Published by Phaze Books Also by Dahlia Rose and Crymsyn Hart
Dahlia Only: The Collettes Trilogy (print collection) Also available as separate eBooks: The Collettes: Sola The Collettes: Luna The Collettes: Willa Sands of Passion (print collection) Also available as separate eBooks: Caribbean Blue When Love Commands
This book contains explicit language intended for the enjoyment of adult readers. Please keep out of the hands of children.
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How to Ruin Halloween for the Grim Reaper a novella of paranormal erotic romance by
CRYMSYN HART DAHLIA ROSE
How to Ruin Halloween for the Grim Reaper copyright 2008 by Crymsyn Hart and Dahlia Rose All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Phaze Production Phaze Books 6470A Glenway Avenue, #109 Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222 Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC. To order additional copies of this book, contact:
[email protected] www.Phaze.com Cover art © 2008 Skyla Dawn Cameron Edited by Pat Sager eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-60659-086-7 First Edition – October, 2008 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
“No Particular Place to Go,” words and lyrics by Chuck Berry, Copyright 1964.
Chapter One Harmony stared longingly at the calendar. Only three more days until Halloween, then she would have a day off. She sighed as she stared at the palm trees lining the white sandy beach and the turquoise water lapping at the shore. Already there was a hammock, a good book, a coconut filled drink with a pink umbrella, and some sun tan lotion calling her name. Her bags had been packed for days, but she was getting impatient counting down the time until she could take the day off. After all, as a Grim Reaper, the only time Death got to take a holiday was on Halloween. It was the only day in the year that her office shut down. She could do whatever she wanted from midnight to midnight. Every year, she found herself on a secluded paradise, with a stack of books, and a gorgeous cabana boy who refilled her drinks. She wasn’t the only one looking forward to a vacation. The whole office was. Harmony was only one out of two hundred Grim Reapers. She’d been in her job for almost two hundred years now. The pay was great, the hours were long, but every year their quota increased. If they didn’t have their list cleared by midnight on Halloween morning, they had to work overtime until they could get caught up. Each Reaper worked alone. It wasn’t a job for just anyone. She’d seen so many of her colleagues burn out after only a couple of years. Afterwards they would get processed like the rest of the souls they handled. Harmony had never seen what was past the waiting room. She wasn’t in any hurry to find out yet either. She liked life too much. Granted, she had died, but dying was the only way to become a Reaper. When the Reaper who had come to collect her soul saw how reluctant she was to leave her body, he decided to give her another option. Harmony smiled as she thought back to the first time she had seen Clem, her
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mentor, the Reaper who had brought her into the office for an interview. Clem wasn’t the typical Reaper. All humans saw Death cloaked in a black robe. Sometimes mortals were more perceptive, seeing the skeletal face and the scythe, the symbolic façade of Death. In reality, the preferred dress for her position was all black. Clem, on the other hand wore Hawaiian shirts, torn jeans, and sandals. She’d never seen him when his hair wasn’t a mess, with his beard all scraggly. His entire face was tattooed with leopard spots. Plugs stretched his ear lobes to the size of a small orange. A silver bull ring ran through his lower lip. He had a chain stretching from one ear to a hoop on his top lip. Clem liked to boast that the punk rock piercing craze was his idea. The day he had come to collect her, when she saw him standing there in his Hawaiian shirt with spots on his face, she nearly died all over again from the shock. At first she thought he was a demon come to take her to hell. Once he had explained he was a minion of Death, coming to take her to the great dance hall in the sky, she had calmed down. Her face burned with the memory of how she had died. She was a burlesque dancer in the mid-1800s. While she was dancing, Harmony had missed a step and slipped. It wasn’t the fall that had killed her. She had stumbled back into one of the sets. A sandbag came off the rope it was holding, landed on her face, smothering her. It was an embarrassing way to die, but ehh, she had gotten over it. She wasn’t showing her skin to make a living, which really made her happy. “You daydreaming again about where you’re going on your vacation? Let me guess, this time it’s Cozumel, the French Rivera, or how about Jamaica?” Harmony looked up at Clem through her red hair. Today it was slightly wavy. Tomorrow it could be full blown curls looking like a summer sunset had been painted on the strands. Every day her hair changed texture and color. It seemed to get a life of its own after she died. In life she was a boring brunette, but in death she was a lively red head. Her skin had paled. Her eyes reflected the light like any night creature. Once in a while, she wondered if Reapers were related to vampires, because if she got a whiff of blood, her mouth watered. It was very disturbing. 7
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She waited for fangs to grow or bat wings. After two hundred years on the job, it had never happened. Today Clem’s outfit consisted of dark blue khaki shorts, a worn out, holey Jimmy Buffet T-shirt, over which he had an outrageously bright yellow Hawaiian shirt, with his customary sandals. Harmony had never been able to figure out his age. His beard was dark brown, but his hair was salt and pepper. There were no wrinkles on his face, because if there were, the tattoos covered them up. He acted like he was twenty, but possessed the wisdom of Solomon. “No, I think I’ll make it simple this year, I’m going to Barbados. I haven’t been there in a while. I want to take it nice and easy. I might even try to throw in some gambling this year. I don’t know though; don’t want to press my luck too much.” Harmony smiled, tearing her gaze away from the calendar on her desk. Turning her head she glanced at a picture from last year, when she was taken unaware by a tourist on the beach. It showed her with big sun glasses covering half of her face, nose buried in a book, with legs that stretched out a mile. Of course the tourist had been aiming for her cleavage, which was quite visible even in the one piece she was wearing. She tried not to think about that. Harmony remembered she had taken off her glasses, giving her Death Stare to the tourist. It hadn’t worked since she was enjoying her well deserved vacation. If the look had worked, the guy would have been dead in half a second flat from a heart attack. Harmony was at the top of the list for harvesting souls, with her Death Stare; at over twenty thousand and still counting. She didn’t like to brag, but she was the fastest, most rewarded Reaper in the history of the office. As soon as a name appeared on the list, she was there collecting the soul before anyone could say “Hey look, it’s Elvis.” Who was actually a Reaper, by the way, often getting in trouble when he made “unofficial” stops. Of course, he was given special treatment because he was such a celebrity. At the office Christmas parties he always sang. “Well, I can see that you are, as always, way ahead of the curve. You don’t have any backlog. Your list for today seems to be shorter than anyone else’s. You must be going for employee of the year again,” Clem said as he sat on the edge of her desk.
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Harmony blushed. She hated being the center of attention, which was odd since she used to dance burlesque. She had become used to the anonymity of Death. It was true, she did excel at being a Reaper. Clem joked about her sixth sense. It seemed she always knew what soul would end up on her list before he did. When that happened, she always appeared to them minutes or hours before hand. Harmony liked to think that this was what she had been fated to do. Now that she was caught up and then some, she could take a few minutes to herself, to file some of the paperwork piling up around her. She hated the paperwork aspect of her jobs. Sometimes there were just those souls who did not want to continue on to the great beyond. They did not want to see what was past the Waiting Room. If that happened, she got a backlog, had to file a ton of papers in triplicate in order to get upper management to understand what happened. At least in the past few years, they had streamlined the form, making it pretty simple. It was known that some humans didn’t want to give up the ghost right away because they didn’t realize they were dead. It was very rare that someone, like she had been, just flat out refused to die. “Now you know I don’t plan for that. It’s just a knack I have. Besides I learned it from the best there is!” She smiled up at Clem. Her mentor, and boss, smiled back at her. “Hey, what can I say, I’m the greatest boss in the history of the Reaping office. Now, before your head is filled with frolicking dolphins and way too many Pina Coladas, here is your list of souls that we have so far. Knowing you, you’ll have them all done by lunch time. Remember, we’re meeting Melody tonight for dinner.” Harmony rolled her eyes. Melody was Clem’s girlfriend from the Supernatural Creatures Division. He had been seeing her forever. Harmony liked her okay, but whenever the three of them got together, Clem insisted they sing karaoke since they had a great Melody and Harmony. It was an awful joke because even though Melody could sing like a lark, Harmony sounded like a dead black cat. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there I know. Now shoo, so I can get back to work.” Clem handed her today’s assignments and headed back to his office. Taking the list, she skimmed over it. There were over 9
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six hundred names, but that was a typical day’s work. It only took about two- three minutes for her to snatch a soul and then bring it back to the Waiting Room. After that she was on to the next one. Harmony sighed, while staring at the clock. It was time to get back to work and she only hoped there wouldn’t be any snags.
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Chapter Two Riding along in my automobile. My baby beside me at the wheel. I stole a kiss at the run of a mile, my curiosity running wild. Cruising and playing the radio, with no particular place to go. Andy sang along with his radio as he cruised down the Santa Monica freeway. The oldies channel was one of his favorites. He didn’t know who the artist was or who sang the song, but he knew every word of the lyrics. The cool wind was blowing through his dark hair as the convertible cruised down the highway. He was in a good mood. The meeting had gone well. If everything went as he expected, his new movie project would be up and running in the next few weeks. Being a novelist and screen writer in California was like being a fish in the sea. He was not the only one and there were sharks out there waiting to eat him alive if he would let them. His first book had gone bestseller in only a few weeks after being released. His publicist and editor were on his ass to get with his promotion schedule because book two was being released on Halloween. It had already been pre-ordered by over one hundred thousand people. He had left the Colorado Mountains as just another guy looking for a big break in Hollywood. Now he was a freaking bestselling author, with a movie deal in the works, living in the Santa Monica Hills. He had one of the hottest super models in the country as his girlfriend and she was home in bed waiting for him. “Woooo, life can’t get any better than this!” He threw his head back, yelling to the sky. “Dude, do you always drive like this?” a soft melodic voice asked from the passenger’s seat.
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“What the fuck?” Andy looked across from him. There was no one sitting in the seat beside him. He shook his head, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him. “People who drive like this usually ends up as road kill.” Okay, I definitely heard that! Andy thought wildly as he turned once more. This time the passenger seat was not empty. A flame haired beauty sat next to him. A loud, blaring horn made him look away just in time to see he was on course for a head-on collision with a truck. Andy swerved the red convertible wildly. The sound of brakes and squealing tires filled the air. He went off the road into the sandy ditch as the truck passed him. The curses of the driver filled the air as the semi passed. It was a few heart wrenching moments before the car stopped, its wheels buried in the sandy muck on the side of the road. Andy tried to catch his breath. His heart was beating so quickly, he had to concentrate on keeping it from trying to rocket out of his chest and into his throat. He remembered the woman who almost cost him his life and looked across to the passenger seat once more. She sat there as calmly as ever, examining her manicure as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Hey, where did you come from?” Andy yelled. Anger took precedence over his fear. “Lady, you almost got me killed! Where the hell did you come from? No one can appear out of thin air like that.” “I can, and it wouldn’t have made any difference if you had smacked head on into that truck. My job would have just been easier.” the red haired beauty simply replied. She looked over at him, giving him a sly wink. “Wait, who are you? What do you want from me?” Andy asked warily. “Hi, Andy Boniface, I’m Harmony and I will be your Grim Reaper for the day. Your time is up.” “What-what-what!” With each word his voice got louder. “Dude, enough with the yelling. I’m Death and you’re going to be dead here in a few seconds. That’s just how it goes.” “Uh-uh no way!” Andy didn’t even bother to open the car door; he just scrambled over the top. “What do you mean you’re Death? Listen, you can’t do this! I have a big life ahead of me.
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Do you ever read the papers? I’m the bestselling author of Thoughts of Death.” When she raised her eyebrows at the name, he stepped back with his hands in front of him to ward her off. She shimmered out of the seat. Now she was standing with her hip against his car. Harmony sighed. “Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t care who you are. When your time is up, it’s up. I have taken people more famous than you, so chop-chop. I have to go on vacation.” She took a step forward. Andy started stepping back over and over again in some kind of macabre dance. “Wait, wait, you don’t understand. My girlfriend is a model, she is waiting for me at home.” “Oh, that makes me want to change my mind,” Harmony snickered sarcastically. “I’ll pay you!” Andy didn’t want to die. God, I have so much to live for. Is this some kind of cruel joke?” “Are you kidding me! I’m Death. There’s nothing you could offer me I can’t get myself. Look you, I’m ready to go on vacation and I still have work to do. Stop being difficult.” She narrowed her eyes and called him with a crooked finger. “Come to me, Soul.” Andy could feel his heart. It felt as if it was being constricted, even though she stood several feet away from him. He collapsed to his knees, panting for breath. In his mind he raced through every piece of knowledge he possessed about death, looking for an answer. “I want the Soul Challenge!” his voice rasped out. “What?” “The Soul Challenge. I deserve it, I demand it!” She released her invisible hold on him. His hands burrowed in the sandy earth as he tried to catch his breath. “What are you talking about?” He sat up on his knees giving her a smug grin. “For a Grim Reaper you don’t know your own rules, do you? I have a chance to win my soul for another twenty years.” He watched cautiously as Harmony tapped her fingers against her chin before she yelled “Clem, get your tush down here right this second!” From out of the blue, a tattooed man 13
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wearing a Hawaiian shirt stood next to her. The Grim Reaper named Harmony turned with her hands on her hips to the weird hippie guy he only assumed was also a Reaper. Andy knelt quietly while they conversed. “What does he mean Soul Challenge, Clem”?” He watched as she tapped her perfect foot on the soft sandy earth. “It’s an obscure rule in the books, which means your friend here has been doing a lot of research.” “I have a bestselling book called Thoughts of Death,” Andy interjected. “Shut up!” Harmony growled. “Is that you man, awesome read!” Clem the Grim Reaper said. “I’d shake your hand , but, you know, death…” He made a choking sound to emphasize his point. “That’s okay.” Andy stood up feeling a little more confident. “If you want I’ll autograph it for you.” “That would be excellent! Just tell me a time and I’ll…..” “Clem, back to the damn challenge! I am supposed to be heading out to Barbados,” Harmony yelled. “Oh right! Well, he has three chances to try winning his soul back. He gets first choice of what he wants to do for a challenge. If he wins, he picks second and if you win you pick. If he wins two out of three, he keeps his soul for another twenty years and then you have to do it all over again.” “What do you mean I have to do it all over again?” Clem looked at her. “It means you’ll be the one having to retrieve his soul the next time around. If he wins again, the next time after that.” “What about my vacation?” Harmony asked. Andy heard the anger simmering in her voice. He didn’t think it was wise to have a fight with a pissed off Grim Reaper. But this was his life he was fighting for. “Honey, it’s on hold until this matter is cleared up,” Clem replied. “I suggest you go back to collecting the other souls on your list and then deal with him when all the others have been dispatched.” Clem patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, no human has ever won his Soul Challenge. You will be on vacation in no time. I’ll even give you an extension for however many hours it takes to clear this situation up.” 14
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Andy felt elation at the small reprieve he was getting. He knew she would be back, but he would have time to prepare. She cast him a look that could wither a man where he stood. Ah shit, I am in trouble! Andy threw her a sweet smile. He was rewarded with a roll of her eyes and an elevated middle finger in his direction. “Fine, I’ll get the rest of my list done and then I’ll be back for him.” Harmony directed her words to Clem. She jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’ll be seeing you later, writer boy.” “Writer boy!” Andy sputtered. But Harmony and Clem had already returned to where ever it was they came from. He climbed in his car and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Andy gave a heavy sigh before starting the car and pulling back out onto the road. He had to go home and figure out a way to get rid of Marissa for the next few days or so until he settled this. He didn’t think she would believe her boyfriend was fighting for his life with the Grim Reaper, much less a very sexy one at that. The red haired Harmony’s face flashed into his mind. Oh shit, I think the death chick is sexy. I am so going to hell, he thought miserably. His car sped down the highway as he tried to prepare what he was going to say to Marissa, and get himself ready for whatever he was going to face.
