18

“That was awful.”

I held my head between my hands, still processing what had happened. For a moment there, I thought Raguel was going to kill me. I had to check my arms a few times to make sure his heavenly chains hadn’t actually burned me.

The three of us took an elevator to the first floor and headed outside. Peacekeepers and purifiers walked purposefully around campus in their new uniforms; separate from each other, yet unified.

Zak puffed out his cheeks. “He didn’t even want lunch. What a grump.”

“I thought you sent the paperwork,” Jarmiel said. He kept his sights on the sidewalk ahead of us. A flustered vein appeared on his forehead again.

“It’s not my fault if people don’t read their mail.”

“Will you take anything seriously?”

A chime went off from Jarmiel’s jacket pocket, distracting him from his frustrations. He groaned. “It’s Uriah. I’m not answering this alone.”

“Fine.” Zak stopped and thumped his heel like a disgruntled rabbit. “Go on ahead, Jess. Get something to eat with one of your roommates and get better acquainted with your suit. Looks good on you, by the way.”

Jarmiel simmered once more. “Zakiel could show more enthusiasm for his trainee’s highlighted figure.”

It took me a second to hear what he actually said because his tone was so bland. The satirical translation I heard was: Zak thinks I look good .

Zak was at a loss for words, for once. He looked like he wanted to laugh at his partner’s attempt at humor but froze up. Finally, he said, “You’re saucy when you’re angry. And inappropriate. I don’t hate it, though.”

Jarmiel revealed his victory with a faint grin. “We’ll discuss which of us is more inappropriate with the council. Phone call. Now.”

He barely lifted his hand as a farewell before dragging Zak away. Disappointment followed me soon after but I knew it was best not to feed into the hopeless fantasy. Zak spared me plenty of his time.

I made several shameless examinations of myself in every reflection along the building’s windowed walls. Maybe it was because my aunt never encouraged dating and I wasn’t used to being seen as desirable, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I hadn’t felt giddy over something so silly. Ever.

My mood soured when I entered the dorms again and saw my bag of books waiting for me. I didn’t want to keep those things around, especially while I slept. Those heavy suckers were slung over my shoulder and I headed right back outside.

Jarmiel wasn’t there to escort me so I’d have to find his classroom from memory. It wasn’t a large campus. Everything except for where I slept and the gym was in the tower. Having just been there in that tense situation with Raguel, I wasn’t eager to be back.

I crossed the courtyard and chuckled to myself. What would Naomi think of my new outfit? Her horrified face would be something to behold. If we had just taken the bus instead like I suggested, we could still be together.

“Demon.”

I slowed my pace.

It was daylight and I was surrounded by protectors of supernatural and human society, but I sensed something off. A man stood behind me, wearing a purifier’s uniform, white against my black. His aura was weaker than my company of angels and supernaturals. Very human.

I could feel his thoughts.

Negative. Fearful.

“That’s what you are, right?” The man spoke again. More hostile entities formed around him. All purifiers.

I gripped my bag strap tighter. “Who’s asking?”

He scoffed, causing those who followed him there to chuckle. “What trick did you use to brainwash the angels?”

“I’m just returning some books.”

“You’re not fooling me,” he said, “You have Zakiel wrapped around your finger. It’s disgraceful to him and to our cause. If anything, you’re more dangerous than this ‘ Necromancer ’ everyone’s fussing about.”

The peace I’d felt in EXO until now seemed like a farce, and the purifiers were the reality. Zak probably didn’t gossip about me much, which I appreciated. But now that others were catching wind of what I was, the true face of these hunters was looking me in the eye.

They didn’t want me.

He took a step forward. I’m not sure why I felt nervous. One touch and I could probably knock him on his ass. Humans were never going to be as deadly to me physically, but I wasn’t ruling out their potential.

“There’s no place for you here, foul servant of darkness,” he said. I could tell it was the tone he practiced when casting out malevolent spirits. It had a ceremonial chime to it. “Depart and never return.”

Considering it was a sunny day and I was standing there, not being evil, it was almost laughable. A songbird chirped over our heads.

“Okay, then. I’m gonna go elsewhere.” I pivoted on my heel; not giving him my back but not facing him either. The purifier looked taken aback but luckily didn’t follow after me. I re-entered the tower without a second thought.

Perhaps it had been survival instincts, but I knew exactly which floor to ride the elevator to and even turned down the correct hallway that would eventually lead to Jarmiel’s room. My heavy sigh traveled down the narrow walls.

That had only been a small group of humans from EXO. What about when the rest wanted to rally against me? I imagined the mobs outside of the court halls and shuddered. A pathetic longing for Zak to be nearby shook me. It wasn’t his burden to carry. I needed to get stronger.

