Don't Fear the Reaper (24 page)

Jordan was still standing in front of Daniel, looking him squarely in the eye. “When were you going to fill her in on everything, Daniel? When were you going to tell my sister about the demons who have lived with Pete for nearly two years now? The ones who were there even when I was dating him? The ones he sees and talks to? The ones he willingly lets into his head.”

Speechless, I looked to Banning for the answer. She’d known, of course. “But how?” I stammered. “How is that possible? You said the living can’t usually see us.”

“And that’s true.” He turned and walked down the hall. Daniel and Jordan followed, and I hurried after them. “Except when it comes to those who have nearly died,” Banning continued. “Some of them come away with the ability, the
sight,
to occasionally see spirits.”

We entered a sizable waiting room. More tranquil pictures lined the walls here, and
lots
of blue and green. It was far more calming and less sterile-looking than the hallway we’d just left. Even the vinyl chairs had been upholstered in colors of soothing, coordinating shades. Stacks of tattered magazines littered the end tables. I’m sure a lot of them were out of date—not that the people waiting here seemed to care. They flipped through the pages the same way they pretended to watch the televisions situated in every corner, none of which had the volume up loud enough to hear a whole lot. Someone here was about to lose someone they loved. It was morbid, but I looked at them all, wondering who would get the news.

Banning continued, interrupting my thoughts. “Not all of them, mind you. Just some.”

“Ever since Pete nearly died in an accident a few years ago, he’s embraced the ability to catch glimpses into the afterlife,” Daniel said. “Obsessed, actually. The problem is that if mortals let in the good spirits, they can also let in the evil ones. Pete would have been
much
better off to ignore them. It’s bad enough when it happens to well-balanced people. But with people like Pete, it never ends well. Demons always come looking.”

The thought of demons cackling at Pete’s side, every day, every night, horrified me. It’d drive a sane person
in
sane. The idea that my sister had ever crossed paths with him, that she had spent time with him, with
them
, was even more terrifying.

Banning scanned the waiting room, his gaze coming to rest on a young couple sitting on the far side of the room. The woman kept staring at the clock and fidgeting with her hands while the man flipped aimlessly through a magazine. I followed Banning as he settled in opposite them and tried not to think who they were waiting for. Who they were about to lose.

The woman shifted in her seat, glancing anxiously between the nearby clock and the door with a sign that read
Hospital personnel only
.

“Who are you here for?” Daniel asked Banning.

Banning eyed the young couple. “Chloe, their daughter. Primary brain tumor. She’s seven years old.”

I wished another reaper had been given this case. It’d been bad enough that he had to deal with a car wreck, but now Banning had to deal with the death of a young girl, too? I was glad we’d tagged along. I wanted to be there for him. He and Daniel had become more than my friends.

I just wished that Daniel hadn’t asked for more details. Knowing the girl’s name and her age made it more personal. More real.

“Just tell me about the demons,” I said, still observing Chloe’s mother. Soon, she’d be without her child. My heart ached for my own mom. I wished I could tell her how sorry I was. I slid my hand into Jordan’s.

“I can’t do this,” Jordan said.

“Which part?” Daniel asked. “The kid, or letting your sister go through with the test?”

Jordan sighed heavily. “Both.”

I squeezed her hand for support. There wasn’t much else to say. I wanted to walk away from this, take Jordan back outside into the sunlight until Banning and Daniel came for us. But, I wanted to be here when Banning returned, too. This would be hard on him—a young girl, maybe close to his daughter’s age.

Banning stood without comment. “It’s time. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I wished that I had some words of comfort for him, but I had none. He disappeared through the doors where, somewhere on the other side, little Chloe was losing her battle against cancer. I thought about offering to go with him, but I knew Jordan wouldn’t come with me and I didn’t want to leave her alone. This was Banning’s job and although I thought he enjoyed mine and Daniel’s company, death was his only truly constant companion. Dealing in death was part of his life, or his afterlife, and he’d probably become so accustomed to it that he knew its every nuance as though he could sit down with death and share a conversation or two.

“I hate this,” Daniel said beside me.

