by K. D. Worth
Tomato tomahto.
I didn’t like anything tracking down my boyfriend, evil or not.
“But you’re his protector, remember?” Slade assured me. “He’ll be fine as long as he has you.”
“Of course,” I said, nonchalant, as if being part of a hundreds-year-old prophecy was no biggy.
“And you’ve protected him already, haven’t you?”
“Sure.”
While I had been able to revive Kody, it had taken some time. For days after Meegan left, Kody held me, and the warmth had healed us both. And lately I’d sensed that we both were back to ourselves—as much as we could be.
“Have you been practicing, Max?”
I managed to smile and held up one hand. I thought of Kody and how perfect it was falling asleep in his arms and waking beside him. With him close to me, we were always warm. Sometimes I actually forgot I was a cold dead reaper.
Living humans didn’t understand what it was like to be warm because they didn’t know any different. The only thought they gave their state of homeostasis was when they were uncomfortable—aka too hot or too cold. But most humans were not aware of the heat from their corporeal form. I had completely forgotten what it was like to be warm before Kody. Now I experienced it constantly. While in reaper form, there was no thought to internal temperature at all, but when we were in human form, all reapers were as cold as death, though it wasn’t uncomfortable in any way.
Right now in reaper form, with Kody in my thoughts, I felt the heat of my scalp under my hair. The way my lips were warm against my tongue when I licked them. How if I made a fist the creases on the palm of my hand heated and sweated. The love was in me and all around me. Simply by being near Kody, or like now, just thinking about him, I could feel the heat of that love from the tips of my toes to the top of my scalp and to the farthest corner of my elbow.
Drawing on that, I raised a fist at my side and opened it. A flicker of light began on the tip of each finger.
I gave Slade a cocky grin. “I don’t know. What do you think?”
Then I threw out my hand toward the sky outside and shot a lightning blast.
Slade watched the trail of light, but my blast didn’t reach the mountains. It sort of fizzled out halfway.
Dang it. I’d wanted to hit the mountain. “That’s as far as it goes?”
“Because I stopped it.”
“You did?”
“You think I’m going to let you cause an avalanche and take out a whole village?”
“There’s a village down there?” I leaned over the edge, but all I could see was the snowy mist and haze of cool mountain air below us. “If you hadn’t stopped it, would it have hit the mountain?”
“Probably.”
I nodded, taking that information in.
Slade was smiling at me. “You mocked me one time when I said love is the greatest source of power in this universe. Not so funny now, is it?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay, you were right. Again. Do you want a cookie or something?”
“No, I’d rather eat those cupcakes Kody plans on making.”
Seizing an opportunity, since Slade seemed to have let his guard down, I asked, “Are the shades watching Kody right now?”
“No, the soonest any of the shades have discovered Kody’s presence was nine minutes. That’s why I have Heather keeping the jobs to eight minutes.”
That seemed oddly specific. “So in nine minutes, shades will show up while he’s reaping someone, is that what I’m hearing?”
“Sometimes it’s longer, depending. But that’s the soonest they’ve found him. Heather’s been on point making sure he’s never in the human realm longer than that.”
“Heather knew about the shades and didn’t tell Kody?” I made a whistling sound. “I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes.”
“She didn’t know,” Slade assured me. “I just told her every crossover had to be done quickly.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
My boyfriend was very touchy about what others thought of him. If he believed Heather was keeping secrets, it would damage their new friendship, which I could see meant a lot to him. Plus, Heather was growing on me too, and it would be a shame to toss all that, after everything we’d been through.
“I’ve been going easy on you since Meegan left,” Slade said with a sigh. “But I can’t keep doing that.”
A wash of gratitude went through me, and I managed to force out, “Thanks for that.”
I didn’t know what the past few weeks would’ve been like if I’d still had to do my regular crossovers or if Kody hadn’t been at my side, day and night. Thankfully Slade had sent him on short assignments and he’d otherwise barely left my side. Meegan had helped me in those months I thought I’d lost Kody the first time, and now, as fate would have it, Kody was the one helping me get over losing Meegan.
“You boys have to look out for each other.”
“That’s easy enough.”
“Well, let’s get back to work so you can keep protecting Kody.”
I nodded, eager to start making a plan. I needed to perfect my aim so the blasts could take out wraiths before they ever got close to Kody.
“Max, your focus shouldn’t be on protecting him from wraiths,” Slade said. “The rest of the team will take care of that.”
“What?” I cried. “They will?”
Though a sense of relief filled me, knowing I wouldn’t have to fight and protect Kody alone, I was a little confused. Slade had been saying all along my job was to be Kody’s protector. But now it wasn’t my job to protect him from evil—okay, so not entirely evil—spirits?
What the H E double hockey sticks!
Slade was smiling at me. “Of course they will. Why do you think I’ve been training them? I know you always wanted a crossbow but, kid, you don’t really need it.”
“I don’t?”
“No, the love you draw upon inside you? You’ve discovered several tangible uses for it, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, I can make lightning blasts and a force field. And it revives Kody when the spirits drain him.” The cyclical exchange of energy was a phenomenon unique to us, and signified a higher purpose, a destiny we’d yet to fulfill.