When I did find Jarmiel’s classroom the door was locked. I was hesitant to set the books down outside of his door. It wasn’t like I hated learning from the texts. I just wished they wouldn’t do creepy shit.

Really, I think I was stalling.

I wasn’t looking forward to the walk back; a sure way to endure more taunting from the purifiers. On the other hand I also didn’t want to be stuck in that hall forever. Damn. I really was relying on Zak too much. Funny, as I barely trusted the angel not that long ago.

A shadow appeared next to me; too close to be some casual passerby. My thoughts immediately went to the purifiers I’d just snubbed. No way. Had he really followed me?

I whipped around, one arm raised at eye level. Hurting him wasn’t the goal but I wasn’t about to let him try casting out my soul. I extended my elbow with the intent of shoving whoever it was away.

Cold fingers lightly blocked my force, sending an icy wave up to my shoulders. I knew right away it was Guy. The reaper’s dark and lazy lids were slightly wider that time. He was still in his suit as well with his hair knotted behind his head.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked.

“Is this how you normally greet people?”

“Sorry.” I relaxed my stance, feeling stupid. “You snuck up on me. I’m a little tense.”

“I can see that. Nice reflexes, though.” He smirked. “I’m sure your choice in literature had nothing to do with your nerves?”

Oh, yeah. My books.

I dropped the bag and kept my arms close to my chest. “They were recommended to me. What’re you doing here?”

“Zak isn’t with you this time,” Guy noted.

“No.”

“You know they’re enforcing a buddy system, right? Partner at all times until The Necromancer’s caught.”

“Oh, yeah?” I looked over his shoulder. “Where’s your buddy?”

He did a half-circle scan around the room, before landing back on me. “Ah, there you are. Guess we’re both safe.”

I laughed. That was cute for someone so stoic.

“I’m guessing you saw what happened outside?” I asked.

“It was in a public area and in the middle of campus,” Guy shrugged. “Do you mind me asking what that was about?”

“It wasn’t obvious?”

“Faris approaching you doesn’t shock me. He’ll chastise someone if their shirt is wrinkled.”

“So, his name’s Faris?” At least he was notorious around EXO and I wasn’t too special. Still, a purifier reacting to a demon being in his home made sense to me, even if I didn’t consider myself a threat to him.

Guy’s dark-rimmed eyes shut halfway as his smirk widened. “Not gonna try cursing him with more spells in your room, are you?”

“I’m not adept enough for that.”

“What’s the story then?”

I leaned against Jarmiel’s door, hitting my head on the wood. No one else was around, what could a little venting hurt? “Can you promise not to laugh?”

Guy straightened up, like he was ready to catch a ball being thrown, but said nothing.

“You’re not promising,” I said.

“I take promises very seriously,” he said, “I might laugh, but only because you’re being so reserved about it.”

“Fine.” It was agony, but I managed to say something. “It’s possible that I’m… I could be, or might be related to a… succubus …”

“Hm?”

“Succubus,” I said a little louder but equally as pained, “That’s why Jarmiel gave me these books to see if anything registered. They freaked me out so I brought them back. Anyway, people like Faris are realizing I’m a demon and aren’t very happy about it.”

I watched as a rose-colored blush dusted over Guy’s ghostly face. His eyes widened, but he was excellent at keeping the rest of himself still. For a moment.

“I see,” he stopped to cough, “That’s—”

“I said not to laugh!”

Mortified, I raced toward the elevators. Guy stayed close behind me. “Okay, so that’s a sensitive topic,” he said, “But succubus makes a lot of sense.”

I dropped my shoulders and sulked. It wasn’t the fairytale I had in mind for my biological making. While we waited for the doors to open, I asked him, “How?”

“They’re known for bewitching others. Is that not something you’ve noticed?”

“Have I noticed that I’m bewitching?” I didn’t understand. Was he complimenting me? “If that were true, Max would be a little nicer to me. And Faris.”

The doors opened and we rode the elevator back down to gether. I couldn’t help but feel like Guy had been stalking me on some level. How else would he have known where I was, or where I was headed? Oh, well . I was glad for the company.

“Max isn’t nice to anyone,” Guy said, “Have you watched a nature documentary? Creatures are aggressive when it comes to mating and territory. Bewitching others can just as easily curse someone with obsession. I’m just saying, it won’t always have a positive outcome.”

I hadn’t even considered the negatives of someone finding me appealing. The horrifying image of Max’s wolf form pursuing me visited my thoughts again, only this time, he was hunting for a “mate.” Gods. Never.

“I don’t think anyone’s obsessed with me,” I said. If any thing, I was the freak with an angel obsession. Equally in awe as well as fearful for my life.

“It’s something to watch out for. If you are what you say, don’t you need to—?” Guy cleared his throat again but didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. I knew where it was going.

Don’t sex demons need sex?