I tore my gaze from where Banning had vanished. The husband and wife sat as they had before, anxious for news about their daughter. They had no idea what was about to happen. No idea their lives would change forever in the span of a few minutes. “And if we hate it, imagine what they’re going through,” I said.

Daniel sighed. “Not them. Well, yeah, sure. That’s awful, too. But, I meant about you. About the whole test thing.”

“So what does anyone think I can do to Pete, anyway? He’ll be possessed, surrounded by demons,” I said, glad to have a distraction from what Banning was about to do.

“They might trick you, coerce you into accepting your fate in hell,” Daniel said. “And, Pete
will
know you’re there. Once he’s possessed, he’ll be able to see into the afterlife. The demons might offer you the greatest temptation of all. They might offer to do your bidding—do whatever you’d like them to do to Pete. You’d have your revenge. But, it’ll cost your soul, and Banning’s.”

I nodded. “Understood.” I wanted Daniel to be quiet now, not to say another word. I had to think about this. I had to think hard.

It wasn’t just the temptation that made me think. It was Daniel’s attitude, the way he kept balling his hands into fists and pacing back and forth in front of us. He wouldn’t look at me. And, even though he hadn’t known Jordan very long, he wouldn’t look at
her
, either. It was like he was hiding something, except that he was
too
obvious about it. He was trying to warn me. Something else was going on here. Something bigger.

“You don’t know how truly sorry I am,” Daniel said. His tone indicated he meant it. Yeah, he was up to something.

Think, Keely, think...

“This isn’t going to work, is it?” Jordan asked Daniel. “Even with Banning there, he won’t be able to protect my sister. He’s only one reaper, he can’t send back all those demons on his own if something happens. Why send my sister into a setup like this? There’s more to it. Either she’s being set up to fail, or there’s another motive, some other plan.”

Smart cookie, my sister. No one had to tell her she was right. One reaper, even
with
Daniel’s help, probably couldn’t fend off the horde of demons that might be there. As an earthbound, I was useless to help them. All I could do was seek revenge on Pete through the demons, because as a reaper, Banning was bound, he couldn’t do a thing to the living. He couldn’t help me with Pete.

Daniel rubbed at his eyes. I still couldn’t understand why he was like this. Sure, I’d like to think it was because he’d grown to like me. I even figured he liked Banning. He’d said that not all demons were the same, and I believed him. Daniel was a reluctant demon. He didn’t like doing what he had to do. He wanted to help me and he was forbidden to say what was going on.

“Something wrong?” I asked. “You seem—”

“No. Nothing’s wrong,” he snapped. He stalked away toward the window.

Jordan kept watch on the parents seated across from us. “I don’t mean to interrupt you two, but when?”

I frowned. “
When?
” I repeated.

“Yeah. Like, when will Banning come out with the girl?” Jordan asked. “I think it’s been more than a few minutes.”

Her tone was tight, and I knew she didn’t like being here any more than I did. I couldn’t blame Jordan for being so restless—not after all she’d been through. All Jordan saw were two parents who were about to be blindsided with the worst news of their lives.

“We may not even see the girl,” I told her. “I’m sure her angel will be in there with Banning.”

“What if Chloe wants to see her parents first?”

It made perfect sense. Of course the girl would want to see her parents.

“Then, I guess we’ll see her, too,” I said. I was glad Jordan hadn’t encountered a reaper in action. At least, I assumed she hadn’t since she’d been steering clear of them this whole time.

“When will her parents know?” Jordan asked.

Daniel returned to his seat, clearly uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to be around either one of us.

I shrugged. “Soon. Five, ten minutes? Someone will come out to talk to her parents once they finish up in the operating room, I guess.”

“And Banning will be with Chloe, won’t he?” Jordan continued.

Daniel and I nodded.

I wanted to tell Jordan to stop saying the girl’s name—it only made the situation feel worse.

“Jordan? Can we please talk about something else?” I asked. “It’s not doing either of us any good.”

Jordan averted her eyes from us. “Okay. You’re right. It’s not a good subject right now. So, about the other problem, about Pete,” she said somewhat hesitantly. “With all the demons he’s been hanging around, he shouldn’t have a whole lot longer to live, right?”