Or so Slade said anyways.
“You’ll see eventually,” Slade replied, eyes dancing with amusement at my Doubting Thomas nature. “But back to the matter at hand, can you do all three at once?”
“Um….” I hesitated. I’d been practicing drawing the light up to my hands this past week, even blasting a ratty old chair in the library yesterday, but no, I hadn’t thought of trying to do more than one thing at a time. “How do I do that?”
“Let’s start with how you made the force field last time.”
I sighed, trying to remember. Everything had been a blur, wraiths swirling in the air above us, shades looking for Kody. Then Kody had physically touched that wraith and somehow returned it to its true spirit form, leaving him too weak to even stand. I started funneling my energy into him, but then more wraiths attacked. While Slade fought them off, I’d just miraculously made a force field.
In all honesty I hadn’t tried to do it again. It took all of my energy just to get out of bed and not cry all day. But that night I had shown a strength of power I didn’t know I possessed.
The prophecy about us had been a surprise, but it made sense. Almost as if we’d known all along who and what we were to each other. I’d had an innate need to keep Kody safe from the moment I first laid eyes on him. And Kody had done so much to heal things inside me. It stood to reason he could help heal mankind of their loss of faith.
I sighed again. “All I knew that night was if those wraiths got near him, they would kill him. I had to keep them away. I was already funneling my energy into him, and somehow I just made it bigger.”
“That shield, your light, is a tangible representation of your love for Kody. When you go back on assignment with him, you will need to simultaneously shield him so th
at he isn’t drained during crossovers and protect him if wraiths come. Now bring it up on your hands again.”
I thought of my love for Kody once more and my hand sparked.
“Connect the light from each palm,” he went on.
Confused, I stared at my fingertips sparking with light. “How? Should I just shoot my hand?”
Slade nodded.
When I did, I felt a spark, not painful in any way, just electric and warm.
Nothing happened.
“Why was this easier when we were attacked?” I wanted to know.
“Because you weren’t letting your head get in the way. Your power and instinct know what to do. They will protect Kody, always. Worry and fear block those powers. When you let go, they flow freely. Remember when I asked you to listen to the silence?”
“Yeah.”
“I was trying to get you to step outside of your thoughts, let go and let your power do what it already knows how to do.”
“So what you’re saying is that I’m overthinking it?”
“Aren’t you always?”
Truer words….
“Now try again, but don’t try so much this time.”
Like that made any sense.
But for Kody, I would do anything.
I conjured the light in my palm and then, rather than shooting my hand, I connected my fingertips, passing the light over. And when I slowly moved my hands apart, a living pulsing light stretched between my hands like transparent pizza dough.
“I’m doing it,” I cried excitedly.
“Stretch it out,” Slade encouraged.
I did as I was told, but suddenly I saw a hole in the center, a darkness.
Just like the hole in my heart from losing Meegan… or the fear I had every time I thought about losing Kody. Slade’s old whispered warning came back to me: “You’ll lose him one day….”
It popped, the light disappearing.
“Dang it,” I said, dropping my hands irritably. Slade was right. I was always getting stuck in my head, but how could I stop it when those fears, the ache, were so strong?
“Give it time,” Slade said, patting me on the knee. “And practice. Try not to overthink it, okay?”
Easier said than done.
Over and over Slade made me form the shield for the next several hours.
Conjuring the light was effortless, like my love for Kody. But every time it got bigger, that darkness would reappear and I would lose it. The last time, I managed to stretch the light big enough to shield my entire body, but I wasn’t able to maintain it.
“That’s enough,” Slade decided. “You did better than I’d hoped.”
“I did? But they all broke.”
“But you made them, right? That’s the first step.”
“I guess,” I said, feeling a little better about the whole session. I was exhausted but happy. For the first time in a while, I actually believed I might be able to keep Kody safe.
“Two things before you go,” he said. “First things first, I have your case for tomorrow.” A file folder appeared in Slade’s hand, and he held it out.
“You do?” I hadn’t expected him to acquiesce so quickly.
“Yes, I think you’re as ready as you’ll ever be.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said wryly, though I was excited on the inside. I took the file and opened it.
Brady Williams, age nine, 3:07 p.m.
My jaw dropped and I gaped at Slade. “A kid? Seriously? You’re going to make us reap a kid?”
“Kids die every day, Max,” Slade told me sadly. “You did.”
I scrunched my face and frowned. “This kid is nine. How does he—” I stopped myself short and waved my hands. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
I used to get mad at Slade for only giving me minimal details on my charges, but the longer I did this gig, the more grateful I was for his forethought. Not knowing the details of my charges made it easier for me to be impartial. Though I knew some of my fellow reapers googled their charges, the not knowing of details helped keep my head in the game.
Just another one of those things Slade had been right about.
I looked back at the folder in my hands.
This job would be tough on Kody. He was more empathetic than anyone I’ve ever known, and the sadness of those around him affected him, leaving him vulnerable.
