Deadly Kisses - By Kerri Cuevas Page 0,5

stuff.”

Bee watched the ravens that squawked louder because of my presence. I inhaled. My lips puckered out as I sent a frigid gust of air toward them. I knew the pesky birds annoyed Bee.

“Girls, time to go.” She wrapped the jacket around herself.

I grinned at the black birds flying away to escape my wind. They sensed death and didn’t want to tempt fate.

“Hurry, it’s getting cold, and you didn’t wear your hats. Your mom is going to get mad at me if you get sick.”

The girl walked by where I hid behind a cluster of blueberry bushes. I sucked in my breath with the warm breeze that followed her. She was full of life and unbelievably breathtaking. Her eyes captivated me. They were dark onyx with flecks of gold that danced around the edges. Her heart-shaped lips were cherry red and full. I imagined kissing them to take her soul tonight.

The carefree swing of her hips sent tingles down my spine. But seeing Bee again caused me to relive every painful memory of the night I died. It was my fault. I killed Sabrina. I stumbled back further into pine trees and held my hands to my head squeezing, forcing the flashback of my death to go away.

I had to get this assignment over with. The faster I collected the girl’s soul and delivered it, the faster I could move on—as far away from New Hampshire as possible. Maybe Abe would allow me to transfer to the sunny west coast. Fall in New England was overrated, and the crowds of leaf peepers were annoying.

I would reap her tonight while she slept. She wouldn’t know what happened until it was too late. Everyone prayed they could die in their sleep. Too bad Abe hadn’t let me die in mine.

Three

I couldn’t bring myself to follow Bee to her cousin Sabrina’s house. Thoughts of Sabrina rattled through my brain, the flashbacks causing a death ache in my temples. I watched until the trio reached the edge of the yard. The girl turned to the cemetery before running fast toward the small farmhouse.

I sat at the base of a rotted tree and waited for the cover of darkness before entering her house. I had to do everything I could to stay impersonal with this reap, which meant staying away from her as much as possible.

When darkness came, I picked the lock to her front door and hid in the shadows. Her room was small but homey. Purple curtains hung from the windows. A long curtain covered the door that led to the woods. Over a dresser hung a corkboard with pictures in neat lines held by colored pins. I looked away from a picture of us fishing by the river.

It took forever for her to go to bed. She comforted her mother, helped her dad move a flock of chickens into the coop, and then played video games with her brother—which ended in an argument. I banked that once she did go to bed it would be sweet dreams.

She tossed and turned for an hour and called out for Sabrina twice. It was a total downer. I curled into myself as a knife inched into my gut, slowly reaching up toward my heart.

My patience for this assignment thinned. I just wanted to get her death over with, but when I saw how she looked bundled up in a rose blanket with her black hair framed against her face, she wasn’t any girl. She was Sabrina’s cousin, and the girl I had always loved. Bee was marked and had to die, and acid churned in my stomach.

I turned my head to give my brain a break. I didn’t want her image a permanent engraving in my memory, but it was too late. She had been in every dream since I was twelve. At fifteen, when the other boys were counting how many girls they kissed, I counted how many times a day she smiled at me. She and Sabrina were all I had. My drunken mother who beat me didn’t count.

I shook my head to rid it of the bad memories. I tried to act like this was just my average reap, and I moved forward. The floor squeaked, and I froze. Old mortal habits were hard to stop. I took another step toward her bed. Stuffed dogs were in a neat row near her feet and shadows danced on the wall.

I leaned my scythe against her desk, lowering its power to a minimum. She