Grim Crush (Grimly Ever After) (17 page)

Chapter 25

After Aquil went away, I knew I had to try something else. The Angel of Death wasn’t going to help me, but I knew someone who might.

I caught sight of Nuwan passing by in the corner of my vision. I ran over to him.

“Hey, did you hear about Shilah?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, Ziri told me. I…don’t know what to say.” Nuwan gave me a sympathetic look.

I frowned thoughtfully. “If Death knows everything, he must know you go see Granna. Not that I
want
anything to happen to her, but I wonder why he hasn’t claimed her?”

“Well…I think Anna has something to do with that. She’s always saying she has a connection to death. And my relationship with her isn’t as strong as yours with Shilah. Anna’s not my mother anymore, so maybe Death doesn’t think I’m emotionally involved with her.”

“And that means you’re not
really
breaking any Rules, since Rule Three doesn’t apply to humans with Grim Sight.” I sighed. “Lucky you.” I had
massacred
Rule Two, so I was the only grim reaper violating one of Death’s Rules. I was even planning on breaking Rule One. No wonder Death was after Shilah. This was my punishment.

Nuwan glanced around to see if anyone was nearby, then he huddled closer to me. “Xia, you should go see Anna. If anyone has a solution to your problem, it would be her.”

I brightened. “Why didn’t I think of that before! She won’t want her grandson to die. And she knows all about death.” I threw my arms around Nuwan’s neck in an embrace, forgetting that reapers aren’t used to affection. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He laughed, patting my back awkwardly. “I haven’t really done anything, but you’re welcome. I
sincerely
hope she can help you stop Shilah’s death. If I’d lived, he would be my nephew. I don’t want to see his soul pass through here so soon.”

“It won’t, not if I can help it.”

From The In-Between, I had one chance to teleport. So I went straight to the same room Granna had Summoned me to in her house.

Once I was in it, I peeked out the door before going out. Granna’s husband didn’t have Grim Sight, but if Shilah was around, that’d be disastrous.

To my surprise, Granna was shuffling down the hallway toward the room where I was. Her wrinkled face broke out into a toothy grin when she spotted me. She motioned for me to get back into the room.

I stepped away from the door, and Granna came in, shutting the door until it was only open a crack.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” she said, hobbling forward with a red cane in hand. “I thought I might have to Summon you.”

“So you know?” I asked. “About…?”

“Yes. Nuwan told me about Shilah’s forthcoming death. And I think you can do something about it.”

“Really? But will there be any consequences, like life and death being thrown off balance?”

“I’m certain there won’t be any bad repercussions for the world if Shilah lives. However, you may face something you don’t want to.”

I sighed in relief. “Okay, I can deal with that. So how can I go against Death?”

Granna glanced behind her at the door, and I wondered why she hadn’t closed and locked it if she was worried about her husband hearing her. She faced me again. “Death can only be stopped at the last critical moment. And only someone close to Death would be able to stop it.”

“So…that would be someone like me, a grim reaper, right?”

“Yes. You have the best chance of spotting how Death will strike. But listen, you can’t make Shilah safe ahead of time. You’ll have to change the course of events at the last second.”

“But what if I can’t? What if I fail? They say death can’t be stopped.”

Granna let her cane lean against her leg as she grabbed my hand, sandwiching it between her aged ones. “I have faith in you, Xia. You’re Shilah’s only hope.”

I inhaled a shaky breath. Being responsible for a person’s soul was a major deal. “I don’t know, Granna…”

At that moment, the door swung open. In walked Shilah, saying, “Granna, why did you–?” he cut off when he saw me. My heart lurched at the sight of him.

He gasped. “Xia!” He strode forward and grabbed me into a hug, crushing me to his chest.

I’d been happy to see him at first, but as soon as he got close to me, I felt it. It was an aura of impending death, swarming around Shilah in waves. The feeling made me choke up, and I stood rigid instead of hugging him back.

Shilah didn’t notice. He pulled away, his hand touching my cheek. “Where have you been? I know you’re invincible, but I still worried about you! After Ziri came and got you on Wednesday, I thought you were in trouble or something and your superiors had done something to you.”

My eyes watered. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, just tell me why I haven’t seen you in two days.” He rubbed my arm as if to comfort me. He didn’t even know the
real
reason why I was upset, and I didn’t want to tell him.

However, Granna said, “Shilah, I called you over here because Xia has something to tell you.”

I glowered at her. “You planned to set me up. I didn’t want this.”

“Trust me, child, he should know so he can prepare.”

Shilah looked back and forth between us, puzzlement in his eyes. “Prepare for what?”

Granna patted his arm. “There’s no need to be alarmed. Xia’s going to help you. Trust her.” And with that, she clutched her cane and shuffled out of the room, closing the door all the way this time as she left.

“Xia? What’s going on?” Shilah questioned, searching my face.

I hated that Granna had forced this on me. I might’ve never decided to tell him; I was just going to save his life and leave it at that. But I guess a person has the right to know they’re going to die. Doctors tell cancer patients all the time.

