When she unexpectedly dies, Mackenzie Bowen lacks the paperwork she needs to pass into The Beyond. To avoid sitting in a waiting room for centuries, Mack is paired with Leon, a miserable Reaper, and hopes to either undo her death or earn her spot be...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Leon will take you to get ready, then you can begin your training." Death waved his hand and Leon dropped to the floor like a rock. The carpet might have cushioned his fall, but it didn't stop him from groaning in pain. Death paid him no attention. "I'll alert the other Reapers to your arrival. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that we've filled the vacancy."
"How many others are there, exactly?" I asked.
"Oh, far more than I have time to sit and count. This is just the branch of the United Kingdom. However, I travel between the offices frequently for managerial purposes. We split the teams for each country into groups of six. Leon is the head of your team."
Of course, he was.
"If I do this... Like, if I work for you, can I get into Heaven?" I asked.
"If that's where you want to go, of course. Naturally, it's going to take some time. I'm sure you understand that your case is peculiar."
"I'm getting that, yeah."
The whole thing felt peculiar to me, but I'd never been dead before. For all I knew, most of what was going on was perfectly normal. It's possible that everyone had to interview for a job when they died. Maybe they all got case workers. Maybe Leon was a miserable bastard on every collection and that was exactly what was meant to happen. If Jane, Clark, and Death hadn't kept telling me that this was all super weird, then I wouldn't have had any idea.
"Well, I daresay we will resolve things before you know it. Now, I'll leave you to Leon. I'm sure he'll know exactly what to do with you."
Leon glared at me. Yes, I was sure he knew what to do with me. I was also sure it involved some sort of medieval torture technique and a shallow grave. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. If I'd known that we were going to be stuck together even longer, I might have been nicer to him when we first met. I had an awful feeling he was going to be unnecessarily hard on me, thanks to my attitude. Not that it was unwarranted. He clearly wasn't an easy person to get along with.
Suspecting, perhaps, that I was concerned about Leon's potential behaviour, Death pointed to the man and warned, "If I hear of her suffering at all because of you, or if any harm should come to this girl, I will hold you fully accountable."
"Sir!" Leon protested. "I can't be held responsible for–"
"This interview is over," Death decided. "Mackenzie, I'm delighted to have you on board. Best of luck. If anything should happen with Leon, don't hesitate to report it to me immediately."
I jumped to my feet. "Oh! Uh, thank you?"
He waved a hand dismissively. I took it as a sign that I ought to leave. I scurried from the room as quickly as I could without appearing rude, resolutely ignoring Leon's gaze in the hope he might forget just how angry he was with me once we were out in the hall.
