A Reaper Made (20 page)

“I help people, souls,” I added hastily, “I help them find their way.”

I hadn’t thought she could get any paler, but Allison whitened further. “Am I dying?”

“No!” My hands waved frantically at her. “No, I’ve been, you know, watching over you or whatever. I’m not your guardian angel or anything, but there’s been some stuff going on. I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

My voice died at the look on her face, like she was torn between shock and pain. Her hand went up to her belly, an old habit from getting stomachaches when stressed. For a moment I worried she would pass out but then I saw her register the entirety of my response.

Her voice came out high pitched as she looked at me with wide eyes. “What kind of stuff? What could
you
possibly fear as a ghost?”
 

“Nothing, when you’re like me, but it’s not easy fearing for
you
,” I said, my voice trailing off.
 

“What do you mean?” I could tell she didn’t really want to know the answer.
 

“There are…things out there that you can’t understand. Things I don’t
want
you to understand,” I added quickly.
 

Fear clouded her face and my instinct kicked in. She was strong, but this I would not let her handle. She would live to do good in the world, her soul destined for a fulfilled life.
 

I straightened up. Time to be the role I knew, a role I was originally born to be. “You don’t need to be afraid, Ally. I’m right here and nothing is going to happen to you.”

“Yeah, but what about when you’re not around?” she asked, twisting her hands together. “Don’t you have, like, things to do? Sending people one direction or another?”

“We’re close,” I said, lowering my voice. My eyes went to the door and window, but no supernatural creatures were around. We were safe.
 

“We?” Her hushed tone gave way to astonishment and I grimaced. Her knowledge had to be minimal. I pulled the older sister card.
 

“Need to know.” She scowled at the familiar term, knowing she’d get nothing out of me. Even if I weren’t already dead, she’d never had any luck with learning my gossip in high school either.
 

I tried to cheer her up. “In any case, you’re taking this whole thing pretty well.”
 

Allison snorted, her face still pale as she watched me from her spot on the bed. “What happens now?”
 

I shrugged. “You continue being normal. You can’t tell anyone about me.”
 

“Who would believe me?” she retorted.
 

“Fair enough. I’m Evie and we’re going to keep an eye on each other.”

“Evie?” she repeated. “But she’s - you’ve been my study partner for months.”
 

I shook my head. “Just a couple of days. There was some magic involved.”
 

“
Magic
…” Allison hardly moved, her eyes still as wide as dinner plates. Her lips moved as though talking to herself and I knew she needed a minute. However, there was no time. I had to drop the final bomb.
 

“Ally?”

Her head snapped up to me at my voice. “Huh?”

“There’s one more thing.” I hesitated at her wary look, then bit the bullet. “You need to be careful about Brady.”
 

Confusion flashed across her face. “Why do you say that?”
 

“He’s not who you think he is.”
 

“Care to enlighten me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Her angry tone didn’t surprise me; this part wouldn’t be easy. My hesitation only annoyed her further; she tapped her foot on the ground, her way of counting how many seconds it took me to confess.
 

“He’s…,” I trailed off, unsure of how to break that news. Her chin quivered and I knew she was trying to hold it together. The idea of a witch (one working with demons especially) might send her over the edge.
 

“He’s not looking out for your best interests,” I finished weakly. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to say anymore. You’re already going through a lot.”
 

“You think?!” Ally shouted at me, her arms flying above her head and back down to her sides with a loud slap. I winced, prepared for the inevitable meltdown.
 

“We’ve been dating for months and then you come in after being dead for three years and tell me he’s bad news?” Ally seethed, keeping her voice low enough to avoid being overheard through thin walls. I opened my mouth to respond and she waved a hand at me to cut me off.
 

“No way,” she said, “there’s no way, it’s not possible! Brady is a great guy and just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean…you can’t just come in and boss me around…you’re supposed to be dead!”
 

She continued to babble like that, more to herself than me at that point. There’d be only one way to get her to shut up long enough to listen. I grimaced as I said my next words.
 

“Ally, he’s a witch.”
 

“Compared to you, that doesn’t sound so bad—”

I cut her off before she hurt my feelings, needing her to understand. “He’s working with demons.”
 

She stopped mid-sentence to gape at me, the words fading into silence. Tully was going to ream me out for this; I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t threaten to reap my soul for spilling such information to a human, sister in danger or not.
 

“A d-demon?” Allison whispered, her eyes never leaving mine. I nodded at her; after a minute, she swallowed hard and regained her senses. “You’re not screwing with me, are you?”
 

“I wouldn’t even if I were alive,” I told her.
 

Her lips pursed as though considering her words. “I’m…a little overwhelmed.”
 

“I understand. I can leave, I’ll come back later-”

“No,” Allison interrupted quickly, “please don’t go. I just meant…it’s a lot to wrap my head around.”
 

The tension in my shoulders lessened at her soft voice, the plea of my little sister wanting me to stay. It was all I’d ever wanted for the last three years. I bit my lip and nodded, sitting down on her twin bed across from her.
 

“Please know I’d never tell you any of this if I didn’t think you could handle it,” I said, not entirely sure if I was lying.
 

A long silence sat between us, until she looked up at me. At the expression on my face, she came over and sat beside me. She reached across and put her hand over mine, tears welling up in her eyes.
 

“I’m not imagining this, am I? This is really happening. You’re real.”
 

I nodded, eyes still on our hands. Despite her touch, I could barely feel the contact. “As real as can be in this plane, anyway. Shouldn’t be, but here I am.”
 

“Demons,” Allison muttered, shaking her head.
 

“Kinda puts schoolwork in perspective for you, huh?” I joked halfheartedly.
 

