arrive places without driving still seemed weird. The rest of us, we had to plan in travel time, but he snapped his fingers and there he was.

Or, at least that’s how I assumed it worked. I hadn’t actually witnessed it. He’d been adamant he wouldn’t spend who knew how many hours in a car when there was no good reason to, and I could hardly blame him. If I could magic myself around, I would never get into a car again.

The next place we ran across happened to be a truck stop diner. There were big rigs to the side and afew smaller vehicles parked out front. The inside was bright white with yellow trim, and a waitress who seated us seemed as though she’d dealt with her limit of shit for one day.

I feel that.

The waitress took the menus after we ordered, and I marveled at Hunter’s grin. “You are way too happy about diner food.”

“You say that because you can eat at places like this all the time. Trust me. There aren’t such great options in the afterworld.”

“Really?” I frowned as I ran my thumbnail across the edge of the table. “What about the whole idea of heaven? I thought you were supposed to get whatever you want.”

He shrugged and leaned back. “Maybe. I’ve never been to that area of the afterworld.”

“There are different areas?”

“Think of it like a playground for big dogs and another for small dogs. You separate them because if you don’t, the small dogs get trampled and the big dogs want to play with other big dogs anyway, so you put them in different areas and everyone is happier. Likewise, souls, they’re divvied up into a few groupings. They can move around, but if they cause too much trouble—think big dogs knocking around smaller ones—then they get kicked to a rougher group. Hell is the anything-goes area. The ones who can’t play nice anywhere else, they get put there. It’s located the closest to the living realm, which makes it a border. That’s also where Lucifer spends his time, where he has dominion.”

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