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Chapter Three Harmony sat at her desk, staring at the leather bound black book. It was as large as a dictionary. The pages were just as thin, the words so small that a human would need a magnifying glass to read them. Since she was a Grim Reaper, she didn’t bother with the implement. She could easily read the tiny words. It was one of the advantages that came with her position, enhanced senses. These senses were also abilities that had rubbed off onto the vampires. They weren’t Reapers, but they were pretty close to it, so they had been given the enhanced gifts that went along with death. Harmony shivered as she thought about the long trial that had raged in the After Life before there was a final decision on what vampires should and shouldn’t have when it came to their special powers.. Harmony had only read the treatise once since becoming a Grim Reaper. Once was enough, it was boring as hell. However, she had read and reread the Big Book Of Death, or BBD for short, the Reaper handbook; so many times that she had memorized it and worn lines in the thick leather binding. She was between soul gatherings. She wanted to find this Soul Challenge that Clem had told her about; Andy had insisted upon. She didn’t doubt her boss, but she had been through the book page by page. Harmony couldn’t find a single mention of this loophole. Rubbing her eyes, she was scouring the pages, until finally in frustration she dropped her head in the middle of the book and screamed. It was a loud wail, sounding like a banshee announcing death to her next victim. Banshees were Reapers after all, they were just in the Overseas Division of Soul Processing. However, her screech had the entire office coming to a halt. A cold hand came down on her shoulder. She jumped and stared up at Clem. He was eating a grape flavored Popsicle. Grape was his favorite. 16
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“Harm, you gotta quit agonizing over this. Get up off your butt, go out there and get back to collecting your souls. You’re actually falling a little behind and that is so not like you.” Harmony resisted the urge to use her Death Stare on her boss at the moment, because if he wasn’t already dead she would have killed him. “Clem, my impeccable record will go on unblemished. I can catch up lickety split. I’ve been going through the Big Book of Death. I can’t find a single word concerning the Soul Challenge Andy demanded. You of all people know that I know this book like the back of my hand. I love my job. I can eat as much cheesecake and ice-cream as I want and I don’t gain a pound. I’m not ready to have this one soul tarnish my perfect record. Where the hell is it?” Clem rolled his eyes and popped the Popsicle into his mouth. He grabbed the book, turned it around, waving his hand over the book. The book started flipping pages. Purple streams began to drop down the sides of his mouth as he kept his treat between his lips. Harmony curled her nose at the sticky drops pooling on her desk. They would dry and she would have to clean them up. Finally the book stopped. Clem ran his finger down the page coming to the very bottom of the page. There was a tiny asterisk that Harmony had never seen before. Her boss released the Popsicle from his mouth with a belching sound as he licked the sticky juices from his hands and around his mouth. “See, like I said. It’s an obscure rule, hardly anyone knows about it. The only way he could have known about it, even with his extensive research for his book, was if he had a copy of the BBD or he had some inside information. I would hate to think there was a breach in security around here. If it was true, it could only mean one of the Reapers was talking to a Live One. We would have some serious trouble brewing in here. We don’t need upper management keeping tabs on us. The only reason the Head Honcho ever gets involved with something is when there is a natural disaster. We don’t need Mr. Gabriel coming here and digging around in the paperwork. It’s better that he stays on the golf course and plays continuous rounds with the Big G. I’ve only met Mr. Gabriel once and he was scary.” Harmony was surprised at the confession from Clem. She had never suspected Andy might have gotten the information for 17
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his book from an inside source. She agreed under those circumstances it would be bad. It was clearly stated in the BBD that interaction with mortals should be limited to the taking of souls. No Reaper was ever supposed to give the living any information concerning the inner workings of death while the mortal was still alive. Once they were in the Waiting Room, getting ready to be processed, it was an entirely different matter. They were allowed to tell them some things then. She had known of a few breaches in her time, but those were minor. Sometimes when a soul was taken for processing, they were miraculously brought back to life and remembered some of what they had learned while being on the other side. Other times when Reapers weren’t looking closely enough, a soul would escape from the After Life and take up residence in the recently descended body of someone else. When they came back to life their family hardly recognized them. Among the humans these were called Walk Ins. Among the Reapers they were escapees. Luckily Harmony never had this happen to her. Her record was spotless. “Well, I’m sure that nothing is going to make Mr. Gabriel come down from Cloud Nine or perfecting his golf swing. I only wanted to be sure that it was really in the book. Don’t worry, Clem. I’ll make sure that I get Andy’s soul. Nothing is going to stop me from winning it.” Clem clapped her on the back and licked his dwindling Popsicle. “I have faith in you, Harmony. But just remember there are consequences if he wins his soul.” Harmony blanched. “You didn’t say anything about consequences when you were mooning over him down there.” “Well, I didn’t want to bring it up in front of the Living. If he wins his soul, he can ask one more boon of you.” Clem flipped to the back of the BBD and pointed out a footnote on the Soul Challenge. Harmony’s eyes flicked over the entry. Her heart ran cold. “That’s not possible. There’s no way. I did my time as a human. I will not go back! How can he win my job and then boot me back to be reincarnated? This has to be against the rules.” “It’s not against the rules. Like I said, I doubt that he even knows about it. That is unless he does have inside help. The book he wrote was spot on. I shivered as I read it. He knows 18
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about us, Harmony. More than he should. Look, try and win his soul; at the same time try to figure out who the spy is.” Harmony glanced at her tropical calendar. She could hear the beach calling to her. She didn’t like Clem’s idea for her to get all personal with her case; with Andy. Relaxing on the beach, working on her suntan, being left alone to enjoy her vacation, was that too much to ask for? She wanted to hear calypso music tunneling through her head, read a good book, not have to worry about the dead. Yeah, she loved her job, took pride in it, but looking forward to sitting in the sun every year made her feel alive again. It was only in the fleeting moments of her spare time she was able to enjoy the sun beating on her face. Who knew the splash of cold rain in her hair would be something to look forward to? Normally she was darting from case to case, letting her work take her all across the world. She didn’t revel in the simple pleasures that went along with being alive. She could never think of being human again. She detested even thinking about the possibility of ever being mortal again. I’ve earned my right not to go back and be one of them. I like my life as it is. “Clem, what happens if he wins his Soul Challenge, demands my job, but I am able to discover who the leak is?” “I’ll make sure that you don’t go anywhere.” Harmony stood up and kissed her mentor on the cheek. She tasted a little of the Popsicle he had missed with his tongue. “Thanks, Clem.” He bowed. When he did, someone bumped into him, pushing him into Harmony. She stepped back losing her balance. Suddenly both of them were on the floor with Clem on top of her. She felt her head hit the floor. There was a moment of pain, but no broken bones. Nothing about her was breakable. She couldn’t even be blown up since she was already dead, but a small flash of heat burned her cheeks. For a quick moment her mind came up with an interesting scenario of her and her boss in bed together. She might have been dead, but that didn’t mean she had lost her feelings when she died. There were times when Harmony missed the physical interaction with mortals, but she never indulged the rousing of her body. Because of one little shove, the way Clem was looking at her, she wondered if he was going to kiss her or if she was going to kiss him. Her lips parted. 19
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She could see the same line of thoughts running through Clem’s head. But after a moment, they both knew it was impossible. Her boss rolled off her and sprang to his feet. He offered his hand and helped her up. “Thank God you’re already dead or that fall might have killed you. You banged your head pretty hard.” Harmony shrugged. “Ehh, no biggie. Look, I’ll see what I can do when it comes to mortal boy and who his sources are.” Clem smiled, widening the leopard spots on his cheeks. “That’s my girl.” Harmony watched as Clem walked back to his office, hearing the flip-flopping of his sandals on the tile floor. Why did death have to be so complicated? Harmony shook her head. She pushed the idea from her mind. Clem was already in a relationship. And she had plenty of work to do. She snapped her fingers. The updated Death List appeared in her hand. She had thirty cases that she was running behind on. A pang of guilt went through her. It was horrible to leave suffering souls in pain wracked bodies. They lingered until they could be released. Her back log would take her a couple of hours if none of them gave her a hard time. She glanced at the clock. There were two and a half more days until she could go on vacation, as long as Andy cooperated. Death always won in the end.
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Chapter Four “Well, let’s get this farce started.” Andy turned from the scenic landscape spread out before him. From his picturesque view off the cliff where his home was built he could see the Pacific Ocean as it rolled on to the beaches of California. Instead, now he was looking into the belligerent face of his Grim Reaper, Harmony. The scowl on her face was nothing compared to her beauty. She even made pissed off seem beautiful and Andy could feel a stirring in his body at the attractive picture she made. She had come dressed for business, in a gray suit with a skirt that hugged her every curve. The shirt was a pristine white with ruffles that covered her neck and a jacket to match. She wore her hair up in a tight bun and had even found a pair of glasses to match her new severe outfit. Andy grinned at her new look. If she thought this would make her seem less sexy she was very mistaken. Right now all he wanted to do was to beg her for a spanking. “So are you going to sit there and stare at me all day or are you going to tell me your first challenge?” She folded her hands across her chest. Andy’s smile got wider. “If I say no am I going to get punished, teacher?” “You think this is some kind of joke?” she asked through gritted teeth. Andy could see that she was getting angrier by the second. “No, I know I’m fighting for my life here.” Andy tried to hold back his grin. “But come on. Look at how you’re dressed. You look like a school teacher from those old west shows!” “Hey, I was alive in those days and those chicks were classy!” Harmony said, pointing her finger at him. “How old are you anyway?”
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“It’s not polite to ask a woman her age.” She sniffed delicately, as if she was offended. “You’re not a woman, you are a Grim Reaper. For all I know you have three heads that share one eye.” Andy reminded her. He knew he was baiting her, but he couldn’t help it. “Don’t be stupid. That is a Greek myth and FYI this is my true form.” Her eyes became tiny slants and a wicked smile formed on her lips. “But I could be much, much worse.” The statement made him gulp just a little. Remember who you are playing with, he reminded himself. No need to get yourself fried before you have a chance to win your soul. “Don’t make me ask again, writer boy, what’s the game?” Writer boy. The words made Andy grit his teeth. “Fine, my game is poker. High class poker.” Harmony laughed aloud. “Oh, you don’t know what you have done. I have been around for a while, buddy boy. I can take you in poker any day.” With a wave of her hand, his living room was transformed into a casino that could rival any on the Las Vegas strip. In the midst of the slot machines, roulette wheel and blackjack table, sat their playing field, ready with cards and poker chips. Even a drink was sitting on the green felt cover. Harmony had changed herself into a new outfit too. Gone was the schoolteacher, in her place sat a glamorous vixen who wore a green sequined dress showing enough cleavage to make him drool. The long slit up the side showed off one creamy expanse of leg as she walked up to the table and took a seat. She waved him over to his chair. “Join me. Let me whip your ass in poker, Andy. Your game. Your rules. What is your game of choice?” She began to shuffle the cards with the precision of a card shark. “Texas hold em, Omaha hi, Seven card stud?” She had drawled his name like it was molasses being poured on southern style biscuits. The sound made him swallow as he sat down. “Five card stud, deuces wild and with three more additions.” “Which are?” She raised one perfect eyebrow in his direction.
