Reaping Me Softly

“Take mine,” Ben said.

“No!” Niko and Arianne barked in unison, glaring at the tall boy with sandy hair.

Death gave Ben a once over and said, “Done!” He snapped once and Ben disappeared.

Arianne screamed.

She screamed until her throat closed. The emptiness of her stomach didn’t matter when she dry heaved. Her knees shook from the effort to keep herself from falling over. She covered her face with her hands.

“Master!”

“Oh, don’t complain, Nikolas.” Death frowned at him. “He gave your girlfriend an out. The Certificate on her has been replaced.”

“Not at the consequence of hurting her,” Niko answered.

“Love hurts, boy,” Tomas said. “Live with it. Don’t make Ben’s sacrifice less than it is.”

“You knew what he would do?” Death couldn’t hide his astonishment.

“You’re not the only one who can read the threads of fate, Master.”

“Hmm, we have to talk about that, Tomas.”

“Yes, Master.” The old Reaper grinned like the Mad Hatter. “Get on with it then.”

“Well, I’d let you go, Nikolas.” Death faced him. “But you can no longer be a Reaper. What am I to do?”

“You’ve taken my sister away from me,” Arianne said through her teeth, dropping her hands to face Death. Tears washed over the lakebed of her cheeks. “And now my best friend is dead. I can’t allow you to take away Niko!”

“Then what do you propose I do?”

“You have all this power. Can’t you turn him human?”

An invisible hand pushed up one corner of Death’s mouth. “Don’t underestimate me, little girl. Of course I can. On two conditions.” He held up two of his fingers. “Are you willing to give them to me?”

“Arianne, no!” Niko pleaded. “Don’t bargain with him.”

Arianne kept all her attention on Death. “Niko, shut up, will you? And you, pretty boy, don’t call me ‘little girl,’” she said.

“Pretty boy?” Death turned aghast to Tomas, who’d failed to suppress his laughter.

“Name your conditions.”

“First—”

“Master! Please, no,” Niko interrupted.

Death closed his hand and Niko lost the ability to speak. He moved his lips, but no words followed.

“What did you do to him?” Arianne rushed to Niko’s side, touching his cheeks with clammy hands.

“Just making sure we don’t get disturbed again,” Death assured sweetly. “He’ll regain his speech soon enough. Now, my first condition. He has to stay here for six months.”

Arianne’s heart wept. But what was six months of separation to sharing the rest of their lives together?

“Okay,” she said. “What’s the other condition?”

Death’s smile rivaled the brilliance of a thousand suns. “You need to give me two things.”

“For Niko? Anything.”

“Watch what you say, Arianne,” Tomas warned, regaining his lost composure.

“I said I’d save Niko, and I’d do anything to accomplish that.” She placed her hand in Niko’s. “So, what can I give you?”

“Admirable courage, human.”

Arianne didn’t quite believe the sincerity in Death’s remark.

“For Nikolas to gain humanity,” Death continued, “you must give me your sight and memory of your love for him.”

She gasped. She couldn’t help it. Her sight? Her memories of Niko? How could she give up the treasure chest of her love for him? Her sight was one thing. She could learn to live without it, but to lose that first chemistry class together, the time she saved him from fading, their first kiss, their second, and third? A vise with sharp teeth squeezed Arianne’s insides until she couldn’t breathe. Would she be able to fall in love with him again without her memories? The thought scared her as much as when the doctors said Carrie’s kidneys had begun to fail again. She had died a little that day, and now, another part of her was slowly losing the battle to stay alive.

Niko squeezed her hand so hard she thought her fingers would break. She took solace in the pain, allowing the contact to anchor her to the present. The warmth of his palm on hers became the bridge for which their love connected. It has to be strong enough, Arianne told herself. Without her memories, it had to be.

“Can you return Niko’s speech for a moment?” Arianne asked Death. “I’d like to talk to him.”

Death drew a line in the air.

“Arianne, you can’t do this,” Niko said urgently.

She turned around and faced him. Despite the presence of Death and Tomas nearby, having her hands on each side of Niko’s face created such intimacy that they might as well have been alone.

“Why do you always call me angel?” she asked, not releasing his gaze for a second.

“Because you’re my savior.”

Arianne saw in Niko’s eyes the implication of his words. She gave him her lips, putting everything she had into that touch. When she broke the contact, she said, “Then let me save you.”

“But your sight and memories—”

“Niko,” she cut him off. “I’ve already memorized everything that’s worth seeing. I’m staring at it now.”

Love and acceptance dawned, starting in Niko’s eyes and racing over the planes of his face. As the last thing she would ever see, it granted Arianne much needed strength.

“I promise,” he said, “I’m going to do everything in my power to make you fall in love with me again. Whatever it takes. We’ll make new memories together.”

“I like the sound of that.” Arianne kissed Niko again—one that had to count for six months of separation and several more of memory loss. When she pulled away she whispered, “I love you.” She turned to Death and nodded. She closed her eyes to the image of Niko’s love painted behind her eyelids, willing herself to remember it.

Unreap My Heart (TEASER)

ARIANNE SAT AND TRACED THE LETTERS carved on the headstone. The marble played between cold and warm, since the often cheerful sun hadn’t quite made up its mind yet, still holding on to a last few snatches of sleep. The blades of grass that tickled her calves still held moisture from their morning shower. A breeze made friends with her hair, teasing strands out of the loose bun she’d twisted them in. She’d removed her wide-brimmed hat seconds after she’d arrived. It sat content on her lap as she conversed with Carrie.

“It’s weird, really,” Arianne said. “I wish I’d gone to talk to you sooner. Niko kept telling me how I can continue to remember you without being consumed by my grief. A couple of months ago, I didn’t believe him. I didn’t want to let go of the pain I was in. Mom has grown to like him. Dad says we dated before the incident with Darla.” She paused, recalling the events that still made her arm ache when the weather got a little too cold or damp. “I feel sorry for her. I wish things could have turned out differently. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I should never have led her on the way I did. I thought enduring the bullying she’d put me through was my way of atoning for what I did. But I just couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped. And she lost everything.”

Arianne traced the scar that reminded her never to pretend to have feelings for someone. If she didn’t feel the same, she needed to be honest about it. When she’d sought comfort in Darla’s company, she should have said no the first time they’d kissed. She should have stopped it then.

“There are many things that I wish I hadn’t done,” she continued. “I think we all feel that way.” A deep sigh came from a sad place in her heart. “Darla’s in good hands now. The judge sent her to a facility instead of juvi. I pray for her every night.”

A brown thrasher burst into a medley of songs.

“Visited Ben before you.” She chuckled. “I know, I know, I should have come to you first, but you’re a talker.