Page 117 of Dead Serious: Case 3 Mr Bruce Reyes

“I’ll be seeing you soon,” he says in a soft, cool voice.

Peter’s eyes widen a little and he inches away from Death slowly before slipping out the door and back into the living room.

“Now, what did we say about scaring the mortals?” Chan sighs as she brushes a hand over his shoulder like she’s brushing non-existent lint off his pristine suit.

Death gives a long-suffering moan. “I wasn’t scaring it. If I wanted to do that, I’d simply take my true form.”

“Yes, darling, you’re very scary in your oversized bathrobe.”

“It’s a death shroud,” he replies haughtily, looking quite insulted.

“You know I’m teasing.” Chan smiles impishly.

He harrumphs, but he looks at her as if she’s the only one in the room. Hell, as if she’s the only one on the planet. I don’t know what the hell happened on their date, but I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. But then I remember her turning up at the flat afterward and yeah… maybe not.

“Hmm,” he huffs again, turning his gaze toward me and then glancing at Dusty and Bruce. “Congratulations,” he says. “I suppose you did an adequate job of stopping Chaos from entering this world.”

“Wow. Don’t strain yourself there, Death,” Dusty says dryly, and I swear I see the barest hint of a smile twitch at the corner of his mouth before it disappears and he’s back to stoic.

“I have a gift for you.” He turns back to Chan, and she sighs.

“Death, we talked about this when I made you return the Venus de Milo. You can’t keep stealing priceless works of art for me just because you like them.” She rolls her eyes, her tone exasperated, but there’s no mistaking the affection. I don’t think I’m ever going to understand their relationship, but I can’t deny it’s fun to watch.

Danny seems to feel the same. He shifts me slightly so he has a better view and picks up the large bowl of popcorn from the table, setting it on my lap and grabbing a handful.

“It’s not art,” Death rumbles, his voice low and his blue eyes so bright they’re almost glowing as they lock on her.

“What, then?” she asks in amusement as she stands face-to-face with him, her hands on her hips.

“Knowing him, it’ll probably be a chipped urn full of some dead Pharaoh’s ashes,” Dusty snorts.

Chan sucks in a sharp breath, her eyes widening on Death’s face and her mouth falling open. Slowly, she turns her head towards Dusty.

Seeing Chan staring in shock in her direction, Dusty looks behind her and sees only cupboards and the new microwave. Her gaze snaps back to Chan. “Oh my god,” she says hopefully, blinking in surprise, “can you see me?”

“Dusty!” Chan breathes. Her face breaks into a wide smile and tears spill down her cheeks.

“Do you like this gift?”

“You?” Chan turns back to Death. “You did this?”

“It seemed important to you. Now you have your friend back, and you will always be able to see and hear her,” he says, and I’m sure there’s a tiny little hint of a flush on his high cheekbones.

The next thing I know, Chan jumps Death, and I mean, actuallyjumpshim. She coils her arms around his neck and leaps, wrapping her legs around his waist. Caught off guard, he falls backward, stiff as a plank. All I can see is his hand still grasping the paper plate as the lone sausage roll is catapulted toward the wall. It hits with a splat and drops to the floor.

Chan and Death have dropped to the kitchen floor out of view behind two chairs heaped with guests’ coats . Dusty and Bruce lean to the side, eyebrows raised as they watch god knows what going on behind those coats.

I snigger loudly and shove a handful of popcorn in my mouth, grabbing a second helping and handing it over my shoulder to Danny. I feel his lips brush against my fingers as he nibbles the popcorn, but my attention is still focused across the kitchen.

After a moment, Chan stands and smooths her dress down. Death appears next to her with his hair ruffled, the collar of his shirt standing up at one side, his usually perfectly knotted tie askew, and lipstick smeared across his mouth. Still holding the now empty paper plate and cup.

I laugh and accidentally inhale some of the popcorn, causing Danny to slap my back repeatedly while I cough before he hands me my drink.

“Ahem,” Death coughs slightly. “Yes, well, I must go now. Souls don’t reap themselves.”

In a blink, he’s disappeared.

“Holy shitballs, Princess,” Dusty says in awe. “You just mounted Death. You have balls of steel.”