Page 159 of Grim

“No, it’s making me sick.”

“Awww.” I place a hand dramatically over my chest. “Are we entering our grumpy-sunshine era?”

He exhales slowly. “I imagine it’s more like an eon, but, yes, I suppose we are.”

“Well, come on, Grim. Let’s go ‘lead with love.’”

I ignore Kane’s broody grimace and press the Transport button at the bottom of the case report on my Tombstone Phone. In the literal blink of an eye, we are in a busy conference room. Executives sit around a long oval table, droning on about strategy and budgeting.

I look around, surprised at how quick and painless our transition went. One second, we were standing in the ALP Hub, and the next, we’re planted on the sixteenth floor of Titan Media.

I blink. “Well, that hurt a lot more when I was living.”

Kane stands beside me, hands in his coat pockets, looking supremely unimpressed.

My attention turns to the soul we must be here for. Katherine Sinclair flits about the conference room, flailing her arms and shouting insults at the staff, all of which fall on deaf ears. No one can see or hear her; they make no reaction to her rantings whatsoever, but it doesn’t seem to deter her meddling one bit.

“This is pointless,” Kane begins.

“No, it’s not.” I sigh, sensing he might make this way harder than Katherine will. “I taught you the system. You know the mnemonic. You can do this.”

Kane grunts, the sound somewhere between annoyance and dread.

I press on gently, “Repeat after me.”

“No.”

“Distractthe subject.Ingesther story.Easeher to the OtherWorld.”

He scowls. “Look at her. She’s even more invested in this business than when I last saw her. She’s not ready.”

“Help her die, Grim. D.I.E. Die.”

“I wish I could die,” he grumbles, which I choose to ignore.

I clear my throat and speak, which, of course, only Katherine and Kane can hear, “Ms. Sinclair, you’re needed immediately in your office. There’s a critical update on the merger, and we need your input now.”

“Merger?” Kane whispers from behind me.

“There’s always a merger,” I whisper back. “Corporate America runs on the fantasy of reinvention. Everyone wants to be somebody else, especially when they’ve already sold who they were.”

Katherine stops berating one of the seated suits and turns her attention to me. “The merger?” she exclaims.

“See?” I side-eye Kane.

“Beginner’s luck,” he returns.

We follow swiftly after Katherine, who is beelining for the corner office. The nameFrank Davenport—CEOis etched into the frosted glass, but that does not deter our lost soul, who turns to us immediately after entering the room.

“Talk to me. Get me up to speed. What’s the latest?”

I look over to Kane, silently telling him to take the lead.

His expression says,Absolutely not. The cant in his hips screams,I’d rather be reaped myself.

Still, he knows this is supposed to be his moment.

“Ingest,” I coax.