Deadly Kisses

Thirty-Five





Nervous fear overcame me when Ivar yelled out, “Erik.” He began herding his person like cattle in the labyrinth of stone.

It was to begin. The black sea of Grim Reapers backed away from the fire, allowing Erik to walk up and around the stone wall to the flat stone table. The black roses were moved to the ground. Excitement saturated the air.

Jaleb had his hand pressed into his lap, looking to the sky in a prayer like way. Bee turned into me more. She bunched her hands in my cloak, her body rigid.

Erik’s mortal was pushed in front of him. He tried to struggle, so Erik yielded his scythe. The mortal was already weak from being drained of energy by Ivar. His aura glowed in white light, but it wasn’t as bright as Bee or Jaleb’s.

I held Bee’s head to my chest not wanting her to watch this sick torment. I wished Abe would come on his silver horse to save the day, but I couldn’t see him getting past death dogs. Worse, lesser demons.

Erik and Leif took the human by each arm. Ivar stood in front of him.

“Give me your name human?” Ivar’s voice boomed, echoing off the massive stones, sending an icy wind through Stonehenge.

The nineteen-year-old wearing a Red Sox cap said, “Gary.”

“You’re going to die. Will you keep in your mind the regret from gambling your single mother’s house away, forcing her to foreclose, and becoming homeless because of your habits? If yes, then you will bond to Erik and I and serve us for the will of the Dark Lord. If no, the Dark Lord will make you his pet to torture for eternity.” Ivar guffawed to Erik. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Rumbles of laughter swept the crowd.

“Yes,” he said, shaking.

Erik yielded his scythe. He slashed into the boy’s chest, dragging it down his chest. He slashed two more lines, making an “I,” marking him. Blood drained out in a torrent. His skin went from golden brown to yellow to stark white. Then he kissed him, sucking out his soul. Tendrils of black energy reached out, binding them together. They tossed Gary on the stone table to wait.

Bee sniffled. Jaleb crawled to the edge of the rock, dry heaving.

“I promise that won’t happen to Jaleb, Bee. I don’t mark anyone as property using my scythe. Ever! That’s just sick.”

“Why them?” Jaleb stared. “I thought they had to walk the straight line.”

“Ivar is choosing humans with lesser offenses. The guy doesn’t know he’s being played. Then once poor Gary chooses to hold his regret, he awakens as one of us.”

Gary opened his eyes, sitting up. The wound stopped bleeding, but would never heal. He stood, the crowd cheered. Sick bastards! They placed a cloak over him. Erik led him away to be fitted with a scythe, phone, and a rig.

“Ah, my darling Reina. Come here with your prize, my lovely girl,” Ivar said.

Reina kissed him full on the lips, but her soul gushed anxiety. I tried to comfort her by giving a reassuring wink.

“Baby cakes I bring you, Tyson. Isn’t he a big strapping boy? I found him at an army base.” Reina’s eyes flashed to me. Fury and revenge swirled in them.

I shook my head no and she quickly recovered, pretending again.

The ritual proceeded. Reina sliced her scythe like butter through his tough skin. He fell, coming back seconds later. Reina did what she needed to do, but on the inside she was probably a deep pool of emotions.

I rubbed Bee’s back. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her. I didn’t want to leave her when I had just found her again. I knew she felt like I was going to abandon her, but I couldn’t leave her to the fate of Ivar. Between Jaleb and I, we could handle him. Another regret I had was that we secretly made plans behind Bee’s back. Jaleb and I both agreed it was best for her not to know. Plus, it wasn’t a sure bet that Bee would stick around on my plane when the Golden Gate beckoned her. I had to reap Jaleb. “Goodbye, Bee. Maybe I’ll visit when I know your family is safe from, Ivar. You’ll always be my girl.”

Bee hugged me, snuggling into my neck. “There’s got to be a way. I don’t want to say goodbye to anyone.”

“Tell Mom and Dad I love them, and I’m sorry.” Jaleb held back tears.

“No!” Bee’s tears soaked into my cloak. She leaned away from me, wiping her nose across her sleeve. My heart twisted and felt wrung dry from grief as I watched her with Jaleb, begging.

“I’m not ascending, Bee. I’m going to become a Grim Reaper like him. I’m the only one who can bind Kessler Flynt to the ground. It’ll be okay, and I’ll visit you as often as I can. Please don’t be scared. You have to stay alive to protect the family. You can shield them from death. You’re their angel. As your brother, I’m begging you to let me do this as my final act for our family.”

“I can’t sit by and watch my brother die. It’s not in me to, Jaleb.”

I hunched down, looking deep into Bee’s eyes. “You have to stay next to me and allow this. I know it’s hard, but you have to stay strong. If you do something to set Ivar off, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“You can’t let him suffer.” Her eyes were lost and empty. They were shallow puddles of nothing as she pleaded with me.

“You know I’m really good at reaping. But Ivar will force us to do awful things.”

“And it’s okay for you guys to do awful things.”

“Bee you need to forget me. I shouldn’t have let you get close to me. This is why I tried to stay impersonal. I’m sorry this will hurt you, but what we had can never be anything because I’m dead.” I shook her until she grasped what I had said, waiting until her eyes met mine. “You will stand there and be quiet. After I reap Jaleb you need to release my soul or I will unravel it myself. When Jaleb comes back, we’ll need to go away. I won’t go until you’re driving back home. Ivar can’t touch you after Jaleb stays to be my Reaperling.”

Jaleb took out his wallet and phone from his pocket, handing them to Bee.

She put them in her pocket, patting the other where the blood stone sat nice and snug. “You don’t love me Aiden?”

“Bee, did you hear anything I said?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Loving you has been a dangerous game when one kiss could kill, you know that.”

