Sixth Grave on the Edge(113)

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

“I figured.”

“Noni did the best he could, but to drive her without completely replacing the frame would have been dangerous. It would have cost more, and you would’ve still had problems in the long run.”

I understood. “Thank you. It’s still Misery. I can feel her in spirit.”

He patted my head like one would when consoling a child. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Dutch.”

He made me giggle, but he still needed to be punished for his insolence, so I bit his shoulder. Hard. He sucked in a lungful of air and rolled on top of me. Brushing the hair out of my eyes, he said, “You know, they say that those who know the real name of the grim reaper hold power over him. Or, in this case, her.”

I sobered, suddenly more interested in the conversation than in his delicious shoulders. “They say that?” I asked, wondering what real name he would be referring to.

“Yes.”

“And do you know my real name?”

He propped his head on an elbow and stared down at me. “I do, in fact. I heard it whispered on the voice of every angel in heaven when they sent you.”

“And?” I asked, hopeful. I knew so little about that part of myself.

“You aren’t supposed to hear it until you pass.”

“Pass? Like, away?” I asked, surprised. That could be much sooner than either of us had expected.

“Yes. When you fully become the grim reaper.”

“But you know it now, right? You could tell me.”

He lowered his head. “I’m not sure what knowing it would do. Like I said, there is a power behind it.”

“How can something as arbitrary as a name have power?”

“Your real name is anything but arbitrary. Just remember something, Dutch. You are not of this world. You never will be. Your human existence is just a microsecond in your life. A necessary state of being to ground you on this plane. At first, I thought that was why my father wanted me to wait for you. You can’t just capture a reaper unless you can catch one in human form. There is simply no way to catch a portal otherwise. It’s like trying to grab hold of smoke.”

“You said, at first.”

“Yes. I’m with Swopes. I think Lucifer lied to me and to him. I think there’s more to it; I just don’t know what. Either way, you still have a job waiting for you after your corporeal being ceases to exist. A job that will last centuries.”

“And knowing my name will make me more powerful?” I asked, perplexed.

“Yes. It is part of your transformation. And since your family is so powerful, you even more so, I can’t imagine what knowing it would do.”

“So why are you telling me this now?” I asked. I’d been begging for information like this from him for months.

“I owe you,” he said, matter-of-fact.

“You do? Cool. And just what do you owe me for?”

The seriousness in his eyes hit me hard. “Because you said yes.”

I blinked in surprise. “You think because I agreed to marry you, you owe me?”

“You don’t realize what that means. You are literally royalty, born to the king and queen of your kind. Your marrying me will be like a beloved princess marrying a street urchin.”

I snickered, but his expression remained severe.

“But again, you are more special than any of your kind. More powerful. I’m beginning to understand you have a much higher purpose than I’d ever realized. For us to marry … let’s just say your celestial, for lack of a better word, family would not approve.”

“I would love to know more about them,” I coaxed. When it became clear I wasn’t getting any more out of him where that was concerned, I pressed him about his own. “What about your family? Are you ever going to try to contact them? I still believe they would want to know you are alive and well.”

“Perhaps. Just as your parents would you.”

I rose onto my elbows. “What do you mean?”

“Their sacrifice was a great one. Once one of their kind is sent, they lose all contact until the reaper’s physical form passes. They have no idea how you are doing, what your life has been like.”

“Wow. Our parents are more similar than I thought. Do you remember being born?” I asked him out of the blue. I’d always wondered about how he came into the world, both in the supernatural realm, when created by his outcast father, and here on earth.

“The memory of my human existence isn’t like yours. I remember bits and pieces.”

“What about your creation? What about when Lucifer created you?”

He lay back and rested an arm on his forehead. “That I remember well.”