Grace had finally gotten used to her new afterlife as a “Made” – a Reaper who used to be human. When Made Reapers and souls begin disappearing, however, Grace and her mentor Tully suspect demons. Grace’s worst fears are confirmed when her living family is threatened.
She’ll have to break every rule in the Reaper book to save them, including using a little magic to become temporarily human. With the help of Tully and her witchy friend Tessa, Grace goes undercover to save the fates of kidnapped souls – only to discover that demons aren’t working alone. Betrayal and distrust runs deep and Grace discovers that sometimes even Reapers are prone to humanity.
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Death created Reapers to collect
souls. My mentor told me most of these Reapers have been around since the dawn
of time, watching over humans and ensuring their souls are appropriately
handled. As the population increased, the number of souls needing help to pass
over became too great. Because Reapers can’t procreate, however, Death gave his
first Reapers - “the Trues” - the ability to create new Reapers. We were called
“the Mades,” and originally began as humans. We are born, then we live, and
when we die, some of us are chosen (offered, really) to carry on with these
immortal duties.
I was still relatively new to the
whole Reaper gig, so I’d been assigned the older souls at a retirement home. In
life, I’d been in nursing school and spent most of my free time volunteering at
the hospital, so working with those who were already expecting death was easier
than say, those who fought against leaving this earth. In time, I would learn
how to calm those souls and help them pass over, but until then, I was happy to
help with the souls who already had their bags packed.
I’ve always felt I was one of the
lucky ones, being asked to be a Reaper - I think being chosen for such an
important duty says that I did well in my short human life. It’s not to say
Mades were unusual, because we’re not. My mentor said the increasing population
in the last few centuries had led Reapers to regain control and bring Mades to
our world. Mades and Trues alike could select humans who would be worthy of
helping with their purpose. With more of us around, we could be sure souls were
cared for and passed on rather than left to hang around the earth - or worse.
I was nineteen when I died; a drunk
driver hit me while I headed home one evening after a volunteer shift. The
drunk driver walked away without a scratch. I, on the other hand, died
instantly upon impact, my soul jerked from my body to wander around the scene
and wonder what the hell happened. I screamed for help, trying to reason with
every deity I knew as I watched the blood trickle down my still face.
“No one can hear you screaming,
child,” a voice had sounded from behind me.
I’d whirled around to see a strange
looking man standing there. He was stout, with a boxer’s build, but his gentle
expression gave no hint of aggression. His attire, while not unusual, still
seemed from a different era: his shoes worn, pants that stopped short at the
ankles, thin white shirt, and black suspenders. Perhaps in his mid-thirties, he
had a shock of messy ginger hair and a thick, wiry beard to match. His bright
blue eyes popped against a ruddy complexion.
I couldn’t hide the waver of fear in
my voice when I asked, “Who are you?”
He took another step toward me, a
slow, fluid movement that I hardly noticed. “My name is Tully.”
“I don’t want to die, Tully.”
“You weren’t supposed to go this
soon,” he’d said. His voice had an Irish lilt that almost sang to me as he
spoke. “But I’ve seen you at the hospital, watched you with the patients. You
have a way about you.”
“Doesn’t help me much now, I’m
afraid,” I’d responded. His calm demeanor somehow put me at ease despite the
situation.
“Oh, but it does, child. You have a
gift. Do you know what I am?”
“I was sort of hoping you were an
angel.”
He had shaken his head, an amused
smile on his face. “No, I am what’s called a Reaper.”
“You’re Death?”
“Reapers are not Death, nor do we
carry it wherever we go, according to certain tales. We appear to the dead and
take their souls home.”
“To Heaven?”
“That I cannot say; only they will
know once they pass into the afterlife. We are, however, allowed to make
certain…offers to those we deem worthy.”
I’d crossed my arms over my chest
and given my body another stricken glance. “You can bring me back to life?”
“No, child, you are no longer meant
for that life. Do you want to continue helping others?”
“How?”
“You could be a Reaper, like me.”
I’d scoffed. “How does that even
work?”
“There’s a whole world out there you
don’t know about, child. I can show you, teach you how to be one of us.”
“What’s the other option?”
He shrugged. “To move on.”
That was three years ago. Tully was
my mentor now, teaching me how to be a Reaper. Even now, I know deep down that
I chose his offer to become a Reaper because I was scared of what I’d meet on
the other side. The unknown frightened me enough to keep me where I was, and so
I accepted Tully’s offer to learn what it meant to guide souls to their
destinies. Sometimes I wondered what would’ve been, but when I got that warmth
in my chest from helping a soul move on, I knew I’d made the right choice.
Tully had seen it in me and I was grateful to him for the chance to feel like I
was still worth something. And actually, I turned out to be good at it. Tully
wasn’t placating me when he said I’d had a gift. Souls were a lot like hospital
patients; reaping souls in my retirement home was similar to my old life.
As it turned out, Tully was right about that “whole other
world” part. The wealth of knowledge I’d gained about my new existence was
almost frightening. Reapers were nonthreatening, peaceful, and stayed neutral
on all terms. We had to; we weren’t the only things that harbored souls and it
was our job to make sure we got to them before anything else - like demons -
could.
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Liz Long is a ridiculously
proud graduate of Longwood University with a BA in English. Her inspiration
comes from action and thriller genres and she spends entirely too much time
watching superhero movies. Her fabulous day job as a Social Media & PR
Strategist includes writing for LeisureMedia360 (Roanoker, bridebook, Blue
Ridge Country magazines) in Roanoke, VA.
She currently has four books
out. The Donovan Circus series has best been described as
"X-Men meets the circus with a murder mystery thrown in." Her second
book Witch Hearts, is a story about a serial killer hunting witches for
their powers. Her newest title, A Reaper Made, is a fantasy about a
Reaper who must work a little magic to save her family's souls from demons. All
titles are available for paperback or ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and
iBooks.
To
learn more about Liz, visit her website: http://lizclong.com.
Author Links:
Website:
http://lizclong.com
Twitter:
(Handle: @LizCLong) https://twitter.com/#!/LizCLong
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Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/lizclongauthor
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/lizlong
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