Parallel Lines- *RAYOR*

Chapter 7

His hands were the only ones that were warm in my world.

I sense that someone is standing over me again. I get the cold feeling of déjà vu. Is it Gabriel again? Was what happened before a dream?

I open my eyes, and it's not Gabriel, but Blake.

"Where is Gabriel?" I ask. My head hurts less, but my limbs seem to be creaky and old. It's a struggle to even stretch my legs and arms, and I don't even bother trying to sit up. Judging by the position in the sky it's afternoon. But the stiffness in my arms and legs suggests I've missed more than a day of reaping.

My first reaction to this is happiness. Then I realise this just means more work for Mum. More stress for Aster. Worry for Levy.

I'm becoming disturbingly sympathetic.

"Home," Blake answers my question.

"How's Death taking it?" I ask.

"He didn't know Gabriel was so ill." Blake swallows hard. "I didn't."

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know. But I think he needs to eat."

"Reapers don't need to eat," I say.

"His energy is low. You'd think with all the reaping he does he should have more. Since we drain the life energy personally out of our victims." Her tone is pleasant.

"Yeah, well, we've been travelling around a lot." I'm so glad, so, so glad that nothing bad is happening. All we'll need to do is make him eat something and then his energy will be up. Then we'll be able to carry on with the old arrangement.

"Oh. I suppose he isn't used to that much travel."

I feel guilty at the amount of relief in her voice but push it aside. "Yeah." I can't think of anything to say, and my mouth is dry.

"You must be tired."

I choke on my tongue. "No, I'm not," I insist.

"I've finished my reaping. Do you want to talk?" the smirk on her face indicates that she knows my answer already.

I nod vigorously. I'm happy because she's choosing to talk to me instead of Aster or Levy or Gabriel or Death.

"Can we play Three Questions?" It's a game Aster coined. He'd been trying to get a secret out of Blake about something I don't remember. And the game was basically that someone asked three questions to the other, and vice versa, and the answers had to be strictly truthful.

One could forfeit a question for two different questions but you were only allowed one forfeit. Since then we had used the game to wheedle things out of each other. I didn't know why it was three questions, but there was something magical about the number.

"Okay," says Blake. She takes a chocolate finger from an open bag at my bedside table and delicately nibbles at it.

"Me first. Blake, what's the naughtiest thing you did?"

Blake's eyebrows raise, but she answers. "Once I swapped in shampoo for superglue. In Gabriel's room."

"Did he lose his hair?"

"No. He got it on his hands and started screaming because it felt so weird. I got into a lot of trouble."

"What did he do?"

Blake points the chocolate finger at me. "That counts as a question."

"Fine," I say.

"He wouldn't do something I wanted him to do. I think it was something to do with his dolls that he used to make..." She thinks. "Oh yes, he didn't let me have any of the thread- you know, the Fate's thread that he used to take from them when they visited. They liked him so much, I wouldn't be surprised if they let him take it. He was so sweet. Anyway, I wanted it because I wanted to knit a scarf. And he had mounds of it in his room, it wasn't fair." Blake looks slightly irritated for a moment.