Page 3 of To Crave Deeply
I finally opened my eyes and took a proper look around the room I found myself in. It was empty apart from the table near me, the chair I was sitting on, and the ghost who was smiling sweetly at me.
What. The. Fuck.
A ghost?
I blinked. A few times but the image didn’t change. I could still see the very solid chair through her very translucent form. She was definitely a ghost.
I looked down at my hands and holy shit. I could see the table beneath them.
Shit. What happened? How did I get here?
I tried to remember but everything was fuzzy. It was like trying to remember a dream after you woke up, but I couldn’t quite grasp the threads of it.
Wait… there was a battle, and a ball, and Jasper had told me he loved me, and then…
Oh, shit. My hands flew to my stomach. I ripped up the plain ghostly cotton top that seemed to be the standard uniform for the dead and I screamed. There was a giant hole where that stupid angel had stabbed me.
I had died. I had actually died.
“I can tell from the way your eyes are popping that you’re remembering what happened. Are you alright, sweetie?”
I looked at the ghost across the table. She looked like a normal person, just more… transparent. Her blonde hair was perfectly coiffured, her make up was on point, and her long false nails were patting my hand in sympathy.
“Cindy, am I… dead?” I could hardly get the word out. My mouth was drier than the Gobi desert and normally I’d think my heart was pounding but I couldn’t even feel it. It was as silent as the grave.
“I’m afraid so. It was quite spectacular according to your file. I just need to get through some paperwork and then we can assign you a role while you wait for your placement.” Her voice was chipper with a rich South American drawl. I could tell she was one of those people who were happy no matter what the situation.
Wait. This was wrong. This wasn’t my waiting room. I’d been in mine before, when I first met Lucifer. It was a beautiful beach, not a bureaucratic office.
“This is wrong. My waiting room was a beach.”
“You’ve been to a holding centre before? That’s not in your file.” Her voice trailed off as she took another look through my paperwork. “Ah-ha! Here we go, now it makes sense. You were in the In-Between. That moment between life and death. You never actually died. Unlike now where you are, in fact, dead as the proverbial doornail.”
Her smile beamed down at me as she discussed my life status, or rather, lack of it. Wait. That meant…
“Lucifer!” I frantically pulled my top down to look at the mark. It was still on my skin. Did that mean we were still bonded? Even in the afterlife?
“Oh, you’re soulbonded. I haven’t seen one of those in centuries. Who’d you bond to?”
“The Devil.”
Cindy laughed. “Oh, you’re funny, Lori. But seriously, if you’re bonded to someone, they will be in the system. I can take a look for you if you tell me their name.”
“No, seriously. I’m bonded to Lucifer. I’m the Sin Reaper from the prophecy. You know, the one about destroying the world?”
She paled. How that was possible for a ghost I’ll never know, but she definitely lost some colour.
“That’s not possible. Your file says you’re a mage. Not a demon.”
“Yes, I’m part mage, but I am most definitely a Sin Reaper as well. I ate souls and consumed dark energy and I am most definitely bonded to Lucifer.”
“But if you’re dead…”
I gulped. “Then so is Lucifer.”
“Well, butter my biscuits. This could turn into a sticky situation.” She tapped her nails against her chin and pursed her lips in thought. “I know what we’ll do. Let me find a scryer and we will take a look at your body. If you’re dead, then I will be able to stamp your paperwork and send you off.”
She stood and headed to a panel in the wall where a white phone sat.
