A Tale Of Two Reapers by Jack Wallen

Author:Jack Wallen [Wallen, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DevilDog Press
Published: 2017-01-03T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“You weren’t kidding, Grim. This is incredible.”

“I don’t fuck around when it comes to pizza.”

We sat at a grease-smeared table in the back of Louis’ Pizza Shack, a large cheese pizza between us. So far we’d managed to demolish half the pie together, and I’d somehow succeeded in cheering X up, despite what we’d been through.

Not bad for a first…

I couldn’t say it.

“Sooo,” X said coyly.

I could feel the color drain from my cheeks. Nothing good ever followed the word “so” in my world.

“What is it, Grim? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” X laughed. “Well that’s the most obvious fucking statement of the year. Wait, do we see ghosts?”

I shook my head. “Not in the literal sense.”

“I’ve been seeing metaphorical ghosts all of my life.” X dipped a pizza bone deep into the oil pooling in the center of her plate and immediately changed the subject. “Is this our first official date?”

A lump of cheese caught in my throat. I choked. X slid her soda across the table. I sucked down a gulp to clear away the blockage.

“I—” my voice caught. After a second drink, I tossed caution to the wind and nodded. “I think it is.”

“Are there any regulations about dating fellow reapers?”

“That’s funny, X.”

“I thought so.”

“My guess is that Fate’ll be yanking me back to the NetherRealm any moment to say time is running out.”

X furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Remember the deal? I have until the end of the week to teach you how to reap, otherwise…” I drew my finger across my neck.

“Oh, fuck,” X whispered. “I’m really blowing this for you, aren’t I?”

“Actually, what’s really blowing this is the fact that there’s a Scythe loose in New York and we don’t have much time to find it.”

“Jesus, Grim,” X snapped. “There are almost two million people in Manhattan alone. How are we supposed to locate a veritable shadow in the middle of the goddamn night? And even if we do, how do we get rid of it?”

I slid another slice over to my plate. “The second question is simple to answer…you inhale it like you did the first time. The only difference is, assuming the mark has been taken down by the police, when you let it go, the Scythe will have become a harmless aura.”

“And what happens if the police don’t kill the man? Maybe they’ll take him into custody…for a trial…like they do in this country?”

X was right…I hadn’t thought of that eventuality.

“Then we resort to Plan Nine,” I said offhandedly.

“From Outer Space?”

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips. “I knew there was at least one reason why we’d get along so well. Yes, From Outer Space. To be honest, though, it’s more like inner space.”

“Care to explain yourself, Grim?”

An elongated sigh escaped my lips. “I do this as rarely as possible. Why? Because it truly fucks with me.”

“I’m all ears.” X set her drink down and leaned back in the booth.

“We have to let the

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