Grim Crush (Grimly Ever After) (7 page)

The woman stomped up to Ziri. They were the same height. “You will put me back in my body
now
, little girl!”

Ziri stood her ground. “Read my lips: You. Are. Deeeaaad. Your death was caused by your own stupidity, so I’m pretty sure the world will be better off without someone so careless.”

I slapped a hand onto my face, shaking my head. I had a lot of work to do with this girl.

“Xia!” Ziri cried.

I looked up. The dead soul had lunged at my trainee, pinning her against the wall and attempting to strangle her. It was useless, of course.

I sighed and casually walked to the spirit’s side. Clearing my throat, I said, “Excuse me, could you please let go of her? She’s just a grim-in-training. She didn’t mean what she said.”

“Tell her to send me back! I want to live!” the soul spat, still trying to squeeze Ziri’s throat.

“I’m sorry, but you have to cross over now. Don’t worry, you lived a fulfilling life. You’ll be happy where you’re going.” I opened a portal. “Please step inside here.”

“No! I won’t stay dead! I won’t!” The woman pounded Ziri’s chest. “Make me alive!”

“Get off of me!” Ziri shouted, trying to fend the soul off.

It was a good thing I already had my scythe out. I stepped behind the spirit and reached forward, hooking my blade around her midsection. Then I dragged her away from my trainee.

“Ow, ow! Hey, I thought you couldn’t feel pain when you’re dead?” the soul complained, backing away from the blade.

“This is a special weapon,” I explained as I had a hundred times before. “Its blade is designed to burn dead souls. I don’t normally have to use this, but you’re really annoying me. Now, do you want to see what it feels like to be impaled by this, or will you cross over peacefully?” I leaned my scythe forward, and the spirit jumped a foot backwards. Ziri gave her a smug look.

The soul stared down at her corpse again, then burst into tears. Ever so slowly, she entered the portal.

Ziri put her fists on her hips, turning to glare at me. “You sure took your time getting her off me!”

I rolled my eyes. “She couldn’t hurt you.”

“So! She scared me.”

I grinned. “That’s what you get for being so rude. Didn’t your reaper teachers teach you any manners?”

“She was mean to me first!”

“Good gracious, you sound like a little kid. It doesn’t matter how mean these souls are. You treat them with as much respect as possible, because they are devastated that they’re leaving this world. If they’re still defiant after three attempts to be kind,
then
you can get aggressive. And don’t tell our superiors I said that.”

Ziri beamed. “Okay, Xia.”

I returned her smile. Maybe I’d be a good trainer after all.

Ziri fidgeted. “So…can I hold your scythe now?”

“
No
!”

Chapter 8

I was
massively
relieved to see Shilah the next day, after the crazy evening and night I’d had yesterday. He was on Chad’s Cliff early in the afternoon this time.

After embracing him, I said, “You usually don’t be here till after five.”

“Today’s Saturday, so I had nothing else to do,” Shilah replied. “I go to school on the weekdays, you know.”

Oh, right. Humans attended school much longer than reapers. “Yeah, of course I know that. I’m not stupid.”

“Most of the time.” Shilah grinned. “I’ve never asked what school
you
go to.”

“I finished school. Italians graduate early.”

“Oh.” Shilah leaned against a tree. “So, do you want to do something different today?”

“Something different?”

“Yeah. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Um…okay, but no public places.”

Shilah frowned. “Why not?”

“Because…they make me feel…uncomfortable. I’m still not used to being around Americans. And I just want to be alone with you.” This would all be so much easier if I just told him I was a reaper, but I was still debating that.

Shilah sighed. “I’m flattered, but does this mean I can never take you out on a date?”

Date? Aren’t dates on calendars?
Something told me I shouldn’t say that to Shilah. “Why can’t you take me out on a
date
away from people?”

“I
could
, but dates should be in public too. You should get used to being around Americans.”

“I…can’t.”

“Xia–”

Fortunately, we didn’t get to continue the conversation. Unfortunately, our interruption came in the form of Ziri. She appeared from behind the tree Shilah leaned against.