“I haven’t really tried,” I explained, feeling awkward bringing up intimacy with a reaper I hardly knew, “I didn’t date much.”

Our stroll back to the dorms was tense, but not due to each other’s awkwardness. The purifier from earlier, Faris, was gone but I recognized his cronies glaring as we passed. While the intense stares came for me, they almost immediately diverted once they saw Guy.

No one dared approach.

“No one’s asked you out before?” A dark chuckle escaped his lips that might have been a scoff, but I didn’t know to whom or at what. “Is that a yes?”

“ One guy,” I said, “And it blew up in my face but you already knew that.”

His smile dropped. “I see. I’m sure that was traumatic.”

Considering I hadn’t been able to get over it yet, trauma was an accurate label but the deepness of his vocals was oddly soothing. “Thanks.”

It hadn’t been long since my visit with Clove but I could feel the fatigue creeping back in. The warm, glowing energy from Zak was on my mind more than I wanted to admit. Sitting around until I passed out again sounded stupid. I wasn’t ready to start asking for energy, but stealing it secretly felt too icky.

We made it back to the dorms safely but I found myself wanting to talk with him more. “Thanks for walking with me. Could you maybe not mention the whole succubus thing to anyone?”

“Sure, but they’ll figure it out. If they haven’t already.”

“Are reapers ever afraid of demons?” I asked.

Guy listened but made his way inside and toward the fridge. I couldn’t imagine what had brought a reaper to EXO. He had an entire existence in a realm that I knew nothing about. “Demons can be scary. I haven’t actually seen many on this plane. I’ve dealt with a lot more supernaturals flooding the underground world. Gangs, drugs, you name it.”

I remembered how he mopped the floor with me during my assessment test. If that was him holding back, what was he like against a real monster?

“Zak said that you volunteered to be here. Why?”

He popped open the fridge and offered a water bottle to me. I still wasn’t used to seeing him in anything besides his cozy clothes and sleepy hair. It was weird being able to see most of his face and his suit made him look the part of a dark, lethal reaper.

“It’s a long story,” he said, “What do you know about us?”

“I know you can separate spirits from their body with your big sticks.”

He laughed and opened the water for himself. “Big sticks?”

“You couldn’t have found a nicer way to transfer souls, like with candy or puppies?” I asked.

“Puppies?”

“You know what I mean. Scythes are scary and dying people are already freaked out.”

Guy took a calculating sip. I had a feeling he enjoyed watching me get flustered as he leered over his drink. “I’ll put in a good word and see what we can do about your puppies. Maybe by the time you die, I’ll have something fluffy in store.”

“Hey, hey, don’t joke about that,” I said, but I just made him laugh more.

Of course, he would find mortality humorous. It wasn’t his problem.

“Sorry,” he said, “Sometimes, you have to laugh. It’d serve everyone better if they found humor in the inevitable.”

“Ha-ha.” I frowned.

Guy’s gray eyes gleamed. I meandered toward the bar table and took a seat on one of the stools. Still, cross about his crude ness, I rested my elbows on the counter with extra sass. “So other than making jokes and arresting girls, what’s your deal?” I asked.

“Still mad about that?”

“Annoyed is a better word.”

“You’re not just a girl, let’s be real.” Guy approached my counter and tapped the surface once. “It’s like you said. I volunteered. Zak and I are friends-ish.”

“You got bored at your day job?”

“Part of it has to do with my personal agenda. Another is Tori,” he said, “There aren’t many safe places for a wandering spirit on Terra. EXO found a use for her.”

His voice had gotten sharper, whether he noticed or not. I didn’t want to pry further about his female companion. Were they romantic in some way? She seemed more like a little sister.

“And you?” I asked.

“There’s been curious activity from the other realms. Here in particular. Figured I’d gain the most knowledge from seeing it first hand.”

“You’re talking about The Necromancer?”

“He’s one problem,” he said, “Anyone who tries challenging Death on Death’s territory is a problem.”

If Death were to be insulted by anyone, a sorcerer meddling with the dead would probably do it. “Who does your job while you’re away?”

“There are many. Think of us as employees for one giant organization or a bunch of worker bees to a hive. Not much changes in my absence.” Guy drank the rest of his bottle before adding, “I like it here. It’s not surprising how many reluctant souls there are but the job gets depressing.”

I looked up but he was studying his fingernails. If that was more depressing than hunting demons and vampire drug lords or experiencing mortality in general, then a reaper’s job must really suck. “I’m nervous to die but knowing there’s an after has to give people a little hope, right?” I asked.

Guy took slow steps around the bar, making the anticipation of his next words even worse. I squeezed my water bottle too tight, making a loud crackling sound from the plastic. When he’d gotten close enough to me, his voice carried like a dark ocean rumbling in my ears.

“For some, after isn’t a pleasant place to be.”