Page 157 of Grim

I used to shepherd souls. I used to have a purpose. Now I shepherd paper. And have noraison d’etre.

I reach for the next page in my never-ending pile as the little light I have becomes drenched in shadow. A soft ruffling noise draws my attention away from the monotonous routine, and I look up to see Big D himself standing there.

This is new.

I’ve never seen him in all the time I’ve been here. He looks every bit the absentee boss, reluctantly making the rounds, as he hovers over my desk.

“Well, don’t you look like a pathetic sack?”

“How am I supposed to look,boss?” I do my best to turn the word into an insult.

“Where did your passion go, Kane? Yourjoie de vivre?” When I don’t respond, D fills in the blanks for himself. “Lost somewhere in these stacks, I imagine.” He runs his finger down the side of a stack, causing dust to billow in the air around me.

“My passion died when she did,” I mumble.

“Don’t be dramatic, Kane. You’re so grim.”

D’s use of Rue’s nickname for me, whether intentional or not, sparks the last kindling of rage inside me. I pull my shoulders back and lock eyes with him.

“You made me watch her end, powerless to stop it. Your cruelty knows no bounds. You enjoyed it. You watched her final moments like it was some sick form of entertainment to you. You had fucking popcorn.”

D’s blank expression tells me nothing of how my words impact him. “That might have been a bit crass of me, Kane,” he admits. “I see that now. We’re all works in progress, you know? Molded from clay that never fully dries.”

“You’re molded from something,” I mumble without much feeling behind the jab.

“Your eyes, Kane.” He sighs. “They look like a pair of stars that have burned out. Sad.”

“What are you doing here?” I change the subject, not interested in pursuing this line of interrogation any further.

“Ah, yes. I came to deliver the good news personally.”He smiles, and I do not trust it. “You have been reassigned, Kane.”

“I didn’t put in a transfer request.”

“And I wouldn’t have cared if you did. You go where I tell you to go. And I am telling you that you are the newest member of our newest division. You’re going back in the field, big guy! Now, let’s hurry this along. No time for a going-away party, I’m sorry to say.”

His jocular tone grates on every last nerve I’ve managed to cling to during this nauseous nothingness.

“I thought Clerical was my punishment.”

“It was. It is. And that’s over now.”

“Why?” I ask skeptically.

“Because I’m not wasting the talents of the man who broke all the rules for love. I’m putting him to work for the business.”

“Why?” I ask again like a petulant child.

“Because the most interesting stories have the audacity to believe in redemption, Kane. Mistakes pave the way for greater success and, in our case, an opportunity to build a bigger, better OtherWorld. So, welcome to your new assignment, reaper.”

D tosses a business card on the desk. I see my name embossed in silver against a matte black background and read its inscription aloud. “Kane Deveraux. Second-in-Command. Lost Souls Division.‘May those who are lost be found again.’”

I look up at D, a thousand questions dancing on the tip of my tongue, but the only one that matters escapes. “Who’s my boss?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Big D smiles and snaps his fingers, instantly transporting us into a conference room, where a single figure stands sentinel at the head of the table.

And I stare directly into the stormy eyes of my orange-and-black-haired eternity. My forever.

Rue stares right back. “There’s my anchor in the infinite. Good to see you handsome. You’re late.”