A Shadow in the Reaping

Ediye throws me a heavy look over her shoulder as she fills a kettle, her ebony eyes scoring my skin like knives. "I've been telling you that for decades. You need help. Serious help."

"I mean, like...more help. More help than usual."

"Yeah, I can tell by looking at you. Did you kill the whole village of Sanford?"

"No. Only some werewolves I didn't recognize," I say, sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. I roll up my sleeve and extend my arm onto the counter so she can see the bite and she crinkles her nose in a show of sympathy. She takes up my arm and examines it, then turns back to the sink.

"That looks partially healed. I take it from the state of your face that you were able to feed?"

"A little," I reply as she hurtles a wet washcloth at my head. I catch it with my left hand, but the water still splatters across my skin.

"Hold up. What the fuck is that?" Ediye points to the bite mark on my wrist. I cringe and her eyes narrow.

"It's the other thing I need help with?.."

"You gave blood to save someone," she says, and I nod. "You made a vampire?"

I shake my head.

"You helped a vampire."

I grimace and shake my head again.

"A witch? A werewolf? A human? Was it Bian, is she okay? What about Andy?" Ediye sighs as I shake my head with every guess. "Stop playing the mute siren and help me out here."

"A Reaper."

I hear Ediye's breath catch in her lungs. I hear the whoosh in her veins as her heart pumps adrenaline through her body. I bring my fingers to my lips and give her the saddest Puss In Boots eyes I can manage. It doesn't work.

"You saved a Reaper? What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you hit in the head harder than usual?"

"I fought the werewolves with him. They tried to kill him with an obsidian blade laced with Angelwing and I didn't feel right leaving him to die behind Cheese Louise."

"Couldn't you have dragged him behind the Hair's To Ya salon? That's a more honorable place to die."

I snort and shrug. She's probably right and I wish I'd thought of that. I watch as Ediye pulls two mugs from the shelf and rustles through teabags of her own concoction to find something that will help to heal what's left of my wounds. She finds whatever she's looking for and pours water over the scent of lemon in sunshine and lavender picked from a box on her sill. There are other things in it too, weird things that I don't want to think too much about. A hummingbird feather that I'm not sure she washed. A clipping from a dog claw, ground into dust. It's gross, but I know it'll work.

Ediye passes me the mug and eyes me with a worried look. I take her hand. It's warm and comforting beneath mine, and for the second time tonight I think of the Reaper's palm on my stomach, like it's a ghost that lives on my skin. Ediye notices the distance in my thoughts and narrows her eyes at me. I see the moment that the realization dawns in her expression, and she snatches her hand away with an incredulous laugh.

"You didn't just give him your blood and hope for the best, did you. You spellcast."

"...Maybe?"

"Oh fuck a duck, Lu. For real?"

I nod. Ediye pushes her tea aside and turns away to grab two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila from a shelf. She pours the shots and downs them both while looking me dead in the eye, then pours two more and hands me one.

"All right, vampire," she says, opening a notebook and uncapping a pen. "Give it to me, line by line, exactly as you said it."

I down a shot of tequila. Yes, I can drink tequila. Yes, I will get drunk, eventually. Yes, I might do so tonight.

I nod, take a deep breath, and close my eyes.

"Gasaan tiildibba me zi ab. Dul susi giskasilim tilla. Niglulli duma galu barama niingar," I say, replicating every intonation exactly as I gave it. Ediye scribbles furiously as I speak.

"All right, that's a decent start," she says as she reviews her notes. Awesome, maybe I actually did remember something from witches' incantations over the past few mille

I give a little pout. "Boo. For a witch, you can be a real downer, you know?" I smile at her dramatic eye roll and go for another shot of tequila, but Ediye pushes the mug of tea into my hand instead. It's my turn to roll my eyes but I take a sip when she glares at me. "So? Tell me, I want to see if I really said what I thought I said."

"That's not how spellcasting is supposed to work, Lu. You're supposed to know what you're going to say before you actually say it."

"Yeah, but I like to just dive in, you know? Really go for it. Besides, it's not like I had time to come over and get your grimoire. The Reaper was dying."

Ediye keeps her eyes fixed on her paper, but they sharpen in a statement that says death would have been the preferred choice. "All right. So far, I have: Queen that gives life to the dying. The weapon of sweet voice. My music let no man make. So, you set yourself as the agent of the spell and the Reaper's benefactor. You've protected your most critical weapon, your voice."

I brush my shoulders off and wriggle in my seat. I feel the build of anticipation. I have to admit, I do love getting away with something. This is the most excitement I've had since last year when I killed Barbossa ‘Bobby’ Sarno on the roof of his own club. I'd been waiting for over three centuries for another chance to catch up with that warlock motherfucker for selling me out and sending me underground. Rat bastard. I can almost feel his veiny temples in my hands as I-

Ediye snaps her fingers in front of my face, pulling me out of my memories. "Lu, focus. What's next in your spell?"

I sigh, thinking I'll have to revisit that memory later on. "Tirrama salutti sa kassapti sa ruhie ipusu supii arkis upuus," I say, watching as Ediye nods her head while she writes. She picks up her notebook and reviews the words she's written as she walks to the fridge. She pulls out a blood bag and empties the contents into another mug for me. "You spoil me, my friend," I say, lining up my options of blood, tequila, and tea.

"Yeah, well. I'm doing it for my own benefit as much as yours. You're too distracted when you're hungry and it gets a

"Yes, a high-ranking pack member, I think."

"Okay good. It's precise and specific. So far, so good, Lu."

I smile at Ediye but I can tell she's still worried. She has good reason to be. I have a gift for fucking things up in a creative ways. But life would be kinda boring otherwise...right?..

"What else?"

"Saggiu Ashen giu," I reply.

Ediye's brow furrows. "Your Reaper's name is Ashen?"

"He's not my Reaper," I say, feeling the closest thing to blush in my cheeks that a vampire body can produce.

Ediye looks at me and her eyes spark with mischief. I glare at her and she glues her eyes back down to her notes. "Okaaaaaay then. Noted. Not your Reaper." Ediye suppresses a laugh and tilts her head as a question seems to emerge in her thoughts. "Oh heart of Ashen be reconciled. Was he stabbed in the heart?"