Sit down! Nash hissed, glaring up at him.
Tod shook his head and started to turn away from us, so I grabbed his hand. He froze the minute my flesh touched his and turned back to me gradually, as if every movement hurt. Please. I begged him with my eyes. Just hear him out.
The reaper slowly pulled his fingers from my grasp, until my hand hung in the air, empty and abandoned. He looked both angry and terrified when he sank back into his seat, now more than a foot from the table.
We dont need to see the whole thing, Nash began. Just the part from this weekend. Saturday, Sunday, and today.
I cant do it. He shook his head again, blond curls bouncing. You dont understand what youre asking for.
So tell us. I folded my hands on the table, making it clear that I had time for a long story. Even if I didnt.
Tod exhaled heavily and aimed his answer at me, pointedly ignoring Nash. Youre not talking about just one list. Master list is a misnomer. Its actually lots of lists. Theres a new master for every day, and my boss splits that up into zone, then shift. I only see the part for this hospital, from noon to midnight. Theres another reaper who works here the other half of the day, and I never see anything on his lists, much less the lists for other zones. Its not like I can just walk up to a coworker and ask to see his old lists. Especially if hes actually reaping independently.
Hes right. Thats too complicated. Nash sighed, closing his eyes. Then he opened them again and looked at me resolutely. We need the master list.
Tod groaned and opened his mouth to argue, but I beat him to it. No, we dont. We dont even need to see it.
What? Nash frowned, and I raised one finger, asking him silently to wait as I turned back to the reaper.
I understand that you dont work off the master list, but youve seen it, right? You said there are murder victims on it every week?
Yeah, I see it every now and then. Tod shrugged. Its all digital now, and my boss keeps it running on his computer all the time, in case he has to adjust anything. I glance at it when I go in his office.
Okay, thats good. I couldnt resist a small smile. We dont need to see it. We just need you to look at it and tell us whether or not these three names were there.
Tod leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, cradling his head in his hands. He rubbed his forehead, then took a deep, resigned breath and finally looked up at me. Where did they die?
The first one was in the West End, at Taboo. Heidi? Nash glanced at me with his brows arched.
Anderson, I supplied. The second was Alyson Baker, at the Cinemark in Arlington, and the third was at East Lake High School, just this afternoon.
Wait, those are all in different zones. Tod frowned, and the well-defined muscles of his arms tensed as he leaned against the table. If you really think none of them were supposed to die, youre talking about three different reapers involved in this little conspiracy. Which is starting to sound pretty complicated, by the way.
Hmm I didnt know enough about reapers to know how far-fetched a theory we were talking about, but I did know that the more people who were in on a secret, the harder it was to keep quiet. Tod was right. Somaybe we were only looking for one reaper, after all. Is there anything keeping one of you guys from operating in someone elses zone?
Other than integrity and fear of being caught? No.
Grim reaper integrity?
So if a reaper has neither integrity nor fear, theres nothing to stop him from taking out half the state of Texas next time he gets road rage in rush hour traffic? I heard my pitch rising, and made myself lower my voice as I screwed the lid off my Coke. Dont you guys have to turn in yourumdeath ray, or whatever, when youre off the clock?
Tods perfect lips quirked up in a quick smile. Um, no. Theres no death ray, though that would be really cool. Reapers dont use any equipment. All we have is an ability to extinguish life and take possession of the soul. But trust me, thats more than enough.
With that, his expression darkened. In theory, you should never find a reaper without integrity. Its not like we apply for this job to satisfy some kind of massive power hunger. Were recruited, and screened for every psychological condition known to man. No one capable of something like youre talking about should ever find work as a reaper.
You sound less than confident in the system, I said, watching his face carefully.
He shrugged. You said it yourself. People arent infallible, and the system is run by people.
So can you get a look at the lists? Nash said, watching Tod almost as closely as I did.
Tod bit his lower lip in thought. Youre talking about three different zones, for three different daysand none of them on the current master list.
So can you do it? I repeated, leaning forward in anticipation.
Tod nodded slowly. It wont be easy, but I like a challenge. So long as it pays off. His blue-eyed gaze zeroed in on me, and something told me he was no longer talking about poking around in his bosss office. Ill get you what you want to knowin exchange for your name.