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“First no cheating or using your Grim Reaper magic to change your cards. This has to be an honest game,” Andy said, staring at her. “I would never!” she sputtered outraged. “I am an honest person, Andy Boniface!” “Glad to hear it.” Andy smiled at her. “The second part is that this is not just regular poker, this is going to be strip poker.” Her eyes widened. “You can’t be serious?” “Serious as a judge giving a man the death sentence. Wait, that is what is happening here, my death sentence so to speak.” Andy sat back, stared her down, watching the blush form in her cheeks. Good to know Reapers can still have emotions. And the third rule is that if I win, not only do you get buck naked, but I get a kiss as well.” “There is no way in hell I am kissing you, writer boy.” Her eyes narrowed in anger as she bit out the words. “Yes, you will, because it is my life we’re playing for here. The very least you could do is give me a kiss. I am a mere mortal here, and you, my dear, have the other realm on your side.” Andy knew she couldn’t argue the point and he could see her searching for answers in her mind. “Well in that case I need more clothes,” Harmony protested. “My game, my rules, you said it,” Andy reminded her. He watched the flush on her cheeks get redder, blushing all the way to the roots of her hair. “You have more clothes on than I do!” “It is so not my fault you decided to go all hoochie glam for this.” “This is a Versace dress I’ll have you know! Who doesn’t know Versace? This is so not fair if you win game one this is going to be over….” Andy watched realization cross her face. “Oh, you rat bastard.” “My game, my rules. Shall we begin? Andy asked softly. “Yes, let’s.” He saw the determination on her face as she shuffled the deck again before dealing them each their five cards. Andy looked at his cards before making his opening bet. He had two deuces, one five and two kings, the equivalent of four kings. It was a pretty good hand to be dealt. But he knew he would need 23
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better to beat the gorgeous Grim Reaper sitting across from him. Harmony was staring intently at her cards, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. A classic sign that she had a bad hand. Andy laughed to himself, realizing Harmony could not pull off the poker face needed to play this kind of game. She looked up at him. “What do you bid?” “I bid my socks.” Andy replied. “You’ve got to me kidding me, your socks!” Harmony scoffed. “Fine then, my socks and shoes.” Andy smiled. “What do you bid, Ms. Harmony?” She sighed in defeat. “I bid my shoes.” “I need two cards.” Andy asked politely, sliding his cards face down to the center of the table. He had given up his kings, a chance that could make or break him, but he had to take it. She dealt him two cards and he picked them up and stared at them without saying a word. “I’ll take three.” Harmony slid her cards forward and dealt herself three new cards. She smiled brightly before it was wiped quickly from her face. But Andy already knew she thought she had the wining hand. “New bet on the table, Andy.” He ground his teeth at the sing-song tone her voice had taken, but pasted a pained smile on his face. “I bet my shirt. Don’t look so smug, you haven’t won yet.” “Whatever do you mean?” Harmony said sweetly. “I bet my dress now, but I guess you already knew that.” “Oh, now you are willing to take off that little number,” Andy pointed out. “Keep dreaming, writer boy. I won’t be taking it off.” “I call,” Andy put his cards face down on the table. “Show ‘em if you got ‘em, Reaper.” Harmony placed her cards down triumphantly and announced. “Four queens, what do you have to beat that?” Andy lifted his cards one by one. With each her eyes widened a little bit more. “Four Aces, sweet cheeks. I win.” “That’s not possible!” she sputtered angrily. “Why isn’t it possible? Unless this wasn’t a fair game.” Andy pointed out. “It was too a fair game!” 24
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“Then I win. Show me the goodies.” Andy grinned and sat back in his chair. Harmony pushed her chair back with such force it cracked as it hit the roulette table. She stood before him proud and shrugged the slinky thin straps of her glittering green dress down. Andy caught himself holding his breath as she showed inch after inch of smooth creamy skin. When she was completely naked, he found he still couldn’t breathe. She was amazing, with curves that dipped in all the right places and hips that could make a man beg for mercy. Her breasts were full and shaped like perfect globes. He knew he would never see a more exquisite sight than her hair spilling across those perfect breasts. “Take a picture, it will last longer,” she snapped. “Oh God, I wish,” Andy breathed. He stood up and took his time walking over to her. He was savoring every inch of her body his eyes could take in. “I think I’ll take my kiss now.” He whispered the words before he let his hands glide around her waist and he pulled her closer to his body. Harmony let out a gasp that fanned across his face as their bodies connected. Andy could smell the scent of strawberries on her breath. Did she eat some of the tender berries before she came to start their challenge? Then he wondered if he would still be able to taste them on her lips. He was going to find out. He nibbled at them gently before letting his tongue lick out to sooth her full bottom lip. Harmony made a slight sound in her throat before he settled his lips fully on her. From there he was lost. The kiss sent fire shooting straight through him, hardening his cock and making him moan as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She pressed herself more fully against him. He could feel the heat of her body through his clothes. He wanted to take her right there on the table where they played just a few minutes earlier. He had never felt desire so intently for anyone in his life. As their mouths mated, his hands roamed her back and memorized the dip where her back and hips met. When he trailed his hands up to cup her breasts, she stepped away from him, breathing as hard as he was. “One kiss, remember?” she said breathlessly. With the wave of her hand, she was fully clothed again, to his utter disappointment. 25
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“Oh, honey, that was more than a kiss.” Andy said softly. He could still feel the phantom presence of her body and lips. “I’ll be back tomorrow for our second challenge. Round one goes to you.” With those words, she took the glamour she created away and was gone with it. He was back in his living room once more, looking out at the sunset over the ocean. But even that didn’t compare to what he had just seen and experienced. Harmony was magic. He could not think past the way kissing her had affected him now. I am so royally screwed, he thought. He shoved his hands into his pocket and stared out of his window, overlooking the water.
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Chapter Five Harmoy could hardly believe she had lost the game of strip. She had learned how to play from some of the best, the most cutthroat players in the world, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, and the list could go on. It had never occurred to her Andy would win. Then of course she was even more infuriated because he had wanted to play strip poker. She was by no means into stripping for strangers. Not even when she was alive. She was a burlesque dancer. She knew the art of seduction by moving her body, but she was not a commonplace stripper. That know-it-all, good-for-nothing, writer-boy. I’ll kick his ass the next time around. He will not win his Soul Challenge. No one ever gets past me on my watch. Harmony stared at her remaining list of souls she needed to collect. Her mind was not on gathering souls at the moment. She needed someone outside of the system she could talk to. Most of her friends were Reapers. They always wanted to talk shop. Right now, if she heard anymore about gathering souls, she was going to kill herself again. Her mind traveled her list of friends. She needed someone from her mortal days. Someone who wouldn’t judge her. What she really needed was to get drunk, to get really, really drunk. Drunk enough to take her mind off of Andy for at least a little while. Harmony waved her hand getting rid of the Versace dress. She replaced it with a long black cloak, jeans and a T-shirt with a skeleton in a refrigerator sporting the logo It’s Cool To Be Dead. It had come, from an office, a couple of years ago. Without another thought, she vanished from outside of Andy’s house and arrived at another. She was in a quaint little town. The perfect picture of suburbia where the leaves were all golden brown, russet reds, and shining orange as they clung to the trees. Dogs barked in 27
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yards and children played in the not too busy street. The house across the street was for sale and empty. But she turned, focusing on the ordinary looking house before her. Black shutters, a perfectly manicured lawn. Everything was in its place, with the house, down to the white picket fence. A cold wind blew her cloak, but she was impervious to the cold. However, something about this breeze made her shiver. It felt like someone or something had stepped on her grave. She tried to shake it off, thinking it was only because she had lost the first challenge. Her mind reeled over everything that had happened to her in such a short time. She hated to think that if Andy won she could end up human again. That was a path she didn’t want to take again. Then again, she didn’t feel like getting all up in Andy’s face and friendly with him either as Clem had requested so she could find out all about the insider who was pawning off information to living-boy. It wouldn’t be good if Upper Management got wind of the leaks. If they came down to audit the Reapers something was going to happen. Sometimes I wish I had another job, Harmony thought briefly. She recalled she had put in for a transfer to the Magical Humans Divisions. They only dealt with mortals who were psychic or magical in some way. However there was no hope she would ever get the job since like everything in the Afterlife paperwork flowed like mud. “If you’re selling cookies, I don’t want any.” Harmony turned at the gruff voice. A smile spread on her face. She knew who was behind her. A vampire named Jarreth. She could use her magic and scare the hell out of him, but she decided she would play up the part. It was always fun to get him going. With a small burst of magic, a box of green minty cookies appeared in her hand and she was dressed up as a girl scout . A smile spread on her face as she turned. “Please won’t you buy my cookies? They’re for a good cause.” The vampire crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the leaf strewn sidewalk. The annoyance on his face was evident. Harmony had met Jarreth was she was human. She had actually been his dinner, but when he had loomed in to her throat, Jarreth’s face brushed against her shirt which was made of wool. 28
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He had broken out in hives. Who ever heard of a vampire that was allergic to wool? Of course she had flipped out when she saw his fangs and ran out of her room screaming. The other girls thought she was crazy. Then two days later, she had died. After her death, she had run into Jarreth on several occasions. Once she realized that she was taking the souls of his victims they became friends. Every once in a while they would get together for drinks. He was always a good listener and easy to rattle. Sometimes she thought he was like a hornet in a shaken up nest. If you poked him too many times he would get pissy and attack. Of course, there was no way she could be dinner any more since she was dead and her blood would kill him. “Look, girlie. I told you. I don’t want to buy any of your damn cookies. But I’ll pay you to go away.” He started to reach into his coat pocket. Harmony tried to keep a straight face. “But sir, even if you give me money, I’ll still have to give you the cookies. It’s part of our creed. You give me money and I’ll give you a blow job.” His expression changed. His face grew dark and his eyes shone. Jarreth was really getting pissed with her. Honestly, Harmony didn’t seem to care at the moment. It was fun to poke the vampire and get him all riled up. He stepped forward, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. She dropped the cookies, scattering them all over the ground. Harmony stared up into his eyes. “Look, you. I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is, but you really need to leave now. I’m not in the mood for idiotic teenager girl games.” Harmony reached up and touched Jarreth’s face. As she did, she let her Reaper appearance come forward so he could only see her as a skeleton inside the cloak. Her fingers caressed his cheek. She felt his panic running through him. He tried to get away, but since she was touching him she had power over him now. It felt so good to have that power. That was one reason she was so angry at not being able to take Andy’s soul. She was the one with the power. No one could undermine her. She was Death. It would be so easy to snatch Jarreth’s even though it wasn’t his time. It would be so easy to take his soul and send it to the Afterlife. “Harmonex, is that you under the skull?” Jarreth asked. 29
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She hated the nickname he had given her. But hearing him say her name brought her out of her thoughts. How could she have thought of taking her friend’s soul? It was against the rules to take someone before their time. Of course there were special circumstances that were outlined in the BBD if that happened. Jarreth wasn’t slated to expire for at least another eight hundred years. That was another gift that came along with being a Reaper. She could touch someone and know when they were going to die. Why had she wanted to take his soul? She knew better than that. Harmony shrugged it off. “You really have to stop calling me that, Jarreth,” she said, dismissing the glamour that showed her as the skeleton. “Yeah, well you have to stop showing up unannounced, dressed liked that and trying to sell me cookies. I should have known it was you. Everyone in this neighborhood knows that I don’t deal well with solicitors. What are you doing here?” Harmony sighed. “I needed to see a friendly face.” She tried to smile, but wasn’t feeling it. Jarreth put his arm around her. “I don’t know about friendly, but I can certainly listen. Why don’t you come inside? I need something to drink and you look like you need something stiff as well. You still offering that blow job?” Bubbling laughter spilled over her lips and helped to raise her mood a notch. She punched him in the side with all her might. “Not on your undead ass, bucko.” He led her into his dark living room and closed the door. With a clap of his hand, candles ignited. Harmony sat down on the plush leather couch, enjoying the coolness of the room. It was nice for once not to think about work or have to sit in a desk chair for hours on end. Jarreth came back with a glass filled with amber liquid. She sniffed and smelled the alcohol along with something else. She shrugged and downed it in one gulp. He laughed as he relaxed in the seat next to her. His glass held a crimson liquid she could only assume was blood. “So what brings you here? It’s been what? Five years since the last time you peeled yourself away from your job to come and see me.” Harmony shrugged. “I don’t know. I needed a friendly face.” 30
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“You’ve never thought of me as friendly, Harmony. There’s always been this under current of sexual tension between us. You and I both know it.” “Yeah and there’s always a possibility my foot will go up your ass if you try anything.” “Gee, sorry. What crawled up your skull and died? We always joke around like this.” Harmony shook her head and conjured another drink. This time she stared at the liquid and swirled it around before she took a sip. Why was she acting so strangely all of a sudden? It had to be because of the whole Andy situation. “Sorry. I’ve had a rough day. One of the souls I’m supposed to take is being a pain in my ass. He demanded a chance to keep his soul. So he gets three chances to beat me. Best two out of three and he keeps it. He could then take my job and boot me back to humanity. I don’t know what to do. No one ever beats death.” “I did.” “You’re a vampire. That doesn’t count. This guy, though. He beat me at strip poker and demanded a kiss from me.” “Did you kiss him?” “I’m true to my word. I kissed him, but the way that he looked at me…his lips were soft. It was nice to have human contact, you know. God, what am I thinking? I don’t know what to do, Jarreth? I’ve never been challenged like that before. Clem, my boss, told me that the Soul Challenge is some obscure rule. I know the BBD like the back of my hand. Nothing has gotten past me. How could I miss something like that?” Harmony turned and stared at the vampire. She wasn’t sure what she was more worried about. The thought that Andy had found some loophole or if he was going to try and touch her again. “You like him, don’t you?” Jaretth asked as he sipped on his tumbler of blood. Harmony watched as some color returned to his pale cheeks. “Of course not! Death doesn’t fall in love with the souls that Death collects. It’s unethical. It’s not condoned. The Book—” Jarreth placed a hand on hers. “Harmony, sweets. You are beginning to sound like a robot. I think you need to stop living inside your job. I think you are developing a crush on this guy. You either don’t want or don’t know how to admit it to yourself. 31
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You don’t want to end up like me. My heart is as cold as your touch. I’m not permitted to bring anyone into this existence. If I did, then the Vampire Council would swoop down and kill them right before my eyes. That is my punishment. Don’t end up like me. Don’t become so cold and unfeeling that you forget what it was like to have compassion.” “That won’t happen.” Jarreth arched an eyebrow. “Won’t it? Hasn’t it already? What was that stunt you pulled outside? You wanted to take my soul, Harmonex. I could feel you tugging at it. Look, I’m your friend and I’ll tell you straight up. Don’t end up like me. At least you have contact with the outside world. Mine has been so cold and alone that I would give anything to change the past. Even a peddler selling minty cookies.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Harmony relaxed a little when he pulled away. His lips left a cold imprint on her flesh. Maybe he was right. She knew how hard Jarreth had it since he isolated himself from the rest of humanity. Like he said, it was part of his curse. She downed the rest of her drink and got up. She was not alone. She had friends who cared about her. Andy was only part of her job. Resolve had hardened her heart. She was not going to let Andy get to her no matter how good his kisses felt. The next challenge was hers. Jarreth escorted her outside of his house. “Don’t be a stranger.” “I won’t. Promise.” When the door closed, Harmony stared at the house across the street. There were lights on and two cars outside. It seemed someone was showing the house. She walked out of the picket fenced yard and began to stroll down the street. Halloween was only two days away. The chill of the holiday was already in the air. Cardboard ghosts and skeletons decorated windows. Silk spider webs filled with plastic spiders stretched over front porches. Semi-scary jack-o’-lanterns illuminated steps. Soon the streets would be filled with the laughter of children masked as creatures from the other world to scare each other as they begged candy from unsuspecting neighbors. Jarreth’s house was devoid of decoration. What would the townsfolk do if they discovered there was indeed a real life
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vampire living next door to them? I’ll bet they’d think he was a fruit cake and drive him out of town. Harmony pulled her cloak closer as that same chill danced along her spine. A shadow moved along the oak tree across the street, gliding down the trunk. She ignored it and kept walking, trying to get lost in the normalcy of the small town. She liked small towns. If she was human, she would have settled down in one. The shadow floated across the street taking on form and substance as it did. Finally it came to perfect human form before her, cutting her off. Immediately her power flared up to protect her. Nothing could harm a Reaper, but she wasn’t taking any chances. If Andy had found a loophole then maybe something else had as well. Her scythe appeared in her hand. The figure before her began hissing, but she realized it was actually laughing. “Silly, Reaper. You can’t harm me. Just as I can’t harm you.” “What the hell are you?” Glowing red eyes appeared in the center of where its head was supposed to be. Harmony looked closely; it was wearing a cloak like she was. Only, it was much darker inside the cloak. She wasn’t able to make out any of the creature’s features. Peering deeper inside the cloak, she made out the outline of a face, but nothing else. A hand came out from underneath the cloak. It had long black claws and red skin. She looking closer she noticed the skin was actually scales. Tucked in between the creature’s claws was a card. “It won’t bite you. I promise. I won’t bite you. Only if you like me too.” Harmony was not about to let this creature, this thing, know that she was terrified of it. She bumped her scythe on the ground and it disappeared back to the bottom drawer of her desk where she kept it along with her extra cloak and forms. She reached out and took the card. It was ivory with red satin letters embossed on it. It read: S. Drake. Bereavement Wrangler
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What the hell was that? she wondered. “Bereavement Wrangler? What the hell does that mean?” The thing floated closer to her. Its red eyes glowing brighter. “It means that you are being targeted for a change in position. My boss would love to meet with you. You are a prime candidate to help us gather souls.” “I already gather souls. I don’t need another job, thank you.” She was about ready toss the card when the creature grabbed her arm. “Oh, but I think you do. You’ve been feeling unsatisfied with gathering souls of late. You want more power with no one to challenge you. Isn’t the repetition of what you do weighing on your soul? We can offer you a better benefits package. You don’t just get Halloween off. You get every major holiday off, plus two weeks vacation to start and sick time. Not that you need it of course. What do you say? Want to come in for an interview?” Harmony stared at the card again. Sick time? Two weeks vacation to start? Was she hearing this guy right? “Um—” She bit her lip. She just couldn’t quit on Clem. She had to finish her duties. Gathering Andy’s soul was priority number one. Yeah, she was feeling the strain. She didn’t want to file any more paperwork. Maybe she should check it out. “Okay. I guess, but I have some other obligations to get cleared up before I can even think of leaving.” The creature let go of her wrist. “Of course. When you have a free moment, my boss would love to sit down with you. It can be an informal meeting since he understands how busy a Reaper’s job is.” Harmony nodded. She liked a guy who could understand how her schedule was tied up all the time. “How do I get in touch with—?” “Mr. Drake.” “Oh, I thought that was you.” “Me! Oh no. I’m just a lowly assistant. Just set the card on fire, and he’ll be there in a flash.” She smiled at the creature. “Sounds like a plan. If you’ll excuse me, I have to catch up on some work. I have a prior engagement.” She stuffed the card into her jeans pocket.
