“Obviously not,” I laugh, shaking my head.
“You need to go get your scythe.” He smiles broadly. “We’re going on a mission.”
18
“Good morning,” Professor Dal greets us. “As you can already tell, today is a special day.” Beaming, he looks around the room. There are only three other students in here, and the four of us are going on our first official reaping mission.
Maxon sits up straight in his chair, gripping his scythe. He’s already been to the human realm, already killed a demon, and has guided a soul to the afterlife. The two others, June and Hadwin, are from Arbiter and haven’t been through a portal yet.
“Professor,” I say, unable to help myself. “Why are we going on this mission at all? I thought that sixth years didn’t get to go on missions, and with all this danger…
Professor Dal smiles, but I think I catch a flash of annoyance in his eyes. “You are correct, Miss Blake, but toward the end of every year, I shortlist a handful of advanced students to go on a mission, as a reward for their stellar work in my class. Professor Messor did indeed consider postponing the mission, but an opportunity has arisen that neither of us can pass up, so you will be coming after all.”
“We appreciate it very much, Professor. Maxon shoots me a dirty look, and I blush, embarrassed. I throw Professor Dal an apologetic look from beneath my lashes, knowing how rude it was for me to challenge him when he was clearly bestowing me an honor by allowing me to come. He smiles faintly, inclining his head in the briefest of nods, and I sigh in relief. He’s forgiven me. I’ll be able to talk to him later, and I can ask him about why he lied. I’m sure he has a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Professor Dal walks up to the blackboard. He waves his hand, and a diagram appears of what looks like a traffic accident. “There was what humans refer to as a ‘pile up’ on one of their roads. You’d think they’d come up with a better design.” He chuckles, and the others laugh along with him. “Sudden deaths like this leave multiple souls to reap, conveniently in one location.”
A wave of sadness rolls through me at the thought of so many tragic deaths, and I’m struck by just how cavalier Professor Dal is about it. But then again, reapers do this for a living. It would only make sense that they wouldn’t be emotional about it.
“Now, I will be there to assist you if necessary, but there is a catch.” Professor Dal walks back to the other side of the room. “I will be going ahead of you, and it is up to you to draw the correct sigil and cast the appropriate spell to get to the human realm. There will be back up, though I will not allow them to intervene unless absolutely necessary.”
He picks up four folders from his desk. “Here are your Soul Files. There have been four casualties thus far, but in situations like this where injuries are severe, that count can quickly rise. And the more souls…”
“…The more likely you are to have demons come after them,” Maxon finishes.
“Exactly.” Professor Dal flips the hood of his cloak up, picks up his scythe, and looks at the faceless watch on his wrist. “Meet me there.” Eyes lingering on me, he smiles once more and strides out of the room to open the portal without us seeing what kind of incantation he used.
Maxon grabs one of the Soul Files and opens it.
“The accident happened in Columbus, Ohio,” he reads. “And this particular soul belonged to a twenty-four-year-old woman.”
I look over his shoulder, watching as a black-and-white photo of the woman appears on the file. It disappears as Max starts reading the rest of her information. “She was close with her sister and hated her job.”
“What about the others?” June asks, unrolling another scroll. “Forty-two-year-old man. Daughter was in the back seat and is still alive.”
Pain twinges at my heart. My father died in a car accident. I can do this, I tell myself. I’m saving these people, taking them to the afterlife, and someday, they’ll be reunited with their loved ones.
Maxon turns to me, sympathy in his eyes. I mentioned I lost my dad in a car accident the first night I was here. I didn’t expect him to remember, but…he did.
“You’re not human anymore,” he says softly, and I nod. “Think about doing your job as a reaper and nothing else.”
“I can do that.”
He rests his hand on top of mine for half a second and then stands. We look at the other Soul Files so we know who to look for. The next two victims were a young, newlywed couple in the same car. They had a dog with them, who didn’t make it.
“I know the sigil we need,” Hadwin says with confidence. He conjures a string of energy and uses it to draw the sigil in the air. He mutters the incantation and golden light explodes from the sigil, swirling in a vortex as the portal opens. Remembering how sick I felt the last time I went through a portal, I brace myself.
Hadwin goes through first, and as soon as he gets one foot through the portal, it sucks him in and he disappears from sight. June walks right in after him, jaw tight and a bit of fear apparent on her face.
“Ready?” Maxon asks me, and extends his free hand my way.
“Yeah,” I say, and reach out, taking his hand. He steps through the portal, and since I’m holding his hand, he pulls me in with him. The world spins and twists, and I feel like I’m being stretched apart and smashed together all at the same time. I fight to hold my arm steady and not risk slicing myself with my own scythe.
I close my eyes tight and suck in a breath, holding it until the spinning stops. A blast of warm air hits me right in the face, and the familiar scent of car exhaust and newly paved roads fills the air. The ground is solid beneath my feet. I slowly open my eyes and look at the scene in front of us. Everything is a little hazy, as if I’m looking at the world through tinted, foggy glasses.
People are running about, pulling others from the tangled metal mess of cars. Kids are crying, and police sirens echo in the distance.
“There’s our first.” June strides forward, spotting the twenty-four-year-old woman. “I’ll get her.”
