Dead Girl Walking by Ruth Silver Read Free Book Online Page A

stomach. She took the shovel from Jasper. “That's awful.” She dug one scoop of dirt away, and then a second. No one offered to help. This was her mess. She was responsible for cleaning it up. Violetta and Emblyn watched from the edge of the graveyard, standing beside the horses. Jasper wandered through the graveyard, his fingers running over old headstones.
    Her arms ached and sweat dripped down her neck. She didn't let up. She kept digging into the earth, and with every ounce of dirt tossed aside, the cries for help grew louder. Eventually, the shovel tapped the top of the wooden casket. Leila locked eyes with Wynter. She was scared sick.
    “You've got this,” Wynter assured her. “Just open the box and touch him.”
    “You want me to touch a dead guy?” The thought disgusted her.
    “He's not going to have worms crawling out of his ears. He's only been in the ground a few hours. I want you to be the best damned grim reaper you can be. To do that, you need to take the first step and stop being so afraid.”
    “I'm not afraid.” Afraid didn't come close to how she felt. Leila was terrified. Her hands were shaking, and her heart was palpitating. It would have been nice if grim reapers didn't have a heart or lungs, or any of the human traits she'd come to expect. At least then she wouldn't feel so awful.
    She pushed the last bit of dirt aside and bent down. Wynter helped her remove the lid from the casket. “I'm sorry.” She could still hear him screaming, even though his lips weren't moving. She grazed her hand along the man's arm, and his soul visibly popped out of his body.
    “Oh my God!” he screamed. The muffled cries she'd heard while he'd been buried were nothing compared to his hysteria right now. “I was buried alive! You have to help me!”
    “I just did.” She didn't know how to calm him down or how else to help him.
    “My family buried me alive,” Asher said again.
    Wynter leaned in and said, “You weren't technically buried alive.”
    “I wasn't?” Asher asked, shocked.
    “No,” Wynter said. “You died yesterday in a freak accident. Do you remember what happened?”
    “I was gathering water from the stream.” Asher glanced at Leila. “Then I heard hooves, a lot of them. I died?”
    Wynter glanced down at the body in the grave. “Yeah, you're definitely dead.” He shut the lid on the casket.
    “I was trampled to death, by horses. I'm really dead?”
    “On to bigger and better things.” Wynter gestured toward the glimmer at the tree line. It sparkled and rippled with waves of emerald.
    Asher walked forward, past Violetta and Emblyn. Jasper watched in fascination. It was the one place reapers couldn't go.
    Leila stood with Wynter at her side and glanced down at the grave. “Please tell me I don't have to put all that dirt back myself.”
    Wynter grinned and reached for the shovel, handing it to Leila. “Bet you won't do it again.” He was right about that. She wasn't a glutton for pain.

The Disease
    Chapter 4
    “One day, we'll all be able to look back and laugh about tonight.” Wynter nudged Leila as she sat beside him at the tavern. Thankfully, they were nowhere near the place where Ophelia had died. A tavern had been the last place Leila wanted to step foot in, but they all had insisted on celebrating. Edon had no idea what they'd been up to. Leila owed them each a favor, but there could be worse situations to be in.
    Jasper sat beside Violetta, an arm draped across her shoulders, while Emblyn squeezed in beside them in the booth. It was super cozy.
    “I'm still not laughing,” Leila said.
    “Give it time. How's the burn?” Wynter glanced down at her covered thigh.
    Leila gave a mere shrug. “Still hurts.” It would sting for a few days. “Any chance reapers heal quickly?”
    Jasper grinned and removed his arm from around Violetta. He leaned forward across the table. “You would like that, wouldn't you? Some injuries will heal quicker than others. You get burned by the