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I stared at them. At Nox. At Nat, who looked well past surprised.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
Nat sighed again. “They’re not damaged. That’s the only reason he’s still allowed within fifty feet of the shelves.”
Nox meowed. See? No harm done.
“Menace,” I muttered, glaring at the cat. “Bad enough you steal everyone’s sweets, but books too? The least you could do is provide endless danmei rather than How to Turn Your Coffin Into a Hook-Up Spot.”
Nat made a sound that might have been a laugh.
“Sorry about him,” I apologized again, then added, “And me. Don’t we need to reap some souls or something? Is this not a full-time gig?” I glanced around the library. “Since we don’t need to sleep… much.”
Nat hesitated. It made me wonder how this whole Reaper thing actually worked.
“Are there like millions of you, and you’re letting your buddies do your stuff since you got saddled with me?”
“Not millions.” A pause. “Not even a thousand. There are five in the Twin Cities. Two covering the rural parts of Minnesota and the bordering rural areas of North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.” He met my gaze. “Should something larger… happen, a Shepherd would arrive.”
That sounded like a huge job for so few people. Five? For all of this? “Larger—wait. You mean like a disaster?”
Nat nodded.
Great. So, the afterlife was running on a skeleton crew, and I was wasting one of their only local resources.
“And technically, you’re a soul for me to reap,” Nat added.
And yet I was still here. “Does that mean you’re in trouble?”
“Not in the human sense. More that the cases that come to me while you’re still here are few, and often more… urgent.”
Great. So, I was fucking up his afterlife too. “Sorry…”
Nat shook his head. “Most move on right away. Some linger forever. It balances eventually.”
“So when I’m talking to ghosts on this side, those are the ones who linger?”
“Yes. Some don’t have direction. Some just refuse to leave.” He paused. “There are a handful of places where they can cross to the mortal side, though it’s rare. Rather, it’s often those with power like yours who can see through the Veil to perceive them. We as Reapers try to keep track of you.”
“To add to your ranks, right? ‘Cause you’re overworked and underpaid?” I raised a brow. “Is there pay?” I glanced around the library. “Not that an endless library isn’t a perk worthy of most romance novels and all.”
Nat shrugged. “Perhaps. The perks are negotiable. If you make the cut. But you have something most lingering souls don’t.”
“Chronic sarcasm?”
“Among other things,” Nat agreed. “As a Weaver of any ability, yes, you have the potential to become a Reaper.” He paused. “Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know,” I told him honestly. “I kind of hoped to have a longer life. Spend some time with the guy who’s really been taking hold of my heart. Maybe raise my kid brother to be a good person.” I shrugged. “But I understand that the choice isn’t really mine.”
“Most of the time, no.”
“But again, I’m special, right?”
A smile tugged at the corners of Nat’s lips. “Depends on your definition.” He waved his hand, and a door appeared. “If I said the answers are beyond this library, and your current choices are to come with me and learn the ends of threads, or remain here and wallow, which path do you choose?”
Gwen’s words echoed in my head: Fate has a multitude of paths. Let instinct guide your steps.
I stepped through the door.
