Reapers

Chapter 2

"You were with him," Lucifer thundered at me when I appeared in my cottage.

"I spoke to him for a few minutes, yes," I crossed my arms and nodded. "He doesn't throw a temper tantrum when I see you."

"Did he tell you to choose?" Luc pushed off the bed and advanced on me.

"No," I steeled myself. Luc knew better than to go into my head for any information. He'd done that once, and I didn't speak to him for an entire decade. I could hold a grudge, and being basically immortal, I could hold it a good long time.

"You're not ever going to are you?" it was an accusation.

"You're not allowed to get mad at me over this when you were probably with someone while I was off doing my job," I huffed and moved away from him.

"Let's not fight, Ceec," he softened.

But, I was in a foul mood. I didn't want to reap Reapers. I didn't want another rebellion amongst my kind. No good would come of it, one way or the other.

And, I was already feeling the tingle at the base of my skull.

"I'll reap her," I spun on him. "You two are always telling me to choose, well, perhaps it's you who needs to."

I'd never stood up to Lucifer before. I totally expected him to call my bluff. I didn't want them to choose, because I didn't want to lose either of them, especially Michael.

"Try it, and I'll have Death end you," Lucifer was not one to be threatened. "I'll have you put into a pit so deep even I won't be able to get you out. What's wrong with you anyway?"

"How do you think I feel knowing that I have to go out and reap my own?" I glared. "How do you think I feel hearing time and again that I have to choose between the two of you, knowing that I'm the loser in that? I've had enough!" I pulled my hood back up. "I have to go out. Again. I probably won't see you again for days. This is bad."

Lucifer nodded. "It is, and I apologize. I realize my brother and I put you in a bad place." This was rare, Luc never apologized to me for anything. "We both love you very much, in our own way, and can you really blame us for both wanting you?"

I sighed.

"Cicile, you know you are always the one I come back to," Luc crossed the room and pulled me close. "Now isn't the time for either of us to bring this up to you. And, if after all this time you can't choose, we should both stop pushing."

"Or give me up," I rasped.

Luc threw his head back and laughed. "You know that will never happen. I love you far too much, and Michael has been in love with you from first glance. We've been yours and you've been ours since before your first death. We've been happy, and there is no real reason for that to change. We'll stop. I'll talk to my brother."

"Thank you," I whispered and leaned my head against his chest. "I have to go."

"I know, my dear," he dropped a kiss on my head. "Go keep Norm busy."

Reapers come from all walks of life, and in our death, or job as Reapers, sometimes we cling to what we were. I don't need to keep up my herbal practice, or hexes and curses, so I left all that behind when I was burned. I still don't worship Lucifer, so that wasn't important to me either. Some of the Reapers though become what they never could be in life. We all have off times, so we have gathering places all over the world. Eventually we opened them up to other supernatural creatures, because they all need a place to go too where they won't be harassed, and as I heard one of them say once, they can let their freak flag fly.