Page 150 of Grim

“Didn’t you?” She closes the distance between us.

“That wasn’t the plan. I would never—”

She cuts me off sharply, “I know grace is kind of my thing, but do me a favor, Strawberry.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t forget who you are.”

“I have not. I know exactly—”

“Next time,” her voice is cool as she interrupts, “show me enough respect to stab me in the front, yeah?”

She punctuates the question with a single sharp poke to my sternum. I look down at the place where her finger is touching my bare chest.

“Your sisters …” I falter on the rest of the sentence.

“Are conniving shrews, I know. And you are just the hapless fool that signed the contract, looked the other way, and collected your shiny new title.” She pauses, and the silence stretches between us. “Death.”

Disdain drips off each letter as it rolls off her tongue. It drips acid.

We both go still. The quartet mercifully stops their musical torture.

“Tell me,” she says, breaking the quiet, “how are you enjoying your promotion? Are all those benefits paying off?”

“I stay busy.”

She looks me up and down, taking in the flamingo, the cocktail, the general state of my existence. “Evidently.”

There is so much she does not know. So much she is assuming, but none of that matters right now. She is here. That is all I care about. That and the exhilarating and terrifying consequences that accompany that truth.

“Enough about me. How the fuck did you get here?” I demand, settling back into my own skin. Remembering who thefuckI am.

“That’s a story for another time, Daryl. But I can give you the highlights.”

“No one has ever escaped the Moonless Mountains.”

“And I can understand why. It was not easy. As I’m sure you can imagine.”

“Yes, I can imagine.” The words fall out of my mouth, but my focus has shifted entirely to the figure before me. Even more alluring than I remembered. I’ve only been in her presence mere minutes, but the change is unmistakable. This experience has given her depth and richness like a thick, supple leather.

“So, I was on the cliff’s edge. Free to move around, but with nowhere to go. I could not see. You know, on account of the—”

“Lack of any light source. One might even say, themoonlessnessof it all.”

“You’ve got it. Quite dark, and wherever I would put my foot or hand anywhere around me, all I felt was air. One step in any direction seemed a certain doom. Jagged rocks and steep descents did not seem like my idea of a party, and where would I go anyway? I couldn’t see centimeters around me, never mind the full landscape beyond. So, there I remained, with nothing but my mind and my memories. The former I used to devise a plan to will more compassion into the OtherWorld. The latter fueled the former.”

“You’re losing me.”

“This is my surprised face.” Mercy flashes me a deadpan expression. “Then, a short while ago, something incredible happened. A light flickered to existence directly in front of me. I could see. The illumination danced in the air around me, giving me a glimpse of what perils and promises lay all around me.Yada yada yada.Now I’m here.”

“Did you justyada yadaan epic quest?”

“Like I said, D, story for another day. Right now, I want answers.”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“I haven’t asked you anything yet, you brick.”