Seizing Year Four (Grim Reaper Academy 4)

Nefertari Maat gave me a kind smile. “Too selfish. The only thing they have to trade is their gold, and they’d rather die than part with it.”

“What about those beautiful gowns and carpets?”

“Weaved with gold thread. Same thing.”

“I pity them.”

“Remember when I told you there are worse places than Hell? This is one of them.”

Indeed. I needed a breath of fresh air. I needed the sun.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Everyone was getting ready for the Yule Ball. I could have invited my adoptive parents, and they might have accepted, but was that smart? Was I ready?

“How about we teleport to the orphanage with Christmas presents?” Lorna asked me at lunch.

“Shh!” I looked around me. She’d plopped down next to me, but the VDC table was mostly empty. My boyfriends were late, stuck in line at the open buffet. “Someone might hear you.”

“Come on! This Saturday.”

“You know I’m busy on the weekend.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Busy fucking. Haven’t you had enough? Nympho. Anyway, why don’t you tell them? You’re all in love and all that, mushy-mush-mush. You can trust them, right?”

I shrugged. “I can, but I’m afraid.”

“Of what?”

“That they won’t agree.”

“Of course they won’t. It’s a crazy, selfish plan.”

“You’re on board with it.”

“I’m a crazy, selfish bitch.”

I sighed. What did that make me?

* * *

This year, I was going to participate in the scythe demonstration, and it was going to be epic. As the only girl in the Violent Death Cabal, Mrs. Charon placed me in the middle of the boys, giving me the lead role. I was dressed in a pearly white gown, with a long, transparent veil covering my blue hair. I wasn’t clear on what the idea was, but I sure looked like a bride, and the guys looked like bridegrooms in their black tuxedoes. GC, Paz, and Francis looked especially dashing, and I hated that Sariel couldn’t join us. Rules were rules. He was in the Merciful Death Cabal now, and he had to participate in the demonstration he’d prepared with them.

I was nervous. All eyes were on us, and especially on me. In my white gown, I stood out. Lamia, Paz’s mom, gave me a bright, encouraging smile. As far as she was concerned, I was perfect no matter what I did. Andromeda and GC Apis the Second were just as thrilled. Francis’s parents didn’t look very impressed. Saint-Germain Senior had a sour expression on his face, which said he didn’t want to be here at all. His young wife was busy drinking glass of wine after glass of wine. It didn’t seem to me like she’d landed in a happy marriage. On the other hand, I was pretty sure her belly was rather round under her red dress. Was Francis going to have a little brother?

“Don’t even think of saying a word,” Francis whispered coldly when he caught me staring at her belly.

I didn’t. Was his father going to kill this child, too, when he got old and handsome enough, so he could throw him to his god and preserve that blossoming youth? Oh, he’s angry I didn’t accept his invitation to join the cult and meet the other revenants who serve Yig. He could die of bitterness for all I cared. If only he could die…

We took our positions on the stage, me in the middle, and the boys around me in rows. The live band started playing a classical tune, and I started swaying gracefully, my scythe held high above my head. When the music picked up, we all swung our scythes through the air, as if attacking an invisible enemy. We retreated, one step back, swayed again. I twirled, the lacy hem of my gown brushing the floor. GC, Paz, Francis, and Caspian danced in circles around me, moving their scythes up and down, slashing the air, then retreating again. They did this a couple of times, then everyone took a few steps back to give me space. I knelt, placing my scythe on the ground in front of me, my palms flat on the floor, and my forehead between them. I was like a swan preparing to sing her last song. Slowly, with my eyes half-closed in reverence, I peeled myself off the floor, leaving the scythe where it was. The music had turned soft and grave. I bent back as far as my body would allow it – which was quite a lot thanks to the flexibility I’d gained in bed, – then moved forward, opening my eyes and looking straight ahead. This was the last part. The majestic ending. All I had to do was…

The lights went off.

Instinctively, my hands went for my scythe. When I wrapped my fingers around the handle, I noticed it was buzzing and vibrating. It anticipated danger.

In the dim flicker of the lights, we all saw him. A black cloak hanging off a glowing skeleton, two deep blue eyes, the runes on the blade of his scythe bleeding red. He was looking at me. My father.

I stood up, knees slightly shaking. It was a good thing the long skirt covered them. I hadn’t seen him in so long, and now he was making one hell of an appearance. He didn’t look human anymore. Well, not human… nephilim. The skin on his bones was thin and transparent, like parchment. He stepped up to the stage. I looked at him defiantly. He grinned.