No. Nash didnt even hesitate. Youll do it because if you dont, well hang out here and shell suspend every soul you try to take until youre so far behind schedule your boss sends you back to the nursing home. If youre lucky.
Right. Tod smirked now as his gaze shifted from me to Nash. Shes so green her roots are showing. I bet shes never even seen a soul.
Hes right, I said. Nash snatched my hand from the table and squeezed it hard, begging me silently not to give Tod what he wanted. But I saw no reason not to. My name would be easy to figure out, which made it a cheap price for the information we needed. My first name is Kaylee. You can have my last name when you give us what we want.
Deal. Tod stood, beaming as if his face gave off its own glow. Ill let you know what I find out, but I cant promise itll be tonight. Im already late for that aneurism.
I nodded, disappointed but not really surprised.
Now, if youll excuse me, I have to go make some poor woman a widow. And with that, he disappeared.
There was no chiming of bells, no twinkling of light. No signal at all that he was about to vanish. He was simply there one moment, and gone the next, with no specialor soundeffects of any kind.
You didnt tell me he could do that! I glanced at Nash to find him frowning at the table. Whats wrong?
Nothing. He stood and picked up the paper plate still holding his last bite of cake. Lets go. We threw our trash away on our way out of the cafeteria, and I followed him across the hospital and through the parking garage in silence. Guess he really didnt want Tod to know my name
When we reached the car, Nash followed me to the passengers side door, where he unlocked and opened it for me. But instead of getting in, I turned to face him and put one hand flat on his chest. Youre mad at me. My heart beat so hard my chest ached. I could feel his heart thumping beneath my palm, and for one horrifying moment, I was sure Id never get to feel it again. That he would simply drive me home, then vanish from my life like Tod had vanished from the cafeteria.
But Nash shook his head slowly. He was backlit by an overhead light near the entrance, and his dark hair seemed to glow around the edges. Im mad at him. I should have come by myself, but I didnt think hed be interested in you.
My eyebrows shot up and I stepped to the side to see him better. Because Im a shrieking hag?
Nash pulled me close again and pressed me into the car, then kissed me so deeply I wasnt sure if I was actually breathing. You have no idea how beautiful you are, he said. But Tods been hung up on someone else for a long time, so I thought youd be safe. I should have known better.
Why didnt you want him to know my name?
Nash leaned back to see me better, and the line of his jaw went hard. Because hes Death, Kaylee. No matter how innocent he looks, or how desperately he clings to the notion that hes some kind of afterlife hero, carting helpless souls from point A to point B, hes still a reaper. One day he might find your name on his list. And while I know that keeping your name a secret wont save you if that happens, Im not just going to hand over your identity to one of Deaths gophers.
He knows your name. I let my hand trail from his chest down his arm until my fingers curled around his.
I knew him before he was a reaper.
You did? It hadnt occurred to me until then that Tod might have had a normal life once. What were reapers like before they surrounded themselves with death and the dying?
Nash nodded, and I opened my mouth to ask another question, but he laid one finger against my lips. I dont want to talk about Tod anymore.
Fair enough, I mumbled against his finger. Then I removed his hand and stepped up on my toes. I dont want to talk about him either. I kissed him, and my pulse went crazy when he responded. His tongue met mine briefly, then his lips trailed over my chin and down my neck.
Mmm I murmured into his hair, as his tongue flicked in the hollow of my collarbone. Chill bumps popped up on my arms, and my hands went around his back. My fingers splayed over the material of his shirt. That feels good.
You taste good, he whispered against my skin. But before I could respond, an engine growled to life a row away, and light washed over us both, momentarily blinding me. Nash straightened, moaning in frustration as the car across the aisle pulled toward us before turning toward the exit. I guess I should take you home, he said, shading his face with one hand while the other remained on my arm.
I blinked, trying to clear floating circles of light from my eyes. I dont want to go home. My entire family has been lying to me my whole life. I dont have anything to say to them.
Dont you want to know why theyve been lying to you?
I blinked at him, taken by surprise for a moment. I hadnt considered simply confronting them with the truth. Theyd never see that coming.
A slow smile spread across my face, and I saw it reflected in Nashs. Lets go.
CHAPTER 12
Youre coming in, right? I asked when Nash shifted into Park but left the engine running.