“Xia? What are you doing?” Ziri asked, looking from me to Shilah.

I paled. “Ziri!”

Shilah furrowed his eyebrows at my trainee. “Who are you?”

Ziri jumped in surprise, and her eyes widened as she stared at him. “You can see–?!”

I dashed forward and slapped my hand over her mouth. “I thought I told you
not to follow me
,” I said through gritted teeth. Then I smiled Shilah’s way. “Sorry, this is my cousin, Ziri. She’s visiting, and she didn’t listen when I told her to stay home.” Ziri’s surprised eyes narrowed at me.

Shilah eyed the revealing way my trainee was dressed. “Oh. Uh…hi, Ziri.”

She shrugged away from me, and I lowered my hand. Out of the corner of my mouth, I whispered, “He thinks we’re human.” In a normal voice, I said, “Ziri, this is my friend, Shilah.”

The grim-in-training glanced at me, then eyed Shilah. “Wow. This is…unreal. And you’re…cute.”

Shilah smiled, blushing. “Thanks.”

“Excuse me for a minute,” I told him, dragging Ziri a few feet away. She didn’t tear her eyes away from Shilah the whole time.

“How is this possible?” she whispered as she studied him.

“What are you
doing
here?” I hissed.

Ziri finally turned and focused on me. “Oh, I just thought we’d hang out.” She stared at Shilah again. “Hey, where did you find him? How come he can see us?”

“That’s none of your business. And I thought you didn’t want to be around me when we aren’t reaping.”

Ziri rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I didn’t
want
to come find you. I was hanging out with some friends in The In-Between, and Aquil came over to say I should be with you so you could be teaching me things. She even told me about the connection a trainee and trainer has, so I sensed where you were, and here I am.”

I puffed out my cheeks. Once again, Aquil was trying to ruin my life…my non-life, anyway. “Well, I need you to scram for a couple of hours. We can hang out later.”

“No way, I want to get to know Shilah. I’ve always wanted to talk to a living human! Gosh, how long have you been keeping this secret? Are there any other humans who can see us?” She gave Shilah a flirtatious wave, and he awkwardly waved back.

I smacked her hand down. “Stop that! Ziri, you can’t be here. It’s hard enough trying to convince him
I’m
normal. You won’t know how to talk to him.”

“Yes I will. I’ve studied humans more than you have, I bet.”

I thought about something. “Then do you know what a date is?”

Ziri’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! It’s when two people go hang out somewhere together in a romantic way. You do know about romance, right?”

My heart fluttered. Shilah wanted to be romantic with me? “Yeah. What kind of places do dates occur at?”

“Movie theaters, restaurants, bowling alleys, beaches…any place that’s fun. How can you not know about dates?”

“Uh, maybe because I’m a
reaper
. It’s not like people
die
on dates. People don’t talk about them before they kick the bucket either.”

“You need to watch more movies. Ooh, did Shilah ask you out on a date?”

“Sort of…”

“Aww! You’re so lucky! I guess I shouldn’t interfere then. Do any other reapers know about him? Have you told our superiors?”

“Jayza is the only one who knows.” I gave her an emphatic look. “You have to promise not to tell anyone, too.”

Mischief appeared in Ziri’s eyes. “Oh, gee, I don’t know. An incentive
might
help me keep my mouth shut…”

And just when I was starting to like this girl. “Fine. Next time we reap a soul, you can hold my scythe. But only if you leave right now.”

“The next ten souls,” Ziri countered, crossing her arms.

“
Three
souls, then.”

“Seven.”

I scowled. “Five! Five souls with my scythe, and that’s my final offer.”

Ziri put her finger to her chin in contemplation. “All right. Deal.” She held out her hand, and I shook it.

“Remember, walk away first, then teleport,” I told her.

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun on your
date
. And if he kisses you, don’t forget to pucker your lips and close your eyes.” Ziri winked, then walked away.

Now,
why
did she have to say that? The thought of being that close to Shilah twisted my stomach into knots. My heart was beating faster when I walked back over to him.

“Sorry about that,” I apologized. “My cousin loves to interfere in my life when she’s around.”

