You can’t help but laugh at the old lady. Hadley shares a smile with me as we head to my dorm. I change quickly into a black t-shirt and jeans while admiring the white dress Hadley put on, then we march over to Auston’s dorm, her hand clutched in mine.
“Boo,” I hear spoken into my ear just as we reach Auston’s door. I jump, swatting the air where I think Karston is. The little fucker just laughs and glides through the door.
Grumbling, I pull the door open and allow Hadley to enter before me. Inside, Brax and Auston are chatting about the best way to pull up from a nose dive, but as Hadley walks in, the room goes silent.
All eyes are on her—even the smog monster himself stills from the corner of the room. I can’t blame any of them. She’s sex on wheels. No. Sex on a straw? Or is it a stick?
Gah!
The white dress clings to her body like a second skin. Thick straps bare her shoulders, and though the design over her chest is modest, it still shows off her perfect breasts and narrow waist. The skirt hits her mid-thigh, showing off her tanned legs.
“What?” she asks, totally oblivious.
“You, baby girl,” Auston answers, taking a step closer to her. “Look around you, Had. You’ve captivated me and my brothers, just by being you.”
Auston’s soft side has me smiling. It’s so good to see my older brother actually let someone in and feel for once.
“You really don’t know what you do to us, do you?” Brax says, moving in front of her.
“You’ve invaded our hearts, Hadley baby,” Karston admits, sidling up to her side next to me, completing our circle. “And now that we’ve got you, we’re never letting go.”
“Promise?” she asks, cheeks pink from a blush.
“We do,” we say as one. The declaration feels like something monumental, but I can’t say why. My gaze flicks to the darkened corner of the room where the Darkness himself watches us with a scrutinizing gaze, as if we’re performing a play and he thinks us shitty actors.
Part of me feels bad for the guy. I mean, if I had to watch Hadley die, I’d probably do the same thing he did. I can see it now, how losing her drove him mad, made him reckless, desperate to do anything just to hold her again.
“Group hug!” Karston shouts as he pulls us in a tight circle around Hadley. Hadley giggles as we fight for real estate to plant our kisses on. But the joyful moment is over much too soon.
“Enough of this,” Caius grumbles from his corner. “While you assholes celebrate, Administer searches. He won’t fucking stop. Don’t you get that? So spare me the fucking cuddles and tell me something useful. Auston, what did you find?”
Auston glowers at Caius but tells the rest of the group about his trip to Heaven, ending his story by telling us he saw the symbol for a reborn soul near the name Abram. Everyone begins talking at once, spewing their theories, deciding on our next move. But no one listens to anyone else and soon the group is shouting at one another.
“Luminesce!” I shout, holding my scythe into the air. Once the blue glow illuminates the dorm, everyone quiets. “We have to go to Caemeterium Primis,” I say confidently, giving no room for argument. “Abram’s grave was there, and I need to try and raise him from the dead.”
Auston’s eyes go wide at the rare display of dominance. “Well then, lead us there, baby bro. We’re right behind you.”
“I don’t like it here.” Hadley rubs up and down her arms, looking around the burial grounds with unease. “It gives me the creeps.”
Karston puts his arm around her shoulders and squeezes. “It’s okay, Had. It’s just a cemetery.”
“Well, you’re not buried here,” she growls.
Karston looks down at her with remorse. “You’re right. But if you weren’t buried here, then I never would have met you, Had. We never would have met you.”
Hadley’s anger deflates, and she nods her head. The rest of the walk is silent. I lead the way, weaving around obelisks, through the worn path and overgrown headstones. At least I thought I was leading the way.
Ahead of us, the smog monster—Caius himself—is hovering around a grave. It’s hard to see his emotions in smoke form, but I can understand his movements all too well. His smoke shudders, a guttural cry emanating from the black mist.
The Darkness is crying, grieving for his lost Fated.
It’s hard not to get choked up.
Hadley pulls out of Karston’s grip and walks over to Caius, her hand covering her mouth in shock as she looks upon her own grave for the first time. Caius’s smoke billows around her, and I know it must be so hard for him not to be able to comfort her at a time like this, to not be able to hold the woman you love, the woman you lived for, the woman you died for.
I almost want to give him control of my body.
Almost.
“We’ll let you guys be,” I say softly. “When you’re ready, just follow the path and you’ll find us at Abram’s grave.”
Hadley nods once, tears running down her cheeks, and I know nothing I can say will ease her pain. So my quad allows them to have their moment, though I have to encourage Brax and Auston more than once not to turn back. We pass the grave of Lucifer, the dirt still disrupted, causing me to shiver in unease.
Soon, the sound of footsteps accompanied by Hadley’s sniffles drifts towards us. I turn and see her wiping her blue eyes, cheeks stained with tears, as Caius hovers behind her.
“Hadley, I—” I begin.
“It’s fine, Pres,” Hadley interjects. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Sighing, I stand in front of Abram’s grave. “First of all, I’m not sure if I can do this, you guys. Raising the dead isn’t easy. The older the dead, the harder they are to raise, and the more difficult it is to maintain them.”
I scrub my hands down my face as worry fills me. “I’ve only seen it done once, you know. And there are rules. Yeah. The first rule is that you can’t let the Raised touch you, or it could steal your essence, killing your soul. The second is that it can only respond to questions it’s asked, and it can only answer in truth.”
The more I talk, the more this task seems insurmountable. “Shit, guys, I don’t know if I can do this.” I stare at the grave, remembering how Administer used one other Reaper to help him raise Lucifer.
“You can do this.” Hadley’s sweet voice drifts over to me.
“She’s right,” Brax chimes in. “I’ve seen you fight the Verniquin in Hell and survive.”
“And you infiltrated Guardian Hall with me,” Auston adds. “It was your plan that led us to successfully getting the records.”
“And let’s not forget one of the most important things you’ve done,” Karston starts. “You helped Hadley pass from one world to the next, and you did what none of us could do. You became her first friend in the Afterworld. And I’m so grateful she had you to depend on.”
“You see, you are amazing, Pres,” Hadley says, walking up to me. “You can do this. And we’re here with you, all the way.”
Their words swirl around inside me, squeezing my chest so tight I might burst. I’ve always been a screw up, the guy that others would laugh at, who was never to be trusted with something important. But I’m no longer that guy now, and my girl and my brothers have helped me to see that.