Jaleb was holding up better than I thought, but Bee fell to pieces. My afterlife would be miserable without her.

“Ad, you’re up. Bring them down here, and let’s get this show on the road. My harem awaits and if you’re a good little Reaper, I’ll give you the night off,” Ivar thundered and the whole forest shook. Crows scattered into the thick air, circling the flat stone where blood dripped and congealed onto the cold ground.

“Follow me,” I said.

Bee grabbed Jaleb’s hand, pulling him back. When he kept walking she pulled at his arm. His shirt came off his shoulder. She was tiny and half the weight of her brother. Bee had no chance of stopping Jaleb.

Bee’s awareness of me slipped. The wound on my chest opened. Jaleb would be lucky to not bear a mortal wound on his body because I had a medical reap planned for him—death by brain aneurism.

Jaleb looked to me. “Plan B Aiden?”

I let out a long breath. We knew this was going to be a possibility and Bee would cause trouble, but I didn’t want to use my power on the girl I loved. It felt wrong.

“What’s plan B?” Bee gritted her teeth. She dug her heels into the ground, pulling Jaleb back.

I gripped my scythe. The licorice flavor came up my throat, tingling. I gained control of Bee’s actions, making her let go of Jaleb. She followed us in silence. I trapped Bee within her body screaming and pleading, but her mouth remained a tight line. I caught her as she jumped down from the rock. Grim Reapers parted down the middle of Stonehenge giving us a clear path to the flat stone. The main attraction was about to begin.

Bee tried to break free of my control. Her soul beat on my internal organs making me hold my stomach, but I hung on to her actions. Walking closer to the stone slab, I saw Reina leave for the River of Lost Souls. Revenge seeped into my blood, both for losing Bee and Ivar making Reina reap a soul not on the List of Death.

Ivar had a smug smile strewn across his face as we walked toward him. I hated that he would win. Worse, Jaleb and I would be bound to him. A sick acid came into my throat. I swallowed saliva in attempts to wash it away, but the burn was still there.

“Welcome, my friends,” Ivar crooned. The horns on his helmet stuck out like the wings on an airplane.

I allowed Bee to give her brother a last goodbye hug as Ivar went on. Then I controlled her movement again, like a puppet, using my scythe.

“One of these humans will join us tonight and fight with us as one of our brothers. It will be a great honor to have a descendant of Kessler Flynt in our rank. We give thanks to him for bestowing on us this precious gift.” He bowed to Jaleb and Bee. “It was Kessler who bargained with our Dark Lord to ensure our freedom in the hereafter. May his descendants continue to live on the land procreating, coming to us, giving us skin to cover our bones, and healing our mortal wounds.”

My insides froze. Bee looked to me and I turned away. There was no point being the nice guy anymore. I already felt empty inside.

Today was the sixth day on Bee’s countdown app, but I had saved her from having to die.

I wouldn’t be forced to ascend because I was reaping Jaleb.

I still had to reap my friend and again I was losing Bee. Ivar would pay for this day!

Ivar took a step. His deep voice sent shivers down my spine. I could feel his power roll through me.

“Who will it be Ad? The pretty girl or her brother?” Ivar asked.

I pushed Jaleb toward him. He went without fuss, but Bee was another story. I was losing my control on her by the second. Her soul withered, fighting with violent strikes to be free of my control. I concentrated, trying to unravel our souls, but something was different. I was terrified this wasn’t going to go as planned.

Ivar nudged Jaleb back toward me. “The human has been chosen. Now reap him.”

I looked Bee in the eyes and mouthed “Sorry.” I made her grasp my scythe, so we could get our souls back.

Tears trailed down her cheek, dripping to the ground.

I gripped my scythe in my left hand, calling on its power. It coursed through me, black licorice flavor slithering to my throat, into my mouth. I clutched Jaleb’s chin with my right hand.

“He needs to be marked with an ‘I’ as mine, using your scythe,” Ivar said.

“The deal was I do it my way Ivar or you don’t get him. Mark his flesh after.” I was doing too many things at once—reaping, holding Bee at bay, and untangling her soul from mine.

“Fine,” Ivar growled. His uni-brow furrowed into a field of thick brush.

The black licorice flavor of my soul was ready to reap. My kiss would start the brain aneurism. I struggled to hold it together.

I had never tried to reap while multitasking. I cursed when Bee broke free. She let go of my scythe. I didn’t turn or wait for her to respond. I put my ice cold lips to Jaleb’s and started the reap. I called his soul to me, but it wouldn’t budge. All I got was a warm ray of sunshine that singed my throat. My cloak was tugged with violent fury.

The trio of Ancients cackled at the show.

I fought to keep my lips sealed to Jaleb’s, but I couldn’t touch his soul. Bee was the cause. Her violent rage gave off a white light, blocking Jaleb from harm. He was a bubble boy. Untangling her soul wasn’t going well either.

Bee finally managed to free me from Jaleb with her continued pulling. He stumbled back, very alive, looking up and down, patting himself confused. Jaleb was oblivious that Bee was now hanging off my neck, trying to choke me. I lowered myself and her feet touched the ground so I could subdue her. “Ivar, a little help,” I choked out.

“You’re doing fine young Reaperling. We’ll call this the beginning of your training, shall we?”

“Bee stop! What are you doing?” I struggled.

Bee was wild. She kicked, punched, and pushed her way to me.

“Jaleb! Stop her!” I screamed, but it was too late. She rammed Jaleb onto the flat stone.

Bee grasped my face, placing her warm luscious lips to mine. I tried to force them away. Waves of love and warmth flowed into me, flooding me.

I gave in, surrendering to her love—and kiss.