“I… I’m not sure,” he managed.
My whole being was still humming from our touch. An actual touch! I’d touched Zeriel, and he’d felt it! I was dangerously close to jumping with pure, unadulterated joy—a rare sight for a semi-ghost like me.
“Something happened,” Mom insisted.
Zeriel blinked several times, then glanced at her. “I… I think I felt her just now,” he said. “I’m not sure how, but… deep down, I could feel her. I knew it was her, touching my cheek.”
Mom was beside herself, hiding her face in her palms, while Dad held her tight, resting his head against hers as he stared at my crystal casing. Zeriel touched his cheek with his fingers, exactly where my hand had been. My entire arm was on fire from that strange contact.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” I said to Seeley.
The Reaper himself looked surprised, his eyes almost bulging. But there was a twinkle of familiarity in his eyes. It wasn’t shock that had gripped him now. He was more impressed than anything else. He’d seen something like this before.
“Whatever do you mean?” he asked innocently.
I laughed. “Oh, come on. We’ve known each other long enough not to do this silly dance. Spit it out. Does this happen often, or ever? Am I some sort of pioneer in my not-yet-dead field?”
“I’ve seen it before,” Seeley replied, giving me the type of glare that warned me against asking further questions. He should’ve known better.
“Can I get Zeriel to see me, eventually, if I concentrate hard enough?” I asked.
It was his turn to laugh. “You think you managed to touch him now because you concentrated hard enough? It doesn’t work like that, Vesta. Only a Reaper can see a ghost. It used to be that ghosts could see other ghosts, too, but that only applies to the dead now. Not the semi-living, like you.”
I didn’t find this to be a satisfactory response. But his puzzled expression and brief glance to the side made me wonder. “What’s on your mind?” I replied.
“Not much. I just realized something somewhat unrelated.”
Was he trying to distract me? Or was he being truthfully and unexpectedly enlightened by something? “Okay,” I murmured, waiting for him to continue.
“Only a Reaper can see a ghost. Or whoever is holding a Reaper’s scythe, for that matter,” Seeley said. “I may have killed Yamani, but the last time I saw his scythe, Amelia had it. I think she still does.”
“Oh. All right. What does that mean, exactly, other than an ability to see ghosts?”
He chuckled. “Well, I just hope she doesn’t think she’s losing her marbles if she comes across one or more of them.”
“Can she use that scythe as a weapon?” I asked, going over the possibilities.
Seeley nodded. “As a weapon, yes. As a deadly weapon, no. Not on a Reaper, and not on a soul. Granted, a non-Reaper carrying a Reaper’s scythe would’ve been considered impossible until recently, but… you know, GASP never ceases to amaze.”
“What else can Amelia do with it?”
“She can see ghosts and Reapers. She can certainly defend herself against a Reaper’s scythe. She could retaliate, too—”
“But not to kill.”
“No, not to kill. However! I’m pretty sure she can kill ghouls with it. The blade’s primary role is to reap souls and to kill those who wish to harm the souls. Therefore, Amelia wouldn’t be able to kill Reapers or ghosts, but she’d certainly manage to permanently take down a ghoul.”
I nodded slowly. This was good information—only, I couldn’t exactly tell anyone about it just yet, and it irked me like crazy. I exhaled, crossing my arms. “If Amelia came in here with that scythe, would she be able to see me?”
The color instantly drained from Seeley’s face. Holy crap. I scoffed.
“Yes,” he said meekly.
“Hah. Then I might have a chance to tell her everything I know if she comes back here,” I replied, grinning like the elemental devil that I still was.
“Please, don’t,” Seeley breathed, positively distraught.
I might’ve been enjoying this a little too much, but I’d earned this moment. “Because you wouldn’t be able to stop me from blabbering, if she came around and she could see me. Oh, the universe can still work in my favor after all…”
It sounded amazing, if I thought about it properly. I could either keep trying to reach out to Zeriel, maybe even find a way to get a message across to him, or I could wait for Amelia to come back here. The latter was a bit of a long shot right now, since we didn’t know where she was, exactly.
But it was only a matter of time. Surely, GASP would find her and Taeral and the rest of their crew, and they’d bring them back. I lowered my gaze, my shoulders heavy as I realized that, by the time Amelia made it back, it might very well be too late for me. What if it took her days or weeks to return?
More than half of my life-chain had turned black.
“You’ve lost your sparkle,” Seeley noticed, narrowing his eyes at me.
I offered a faint smile. “I thought I’d get more satisfaction out of teasing you, but…”
“Let me guess, you realized you might be dead by the time Amelia gets back?” he asked with a cold grin. I rolled my eyes at him.
“You’re the epitome of insensitivity,” I said.
He shrugged in return. “I’ve been dead a long time, Vesta. People’s feelings aren’t exactly at the top of my priority list. That being said, you’re probably right about Amelia. You could focus the little time you have left on reaching out to Zeriel, instead,” he replied, nodding at the Tritone king, my soulmate. “Who knows?”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“I’m not, actually. I know I come across as cold, maybe even a jerk, but I am rooting for you, Vesta. I’ve told you that before.”
