Suck My Life (Sucking Dead #1) - Andie M. Long Page 0,11
was gonna ask if I could join in. We had plenty of sharing action on the ship, you know? Fare wore the ladies out. They always ended up back on land with child and never knew which of the crew’s it was. God, they were good times, even with scurvy and rickets.”
I took the blood bag from the fridge. “She’s almost through it, so you’ll be able to meet her soon. A heads up, I wouldn’t think she’d take kindly to being called a wench.”
“She sounds like a feisty ‘un. I look forward to making her acquaintance.” He guffawed. “Your face, Reaper. I reckon you like this one more than you’re admitting.”
I scowled at him and left, returning to the bedroom.
The next time Mya woke she was ravenous again, her fangs descending. She drained the blood bag, licked her lips of every last drop and then sank back against the pillows with her eyes closed for a moment. I just sat there. There was nothing else I could do to assist her.
After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes. She didn’t look much different on the outside, a little more glow to those brown eyes, a tiny bit more of a blush to her cheeks and lips.
“So once this change is finished, I’m a vampire?”
“Yes, but also you have some extra, shall we call them ‘gifts’, given to you through my touch when you died. Just things like being able to consult The Book of the Dead and other things to assist with dealing with spirits.”
“Yay,” she said sarcastically.
Being closer to her change being complete, for the first time since we’d entered the room, she noticed her surroundings.
“Where are we?”
“Home.”
“The Home of Wayward Souls,” she said and then she listened out. “How come I can’t hear them wailing?”
“There’s an enchantment on the room. It only lifts if there’s danger.”
“Makes sense. So this is Death’s bedroom, hey? How am I not surprised it’s dark and dingy?”
“My room is masculine and functional,” I protested.
“Like I said dark and dingy. So what happens after this change is complete?”
“I’ll show you around your new home and your rooms.”
“I have rooms, plural?”
“Well, I figured you’d need a walk-in closet at the very least in addition to your bedroom. You know, for all the shoes you intend to purchase. And you need an office, although you can share mine if you wish.”
“No, I’ll have my own thank you. Your dingy office bedroom will not suffice.”
I shrugged.
“So we’re going to be housemates?”
“Yes and no.”
Her brow scrunched, “What’s that mean?”
“I’m Death. I’m not around much, and now you’ll be taking over dealing with the wayward, I can concentrate on my own to-do lists.”
“To-do. Take soul. Take soul. Take soul. Borrrrinnng.”
“It’s not actually.”
She shuffled up and sat straighter against the headboard. “Tell me about your job, because don’t people die like every second? How can you be there to collect all the souls?”
I moved off the edge of the bed and pulled up my office chair to the side.
“I don’t. I’m not there for every death. Most of it happens naturally. People die and their soul is collected by an angel or by a demon and taken to Heaven or Hell accordingly. It’s only if things are a little cloudier that I get involved, and even then, I rarely have to be there. The death appears in The Book of the Dead and I make a choice of where they go. Home visits are rare. Though if I wish I can go to any death I want.”
“Huh, and I thought you’d be zapping around, freaking the shit out of people the world over.”
“Sorry to disappoint. Maybe you’ve watched too many horror movies.”
“So how did you become Death?”
“I just did. Around a decade ago. I don’t have any recollection of being anyone before that. I met the previous Death and he said he’d chosen me to carry on. That he was done. My head was full of everything I needed to know. I just don’t have any inkling that I was ever anyone else but Death.”
“The first thing I’m doing when I feel better is getting you some new clothes,” Mya declared, looking me up and down.
“I think you’ll find the Grim Reaper has a kind of known uniform.”
“Yeah for when you’re out being all ‘Killer King’, but at home you can have some more comfy attire. I mean, maybe not loungewear, but certainly a sweater and some slacks. You can’t walk around the place permanently in leather.”
“Why not?