Page 26 of The Reaper's Vice

“I… went to visit Vee.” I decide notto tell her about the man in the woods, not wanting to dim her light any further. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was so tired, and it must have slipped my mind.”

“Oh!” She claps her hands together excitedly, all the worry vanishing from her face as her aura brightens. “How’s grandma Vee? Did you two have a nice time?”

She sits next to me on the couch, pulling her legs beneath her as she waits eagerly for my response. I reach out and pat her on the head, my lips mirroring her infectious smile.

“We did. She fed me and we watched Casablanca before I passed out on the couch. It was nice to see her and the tigers.”

She lies down, resting her head in my lap and looking up at me with her big, excited blue eyes. “Howarethe fuzzy killers? I wish you could bring them over for visits like when they were cubs.”

I laugh, remembering how I used to sneak Savyne and Sviato inside in a portable crate when they were small enough. Although the tigers never really gave her the time of day, it never stopped Maggie from trying to win over their affection with treats and promises of undying love.

Like house cats, tigers are just picky. Half the time, they don’t even like me—and I’m their mom. Maggie understood this, and I think that's the reason she never gave up on trying to make the twins notice her. Of course, now that they’re too big to sneak into the apartment building, she hasn’t had the chance to try and win their affections. And it’s probably just as well—an uncomfortable adult tiger is a lot more dangerous than a cub.

“Savyne is good.” A smile forma at the thought of her. “Still terrorizing her poor brother every chance she has. And Sviato is a force to be reckoned with, but he still lets her walk all over him like when she was bigger than him—it’s the cutest thing.”

“You’re killing me!” Maggie groans. “Isowant to snuggle a tiger now.”

“Coming from a person who’s never woken up with a face full of tiger drool.”

“I would gladly take the drool for a chance to love on those two cuties. You’re just ungrateful.” Maggie sticks her tongue out, and a laugh bubbles from my lips.

“You’ll just have to come and visit them. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

A wave of regret courses through my veins as Maggie’s face drops. She turns to the TV, her bottom lip quivering with barely restrained emotion.

“Magoo, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking?—”

“It’s not you, Nina.” A pulse of deep blue replaces her normally pink aura. “It’s me. I wish I wasn’t this way. I wish things were different.”

I shake my head, pulling her tiny body into my arms and hugging her hard. “Don’t say that. You areperfectjust the way you are.”

Maggie suffers from severe Agoraphobia, which makes it impossible for her to leave the apartment. She doesn’t have anyone other than me to give her company, and so I know these past few weeks I’ve been busy have taken a toll on her mental health.

Being two years younger than me, Maggie has always been like a little sister to me. The things we’ve been through… there’s no one on the earth that’s experienced the horrors the Sanctum put us through. It’s why she’s so closed off, so terrified of the world around us. It makes sense to me, and the fact I’ve neglected my big sister duties causes a ball of guilt to harden in my stomach.

I gaze down at her, brushing her hair back from her forehead. “I love you with all your quirks. If you didn’t have them, you just wouldn’t be my Magoo, would you?”

She giggles as I pinch her sides teasingly, the sound filling the air bringing a smile to my own face. What I said was true—sheisperfect the way she is. And I’ll stick by her side no matter what. It’s what I’ve always done. What I’ll always do.

Suddenly, Maggie springs upright, all her earlier laughter dying. “Oh my! Look at the state of our poor plant!” She jumps up from the couch, hurrying over to the window with silent, pixie-like movements. She crouches by the browning Monstera with a pinched expression marring her pretty features. “How did this happen? I watered it last week!”

I push up from the couch, stopping silently at her side as I place my hand on her shoulder again. This time, she looks up at me with a frown and tears building in her beautiful ocean eyes. “I’m so sorry, Nina. I really tried to keep it alive.”

“It’s okay. It’s just a plant.” I decide now is not the time to mention the soil looks bone-dry—as if it hadneverbeen watered. Besides, I know the dead foliage isn’t the thing that’s actually causing her distress.

“Magoo… you’re my favorite person. My best friend. And I think you’re perfectjustthe way you are… you know that, right?” I whisper, reaching up and dragging my hand down the back of her unruly red curls. “Nothing could ever change that.”

“I know,” she murmurs, dropping her hands to her lap and picking at her cuticle. “I know and yet… I still wish I was less of a burden on you.”

I crouch next to her, placing my hand atop hers as memories of the past try to push their way out of the dark. “You’re not aburden, Magoo. What would make you think that?”

Her eyes flit toward the window. “You work so much to support us, and when you’re here, you’re always so exhausted, but you never sleep. I just… I feel like I hurt you more than I help you lately. And that’s the last thing I want, Nina. After everything you’ve done for me?—”

I reach out, pressing my finger to her lips. “Magoo, I do it because I love you. Taking care of you is not a chore or a burden for me. If anything, having you here gives me something to look forward to—knowing I get to come home and be myself with you. In fact, I’ve been thinking about taking a week off. A vacation is just what I need—days spent here with you, eating shitty takeout and watching your favorite boring as fuck geographic TV.”

Maggie brightens slightly, the tears shining in her eyes now ones of happiness. “Can you… are you sure you can do that?”

“Absolutely.”

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