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The creature before her bowed. “Of course. We look forward to hearing from you, Ms. Harmony.”
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Chapter Six Air hockey, why did I think I could beat Death at air hockey? Andy shook his head sadly, while staring at the triumphant Grim Reaper standing across the game table from him. Her hand was on one gorgeous curved hip while her eyes were alight with the fire of victory. Andy recalled the gleam in her eyes when she named the next challenge. It should have been a sure sign something was wrong. But Harmony had said nothing more than they were going to play air hockey and had instantly changed his living room into an arcade. The three games they had played was basically his decimation. Her hand and eyes moved at speeds no human could ever possess as she hit the small plastic puck as it floated on a bed of air across the table. He was unfairly outmatched by her in human abilities. But what could he say? He had picked the game and the rules when he asked for the Soul Challenge. “So I win this one, writer-boy.” Her nickname for him made Andy grit his teeth. “Yes, you did. You knew I couldn’t even begin to match you in this game.” “Well writer-boy, that is how the cookie crumbles.” “Will you stop calling me that!” Andy asked in exasperation. “It’s like I’m back in high school again with the jocks picking on me in the hall.” “I would have thought you were a jock in high school, Andy. You do have the looks for it,” Harmony replied with a smile. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was a compliment,” Andy grinned at her. “Don’t let it go to your head. I just said you’re cute, that’s all.”
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Andy could see her bricking the wall of distance back up. He didn’t want her to be the hard, tough Grim Reaper, not just yet. He enjoyed seeing the genuine smile on her face. “Well, I’m outta here. Call when you figure out the final challenge.” Harmony turned to step back in to the invisible space that would take her from his sight. “Hold on! Don’t go!” Andy rushed around the table. Harmony froze in her steps and faced him. “You figured it out already?” “No, no, not that. I want to offer you a new challenge. One having nothing to do with my impending death.” “And that would be what exactly?” Harmony placed her hand on her hip once more and Andy could feel himself getting distracted by her luscious curves. “Spend the day with me.” Andy offered with hope in his eyes and in his voice. “Why would I do a thing like that?” Andy shuffled his feet back and fourth, he felt like a kid asking out a girl on a first date. “I mean you lost your only day off because of me and when was the last time you just took the time to enjoy the day?” He added hastily, “Other than Halloween, of course.” He could see uncertainty cross her face and her resistance begin to crumble, so he prodded her gently once more. “Come on. What do you have to lose?” “Okay. I’m game,” she agreed. “But tomorrow I am back to winning your soul understood?” Andy rubbed his hands together with a big grin on his face. “Okay deal. Now where do you want to go first, we can take my car…..” “Oh no, you asked for this we are taking my mode of transportation.” Harmony said with a wicked smile. “Uh, you mean the whole whoosh-I’m-invisible thing?” He could hear the doubt in his voice. She nodded simply in reply. “I don’t know about that, my car is parked right downstairs.” “Oh come on, Andy, be brave! I mean, I have never taken anyone alive through the wrinkles in time, but I am sure you’ll be okay,” Harmony coaxed as she opened her arms. “That makes me feel so much better,’ Andy mumbled as he stepped into her embrace. 37
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“Relax, you’re still attached to your skin so that’s a good thing,” she whispered in his ear and she faded from his living room and into the unknown. Her breath against his ear made him shiver with anticipation as desire crept its way through his blood. **** It seemed like only an instant before they popped up on a beach with the sun setting on the horizon. In her arms, while trying to catch his breath, he leaned his forehead against hers. The way she traveled was indescribable. He felt the pull of the supernatural power she had, hurtling them along through time and space. If he had to describe it to anyone he would say it was like warp speed except without the space ship. He was breathless, not only because of her power, but because of his close quarters with Harmony as well. He was hesitant to let her go. When her fingers stroked his back he knew she felt it too. “Well, that was some trip,” he murmured. “Where are we anyway?” Harmony stepped away and rubbed her hands down her jeans. “We’re in Barbados, since you said you felt sorry about me losing my day off. I was sure you wouldn’t mind me catching a sunset.” “Get the fuck out! Barbados, seriously?” Andy exclaimed. He looked around in amazement. The crystal blue water with the tint of reds and oranges from the setting sun reflecting off the water was a perfect picture. The palm trees swaying in the breeze, with the hint of ripening fruit in the wind, caused him to laugh out loud in wonder at the immeasurable beauty of the island. “I don’t believe it!” Harmony had a smile on her face when he turned back to face her. “Those are the perks of being a Reaper, no passport required.” She sat on the sand and Andy followed suit, the fine, almost white, crystals were still warm from being kissed by the sun. They looked out over the sea at the sun going down behind the water. “This is better than anything I ever thought about doing. I was going to take you bowling,” Andy teased. Harmony gave a small laugh. “Lucky for me, I don’t think I have ever bowled.” 38
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“How long have you been a Grim Reaper?” Her sigh was almost wistful. “Too long, but I might be changing jobs soon. I think I might need a change.” “How do you change jobs from being a person who collects souls?” Andy had to admit he was curious about her life, or unlife, so to speak. “Think of it as a corporation. There is upper management, lower management and even book keepers and deadlines.” Harmony leaned back against the sand and closed her eyes. “They even offered me more vacation time with the new position.” Looking at her lying there with her eyes closed, her full lips curved in a small smile, Andy couldn’t stop himself from leaning over and capturing her lips in a swift kiss. Harmony didn’t resist him. Instead she opened her mouth under the gentle friction of his kiss. His tongue delved into the sweetness of her mouth and he moaned in pleasure at her taste. Harmony pulled away and turned her head. “I think we should stop.” Andy took the invitation of exposed skin at her neck to kiss and nibble the sensitive spot and a low purr of pleasure came from her. “Why should we stop, we have something here Harmony, why not follow it?” Andy whispered against her skin. She faced him and he could see desire in her eyes mixed with uncertainty. “Because I have to take your soul, Andy. I can’t let attraction to you get in the way of my job.” “I still have one more chance to win my soul. Even if I lose I want my last memory of being alive to be of you. Holding you. Touching you. Just let go, Harmony, and feel.” Andy trailed one finger down the smooth curve of her cheek while he implored her to let him in. He felt her resistance melting away. She threw her arms around his neck. He pulled her back into his kiss. The fiery explosion of their passion erupted when their lips met once more and Andy was lost in the flow. He slowed the kiss, letting himself drink in her taste. The taste of her on his lips was intoxicating. He felt like he could never have enough. Their kiss deepened, she nibbled, nipping at his lips. Then she soothed them with her tongue. She did this 39
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until the teasing drove him to the edge. He buried his hands in her hair. Andy took her mouth, ravishing it like a man dying of thirst. Her mouth tasted of spiced apples, reminding him of cool fall evenings in Maine where he had grown up. Her hands roved from touching his face, to around his neck and then across his shoulders, hugging him tightly to her. The need to feel her body closer to his burst free as they succumbed to passion on the white sands of the island. The urge to feel her skin became so fierce he pulled her across his body so she was straddling his lap while he sat on the sand. Her legs wrapped around his waist and they were losing themselves in their lust for each other. This time Andy wanted nothing less than complete surrender from Harmony, not just her body, but everything she had, without reservation. Even if it was for only a little while, her soul would be joined with his tonight. His fingers caressed down her back, across the firm line of her buttocks then to her thighs. When she pulled him closer, he felt her body shudder at his touch. She was so giving with her responses to his love making. He broke the kiss, teasing her as she had teased him just minutes before, biting her lips then soothing them with his tongue. She moved against him in frustration, grinding her body against his waiting cock. A moan from her throat let him know she wanted him. “More,” she whispered. “Please give me more.” “Will you give me all of you, everything that is in you, no holding back, Harmony?” Andy asked her. “I do, lover, I do,” she replied. He continued to caress and kiss her. He knew it was all true; within his heart there was nothing else but her. She lifted her head, looking straight at him. He saw the first tears slip down her cheeks. He kissed them away as he felt her last wall crumble and fall. She took his breath away with the passion flowing from her at that moment as all of her doubts were replaced with the intense feelings they were creating. Her hand held him tight as her mouth plundered his in return. Her tongue twisted and turned in his mouth, a seductive dance enticing his tongue to join hers. They undressed quickly, trying to keep their bodies connected as they removed each article of clothing. Her hand slipped between their now naked bodies, 40
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taking hold of his hard manhood. Her grasp was firm as she stroked him. Andy’s body surged in pleasure, pressing more intimately against her smooth palm. Harmony lifted her body off his lap letting his cock slide into her hot velvet box. A groan slipped from his lips and he sank into her wetness. She felt so good wrapped around him. Andy wanted to savor the feeling as long as he could. But Harmony had other plans, her body moved against him slowly letting his cock slide from her body, then taking him in to her tightness again inch by torturous inch. Her little moans filled his ears; his strong hands massaged the firm globes of her breasts as he took the nipples into his mouth. Pleasure infused them both as she ground against him faster, taking his hard rod deeper inside her. Her hands kneaded his back while his fingers tangled in her hair. “Do you like how that feels, lover?” she asked. “Do you like being inside me, filling me? “Yes. God yes, baby,” he growled in response. Andy could hardly bear the feelings she brought out in him. They were like a fire in his blood, his lioness. He turned the tables, flipping so she was the one on her back once again on the sand. The waves washed up, caressing their feet as they made love next to the Caribbean Sea. His body pressed deeper inside of her. This time it was Harmony who was assaulted with intense sensations. She arched and gasped in pleasure. Andy could not get enough of her taste, her smell, the way she looked as she was under him in ecstasy, the way she bit her lips when he loved her hard. He bit her neck. Her body shivered and he felt the beginning of her body’s ultimate reaction. Andy whispered to her, “Feel me, feel how much I want you, take it all, baby.” Flesh met flesh over and over again in an ancient rhythm. Her body trembled, Harmony let out a low cry of pleasure when her body released. Over and over again her cries filled his ears. Her body bucked under him. Her womanhood was overflowing with her juices and still hot, holding him tight. Andy couldn’t hold on any longer. He gave himself over to the swirling pleasure surrounding him, losing himself in her and all she had to give. Their bodies were slick. Each breath they took was 41
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panted from two heaving chests. They were like an echo of the other in unison. Like her name, Andy could hear the harmony of their joining, a perfect sound that only his ears could hear. “That was amazing,” he whispered in her ears, kissing the lobe gently before he rolled away, pulling her into his arms. “It was,” Harmony agreed quietly. ‘But it doesn’t change anything, Andy. You still have to die.” Andy stood up, holding out his hand to her. He was not worried about his impending doom for some reason. Right now following her into the afterlife did not seem to be a bad thing. “For now I’m alive and well, let’s worry about that when the time comes. Let’s go wash this sand off before it gets into some unfortunate places. Harmony snorted in amusement and with a hesitant smile on her face as she took his extended hand. He pulled her into his arms. The kiss they shared was filled with unsaid promises before they ran hand in hand down to the surf and into the warm water of the Caribbean Sea.
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Chapter Seven Harmony wrapped her arms around herself. A smile touched her lips, thinking about how she and Andy had made love on the beach. All of her secret places tingled just with the thought of their lovemaking. She wanted to give herself over to him. He had touched a part of her she had forgotten she had. Andy made her remember what it was like to be mortal, even if it was for a fleeting moment. The stress and obligations of her job had weighed her down, she had said fuck it and let him take her away. It had been so good watching the sunset on the beach while his hands were roaming all over her. Why did he have to die? Why did I have to be the Reaper assigned to him? Why can’t he live? Maybe I can purposely botch his next Soul Challenge and he can keep his soul. Harmony shook her head. She knew there was no way around that. Even if she did let Andy win, she would still have to take his soul twenty years down the line. She didn’t know if she could live with herself, knowing she would have to challenge him again. Besides, if she did botch it, then she was sure upper management would find out. It wasn’t every day a mortal challenged a Reaper for their soul. Even though she didn’t feel her boss watching her, she was sure that Clem was keeping tabs on how the challenges were going. Right now it was an even tie. Harmony chewed her lip while trying to concentrate on her backlog of souls. She still had several hours’ worth of work, because she had stolen the time to spend with Andy. That was the problem with her job. There was always work. She didn’t get enough time off. She ran her hands through her hair to dislodge some of the sand she had picked up. Maybe she should go back to Andy, have another go with him. No. I have to stop thinking about him. I’m not mortal anymore. It was just a fling. It felt good at the moment. I shouldn’t have let him entice me like that. 43
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I have souls to collect, paperwork to do, a vacation to plan. One more challenge with Andy. Then I can take a day all to myself, curl up with a good book, and work on a tan. I wonder if Andy likes to read. No. Have to stop thinking like that. “Are you here to take me?” Harmony looked up from her list. She stared into the wrinkled dark eyes of a woman. The Reaper glanced around and realized she must have whisked herself away to her next appointment without even realizing it. Normally she was on top of things like this. She shouldn’t be sneaking up on souls unaware. Usually she arrived early, the soul would recognize who she was by her attire. When she looked down, she realized she was still dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Her black robe was not showing. With just a thought, she was covered in black again. She felt the magic descend over her and the cold of death encompass her. It leaked into her heart as well. “EEK!” the old woman screamed. If she wasn’t already dead, then she would have died of a heart attack. Harmony smiled. The fear she brought the old woman made her happy. Harmony reached out to grab the woman, but she backed away from her. The Reaper advanced. No one ran away from her. It was against the rules. Terror gripped the woman. There was no way she was getting free. Harmony followed her through the woman’s body on the bed, through the wall, into the next room until she had the soul cowering by the window. Harmony pointed at her. “You will come with me now. It is time for you to die.” The woman wasn’t budging. Harmony called her scythe to her. With one touch of the blade, the soul would be sucked into the Afterlife. She was tired of playing around with this woman. She had a backlog she had to work her way through. It had been stupid of her to let Andy manipulate her. That was all he had done. He had tried to cloud her judgment with their lovemaking. He was trying to make her forget she had duties to perform. Harmony raised the scythe ready to slice the old woman in half. It was only too bad that there wouldn’t be any blood and guts splattered around, since the soul was already dead. The blade began to come down.
