Page 28 of Frosty and the Reaper

“Yes. That’s a long story,” Kami said, hedging a bit. “Try the fruit. It’s really good.”

“You actually ate fruit from the Tree of Life?” Kellen asked.

She nodded. “Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you to try it. I actually felt great after taking a bite. The taste is surprisingly sweet and light. It’s almost what I imagine ambrosia tastes like.”

“It is ambrosia,” Zander corrected.

She turned to gape at him. “Really? I…hmm.”

When he just continued to stand there, Kami pulled him toward a chair and pushed at his large shoulders in a hint to sit down. Instead, he swept her off her feet and gently placed her down on the chair. Once she was settled, he sat down on the seat next to her.

“Should we…?” Crispin asked, gesturing toward the fruit.

Micah shrugged. “I’m game.”

Picking up a knife, he cut the pear-shaped fruit into pieces. After a brief moment of hesitation, he offered the first piece to Jackie.

She popped the piece into her mouth and chewed. “Oh, wow. That’s really good. It tastes like fresh honey.”

“It tastes like spun sugar to me,” Micah said after eating a piece.

“That’s odd. I think it taste like chocolate,” Lia informed them.

“Cotton candy,” Kellen said as he chewed.

“I would agree with Jackie, and say honey,” Crispin finally said. “That’s amazing! A few seconds ago, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes opened, but now I feel like I could run a marathon.”

Kami thought the fruit tasted like salted caramel. Since everyone said something different, she figured everyone tasted their favorite sweet treat. She guessed it really was ambrosia, the food of the gods.

“I remember what else you thought tasted like salted caramel,”Zander purred through their bond.

“Don’t you dare say that out loud!”

He chuckled.“I wasn’t planning to, beloved.”

“Thank you for the amazing gift.” Pleasantries done, Jackie wasted no time starting the interrogation. “Where have you been, Kami? I’ve been trying to call you for hours. I can’t believe you hung up on me!”

“Zander took me to his home.” Kami laughed lightly. “You only called for a few hours? I can’t believe you gave up so easily.”

Jackie’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? You only disappeared this afternoon. I was just about to start calling you again after we finished dinner.”

Kami blinked in confusion, then she remembered what Mali had told her. With everything that had been going on, she had completely forgotten about the whole time difference thing. She still wasn’t sure exactly how that worked, but they had obviously been gone a lot longer than a few hours. It had been days since the reapers had woken up in the Realm of Illusions.

“About that…” At a loss for words, she glanced over at Zander.

“Time works differently where we live,” he said simply.

That wasn’t much of an explanation, and clearly, the others weren’t amused.

“What the hell does that mean?” Micah asked, sounding perplexed.

“I thought you were somewhere in the Hell Realm,” Kellen added. “Isn’t that what Braxton said?”

Micah shook his head. “That was just a guess.”

Kami was unsure what she was allowed to say. She didn’t want to give away any information about the In Between if Zander didn’t want her to. It was his home, after all.

“It is your home as well,”he corrected. “We live in the In Between, a realm that exists beyond the six realms.”