“It’s okay. I’ve had family members like that. How old is she?” Shilah asked.

“Fourteen. I think she likes you,” I teased.

He beamed. “Really? Then you should’ve let me get to know her.”

My face fell. “But…I thought you liked
me
.” I couldn’t believe I just said that. Worse, I sounded super disappointed.

He rolled his eyes. “I was
kidding
. Of course I like you.”

“Oh. Well, I like you, too.” Wow, my heart was doing all types of flips and crazy things today. These feelings I was developing were totally new. And totally scary.

Shilah grinned. “Glad to hear it. Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

The two of us explored the scenic area around Chad’s Cliff. Since it was the beginning of spring, everything was more gorgeous than usual. Many trees were in bloom, displaying bright yellow flowers. There were also wildflowers springing up from the ground in places, sometimes surrounding a group of cacti.

I breathed in the floral scent in the air. It was rare that I got to appreciate the beauty of Arizona. I’d been doing it a lot more since I met Shilah.

I made sure I steered us away from the direction that led to public places. I also kept talking so Shilah wouldn’t bring up the subject of dates again.

About an hour later, Shilah and I ended up sitting on the grass next to the stream where we’d first talked to each other. He sat close enough to me that our thighs were touching, but I tried to keep my bare arm away from his. For some reason, skin-on-skin contact still terrified me. I remembered what it had felt like when he grabbed my wrist a few days ago and how awkward it had been. I wasn’t ready to experience that again yet.

“Xia, can I ask you something?”

I looked from the scintillating water in the stream to Shilah. “Depends on what you want to ask.”

He appeared uneasy. “Since you like me…that means you don’t have a boyfriend, right?”

I blinked. I’d heard that word before, but I didn’t know its exact meaning. “Boyfriend? You mean a friend that is a boy?”

“Um…not exactly. I’m guessing you don’t have one, then. Unless you call it something else in Italy. Do you have someone…you’re romantically involved with?”

There goes that word ‘romantic’ again. “N-no. I can’t have a boyfriend. I mean, I shouldn’t.” My cheeks burned.

Shilah’s face fell. “Because of your dad again?”

“You could say that.” If a boyfriend equaled romance, then that equaled becoming emotionally involved, which was forbidden. Rule Two of Reaping.

“What if you took me to meet him?”

My eyes grew wide. “No! You can
never
meet my father. I’d never be able to see you again.” Because it would mean Shilah was dead.

He appeared shocked by my strong response. “Is he
that
strict?”

I shook my head. “I can’t talk about it.”

Shilah sighed heavily in frustration. I had a feeling that if this kept going on, I would lose him for good one day. I needed to be alone and think. I needed to seriously consider telling Shilah what I was.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Shilah glanced at his watch. “3:35. Do you have to leave?”

“Yes. But I’ll try to be here tomorrow afternoon again.”

“Okay. Me too.” Shilah stood and held out his hands toward me.

I stared at them for a moment. Then I swallowed, and reluctantly placed my hands in his. The warmth of his skin was awkward again, but his touch also sent a pleasant electric current up my arms. I allowed Shilah to pull me to my feet.

He kept holding onto my hands as he gazed down at me with his beautiful brown eyes. His face was only inches away from mine. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart banged away at my chest as though wanting to escape.

“Xia…when are you going to stop being so mysterious?” Shilah said, his voice low.

It sounded like a rhetorical question, but I shrugged anyway. If he had asked me right then what I was hiding from him, I might’ve told him. It was hard to think straight with him so close.

The fluttery feeling inside me felt nice, but it also frightened me more than anything in the world. I slipped my hands out of Shilah’s and stepped back.

“I have to go,” I whispered, his eyes still holding my gaze. He didn’t say anything as I turned and willed my legs to flee, trying to run away from the strange feeling in my chest.

It wouldn’t go away though. And thoughts of Shilah wouldn’t leave my mind. This must be what it’s like to become emotionally involved. I was on my way to breaking a Rule of Reaping, if I hadn’t already.

For the first time in my non-life, I wished I was human.