Daniel shook his head. “No way of knowing, but from what I hear, he’s healthy enough. No reason to believe he won’t live awhile longer.” He coughed and rubbed his hands together again. “So, if you’re asking if he’ll keep killing people, the answer is yes. He will.”

Jordan hadn’t asked, not directly. But Daniel knew she’d get around to it eventually. And, if Jordan hadn’t asked, I would have.

Jordan got up and paced in front of us, chewing on her bottom lip.

I frowned. “Jordan? What’s wrong?”

She shrugged and turned her head. I did the same thing when something really bothered me and I felt uncomfortable talking or asking questions. I guessed she didn’t want to witness another set of parents losing their child. She was probably also thinking about how I’d react to my confrontation with Pete. Jordan was on overload.

“I know it isn’t fair, Jordan. Believe me,” I said. It was almost impossible to talk about Pete without sending a fresh bout of anger coursing through me. I hated him. Truly hated everything about him. “It’s not fair that he’s still out there. It’s not fair that such horrible things happen to decent people.”

“I hear you,” Daniel said in response to my rant. “I’ve been in the situation you’ll be in soon. It’s why I’m a demon.”

I’d always suspected the reason Daniel wound up in hell had something to do with his family, but the topic had been consistently off limits for him. “What did you do?”

“Took someone out. Tell you some other time, okay?” he said without so much as a blink.

I hadn’t expected him to answer so quickly, so honestly. “Oh,” I murmured, as if he hadn’t just told me he’d killed someone.

“Let me ask you something, Sunshine. Hypothetically, of course. If Banning hadn’t made a deal, if you were going to go to hell anyway, would you take the demons up on their offer?”

I froze. I should say something, and soon. Jordan stared, waiting for me to answer. But, I didn’t know how. Be honest and tell her I’d do it in a heartbeat? Lie? Tell her I’d take my chances?

“That’s what I thought,” Jordan said.

I shook my head. “I didn’t say what I’d do. I was just rattled about what had happened to Daniel. I didn’t say—”

“You don’t have to. Anyway, like Daniel said, it’s purely hypothetical.”

“I’ll be fine, Jordan. Really. Daniel has already warned me, so I’m prepared.” Now
that
was a flat-out lie. There wasn’t any way of preparing for such a thing. Jordan looked right at me, catching my lie. I just hope she understood why. “Just a few minutes in the ring with Pete and company and I’m done. We’ll go through heaven’s gates together. All I need to do is ignore them.”

“Can you promise you
won’t
do anything?” she asked. “Are you sure that when the demons offer you the chance, that you can walk away? I don’t think so, Keely.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I know I couldn’t.”

Maybe it was left over from my days of lying to our parents and lying to myself, I don’t know. I do know how easy my
non
-answer came, how convincing I thought it sounded. Yes, I’d love to have promised Jordan that, given the opportunity, I wouldn’t lay a hand on Pete. But I wasn’t one hundred percent positive. For that matter, I wasn’t
one
percent positive.

I shoved the thought from my mind. “More than just my soul rides on this, Jordan. And, of course
you’d
take him out. Eye for an eye. You’re not the one slated for hell if you do it. And, you wouldn’t be taking anyone else with you, either. If I were in your shoes, it’d be an easier decision.”

From the corner of my eye, I caught Daniel smirking.

Jordan nodded, but in a skeptical sort of way. “Right,” she said. “Just checking.”

“I love you, sis. More than you know,” I said.

“Same here,” she replied, glancing at the doors leading to the operating rooms. “It’s probably close to time, you think?”

“Yep. Overdue,” Daniel confirmed, his ever increasing discomfort becoming more and more obvious now that Jordan and I seemed to be so tense on the subject of his hypothetical question.

“I think I’ll go to the women’s room. I can’t watch this.” Jordan didn’t wait for an answer, but it didn’t matter. Sometimes, my sister could be too softhearted. I wondered what it said about me that I stayed to watch the parents get the bad news. Was I callous? Uncaring? I settled on the fact that this was just the way things were. I wasn’t unemotional about it. Just resigned. The girl, Chloe, would die no matter how I felt.