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“Harmony!” Clem appeared before the blade. Harmony tried to deflect the arch of the weapon, but it was already moving of its own momentum. She watched as the blade sliced through her boss. However, he was unharmed. No weapon, magickal or not, could harm a Reaper. It didn’t help the expression on his face though. Even through the blue of his tattoos she could see how red he was. The scythe clattered to the floor and then disappeared. Harmony watched in annoyance as Clem turned his back on her and reached his hand out to the soul that she was going to collect. How dare he butt in and take my soul! She’s next on my list. No one has ever claimed one of my souls before. The old woman’s expression relaxed once she took his hand. A glow appeared around her and then she was gone. Clem then turned back around to face Harmony. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” There was a whoosh of air. Harmony suddenly found herself back in Clem’s office. All the windows were glass and not covered so everyone could see in. “What was I doing? What were you doing, butting in on me like that?” Harmony growled. “Butting in? Did I just hear you right? We never scare a soul on purpose. Their transition is supposed to be done peacefully. That is rule No. 1 in the BBD. It’s understandable if the soul is scared to face death or if they see us at first, but once we touch them, they understand that they are on their way to a better Afterlife. What the hell was that? You were taking pleasure in terrorizing her.” Harmony shrugged and sat down in the chair across from her boss. “Whatever, Clem. I was just having a little fun. Aren’t I allowed to have fun? You joke around all the time.” Clem pushed his chair back so it hit the wall and rattled the glass. “I may joke around, Harmony, but that doesn’t mean I scare the shit out of a poor soul. That is not our job. When did you start reveling in fear? What the hell is happening to you?” Harmony sighed. What was happening to her? Things had been out of sorts with her for a while now. Even before Andy had demanded his Soul Challenge. She had been getting bored with her job. She hated the long hours and wanted something more exciting to do. Thinking about it, she remembered the card in her pocket. Maybe it was time to seriously consider the offer. 45
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A new job would be great. “Nothing is happening to me, Clem. Did you ever think that I want a little more out of my job? Maybe more vacation time? Maybe I like watching souls be afraid of me? We have no power. Everything has to be done by the books. I’m getting sick of it, to be honest with you. I’m getting sick of this place with all of its stuffed shirted, strict rules, and bland food. I want something more!” “Honey, if you haven’t noticed. You’re dead. There is nothing more. Any soul would kill for your job.” Harmony stood up. “Well, they can have it. I quit!” She waved her hand letting her power transport her to a beachside bar. She wasn’t in Barbados anymore, but in the Bahamas. The wind was picking up. The clouds over the ocean were gray mixed with orange. The palm trees were bending from the force of the wind. Rain pelted around her. The drops were needlesharp, but they felt good on her flesh. They actually made her feel something again. She waved her hand again and a pineapple filled with rum, a curly straw, and a little pink umbrella appeared before her. The bar was closed due to the hurricane that was blowing in. She wished it would pummel the island into bits and pieces and then there wouldn’t be anything left of the place. She sat back in the bar watching the waves pounding on the sand. The storm surge brought the waves up to her feet. She liked how the cold water curled around her toes. Seaweed and fish came up with the water. The fish flopped on the sand, dying. At other times she would have gone to the fish giving them the touch of death, but now she didn’t feel sorry for them. She was glad they were dying. It was the cycle of life. She sipped her drink glad there was a lot of rum mixed with the pineapple juice. There was even a dash of coconut in it that she liked. After taking a couple more sips, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the card. She ran her hands over it. Yeah it really was time for a new position. Harmony flung the card up in the air. Once it left her fingers, it lit on fire like it was made out of flash paper. The flame burned bright orange and then deep red before it burnt out. “You called.” Harmony jumped when she heard the deep voice next to her. She spun around, away from the ocean, to see a gorgeous 46
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man sitting at the bar with her. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Even with the wind whipping around them, he didn’t seem affected by the gale. His skin was deeply tanned. He was dressed in a red suit, with a black shirt and red tie. Even his shoes were red. They weren’t crimson red, but fire engine red. He was almost too bright to look at wearing that suit. His teeth were perfectly white. His nails were manicured, but pointed. It was his eyes that captured her. They were completely red. Blood red. “Mr. Drake?” He extended his hand. “Yes, and you must be Harmony. What a lovely name for such a lovely Reaper. It’s not too often I get to meet one of your kind. I’m honored you agreed to meet with me.” Harmony studied him. He seemed almost too good to be true. But then again, he was devilishly handsome. She looked at his hand. It would be impolite not to take it. Slowly she reached out and shook it. Once her flesh met his, a zing ran up her arm. What had she been thinking? Of course he was all right. There was nothing wrong with Mr. Drake at all. “It’s nice to meet you. And you really don’t need to flatter me. I’ve heard it all before.” He laughed. “I’m sure that you have, but you haven’t heard it from me.” Her cheeks burned. “Well, that’s nice of you to say, but I didn’t call you here to have you ask me out on a date. I was hoping that you might have some job openings. Your associate said that you were recruiting. He mentioned the benefits package and it sounded great. I can really use more than one day off a year.” Mr. Drake leaned closer to Harmony. “You’re in luck. We do have a couple of openings right now. Of course you would have to quit your other job of being a Reaper.” Harmony waved her hand. “Oh please. I already told my boss to shove it. There is no way I’m going back to that old stuffy position. I’m tired of collecting souls. Filling out paperwork in triplicate because something might get kinked during the whole process.” Her future employer smiled. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. I think you would make a great addition to our team. Our associate 47
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was right of course. You get two weeks vacation to start. There is sick time, of course. I pay more, twice what you’re making now. What do you say?” Harmony smiled. “It sound’s great. When do I start?” Mr. Drake laughed. “Well, you can start right now if you want. Unless you want to take a couple of days and recuperate from your previous job. I can understand how hard it is being a Reaper. Dealing with all the bullshit upper management puts you through. Working with me, you’ll answer only to me. And I must say, I would love to punish you.” He rested his hand on her knee and flashed her an even bigger smile. Harmony knew she should have been turned off by this guy since he wasn’t the type that she normally went for. Hell, even Andy wasn’t the type that she normally went for. Then again, she didn’t have a type since becoming a Reaper. Her existence had all been about her job, nothing else. She didn’t have a personal life anymore. Hopefully with this new job she would be able to get some time to herself. If that was the case then maybe she could spend some time with Andy. Because she wasn’t going to be there to do his last Soul Challenge, there must be a forfeit or something. Maybe he wouldn’t have to die. Mr. Drake’s hand moved further up her leg to her thigh. His flesh was so warm it burned through her jeans. Desire swept through her. God, she didn’t even know this guy, but she wanted to jump his bones. Maybe having sex with Andy had opened her up a little bit more. She placed her hand over his, looked into his red eyes and smiled. “That might be fun. But I don’t do boss and secretary games.” Harmony dropped out of her seat and straddled Mr. Drake. She scooted so she could press her body close to his. There was already a hard bulge in his pants. She wrapped her hands around his neck freeing his hair from the ponytail at the same time. “If you want to fuck me, I can deal with that. But I don’t make coffee. Is that clear?” She ground herself against him. He smiled even wider. “So I take it that you want the position?” His hands wound through her hair. Harmony felt the hurricane intensify around them. However, she was now blocked from the wind and the rain. The 48
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atmosphere around her grew heavy and damp. She leaned in, licking Mr. Drake’s lips. They tasted of salt and smoke. Her fingers gripped his hair. The points of his nails scraped down her back. She felt the burning scars that he left in her flesh. It was so good to feel again. It had been so long. He leaned up sucking her tongue into his mouth. Their lips met in a frantic kiss. Pure desire and lust pushed through Harmony. She couldn’t help but moan into his mouth while their tongues danced. Even Andy hadn’t made her feel like this. She pressed against her boss harder. She wanted to feel all of him. She wanted him to throw her down on the sand and fuck her every which way from Sunday. Her body didn’t feel like it could ever be satisfied. He could make all of her dreams come true. What had she been thinking of, sleeping with a mortal? Andy was beneath her now. Finally Mr. Drake pulled away, but kept her only a few inches from his lips. “You never answered my question. Does this mean that you want the position? Working under me?” Harmony smiled. “Oh yeah. Just tell me where to sign.” “Just kiss me again and we’ll call it a done deal.” Harmony did as she was told. She pressed her lips to Mr. Drake’s. This time her whole body was on fire. Power washed over her like she had never felt before. It made her curl her toes and rock her hips from the energy. It was almost better than sex and left her on the verge. Mr. Drake’s teeth nipped her mouth, biting down hard. She found that she liked the pain. Harmony tasted blood, her blood, for the first time in almost two hundred years. She swallowed and concentrated on keeping time with her partner’s lips. It seemed Mr. Drake wanted to devour her whole and she was going to let him. Even as the power washed over her, reformed her, it also drowned out a most important call. Andy.
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Chapter Eight Andy stared at the waves lapping at the beach, reminiscing about his encounter with Harmony. He’d had flings before, but the sexy Grim Reaper was someone special. He didn’t just want to have a fling with her. He wasn’t using her to try and keep his soul either. Andy was falling for Harmony. He licked his lips and could still taste her sweet flavor along with the smallest hint of salt from the sand. Why did he have to find a woman to love now, when his time was up and he was just about to die? There had to be some way he could keep his soul and get the girl too. There were always happy endings in movies. There was bound to be one for him. He checked his watch again. Part of him was ready to state his third and final challenge. Before he did that though, he wanted to see if his beautiful, angelic death also had feelings for him. Andy had been silently calling her for over three hours. The last two times he had called her, she had been almost eager to get his soul. She wanted to move on to the rest of her busy schedule. Harmony needed to catch up on her list of souls. Then she would be able to have her one day off this year. But now a knot of worry twisted his insides. There was something wrong. Harmony wasn’t showing up when he summoned her. He didn’t know what it was, but it had to be something. There was only one other person he could talk to. Andy had specifically been told not to call him unless there was an emergency. The sun sank beneath the waves. A few girls were running, with their dogs, along the stretch of beach, in front of his house. Andy swallowed, feeling the dread wash over him. Damn it! He walked into his bedroom, opened the closet, and started shoving boxes out of the way trying to find the card that he had been given. Andy had been instructed to hide his contact info on his latest book and all his notes because if he was ever 50
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found out, his source would be in a lot of trouble. Finally, he pulled out his old briefcase, undid the locks and unwrapped the book that had been his main resource on his latest novel. The book in his hand was entitled, The Big Book of the Dead, All A Grim Reaper Needs to Know About Working in the After Life. He ran his fingers over the gold lettering and got an instant chill. From this book he had learned about the Soul Challenge, thanks to his informant. He opened the leather cover gently and pulled out the business card inside. The card had a name. Clem. And a number *999. Andy flipped open his cell phone and dialed the number. Right as he hit send, he heard a pop. “Dude. I seriously hope this is an emergency. You can’t call me whenever you feel like it.” Andy spun around and saw the blue tattooed Grim Reaper leaning against the door of his bedroom. He swallowed. He never would have though Clem was a Grim Reaper with the tattoos, ear plugs, and braided beard. It wasn’t until the man plopped himself down on the board walk eating an ice cream cone, and Clem told him the day he was going to die, that Andy believed him. Clem and he had met a few times after he got the idea for the book. All he knew was that no human was supposed to possess the BBD and live to tell about it. It was highly illegal for any living being to know the inner workings of the Afterlife. “Seriously, this is an emergency. I didn’t know who else to call. Harmony isn’t answering me. I thought since you’re her boss, you might be able to tell me where she is or let me know what the hell is going on.” “You that eager to have her win you’re soul?” Clem snapped his fingers. Andy felt a whoosh of air and they were now sitting at a table, on the board walk, a few blocks from his house. It was the same spot he had first met Clem. The Grim Reaper handed Andy a strawberry ice cream cone. He accepted it. Clem was licking away at a chocolate one. “I don’t want her to win my soul, but I have to talk to her.” He felt himself getting red. “We kinda got into it. I really wanted to speak to her to try to smooth things out. Maybe see if there was any way that she knew of that I didn’t have to die. Like I said, I’ve been calling her for three hours and 51
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she isn’t answering me. I thought all you Reapers were all about being on time.” Clem slurped up the drips of the melting ice cream. Andy licked his a little and the taste reminded him of Harmony. His eyes wandered to the sunset. The way the colors were streaked across the sky, dark orange and deep red reminded him of her hair fanned out on the beach. His groin tightened. He wanted her again. Harmony where the hell are you? “Isn’t the sunset wonderful? Most humans don’t take the time to stop and look at such a simple thing as the sun sinking beneath the waves and painting the sky the way it does. Every one is different. Some days it’s bright and others so dark the sun appears to be bleeding into the ocean. When you’re dead like me, you really learn to appreciate things like this. Wouldn’t you agree?” Andy sighed. “I wouldn’t know. I’m not dead yet, remember? Yeah, sunsets are great. Whatever. Why are you avoiding my question, Clem? I thought we were buds. You’re the one who gave me that blasted book and told me I would have a Reaper coming after me. However you never warned me she would be so damn hot and luscious and loveable.” “You’re in love with Harmony, aren’t you?” Clem set his ice cream down. A cold chill passed over Andy. He watched as Clem touched the chocolate cone with his finger and suddenly it was frozen again. At least the touch of death had another use. “That’s none of your business, Clem.” Clem poked his ice cream one more time. The whole thing became encased in a hard shell of ice. The Reaper leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Andy watched as the muscles in his face twitched. He played with the long braids of his beard. “It is my business, Andy. I was the one who assigned Harmony to your case. I didn’t want you being taken by just any Reaper. I knew she would be the one to do the job.” “So you assigned her to my file just because you like to play sick jokes on people. Were you specifically hoping that I would fall for her and then I would die so I couldn’t be with her? Is she in on the joke as well?” Clem waved his hand, silencing Andy. “Look, Andy. I didn’t put her on your file because I was worried about your Soul 52