She gave me the side eye. “Things must be really bad for you to be doing all of this.”
 

“I couldn’t sit back and let it happen,” I said, finally looking up at her. “Rules be damned, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
 

Her brow wrinkled. “Rules?”
 

A sigh escaped me. “Yeah, rules. Meant to be broken, right?”
 

“Are you going to be in trouble for this?” Allison asked, her concerned voice bringing me back to the present.
 

Not wanting to make her worry further, I tried to play it casual. “I wouldn’t say trouble necessarily, but I’ll definitely have some explaining to do. I can’t really hide something like this from Tu-them.”
 

“Them?”
 

I shook my head, eyes back down to my lap. “I don’t want to freak you out any more than I already have. Let’s just say I have friends.”
 

Her lips twisted into a frown as she considered her next words. She swallowed hard, her voice even and sure. “You can tell me, Grace. I think I can handle whatever you’re going to throw at me, considering you’re dead and I didn’t have an epic meltdown.”
 

I looked up at her; seeing her stubborn expression, I sighed. “Tully is my mentor, a Reaper who offered me a choice after I died.”
 

“You didn’t want to go to Heaven?”
 

“I didn’t want to go anywhere,” I said, memories flashing in my head faster than I could keep up. The flash of headlights as the driver hit me; my dead body splayed over the steering wheel; Tully’s concerned face as he explained my options.
 

Ally’s hand tightened on mine. “God, I thought we had it hard. You’re still walking around taking care of people even after death. I can’t imagine.”
 

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I like helping people,” I said.
 

A thin smile grew on her face. “You always have.”
 

Turning my hand over so that it clasped hers, I rose my head to meet her gaze. “I’ve missed you so much, Ally. You and mom, dad and Simon and Sean. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you guys.”
 

Allison swallowed hard again, a single tear streaking down her cheek. “Same here.”
 

“I know that this is a lot to handle, but you’ll be fine. I promise you’ll be safe.”
 

She nodded. “Are mom and dad okay? The twins?”
 

“They’re all fine,” I assured her. An idea struck me. “There might be a way you can help me.”
 

“Anything.”
 

“Tell me everything you know about Beta Alpha Delta.” I’d gotten a brief rundown from Matt, but since he couldn’t share everything as a member, maybe Allison would know more from campus rumors.
 

Her brow wrinkled. “Sure, but why?”
 

Oh, right.
Secret
society. “Brady’s a member.”
 

Her jaw dropped and she quickly caught herself. “Geez, what
did
I know about the guy?”
 

“Ally.”
 

“Right, sorry. Um, I don’t know, they’ve been around pretty much since the school’s inception. They’re all about leadership; they commend kids for their involvement on campus and the community.”
 

“I’ve seen old pictures and they seem a little creepy.”
 

Allison’s thin shoulders shrugged. “Way back in the day, members used to break into students’ rooms in the middle of the night to scare them.”

I nodded, but wasn’t about to give Matt up and betray his trust. “Heard about that one.”

“That stopped back in the fifties though; some kid died, if I remember correctly.”
 

“Died how? Twenty seems young for a heart attack, even when frightened like that.”
 

Allison’s shoulder went up.
 

“What do people say about them?”
 

Realization dawned on her. “There was a joke about the society being more like a cult, involved with witchcraft. That the kid who died was actually a sacrifice.”
 

Bingo. “What else? Where do they meet?”

“I have no idea; half of the campus has been renovated, so a lot of the tunnels are inaccessible. They probably use email now.”
 

I deflated at her answer. “I need to know where they used to hang out, then, way back in the day.”
 

Allison’s expression brightened. “You can try the tunnel we snuck into a few months ago.”
 

In an instant, we were on our feet. I looked to the door and back to my sister. “Tell me where it is and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
 

“What? No way!” Allison’s bottom lip popped out and I gave her a warning look.
 

“Don’t pull that act with me, Al. This is more serious than I could ever explain. You need to stay here where you’re safe.”
 

She scowled, arms crossing over her chest. “Fine, but I reserve the right to get a Ouija board if I need to call you back.”
 

I rolled my eyes. “So not how it works.”
 

She huffed. “Go to the garden by Carlton Hall. It’s the red door hidden behind the hedges. I assume you’ll be able to get around the lock.”
   

“Not a problem. See you soon.” I winked at her, disappearing before her eyes. When else would I ever get an exit cue like that?
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I arrived in the Carlton Hall garden, surrounded by lush greenery and dozens of different flowers. Stamping down the urge to look at and smell each one, I walked to the hedges. Sure enough, there stood a red door. After a quick glimpse around to make sure I was alone, I stepped through.
 

Blinking to adjust my eyesight, I found myself in a dark room full of junk. Desks, bookcases, janitorial supplies, and more littered the place. I floated through, not wanting to bump into anything and make noise. I paused as I realized the tunnel was walled off. This room was just that - a room. No secret entrance to a tunnel waited to be found.

I stepped closer to the sealed off area; graffiti covered the rough stone. I ran my fingers across it; sure enough, it felt exactly like the walls Brady had dragged me through. This was the right spot. I took a step forward to go through but met a hard, invisible wall. My hand went up to meet the stone, tried to push through on the spiritual plane so I could find the right tunnel entrance back to Alistair. Still I went nowhere. Brady had magicked this place; I couldn’t get through.
 

I cursed and stepped back away from the wall. Maybe Tessa would know how to get around this so we could get back in.
 

“Welcome,” a voice said.
 

I gasped in surprise and whirled around to see Brady. He snorted at my displeased expression. “You had to know this place was cursed for Reapers.”