How much would a child’s spirit drain Kody?
“Anyways,” Slade said, dragging out the word. “I want the two of you in and out on this case tomorrow in eight minutes.”
“Try seven.”
“Even better,” Slade quipped. “And Kody needs to do this one, not you.”
I didn’t exactly understand what Slade meant by him needing to deliver the Touch to a child, but Kody and I had decided privately he’d allow the other reapers to do all the work until we figured out how to keep the spirits from weakening him. And he definitely would not deliver the Touch until I was back on the job with him.
“If something goes wrong, if you encounter a shade, do not engage it. If, God forbid, a wraith shows up, blast it if you have to, but then get your asses out of there. Do you understand?”
“That’s easy enough.”
Slade slapped his hands on his thighs. “Until we work through some things, Kody isn’t ready to face the shades. Not just yet.”
“Well, he certainly isn’t ready to face them if I’m not by his side.” Crap, I hadn’t meant that to sound so snippy.
Slade raised his eyebrows. “So you’re jealous of girls now?”
“I’m not jealous,” I said a bit too quickly. Teaching Kody to be a reaper was supposed to be my job, and while I knew Kody wasn’t interested in Heather in that way, I was jealous of the time he spent with her, even if I hated admitting it.
Until I met Kody, I never knew I had a jealous streak wider than the gaping cavern outside. I knew he loved me, but my own imagination and insecurities were always mucking things up. Kinda like the holes that kept appearing in my force fields.
I tried not to be jealous, but sometimes, like now, I couldn’t stop it.
“I’m supposed to be Kody’s protector,” I said to Slade. “Which means he shouldn’t be out there without me.”
“We’re a team, Max, and Kody needs to learn. There are things the other reapers do that you don’t. He’s learning what he needs to know, all the different nuances to this job. He prefers Heather. After you, of course.”
“But he’ll only be going out with me from now on, right?”
“Naturally.”
“Good.”
Slade rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Kid, when are you gonna learn you don’t have to worry?”
“I don’t?” I countered, hackles raised. “You told me I was going to lose him.”
“No, I do believe I specifically said this.”
At that, Slade raised his hand. The open doorway with the view to the mountains disappeared and a mirror took its place.
Wait, no! That wasn’t a mirror!
“That’s us weeks ago,” I cried.
And then Slade turned up the volume like on a television, and I heard past-Slade say, “What if I told you that you’ll lose him one day?”
My gut twisted when I saw the agony on my own crumpled face and me shaking my head. Tears streaming down my cheeks….
That fear I had learned to control—yet hadn’t fully let go of—brewed hot inside me now. My fingertips crackled and I took a shaky breath.
Then the image disappeared and the mountain view returned.
I balled my hands into fists and closed my eyes, taking three more deep breaths. The fear faded. I thought of Kody. His wide smile, his dark hair, and blue eyes. And how much he loved me and I loved him. The warmth increased inside me, the flicker of an ember growing stronger.
As long as I could feel that heat, I would not lose him.
“See, Max,” Slade said very softly. “I didn’t say you will lose him, but you fear i
t. That’s why the force fields keep breaking. But you already know that. Let go of that fear, and have faith that God knew what He was doing when He brought the two of you together. You have a purpose. Together.”
I wanted to believe that.
Desperately.
But I opened my eyes and gave him a stubborn look, not wanting to delve into my constant failures and issues. “I can’t believe you turned that off before I could watch me blast you.”
Slade chuckled and stood effortlessly from his cross-legged position. I struggled to my feet and a big hand slapped my shoulder. “One thing at a time, one thing at a time. Now come on, let’s go back to the dorms.”
As I allowed Slade—or had no choice rather—to teleport us home, I felt calmer. His counsel to have faith helped, but deep inside, I was still worried about losing Kody. After Meegan, I’d learned nothing is forever.
My love for Kody?
Yes. That was forever.
But that didn’t mean our time was.
KODY—Chapter 3
HERMAN HAD decided he only wanted a lift halfway down the hall before he leapt out of my arms and scurried into Tristen’s room. Leaving the precocious feline to his own agenda, I entered our bedroom, happy to find Max there.
“Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.” Max had on jeans, a gray T-shirt, and tennis shoes—and he was sitting on the chair, not lying in bed.
More good signs he was on the mend.
He set his book on the nightstand beside the twin Eiffel Tower statues we’d bought in Paris the day we’d first said “I love you.” Next to them, in a black frame, was the picture a nice lady had snapped for us atop the famous monument. I loved that picture. Our hair was windblown, cheeks flushed, and we both had on sunglasses—conjured wisely so the camera wouldn’t reveal our supernatural form via our eyes—but we were smiling wide, carefree and happy.
Though we were still the latter, carefree wasn’t something we reapers got to enjoy all that often.
I walked up to Max as he stood, and then we embraced.
Instantly his loving heat filled me, and any residual exhaustion from Cindy’s crossover dissipated. I closed my eyes and let his love wash over me. I concentrated on giving it back to him, pushing my energy into him even as I accepted his.