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Challenge going bad. I was going to tell you the third game to challenge her at Scrabble. She can’t stand the game and hates playing it. I don’t know how many times I’ve beaten her at it. Honestly, I had hoped that she would open up and have feelings for you. I knew you guys would be the perfect match once I saw you.” “So you play matchmaker and see where all the pieces fall?” Andy threw his strawberry cone down on the ground. It had melted all over his hands and he didn’t have a napkin to wipe the stickiness off so he wiped his hands on his jeans. He was glad to know that Harmony wasn’t in on Clem’s little charade, because he was going to tell her next time he saw her that her boss was playing games with the two of them. Clem reached over and grabbed Andy’s hand. When he did, Andy saw the skeletal face of Death descend over the Grim Reaper. Fear instinctually washed over him. “I’m not watching where the pieces fall. I did it for a reason. Harmony has been shut off lately. She’s been so engrossed with her work and gathering souls that she has forgotten what it is like to be human. She’s started to enjoy the power of being a Reaper and is now marveling at bringing fear to the souls that she gathers. That is not what we do. When you become a Grim Reaper it is essential that you retain some of your humanity. If a Reaper shuts down their emotions, like Harmony has, then bad things can happen to them. I was hoping that by her coming to take your soul and you challenging her, that she would be able to tap back into her human emotions. She’s more than my employee. She’s my friend and I care about what happens to her. If she turns her back on her humanity then something terrible could happen to her.” Andy felt the color drain from his face. Harmony was in trouble. What kind of trouble? “What could happen to her? I mean, she’s already dead so would she go to Hell or something?” Clem closed his eyes. Andy saw the weight on the Reaper’s shoulders. He put a hand on his arm. The normally happy Clem gave him a sad smile. “No, she won’t go to Hell. I’m afraid she’ll fall into the hands of one of the demons and become one of his minions.” “Well, can you make her come here? She’s certainly not answering me.” 53
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Clem shook his head. “I only wish that I could, Andy. After she took the day with you, she was getting caught up on her backlog. She was going to take an old woman who had been suffering for years with dementia. It was finally her time to move on. Instead of taking the woman’ quickly and quietly like she normally does, Harmony scared the poor soul. If the woman was alive, she would have been dead all over again. I pulled Harmony into my office. I demanded to know what was going on with her. I asked her what the matter was. She was making a rookie mistake. You read the BBD and I know it like the back of my hand. The first rule of thumb for any Reaper is to be humane with the souls that we take. We want to bring them peace and not frighten them. They are already frightened enough. So Harmony quit. Just like that. She told me she had a better job offer. After she spirited herself away I wasn’t able to get a lock on her. Actually, right before you called I was on my way to see you. I had hoped she was here with you maybe taking a little more R & R, but obviously she isn’t.” “So what is this other job opportunity?” “I’m not really sure. I only know that whoever she hooked up with is an evil SOB. For the other side to acquire a Reaper would be a bad sign. I’ve never lost anyone and I’ve been at this for a while. There is a whole section in the BBD that calls them Soul Wranglers. They are really demons. If a Reaper makes a deal with them then the Reaper becomes one of their minions or can be turned into a demon themselves. It really all depends on what the Head Wrangler wants. But the Reaper will become as twisted and evil as the demon they work for. I can’t see Harmony ever falling into the grips of evil. If she has already fallen, then there is only one way to save her.” Andy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Why would Harmony go to the dark side? She didn’t seem like the type of person who went all in for power. Andy thought of the last time he had seen her. Sure, it had taken a lot for him to get through her walls, but once he did, there was a beautiful sweet person underneath the Grim Reaper façade. Now that he had found her, how was it possible that he could be losing her? He could deal with the possibility of death or Harmony being taken away from her life that way. There was no way his sweet, innocent, sexy 54
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Grim Reaper was going to turn into some evil demon. There had to be away to save her. “What can I do to save her?” Clem popped out of his chair and clapped Andy on the back. “That’s my boy! I knew you wouldn’t let her go to the dark side. By cosmic law she is bound to you through your third challenge even if she quits her job as a Reaper. She must come to you if you call out to her. Remember, she must play by the rules you first began with, so no matter how much darkness has gotten into her heart, she will come to you.” “That doesn’t tell me what to do or how to save her. All you said was challenge her to a game of Scrabble.” “I’m getting to that. The weight of your soul dictates that you will ascend to Heaven. I’ll be there to collect you if you lose. But if you win, you can ask for a boon from the Reaper you won against. You can ask for her soul back.” Andy watched a gull swoop down and start pecking at the strawberry ice-cream cone on the pavement. The pink tendrils of ice-cream mixed with the snow. He watched the gull stick out its pink tongue and lap at it and gulp down a piece of the waffle cone. He smiled a little, but listening to Clem’s explanation about the single boon he could ask for made his heart turn to ice. Of course he wasn’t going to let Harmony turn evil, but he would lose his opportunity to be with her since he would end up dying. There had to be a way around him losing her. “I’ll do anything to save her. You know that.” “Good. Then demand that she come to you to finish your Soul Challenge. The sooner you do it, the better. You want to make sure that you can reach her. She hasn’t been touched by the darkness long, but if her heart was already turning toward it then I don’t know how long you have before her humanity is completely wiped away.” Clem got up to leave. “Uh…can you zap me back to my place please? I would like to be on my own turf when I call her.” “Sure thing.” Clem snapped his fingers again. Andy felt a whoosh of air and he was back inside his bedroom, staring at the horizon. The sun had completely disappeared. Sadness overwhelmed him. He couldn’t take his mind off of what Clem had said. Harmony was spiraling downward into some evil and 55
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twisted new position. He knew there was still goodness inside of her. Andy believed that. He just had to touch upon it once again. Andy wanted to appeal to Harmony. He had to have a strategy to work away at her. What he didn’t tell Clem was that he was awesome at Scrabble. He would clinch the win. That was a given. Night had finally taken hold and swallowed the sun. There was no more waiting. “Harmony, it’s time to finish my Soul Challenge,” he said to thin air. Andy waited and there was nothing. He waited another five minutes and she still didn’t show. Clem said she was still tied to him by cosmic law so she had to come to him and finish their games. “Grim Reaper Harmony, I order you to appear before me so we can finish our business.” Andy shouted into the air. Underneath his firm announcement, he also poured his love into the call. Some part of her had to hear him or feel him. The air grew cool and then hot. He spun around, feeling someone was watching him from the shadows. There was no one there. Tinkling laughter filled his bedroom. “Harmony, I know you’re there.” “Are you so eager to lose your soul, Andy?” she purred behind him. Her tone was lower and more sultry. He turned back around slowly, not sure of what he would find. He expected her to be some twisted horrible looking creature, but what he saw before him made his jaw drop. Gone was the conservative Grim Reaper who had first appeared before him. Standing across from him was a sexy vixen who would make any man’s wet fantasy. Her hair tumbled like a red waterfall around her down to her butt. She wore a black leather number clinging to all of her dangerous curves. Her lips were painted candy apple red. Her skin was pale. She had a riding crop in her hand that she flicked absently against her palm. She wore fuck-me red stilettos and black fishnets. The sweetness he remembered had completely faded from her gaze. Now all he saw was her burning red eyes.
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Chapter Nine Harmony stared at Andy. He looked scrumptious. She had thought when she quit her job that she would be free of him also, but it seemed that she still had one last obligation. After she won Andy’s Soul Challenge she would send his soul down to Mr. Drake and let him have some fun with the writer-boy. Harmony only hoped that she would have enough time to get back to Mr. Drake and have him show her more of the ropes. Her whole body tingled from the thought of him. After they had sealed their deal, he hadn’t let up on kissing her and within his kiss was the promise for him to do so much more to her. She was happy with her new position already. There was so much power flowing through her she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t taken this job in the first place. Being a Grim Reaper was nothing compared to this. She could snap her fingers and fire exploded all around her. She could look at a man and stop him dead in his tracks. Well, she could do that before, but this time, she could entice the man and fuck him with her mind before she devoured his soul. Already the dark power was taking her over and she loved it. Mr. Drake said there might be a period of adjustment for her. Her Reaper Powers would eventually fade and her new ones would come in. Right now, she had both and her new powers were burning away her old ones. Inside it felt like she was battling between fire and ice. It made her tremble and quiver inside. Harmony liked it. “What the hell happened to you?” Andy asked. A smiled curled on her lips. “Nothing happened to me. I told you I was going to get a new job? Do you like the new look?” The stupefied look he had on his face before melted. He shook his head. “No, I don’t like the new look. This isn’t you, Harmony.” 57
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She brought the riding crop down hard on her palm. It stung. She liked that too. Harmony was discovering she had a liking for pain. What would Mr. Drake show her when he punished her? What did she have to do to get punished? She licked her lips thinking about it. She could still taste the smoke flavor of Mr. Drake’s lips. “How in the Hell do you know what is me and what isn’t? You don’t know me, Andy. You only fucked me to have your way with me. You distracted me from taking your soul. Well, it’s on now.” Andy winced at her words. That was good. “You have it all wrong. We didn’t fuck as you put it. We made love, Harmony. Isn’t there a part of you that remembers what love is?” Andy’s words stopped Harmony in her tracks. Something inside of her wavered There was indecision. She could hear the truth behind Andy’s words. Don’t listen to him. He’s only using you, Harmony. Finish your Soul Challenge with him and then give him one last bang for his buck. And while you ride him, you can use your new abilities to suck down his soul. Feed on him and wipe out your old existence, Mr. Drake whispered inside her mind. His hands wrapped around her stomach. Harmony could feel him hard against her backside. His lips trailed down the side of her throat, pinching and nipping. He’s right. Andy is only using me. I’ll play along and then I’ll ride him like he was a bucking bronco. Harmony felt Mr. Drake retreat from her. She put on a big warm smile. It was better to play along for now. “Of course I remember what love is, Andy. I’m sorry if I snapped at you. I’m just a little overwhelmed with my new job and everything. I’m sure you can understand. What we had on the beach was wonderful.” She walked across the space and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against him. Andy quivered underneath her. “Forgive me?” she kissed him lightly. A spark zapped between them that jolted her and caused her to pull away from him. “What the hell was that?” Andy asked. She shrugged. “It must be my sparkling personality. Now come on, writer-boy. I haven’t got all day. Name your game so I can win your soul.”
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She saw Andy’s shoulders slump. He was falling for it. “I want to play Scrabble.” Harmony’s smile faltered. “Scrabble? Why the hell do you want to play that when we can do whatever you want? You play me at Canasta, Sorry, Chutes and Ladders, Hell, I’ll even play Beer Pong. What do you say? Why don’t you pick another game?” Andy crossed his arms over his chest. His hair fell into his face. Harmony flashed back to the first time she saw him. He looked cute when he was being stern. What the hell am I thinking? “Not on your life, Harmony. We’re playing Scrabble.” She sighed. “As you wish!” She waved her hand transforming his table into an already set up Scrabble board with the little letters on the racks. “That’s cheating.” “It’s not cheating. I don’t know what letters you have. But if you want to put them all back, please be my guest.” Harmony sat down across from Andy and stared at the letters in front of her. She wracked her brain to think of a word. She always hated this game. Andy flipped his letters back onto the table and chose seven more. Harmony waved her hand and turned the tiles that were right side up face down again and also conjured a pad and a pencil so she could keep score. “You go first.” Andy stared at his letters for a long time before he placed them on the board. He ended up with the word: Tarnish. Harmony stared at her letters. She didn’t have much. However, she added an E, D to the end of the word to spell: Tarnished .She hit a double word score. Already she was ahead. She drew new letters and still ended up with crappy letters. The game continued for a couple of hours. Both of them were going at it neck and neck. Nothing much was said between the two of them while she and Andy concentrated on the game. There was a lot at stake. Andy could keep his soul or she would win it. Already Harmony contemplated what she was going to do with his soul. She would use it to further her career and make Mr. Drake a very happy boss. The night grew later. Harmony heard her stomach growl. She waved her hand and conjured herself a ham sandwich. She never would have done this while 59
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she was a Reaper. They didn’t need to eat anything, but she liked to. Mr. Drake had told her she could indulge in whatever it was she wanted. She picked it up and brought it to her lips and began chewing on it. After a moment, she felt Andy’s eyes on her. “What?” she asked with her mouthful. “Nothing.” She offered him a bite. “You want some?” “No thanks. I just want to finish this game.” Andy laid out down a couple of letters since the board was getting full. He spelled Axe and got a triple word score for it. It pushed him ahead of Harmony. “So can I ask you something, Harmony?” “Yeah, whatever you want writer-boy.” She wrote down his score and didn’t bother to look at him. She wasn’t too happy that she was losing, but she did admit that she was doing better than she normally was. Why don’t you use your powers and change the board. The human won’t know. That way you’ll end up winning and can claim his soul, Mr. Drake’s voice purred inside her mind. It made her insides quiver. This time his hands trailed along the inside of her thighs only stopping just short of sneaking under her very short skirt. Her eyes fluttered shut. Inside her mind, she could see him. His hands left her thighs and ran over her breasts, teasing her nipples until they hardened. Harmony wanted to know what he would feel like buried deep inside of her. Soon, my dearest. Now do as I say and make him lose the game. I know you want his soul. Because you want it, I want it too. Think of the wonderful things you can do to his body. The wonderful pleasures you can make him feel, that I can make you feel if you do as you’re told. Harmony’s mouth turned up in a smile. Yes, she would do as she was told. She made a quick motion with her hand. Her power washed over the table. “What the hell was that?” Andy barked. Harmony opened her eyes. “What was what, love? I didn’t see anything?” Andy leaned over and stared at the board. “You’re cheating. Half of those words weren’t there a minute a go. And now I’m losing. I don’t fucking think so. Harmony, change the scores back right now!” 60
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She got up slowly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Andy. Your mind must be playing tricks on you. I’m winning. Your soul will be mine.” Andy got up quickly and sent his chair flying. “Clem, get your ass down here right now. You never said anything about her cheating.” Harmony laughed. What was her old boss going to do? Fire her? “That old stuffed shirt can’t do anything. I might be bound to play your last challenge with you, but who ever said that I had to play by the rules. I don’t live by anyone’s rules anymore!” A loud booming voice echoed through the house. “You must play by the rules, Harmony. If it is the last duty you perform as a Reaper. You are bound to play fair. It is the chance that every soul gets.” A frigid blast swept through the apartment. She hugged herself and watched as the letters and the score changed back. “You’re no fun, Clem. I’m so glad that I quit.” No one answered her. “Fine, Andy. We’ll finish playing without cheating. I can’t play. Your turn.” Andy only had three tiles left to play. He used all three of them to spell love off a lone E. Harmony scoffed at it. She added the scores together. “Okay, so you win. Name your prize, writerboy.” She waved her hand and the table went back to normal. Harmony was irritated. She had lost a soul. Now Mr. Drake would get mad at her and he wouldn’t be happy with her performance. It’s okay love. There are more souls out there. Think of him as a breaking point from your old life. Get this over with and come back to me. When you do, I’ll give you the ride of your life. I’ll promise you won’t forget it. Mr. Drake kissed the top of her head. She nodded. Andy walked across the room and stood before her. “I can ask you for anything right?” She checked her nails. The color matched her shoes. “Yeah. That is the rule. You get to ask me for your soul or for whatever you want. Consider me a genie for this one thing. I know you want your soul and to live another twenty years until another 61
