Reaper's Novice (Soul Collector #1) by Cecilia Robert Read Free Book Online

It has been a while since I took a vacation. Now that I have you, my Novice…” His eyes glaze as his words trail off.
    Does this mean he’ll go on vacation now that he has me? What do I do? I can’t do this on my own. I’m not even trained. And my dream… Working full-time would mean losing my opportunity to ever become a professional violinist. Of ever joining the Vienna Philharmonic. But… surely there has to be a way.
    The dreamy-eyed look vanishes, and once again he focuses on me. “Relax, Novice. No need to get your heart twisted in a panic. You should learn to think your thoughts at a decent volume.” He rubs his temple, grimacing. “I have never met anyone whose thoughts scream as loud as yours. Metal clanging on metal,” he mumbles under his breath.
    I bite the corners of my lower lip. Why do I keep forgetting he can hear my thoughts? “Good. Now that you restrained your rampant panic, we can talk.”
    This is it.
    I wipe my clammy palms on my shorts.
    He glides forwards, placing a hand on my right shoulder. Tingles move down my arm, soothing my galloping heart. “You knew this day would come. I, for one, am very excited to have you on the team.”
    “I was hoping it didn’t,” slips out of my lips. I close my eyes and grit my teeth. Grim must think I’m ungrateful after he gave me back my family. I made a deal.
    His hand drops from my shoulder. Grass scrunches under his feet. I open my eyes and focus on the face tilted to the side, appraising me. Either he’s good at hiding his feelings or my foolish statement didn’t affect him in any way.
    “Come on, Ana. Look at the sky, smell the air, feel the love surrounding you. No need to be so grumpy.” He straightens and adjusts his eye patch before rubbing his hands together. The trench coat blows lazily around him as though to echo his good mood.
    The guilt noose around my neck tightens. My family is safe, thanks to Grim. And here I am thinking selfish thoughts about school and my life. What if he reverses everything, reclaims my family’s souls? Just the other day after everything settled, it hit me I didn’t have an idea what my tasks as Grim’s Novice were.
    Time to get a few things clear.
     I squint up at him. “I have a request, if—if that’s all right with you.”
    He tilts his head regally, that one eye staring down at me with half-amused indulgence, half-impatience. With his head angled that way, he resembles a pirate prince, granting his subject a favour. I swallow the urge to giggle and clear my throat. “Could I at least have a normal life until after my finals? Just a few more days, please?”
    Grim studies me, the silence stretching. Out of nowhere, a wintry breeze sweeps and twirls around my feet, lifting dry grass and leaves from the ground. Rubbing my arms at the sudden chill, I scuttle backwards, as he glides forwards, graceful and frightening. Any traces of cheerfulness evaporate, as his eye burns holes into me. “Normal life? Nothing about this is normal , Novice. I’m Death, not a genie. I don’t go granting wishes unless absolutely necessary.” He levels his face to mine. “You do remember your family’s souls, don’t you?”
    My family’s souls? He’s still holding onto them? My legs struggle to hold me up. “I thought—I—” I pull in a shaky breath. “You don’t need my family’s souls. You have mine.”
    “Ah, but I do, Novice. Call it my… insurance.”
     “We made a deal,” I murmur, searching for a loophole, something to make him release the souls. There’s none. “I won’t go back on my word.”
    “In thirteen months, you will graduate to Soul Collector. I will release the souls then.”
    I frown. Why thirteen months? Why not a month? Surely, collecting souls shouldn’t be so difficult.
    Grim glares at me. “Collecting souls is not equivalent to dashing inside the grocery store and grabbing a carton of milk, then hurrying back home. It needs precision and finesse. You need to feel .”