“You might need to sit down first,” I told him, not meeting his eyes.

Shilah’s face crumpled in worry. “Is it something bad? Is it about you? Are you okay?”

I flashed a weak smile. How ironic that he was concerned about
me
. “It’s not about me. It’s about you.”

“Are you going to say you have to stay away from me for my own good again? Because that’s–”

“No. It’s too late for that. I
should
have stayed away, but now…” I swallowed and hesitated. It was so hard to be close to him with his aura of impending death overwhelming me. Still, I forced myself to step closer to him. My fingers trembled as I stroked his cheek, staring up into his eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. So don’t be scared after what I’m about to tell you.”

He placed his hand over mine on his cheek. “Xia…you’re already scaring me.”

I grasped his hand and pulled it down, staring at how beautiful our hands looked together. Then I whispered, “I found out…that something is supposed to happen to you.” I looked up to see if he understood.

Shilah’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion for only a second. Then his face froze, and his bronze skin turned a shade paler. He seemed like he was about to faint, but he managed to stumble into one of the rocking chairs, plopping down heavily.

“You…you’re going to…my soul?” He could barely choke out the words, regarding me with a fearful glint in his eyes.

I squatted down in front of him, taking his hand again. “Not me…it’s going to be Jayza–”

A sharp intake of breath came from him.

“–but I’m not going to let her reap your soul.”

He blinked. “Wh-what do you mean by that?”

“I’m going to stop your death from happening.”

“But how? Can…
death
be stopped? And isn’t it against the Rules for a grim reaper to interfere in someone’s…?”

“Well, if death
couldn’t
be stopped, I guess Rule One wouldn’t exist. It’s going to be nearly impossible, but I’m going to try. I don’t care about Death’s Rules anymore. He chose you to die, and it’s on me to save you.”

Shilah was silent for a long moment. Then he asked, “If you save me, what will happen to you?”

I couldn’t believe him. “Why are you worried about
me
? You’re the one who’s supposed to be dying!”

He winced at the last word.

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me,” I continued. “I
have
to make sure you stay alive. Death wouldn’t have claimed you if it wasn’t for me.”

He paused, thinking. “I have to…die…because we’ve been seeing each other?”

“I don’t know. I guess so. Maybe the Angel of Death doesn’t like me breaking Rules for you because it puts the balance of life and death at risk.”

Shilah frowned. “That’s ridiculous. What…how are you going to stop my…?” He was having a hard time saying the word.

“I don’t know yet, but I know I have to stay close to you tomorrow night so I can protect you.”

“Tomorrow?” His voice rose several octaves.

“Yeah.” I gasped. “Oh my gosh, I just remembered. Isn’t that prom night?”

Shilah nodded stiffly, staring past me at the air. “So…should I stay home?”

I chuckled once without humor. “If Death wants you, it doesn’t matter where you are. You could be in an empty room surrounded by the army…and a meteor would come crashing through the roof.”

He swallowed. “Oh.”

“You can go to the prom. You’ve already planned everything and Clarissa is expecting you. I want you to go and have fun. Don’t worry about anything because I’m going to be there, and I’m going to prevent your…you know.”

“How can I not worry? Not only will I worry about myself, I’m going to worry about you. Nothing’s going to happen to you because of this, right?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. I just might have to be watched by one of my superiors at all times in the future.”

He looked at me doubtfully. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie? You can’t stop me from saving you if something bad
is
going to happen to me.” I hoped I sounded convincing enough. He needed to focus on himself, not me.

“This is
death
. Something must happen if you interfere with it. Please don’t tell me someone else would die in my place.”

“I told you not to worry about anything. It’s all being handled. Granna’s helping me.” I hoped she was right about no bad repercussions.

He sighed, gazing down at our hands. “Um…do you know
how
it’s going to happen?”

“No. Jayza won’t get more details till within a few hours of the time of death. And whatever it is, it’s
not
going to happen.”

Shilah smiled grimly. “You can’t stop a falling meteor.”

“I can push you out of the way.” I smiled too. “Where is the prom going to be?”

“A ballroom in the Grand Plaza Hotel.”

I nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure a meteor can’t crash through all those floors. So Death will come for you some other way.”

“How comforting.” He sighed again and fell silent. I didn’t say anything for a long time either. What were you supposed to say to somebody who was claimed by Death?

Eventually, Shilah said, “Xia…” his voice shook. “You told me not to be scared, but I’m terrified.”

I rose from my crouch and sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around him. “Everything’s going to be okay. I swear on every soul I’ve ever reaped.”

He hugged me tight, his head resting on my shoulder. I was glad he couldn’t see my face when the tears started rolling down my cheeks.

The aura of death around him was so overpowering. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of it, but I was worried that I couldn’t.

Chapter 26

I stayed with Shilah as much as I could for the rest of the day and night, leaving his side only when duty called. Ziri offered to do all the reaping work tomorrow night if I gave her my scythe, to allow me to save Shilah. She knew there was no talking me out of it at this point.