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Reaper comes to get you, blah blah blah. Well, get on with it, what do you want?” Andy reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. His flesh was cool against hers. It made her shiver some. He stared deep into her eyes. Something inside of her recognized that look. It was one of true love. She curled her face into his palm. His hands were so soft. They had been soft when he had touched her on the beach. They were even softer than when the waves had caressed their naked flesh and the salt of the water wrinkled their skin. Part of her missed that. “I want—” “Yes, Andy?” She yearned to feel his lips on hers again. He leaned in, doing what she wanted. He pressed his lips to hers in a soft, sweet kiss. Her arms entwined around his neck. It was all too brief though as he stepped away from her, breaking contact and leaving her all alone. “I ask that Death take my soul and that yours is returned instead.” Harmony’s forehead creased when he said that. It took her a moment to understand what it was he said. Suddenly she heard a scream erupt behind her. She spun around to see Mr. Drake screaming and surrounded in flames. “She gave her soul to me fair and square. We made a deal.” Harmony spun back around to see Clem standing beside Andy. “You might have made a deal, but Andy won his Soul Challenge. He asked that her soul be switched with his. That cancels out your deal, Drake. Harmony won’t become one of your minions.” “I’ll get you again, Clem. Just you wait.” The flames exploded and took Mr. Drake with them. Harmony spun back around to see Clem fade out. As he did, the power she had felt from the deal she had made faded away. She was left cold and wanting. Realization washed over her. She had sold her soul away without even realizing it. She took a step towards Andy. He gave her a half smile, but then the light left his eyes. He crumbled to the floor before her. Horror washed over her. She rushed over to him and picked him up in her arms. Oh God! What have I done! What did I do! “No, Andy. You can’t die. Clem, please, no. You can’t take him!” she yelled to thin air. She hugged Andy’s lifeless body to her smoothing his hair. Already he was growing cold. She could 62
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feel it. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She hadn’t cried like this since she was mortal. It felt like her heart shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. She remembered Andy’s hands on her. How he had made her feel. God, he had made her feel human, like a woman and not a Grim Reaper. “What’s done is done, Harmony. You know the rules.” Harmony looked up when she heard Clem’s voice. Instead of seeing the blue tattooed man who had been her boss, she saw the black robe and the skeleton face of Death. Fear shot through her. She tried willing herself away, but she didn’t have any power. “What happened to me?” “You’re mortal, Harmony.” Clem knelt down knelt to her and ran his bony hand over her cheek. She shuddered as cold filled her soul. “Mortal, but why? How?” “It’s your punishment for siding with the darkness. I’m not sure what will happen when you die the next time around. I don’t know where your soul will go. I don’t know what Upper Management will say. They have decreed that you are mortal until the day that you die, again. When that happens, someone will come to collect you. But from this point on, you won’t remember anything about your former incarnation. I promise you’ll have a good life though.” “Wait, can’t I say good-bye to Andy? Please, Clem.” Her old boss sighed. “All right. Five minutes. When he goes, that’s it.” Harmony nodded. “Thanks.” “See you around, kiddo.” Clem was gone. Andy took a breath. Harmony let him go. He leaned up and looked deep into her eyes. “Hey beautiful.” He wiped a tear away. “I’m so sorry—” He put a hand on her mouth and silenced her. “No need for that. Just kiss me.” Harmony did as she was told. Her lips met his. The whole gamut of emotions flew through her. From deep love to sorrow, remorse and grief. She had really screwed things up. Andy’s lips were so soft; she didn’t want to forget them. Nor did she want to forget the magical moments between the two of them. But their 63
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five minutes were drawing to an end. Andy pulled away. He ran the back of his hand along her cheek. She rested her hand over his. “Please don’t go.” “You know I have to. You know the rules.” She nodded. The lump of emotions in her throat made it so she couldn’t talk. “I have to go now. I’ll see you around, death –girl.” Harmony laughed. Andy’s eyes went blank again. His hand slipped out from under hers. He was gone. She knew it. And just like Andy was gone, so were her memories. Everything she had been was wiped away leaving her wondering what in the hell she was doing with a dead body in her lap.
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Chapter Ten “There’s got to be another way, Clem. I can’t just leave her like that.” Andy stood in front of the waiting room looking down. “There was no other way. I didn’t make the directive that she had to be punished. But look at it this way, she’ll be happy. She’ll have a good life. Promise. Come on, it’s time for you to head into the Afterlife.” Andy crossed his arms. “No way. I’m not going anywhere. Isn’t there some other alternative? I’m not going to be cooling my heels for the next fifty or sixty years waiting for Harmony to die and then hope that she gets admitted back into Heaven.” Clem stroked his beard. “Well there is one alternative. I can pull a few strings.” “Anything.” Clem clapped him on the back. “You ever think about getting into the soul reclamation business?” “You’ve got to be kidding? You want me to be a Reaper?” “I do have an opening since Harmony quit. You fit the bill, and I’ll guarantee that you will be the one to bring Harmony in when it’s her time. How does that sound?” Andy thought about it. “I want one more thing.” “Name it.” “You swear on the BBD?” “Yes, already.” “Say I swear.” Clem rolled his eyes. “I swear” “I want to be able to see Harmony whenever I have some free time or a day off and be able to interact with her even if she doesn’t remember me.” “That is against company policy.” “You swore. You have to stick to your word.” 65
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“You’re an ass.” Andy slapped him on the back. “Yes, and that’s why you love me, boss.” Clem laughed. “I can tell that training you is going to be ever so much fun. Why did I ever offer in the first place?” Clem snapped his fingers and they were both transported back to the office. He led Andy over to Harmony’s desk. His gaze swept over all of her things. He picked up the photo of her taken on the beach. He caressed the photo. “You really love her?” Andy nodded. “Yeah. I really do.” “Trust me, man. It will all work out.” “I guess. I thought love was supposed to conquer all. Even death. “You never know. It still might. Now get your butt in here. We have a ton of paperwork to do.” Andy set the picture down and stared at the empty desk. It was hard to believe that he had been alive only a few moments ago. Now he had switched places with Harmony. Clem might have said things would work out, but he wasn’t so sure. **** Andy settled right into his new position as a Grim Reaper. He found it fun and he never tired of it. Time flew by so quickly he didn’t even realize that he had been at his job for a year and it was already Halloween. In his first year he had never even stopped to check on Harmony. When he did have the day off, he was surprised. So he honed in on her only to find that she was sitting on a very nearly deserted beach, watching the sun rise, with a book in one hand and a tropical drink nestled in the sand next to her beach chair. Her long legs were tan. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid. She wore a one piece bathing suit, and her eyes were covered by big dark sunglasses. She looked as breathtaking as she had the first time he had seen her. “You mind if I share the space with you?” Andy asked. Harmony looked over at him and gave him a small smile. “Knock yourself out.” Andy sat in the chair next to her watching the sun rise in silence, finding himself relaxing. It was good to be away from the job. He had forgotten what it was like to just take a minute to 66
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breathe and enjoy the world around him. “So, you come here often?” he asked Harmony. She looked down her nose at him. He noticed the book she read had her name on it along with a picture of a Grim Reaper. It was titled, Death Becomes Her. “So you’re a writer?” Harmony smiled and glanced at her book. “Yeah. This is the first book in a series that I have planned. It’s about a female Grim Reaper and all the antics that she gets up to as she goes around collecting souls. This is actually my ARC I’m supposed to be going over it for errors.” Andy smiled. It seemed like Harmony hadn’t forgotten all of what Clem thought she would. “So does the Grim Reaper get her man? I mean love interest wise?” Harmony bit her lip. There were tears in her eyes. “No. He dies in the end. Or at least in the book. I haven’t figured it out yet. Of course in book two they’ll end up together I think.” “Well that’s good. Hey look, I didn’t mean to stir up old feelings.” She took her glasses off and wiped her eyes. “No it’s okay. It’s kinda weird. I lost my boyfriend. I also lost like twenty-five years of my life. I don’t remember anything up until a year ago. Whenever I dream it’s bits and pieces.” Andy felt bad. “I’m sorry about your boyfriend. I’m being rude. I’m Andy.” “Harmony. Are you here for long?” Andy sighed. “No, only for the day. Would you mind the company?” “No. I mean that would be great. Thanks. It’s weird, but my boyfriend’s name was Andy.” Andy smiled. It also cut his heart. He wanted to reach out and take her in his arms and make her remember the brief time they had spent together. But he wasn’t allowed. He wanted to tell her he was her boyfriend. It cut his heart to the quick. Seeing her in the flesh made him want to take her right there on the beach. “Well, it’s kinda weird too because my girlfriend’s name was Harmony, she died a year ago too. I haven’t been able to get over her since.” “You know that’s just a horrible line.” She started to get up.
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“Wait. I’m not lying or using a line on you. My girlfriend and I went to Barbados and made love in the sand. We used to love playing games. I remember I would beat her at Scrabble all the time. She hated it though, but she kicked my butt at Air Hockey.’ Harmony stared at him. He could see the mistrust in her soul melting away. “You mean all that. It’s weird, but your girl sounds like my Reaper characters. Maybe you and I were meant to meet for the day.” “Yeah, just maybe we were.” For the rest of the day, he took Harmony around the island. They ate, drank, and laughed together. Andy knew better than to press her for a lot of information, since she didn’t remember her past. But she did tell him a lot about her ideas for her upcoming books. All of which she had no idea were based on her past. Finally they spent the night on the beach talking and listening to the waves. The sun would be rising soon. “I have to go, Harmony.” She looked into his eyes. “I really wish you didn’t. I feel like I know you. Will I ever see you again?” “Why don’t we make a deal to meet here every Halloween?” “I’ll hold you to that.” “Good.” He leaned in. Andy waited for her to make a decision. Finally she leaned in and met his lips. He kissed her softly and slowly, trying to memorize her taste. Pineapple and coconut lined her lips from her lip gloss. Their tongues touched briefly before she pulled away from him. Even in the pre-dawn light he noticed her blush. “I’ll see you next year, right?” Andy stood up and brushed a piece of hair from her face. “I’ll see you around, writer-girl.” He walked off the beach a ways and then turned to see she was still standing there watching him leave. He raised his hand in farewell and then let himself fade out. **** Every year as promised, Andy went and spent time with Harmony on Halloween. He always made sure he was done with his job and had plenty of time to spare. Each year he never 68
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pressed her into more than just a good-bye kiss. He tried to watch her in his spare time, but found that it was just too hard because he couldn’t be there with her. Sometimes they would play games for hours, and others they would just spend time together in silence. She became a wealthy writer with her Death Becomes Her series. She went on to write several more books. She bought a house on the island in front of the very beach where they met. After fifteen years, Andy watched the sun set on another of his days off. Harmony sat across from him. He noticed that she had a few wrinkles around her eyes and her hair was starting to shoot through with silver. He sipped his ice tea and enjoyed the breeze. “Andy, can I ask you something?” “You can ask me anything you want, writer-girl.” He enjoyed still seeing her blush with the nickname her gave her after all these years. “You don’t just have good genes, do you?” He looked at her quizzically. “Well I think my butt looks good in my jeans, but you know —” She hit him. “That’s not what I mean. We met fifteen years ago to the day. I’m getting older and you’re not. What are you, Andy? I feel like I should know, but I don’t.” His grip tightened on his glass. He knew one of these days this question was going to surface. Damn you, Clem. “I can’t tell you, Harmony. I’m sorry.” He got up to leave. “I should stop coming to see you every Halloween.” She reached out and grabbed his arm. “No. Please don’t go.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I won’t ask any more questions. I look forward to seeing you every year. It brings me so much happiness, making the rest of the year not seem so bleak. I don’t know how to explain it. When you’re here part of me is complete even if for a little while. God, that sounds like a line from one of my books, but it’s true. Please stay with me.” Andy stared at her and saw the hurt and the truth in her soul. “Of course I won’t leave you, sweetie.” He reached over and drew her to his lips. She melted against him. She wanted him. He could tell, but he didn’t want to press his luck.
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“Please come inside with me.” She rested her head against his chest. “I can’t, Harmony. I’m sorry.” She nodded. His heart broke even more. All these years weren’t fair to her. He knew that she was holding onto a faint hope that they would somehow end up getting together. However, that was something that could never happen for them. How could he tell her exactly what happened between the two of them? “I should go.” “Will I see you again next year?” Andy stared at her feeling doubt. “I don’t know.” Harmony nodded. “All right. Oh, before I forget, I have something for you.” She ran back inside the house and came out with a book. It was titled, Writer-boy. Andy saw the title and smiled. “What’s this one about?” “It’s actually an off shoot about my Grim Reaper Series. The main character is a man who falls in love with a Grim Reaper and he demands his Soul Challenge in order to win his soul back. I thought you might like it.” She handed him the book. If only she knew. “Thanks.” He pecked her on the cheek and took the book. He hugged it close to him. He walked outside and down the beach. As always he raised his hand in farewell and then disappeared. This time Harmony could barely raise hers. Andy reappeared at his desk. Harmony’s picture still sat on the desk. He looked at it every day to remind himself that he would always love her. He ran his fingers over the glass. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” “Do what, bro?” Andy looked up at Clem who was still dressing in his usual Hawaiian shirts. “Nothing.” “This is about Harmony?” “You know it is. I can’t stand watching her live her mortal life and age. You know she’s never gotten married or had any children. She still holds a flame for me.”
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Clem straddled the chair and sat down next to Andy. “Look Andy. You knew that when you took on this job. This was her punishment for what she did.” “Damn it, Clem. To live her life without love. To wipe away her memory when she writes about her life thinking it’s all fiction. I don’t know. I just want to hold her and tell her it’s going to be okay. I think I’m beginning to understand why Harmony made the deal with Drake. This job consumes you.” “Look Andy. I know how you feel, but don’t think like that. There is a reason for everything. I wasn’t going to tell you this now, but I’m looking to retire here in a few. I was hoping that you would take up the mantle. I wanted to pass down my shirts to you.” Andy scoffed. “You want me to do your job? I don’t know.” Clem got up and clapped him on the back. “Well, you still have time. Now go enjoy the rest of your day off. You have like nine hours to kill. I don’t want to see you here until tomorrow.” Andy watched as his boss disappeared. He stared at Harmony’s picture wondered if he was up for taking over Clem’s job. He didn’t know. Really all he wanted was Harmony in his arms where nothing could ever harm her and where she was in love and happy.
