Grim Crush (Grimly Ever After) by S.L. Bynum Page A

mention about my looks.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Would you just go to sleep, Mr. Arrogant?”
    He chuckled and snuggled under his sheets, turning to gaze up at the ceiling. “Goodnight, Xia.”
    “Yeah, it was a good night.”
    “No, I mean–that’s what people say to each other at night. It’s kind of like saying ‘have a nice night.’ You’re supposed to say it back.”
    “Oh. Well, then, goodnight.”
    I couldn’t see his face, but it sounded like Shilah was smiling as he said, “Looks like I still have a lot to teach you about being human.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 12
     
    I swung my scythe in circles, waiting impatiently. When Ziri got here, I was considering using the weapon on her.
    She knew we were supposed to be at the scene of a person’s death fifteen minutes early, and here I was alone, with one minute to go till this twenty-year-old-druggie kicked the bucket.
    He was already starting to OD on the heroin. I hadn’t had an accidental overdose victim in a while. They were usually more common in Jayza’s area of reaping.
    The druggie dude had just passed out when Ziri appeared, laughing.
    “Oh, that was so funny,” she said, calming her giggles.
    I stopped swinging my scythe and placed my free hand on my hip. “Where in Death’s name have you been?”
    “I was at a movie theater with my friends,” Ziri explained, like she was a normal teenager coming home from a late night out. “There is this hilarious movie that just came out about pirates. It has the sexiest humans in it too.”
    Beside us, the druggie’s soul was rising from his body. He looked from us to his corpse in confusion.
    “Ziri,” I growled through gritted teeth. “You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.”
    “Chill out, Xia,” my trainee said. “I came in time for Kevin’s death.”
    “What if he had died five minutes ahead of schedule? What would he have done if his reaper wasn’t here?”
    “I knew you’d be here.”
    “You’re supposed to be proving that you are responsible so I can give good reports about you to our superiors! You’ll never get your own scythe acting like this.”
    Ziri stared at the floor. “But the movie was too good at the end to leave.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You have to learn that your job comes before anything else. Especially a stupid movie. You’re a reaper, not a human!”
    “Says the girl who’s dating a human.”
    I blushed, flustered. “I-I’m not really dating Shilah, but I do have to leave him every time my job calls! Even when I don’t want to. You need to learn to do the same!”
    “Stop yelling at me! Or I’m going to tell our superiors you’re a horrible trainer.”
    I clenched my teeth. “After I let you use my scythe when I wasn’t supposed to? I should–” Before I could hack Ziri with my scythe just for the heck of it, I froze. Ziri must’ve realized the same thing I had, because her eyes widened.
    We both turned to look at the new corpse. Kevin’s soul was nowhere to be found.
    I slammed my scythe’s bottom into the wooden floor. “Now look what you did! You let the spirit get away.”
    “ I let him get away? You did!” Ziri cried.
    I massaged my temples with my hand. “We don’t have time to argue anymore. Let’s split up and look for him. He hasn’t had time to run far.” I teleported out of Kevin’s apartment.
    I arrived on the decrepit street outside, looking left and right. Runaway spirits were the most annoying things about my job. I always eventually found them though. The longest it had ever taken me to find one had been twelve hours, in-between going to reap other souls.
    “Xia!” Ziri called. I looked up to see her on the roof of the apartment building. She pointed behind it. “He’s running through the alley!”
    The grim-in-training had made a smart move by going up high to locate the runaway. I teleported again and landed on the roof across from Ziri, searching the ground. I saw the spirit jumping over trash and