Shilah took forever getting to sleep that night, and when he finally dozed off, I stayed in his room and watched over him, already feeling like I needed to protect him. I couldn’t shield him from his nightmares though; he woke up with a start twice while I was with him. Every time he did, I came to his side and comforted him until he fell back asleep.

Saturday afternoon, we hung out at Chad’s Cliff for a while. And then all too soon, it was time for Shilah to get dressed so he could go out to eat with his friends before the prom.

“Wow. You look handsome,” I complimented as I helped him fix his tie that evening. He was beyond good-looking in his white tuxedo. I would probably need to protect him from girls, as well as Death.

Shilah sighed. “I wouldn’t even go if you weren’t going to be there with me.”

“I told you, let me worry about saving your life. You just have fun like everyone else.”

“Do you know how it’s supposed to happen yet?”

“No. While you’re out eating with your friends, I’m going to go see Jayza. She’ll tell me more details. I’ll meet you at the prom.”

I watched Shilah fiddle nervously with his black shirt’s collar. I grabbed his hands, feeling them shaking in mine.

“You trust me, don’t you?” I said as he stared into my eyes. “You know you’re not going to die tonight, right?”

“I know you’re going to
try
to save me. But Xia…” he trailed off, lowering his gaze to the floor. “I wanted to ask you…if it does happen…would you reap my soul, instead of Jayza?” He regarded me with pleading eyes.

My chest tightened. “I can’t…”

“Please? If I’m going to die, I want you to be there to…guide me in the afterlife. I want you to be the last person–
reaper
–I see.”

I shook my head. “It won’t come to that.”

“Xia, you can’t guarantee I’ll live.”

“Yes I can.”

“If you’re so confident, why have you been looking at me like that since yesterday?”

Now I turned
my
gaze downward. “Like what?”

“Like…I’m going away. Like you’re never going to see me again.”

I bit my bottom lip guiltily. “Uh…remember when I told you reapers can sense impending death? Well, there’s an aura of it all around you. It’s…hard to bear. The closer I am to you, the stronger I feel it.”

Shilah pulled away from me and took a step back. “You shouldn’t be close to me then.”

“No, I’m getting used to it.” I reached out for him, but he moved farther away.

“My friends will be here to pick me up soon.” He didn’t look at me as he said it.

Hurt, I dropped my hands to my sides. “Okay. I have to go anyway.”

As I started to turn away, Shilah said, “Xia?”

I faced him again. “Yeah?”

“No matter what happens…I don’t blame you. I don’t care if Death wouldn’t have claimed me if I had never met you. I’m glad we had a chance to be together…even if it didn’t last very long.”

I didn’t know if his words made me feel better or worse about this whole situation. I just nodded, my eyes watery, and walked out of his room.

* * *

I had Ziri find Jayza for me since she could teleport around to search for her. I waited on the rooftop of our usual meeting spot, walking along the parapet, between life and death again. Tonight though, it wasn’t as exhilarating.

Jayza appeared about twenty minutes after I’d arrived. “Hey, Xia.”

“Hey.” I hopped off the parapet. “Did it take Ziri this long to find you?”

“She found me a few minutes ago, but I was in the middle of an assignment.”

“Oh.” I rocked back on my heels, hesitating.

“I know what you want to ask,” Jayza said for me. “First of all, I want you to know that I support you. I
want
you to save Shilah, I just don’t want anyone else to be affected by your decision. I never,
ever
wanted Shilah to die.”

“I know, Jayza. Now…I need to know the exact time and location of Shilah’s death. And how it’s going to happen.”

Jayza stared at her feet. “I can’t tell you anything.”

“
Why
? You just said–”

“It’s not like I don’t want to! It’s weird, but…something is
blocking
me from receiving any more information about Shilah’s death. All I know is that it will happen before midnight, and it’ll be in the Grand Plaza Hotel. But other than that, I don’t know anything. I asked Dajila about it, and she said I’ll be able to teleport to Shilah at the time…when his soul leaves his body. I’m sorry, Xia.” Jayza looked sincere, her eyes filling with moisture.

I frowned in thought. “It’s okay, I believe you. Dammit. The Angel of Death must know I’m going to try to stop him from taking Shilah. That’s why he won’t let you receive the information. He knows you would tell me.”

“Oh, wow. Going against Death will be tough.”

“I know. He’s going to do everything he can to stop me.” I placed my hand on my chin. How could I stop Shilah’s death if I didn’t know when it was going to happen? I’ll have to stay with him all night, and he’ll most likely be around humans the whole time…

“Jayza, where are you going to be?” I asked.

“I guess I could wait on the roof of the hotel.”

“Do you have permission to teleport me there?”

“I can get it from Nuwan. What are you going to do?”

My idea was absurd. And it was against a Rule. However, not only was it necessary, it could be fun. “I’m going to attend my first prom.”