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Chapter Eleven Harmony stared at the rows of books on her bookcase. She had written over a hundred novels in all of her career. Most of them had been bestsellers. She had a run on her Grim Reaper series and there were over thirty novels alone in that one. And then she had written an offshoot of the series about Andy. Her mind drifted to the last night she had seen him. It was a night, much like tonight. Halloween. She had asked him what exactly he was. She had never gotten an answer out of him; that had saddened her. However, he hadn’t told her and he never returned. Every Halloween night she kept vigil, hoping that he would come. There were times she felt that he was there watching her, but whenever she would talk to the air the presence would leave, so she stopped talking. The years drifted away and she grew older. She had tons of fans who kept her company and a cat now and again. However, she never married and never had any children. She never recalled what her life had been like before her boyfriend had died in her arms. All she had were strange dreams which she based her books on. Now she was all alone and she knew that tonight she was going to die. Harmony didn’t know how she knew that, but she had sensed it. She had put all of her affairs in order and now she waited. Her body was tired. She had seen over eighty-five years. Now it was time to rest her weary bones. She smiled and knew that she didn’t have anything to worry about. She patted her books and then went to sit out on the beach. The sun was setting and the waves crashing against the beach. All of it lulled her into a wondrous mood. “It’s a great night isn’t it, writer-girl?” Harmony looked over to see Andy sitting in the empty chair next to her. “It is a great night, Andy. It’s good to see you.” “You as well. You know why I’m here don’t you?” 72
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“You’re my Grim Reaper.” “That I am. Does that scare you?” Harmony laughed and coughed. It took her a moment to catch her breath. Her chest hurt a little. “No. Should it after all this time? After all the books I’ve written?” Andy laid his hand on top of hers. “I’m glad that it doesn’t. I’ve missed you, Harmony.” He got up and stood before her. As he did, she flashed back to one of her dreams that had made it into her books. She was standing before a car and Andy was behind the wheel. There was a blue tattooed man wearing a Hawaiian shirt next to her. Andy wasn’t a Reaper he was mortal. It was an odd image. Had she been a Reaper? She was the one who had originally gone after Andy’s soul. Was that possible? “I’ve missed you too. Is it time to go?” “It is time to go.” Harmony smiled and took his outstretched hand. Once she did, she felt the weight of her flesh fall away. When that happened, all of her memories came rushing back. She stared at her hands. They were young once more. She turned back around and saw her dead body resting peacefully in the chair. She turned back to Andy. “Andy?” His whole face lit up. “Hey, writer-girl.” He opened his arms. She fell into his embrace feeling at home and complete for the first time in over sixty years. “Oh God. Andy!” “Do you remember everything now?” Harmony thought about it. She did remember everything. She remembered the deal she had made with Drake and how she had almost lost her soul. Andy had given up his soul in order to save hers. She hugged him harder. All this time he had been watching out for her when she thought she had felt him around. “I do. But because you’re here, does that mean that I have to serve out the rest of my punishment?” Fear washed through her. She had done a horrible thing and gone against everything being a Reaper meant. She didn’t know what was in store for her now. Andy’s arms tightened around her. “That doesn’t matter right now. What’s more important is that I have you now. I’ve missed you so much.” He brushed her lips with his.
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Harmony didn’t wait for him to respond. She pressed herself against him trying to feel his body and memorize it, just in case she was flung into hell. Their tongues met in years of promised ecstasy. She moaned and he swallowed it down. Harmony once had a Reaper’s power at her disposal, but now she was nothing more than a soul. Andy could do anything he wanted to her, but all he wanted was her body. Their mouths played against one another tasting and memorizing one another’s lips until finally she pulled away. She wiped tears away from her eyes and nestled into Andy’s body. She felt so at home there. “Harmony, there’s no need to cry, love.” She shook her head. “I can’t help it, Andy. It’s been so long since we’ve... I don’t remember if I still know how.” Andy caught her up in his arms. “I’m pretty sure you remember how, love.” He snapped his fingers. Harmony felt the world shift and a cold chill move down her spine. She had forgotten a Reaper’s powers. They reappeared on a deserted beach. She recognized it. “This is where we first made love.” Andy curled a piece of hair back behind her ear. “Yes. I was hoping you would remember.” Harmony nodded and began to unbutton her top. She was still dressed in the attire she had died in. A light sweater, skirt, ugly shoes. Andy smiled, but took her hands gently and guided them away. He undid her sweater and let it fall to the sand. Then came her bra. As he removed each article of clothing, his hands ran over her body, sending shoots of ecstasy through her. With shaking fingers, she slid her hands under Andy’s T-shirt. His flesh was cool, but his muscles were hard underneath. For so long, while she was human, she had fantasized about doing this. Now, being dead, Harmony realized that she had taken becoming human for granted. There was so much to experience that she had never let her hair down when she was a Reaper. There was so much more to life, down to the little experiences like this one. Being with someone whom she loved. Andy finally had her completely undressed. The ocean breeze caressed her naked flesh. His eyes never left her form. She could see he wanted to touch her, but was holding himself back. Biting her lip, she tugged his T-shirt out of his jeans and 74
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pulled it off over his head. She touched her tongue to the bump of his Adam’s apple and licked it quickly. Her hands slid over his jeans squeezing his ass while she pressed her body against his, forming herself to him. There was already warmth between them. Harmony felt the sparks. She licked the line of his neck, tasting the salt of his flesh until she nipped his ear. Her fingers teased around the waistband of his jeans only dipping inside a little to discover Andy was commando. His hand wound into her hair, pulling her lips back up to his. Harmony’s lips moved frantically against his. Already she was so wet from their touching. Now she needed flesh against flesh. It had been decades since her needs had been fulfilled. She freed Andy’s hard length from his jeans. It sprang out to poke her thigh like it had a mind of its own, seeking to be buried inside her moist well. Andy released her lips, but didn’t retreat from her. His forehead touched hers while he tried to catch his breath. Harmony concentrated on working his shaft in slow, even strokes, enticing him to harden even more. “Oh God! Do you know how many times I wanted this while you were human?” She felt him fighting for control. “Why didn’t you?” “It wouldn’t have been fair to you.” “Life wasn’t fair. I’d rather be dead as long as I can be with you.” Harmony kissed him lightly, then slid down the length of his body. Before Andy could respond she pulled his jeans the rest of the way down and took his hard member into her mouth. Lightly she ran her teeth up his hard shaft, creating friction. A moan, from him, filled her ears. She cupped his balls, loving their weight. She enjoyed the smoothness of his length each time she went down on him, creating an agonizing rhythm for Andy. This was only part of his punishment for not bedding her when she had asked him to that Halloween night while she was human. She squeezed him gently. His moans grew deeper. His muscles were clenching. Each time she came up, she let him slip out of her mouth and then plunged back down ever so slowly. His hands gripped her shoulders as he tried to steady himself. Harmony grew ever wetter from hearing him. She wanted him to ride her so she could come screaming Andy’s name. “Please baby. I can’t take it anymore. I need you.” 75
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She came up centimeter by centimeter drinking in the saltiness of him until finally Harmony released his dick. She ran her hands the length of her body. Andy’s eyes mirrored her movement. Andy captured her hands, pressing them over the orbs of her breasts. Her nipples hardened from the quick squeeze. A gasp escaped her lips. He didn’t break her gaze, but let one of his hands slither down her belly until they found her secret spot of pleasure. With a quick flick of his thumb, Harmony let herself surrender to Andy. She was so ready she didn’t hold anything back. They were meant for one another. She didn’t have any more walls to hide behind and when he increased the friction on her sweet spot she lost herself in abandon. Her legs got watery as the first deep sensation washed over her from Andy fingering her, but he held her up and wouldn’t let her look away. “Come for me, love,” he whispered against her lips. He pecked her mouth lightly. She tried to answer him, but couldn’t. Her body was starting to lose control and she longed to feel him buried inside of her. “Andy…” was all she managed to lose from her lips. She rested her head against his chest, fighting the quivers that threatened to wash her away. He seemed to get the hint and laid her gently on the sand. She parted her legs for him. “Lovely,” he whispered. His tongue circled her navel, licking a line between her breasts until he took a pebble-like nipple between his teeth. He bit down hard. Harmony nearly screamed from desire. Andy didn’t wait, but plunged into her overflowing well. They connected at the moment on the most primal of levels, getting lost in the rhythm of life. Every time he pushed, Harmony pushed back, until their limbs were in such a tangle they were a human puzzle. She clenched her legs around him to remember she still had a body. Ecstasy overwhelmed the two of them. They were at a loss for words. All they could do was look deep into one another’s eyes, telling one another silently they loved the other until finally Harmony felt the crest. Her nails dug into Andy’s back. “Andy, I love you.” Harmony let herself be taken away at that final moment as Andy drove into her. Their bodies merged for the last time until their passions were spent and they lay in each other’s arms. 76
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Andy brought their entwined hands to his lips and kissed their fingers. Harmony knew their reunion and moment of peace wouldn’t last too much longer. She still had to face the rest of her punishment. Frigid fear ran through her and she shivered in her lover’s arms. “What’s the matter?” Andy asked. “You have to bring me in soon and I’ll be punished or processed. I’ll never see you again after that. I can’t begin to think about that.” “Do you really mean that? Do you want us to be together?” Harmony took her fingers away from his. Why would he ask something like that? “Of course I do, Andy. Being human made me remember I had feelings. I don’t want to lose you again.” Andy stood up and offered his hand to Harmony. She took it. Andy snapped his fingers. Power moved across her. They were both clean and dressed again. This time she wore jeans with a black t-shirt. Andy had on a Hawaiian shirt over his T-shirt. “I just had to be sure. You won’t be punished. You becoming human was your atonement.” “So I’ll be processed and sent into the Afterlife. I can only see myself sitting in the Waiting Room for a couple of decades.” “What would you say if I offered you a job?” Harmony rolled her eyes. Was he serious? “I’m not going to become a Reaper again?” Andy smiled. She sensed there was something else behind his smile he wasn’t telling her. He took hold of her shoulder and waved his hand. They appeared back in a very familiar office. Harmony looked over at her old desk. Andy occupied it now. Her picture still sat there. A smile touched her lips, but she didn’t let Andy see it. Looking across the office, she saw Clem leaning back in his chair with sandaled feet upon his desk. He hadn’t changed. When he noticed them he smiled, waving them in. Harmony swallowed, remembering the last time she had been in his office. He got up, opening his arms to her, wrapping her in a bone crunching hug. She tried to breathe and looked around, noticing all the boxes around the office. Finally he let her go. “Harmony, it’s so great to see you again.” “Hi Clem, what’s with the boxes?” 77
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“Oh yeah. I’m being transferred you see, over to the Magical Humans Division. They are in some serious need of restructuring over there. I’m going to be Senior Management. Andy here is going to be taking my place in the Death Department.” “Well that’s great. If I remember right you’ll have a bunch of vacation,” Harmony smiled. Clem had wanted the transfer for a while. It was great Andy was moving up on the Afterlife as well. Now where did that leave her? “You know, Harm, you looked great in flesh, but I’m so happy to see you dead again. Loved your books, by the way. They were a big hit up here. Senior Management thought they were a hoot.” She blushed. “Thanks.” “Before I forget. Your transfer came through to the Magical Humans Division. Its better hours, tons more vacation time, and Upper Management. You’ll be working under me actually. If you want the job.” Harmony looked at Clem and Andy, who was grinning like a dumb school boy. “But I was human. I screwed up. I should be starting from scratch.” “Well, here’s the thing. You remember how long it takes for paperwork to go through around here. Well it seems that your paperwork for becoming human somehow got lost. So as far as we’re all concerned, you finally got your promotion. This way, you get to be with Andy whenever you want. You’ll have the same schedules.” Andy wrapped his arm around her. “What do you say?” “On two conditions.” “Name them,” Clem said. “Dead-boy over there has to ditch the Hawaiian shirts.” “Done.” Clem snapped his fingers and Andy’s Hawaiian shirt disappeared. “Hey!” Andy moaned. Harmony flashed him a smile. “And I reserve the right to make dead-boy’s life an undead hell if he ever makes me play Scrabble again.” Clem laughed. “I’m not getting involved in that one. So, you taking the job kid? Or what?” 78
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Harmony stared at Andy and threw her arms around him. She planted a long wet kiss on his lips and then whispered something in his ear. She could feel him turning red. Clem coughed. “Of course, I’ll take the job, Clem. You gotta give me a little bit of time to adjust though. I’ve been alive for the past sixty years.” “I’ll be waiting when you’re ready.” He snapped his fingers leaving Andy and Harmony alone. “Did you mean what you whispered?” She smiled. “Oh yeah.” She snapped her fingers. The door closed and locked. All the windows were covered with shades. The office was turned into a Vegas parlor and she had a deck of cards in her hands, only this time Andy had on the green dress she had worn originally when they had first played the game. “This is so not fair,” Andy grumbled. “Oh it’s fair. Just hope that you get a decent hand. If not, it’s your turn to strip.” The End
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Note from the Authors After the costumes and painted faces of trick or treaters are gone It is the time for the creature of the night to celebrate Halloween From spirits to ghouls, vampires to demons All come out to play on the Misty October night Don’t look out your window If you will fear what you might see In the shadows they dance while we dream of what could be. They crawl and stretch and move about. Unnatural howls and screams come from ghostly mouths. Hide your head and pretend it is the wind through the trees Even though the fear of what is out there brings weakness to your knees. Even lovers can connect in this ghostly realm While in happy decadence of freedom the creatures revel and rave... Two become one What better way to be in love than to be dead together Find your soul mate in the damp earth of the grave. Remember, there is more to this world than meets the eyes. Search for it on All Hallows Night if you dare. Happy Halloween! From your authors with bloody fangs and crimson lips. Crymsyn and Dahlia
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About the Authors Dahlia Rose, bestselling author of contemporary erotica, suspense, and paranormal romance. She was born and raised on a Caribbean island and now currently lives in Charlotte, NC with her four kids whom she affectionately nicknamed “The children of the corn” and her biggest supporter/long time love. She has a love of erotica, dark fantasy, Sci-fi and the things that go bump in the night. Books and writing are her biggest passion and she hopes to open your imagination to the unknown between the pages of her books. Crymsyn R. Hart is a bestselling author of erotic romance. Her worlds are filled with luscious vampires, gorgeous gods, quirky witches, and everything else that goes bump in the night. Crymsyn worked as a psychic for many years in Boston while attending Emerson College. She graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing. When she gets bored, she sneaks away to local cemeteries and coffee shops to find peace and quiet. Granted, graveyards might be a great place for the dead, but she still has to listen to their chattering. It can get annoying when all you want to do is write, but she can tell you quite a ghost story. Crymsyn shares her life with a small zoo a playful puppy and her hubby Mark. If you come after dark, you’re more then likely to find her snuggled up with a gory horror movie, or a bloody vampire movie.
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