Intuition: The Premonition Series by Amy A. Bartol

Reed’s house. Even then, I thought he was amazing looking… for a killer.
    “Aren’t you worried about him? I mean, if you guys are hanging out with me it could get… interesting if things start fallen apart,” I say, attempting to be discreet.
    Buns rolls her eyes at me and replies, “That is part of why I like him because he understands what you mean to me.”
    “What do I mean to you, Buns?” I ask.
    “You are my family, sweetie: you and Brownie. But, I guess we are going to have to expand it to make room for Russell, Zee and ugh, though I hate to admit it… Reed. He has grown on me. He is not as boring as I thought he was, but I really think it’s because you gave him an upgrade,” she says grudgingly.
    “Yes, we are family,” I say with my eyes filling up with tears.
    “It took me a very long time to find you guys. I’ve been alone for ages. I’m not giving you up without a fight. Just keep that in mind, you with the sad eyes,” she says in a motherly way. “Maybe when you get past some of this sorrow, you’ll be able to see that this is just the beginning, not the end.”
    “Have you ever had a family before, Buns?” I ask her in a taut voice, remembering that Charlie and Elise are not real people, but Buns’s imaginary family that she made up so that I wouldn’t suspect that she is an angel.
    “No,” she says. “I’ve always had a purpose and that seemed to be enough for me until recently. Brownie and I met at Crestwood and we just connected, like sisters I think, and then you came along and you were special,” she says with a wink because “special” is such an understatement. “It’s almost like I have a new purpose now.”
    Our toenails, having received a topcoat, are now being allowed to air dry as the attendants walk away to assist other clients. “Don’t you find that strange?” I ask, remembering what Reed had said to me in the car. “Reed said that you don’t seem to act like other Reapers.”
    “Reed is observant… it’s interesting that he picked up on something like that. Well, I’ve always felt like a fish out of water when I’m with other Reapers. Angels of my ilk are often enormously cheerful and never ready to mix it up. I sometimes wonder if I’m really meant to be an angel of death or if there’ll be another purpose for me,” she says wistfully, and then smiles at me. “Then I met Brownie and we were so much alike—always ready to set if off at a moments notice. I believe we were sent to protect you and so does Brownie. Maybe Brownie and I are meant to be your guardian angels when you need us. I don’t know because no one in Paradise is talking to us directly. We have not been called to know what the plan is for you.”
    “How does that work, Buns? How do you transfer the souls to Heaven if you are not speaking with them directly?” I ask in curiosity.
    Buns reaches over and pats the top of my hand with her own. “I can’t tell you, but someday you’ll see,” she says with confidence.
    I remember all the souls that had been trapped with Russell and me at the 7-Eleven a couple months ago and I shiver. “I can wait,” I say in a low voice. “So you were alone for a long time before Brownie and I came along? What was your life like, Buns?”
    “Oh, it has always been an adventure. I feel like an explorer at times. I’m very young by the standards of most angels. I’ve only been here for a little over a millennium. Zee and Reed have been here so much longer than me…” she trails off, thinking.
    “How long do you think it’s been?” I ask, trying not to let on that I am wigging out over the fact that she is over a thousand years old.
    “I really don’t know. It’s funny, but time didn’t ever mean very much to me in Paradise, and then I got here and it took me a while to adjust to the concept of time. But, I’ve heard human scientists estimate that the Earth is approximately four and a half billion-years-old,” she replies. I think I