Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

“Err… share as in…”

Paz stepped closer and wrapped an arm around my waist. He leaned in to whisper in my ear, and I suddenly found myself sandwiched between two of the hottest guys at Grim Reaper Academy.

“You know what he means. Come on, dearie, don’t tell me you never fantasized about it.”

Had I?! At this point, I was so confused that I couldn’t remember whom I’d fantasized about since I’d met the Mighty Jerks.

“If you’re talking about dreams…”

“Dreams, daydreams, fantasies…”

“Oh, good thing you mentioned dreams!” GC took a step back, his expression changing in an instant. It

was as if he’d just remembered something, and it definitely trumped our little dispute. “I came in a rush to tell you what I found out, not to catch you and Paz all snuggly.”

Paz let go of me, too, and I kind of felt like the mood had changed and we were going in a completely different direction. Not that I was complaining. I could breathe again! Too much sexual tension could make a girl hyperventilate.

“I couldn’t forgive myself that I wasn’t there when Lorna did…” He dragged in a breath. “When you almost drowned. And I couldn’t understand. I just couldn’t. We all know that Lorna only does what Sariel asks.”

“That is… when she doesn’t take matters into her own hands and goes batshit crazy even before Sariel asks,” added Paz.

“Right. So, something must have pissed Sariel off to make her do what she did. Something you said or did that night.”

“I didn’t do anything! Only what Mrs. Po had told us to do: share something about us.”

“And what did you share?”

I shrugged. Did it matter?

“A dream,” Paz answered for me. “A lucid dream.”

“Exactly! Also, you’re an idiot.” He narrowed his eyes at Paz. “You should have put two and two together.”

“Dude, how was I supposed to know that something like that would piss him off so badly?”

“Didn’t it piss you off? That she is human and can lucid dream, and you’re not human, so you can’t?”

“Nah. I don’t have a stick up my ass. I mean, sure, it would’ve been nice to be able to have lucid dreams, or to dream at all, but I’d still rather be a demon.”

“Wait a second! You guys can’t dream?!” Mind. Blown.

Both Paz and GC shook their heads at the same time.

“Wow! But… how can you not? I mean… it’s something so normal, so natural.”

“To humans, yes,” Paz said. “Not to us. So, no, we can’t dream at all. But, as I said, I’m fine with it. Why would Sariel snap because of something so silly?”

“It’s not silly, and you know it,” GC rolled his eyes. “No dreams, no access to knowledge beyond the realms that we know.”

Paz shrugged. “We know enough realms. This dimension, Hell, Heaven, a bunch of pocket universes… Add more realms, and I’ll tell you to leave me the fuck alone. Our geography is too complicated already.”

Right. Because this year, we were studying the geography of Earth and our dimension, and starting next year, we’d be studying the geography of Heaven and Hell. Our Geography professor had told us as much.

“We all know Sariel’s biggest flaw. And weakness,” GC explained calmly. “He wants to be the best. He’s killing himself studying, collecting worth points, and kissing every professor’s ass in class. And on the night of Mabon, here comes the human, Mila, and brags about how she can lucid dream. Man, I wish I was there to see his face.”

“I saw his face,” Paz said. “Francis, too. If he was bothered by her story, he didn’t let on.”

“What was this dream about, anyway?” GC turned to me.