The Reaper's Apprentices #1: Awakened by CS Patra Read Free Book Online

than not having free time. I can sense it.”

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Even though the meeting didn’t last long, the girls felt like the walk back into the garden was taking forever. They were dragging their feet, ignoring all the sounds, focused on what they had heard: Guardians of the Underworld. This was something most demons would have died to be, yet none of them were excited. It felt like someone dropped a bomb on them, and it exploded, leaving nothing but destruction behind. That was nothing to get excited over. They approached Gideon.
     
    “Uh-oh, I never like looks like that on your faces,” Gideon said. “What happened, girls? What did they tell you?”
     
    “Oh, nothing bad,” Avani murmured. “It’s just that…” She slowed and started all over again. They had to bring this up delicately with their new masters. “You know about Guardians of the Underworld, right? They get to be Death after a while and take over when they’re ready?”
     
    “Yeah, I know about the Guardians of the Underworld. There’s always four of them and the order changes every time a new group of guardians are found — four guys, then four girls, and then two of each,” Sebastian said. “Why, what about them?”
     
    “Well, have you wondered who your guardians would be?” Kaska asked. “They would be girls obviously, but do you think that it’s anyone in this place?”
     
    Fabian shrugged. “As far as I know, all the Reaper’s Apprentices that have been found are in this place. What are you trying to say exactly?”
     
    “It’s us,” Tessa said.
     
    “What do you mean?”
                 
    “The next Guardians!” Yuka sighed, finally blurting it out. “That’s why they were here, Master Fabian! We’re the next ones in line! We follow you! Don’t you know what this means?”
     
    To her surprise, none of the masters seemed shocked. Gideon went back to fixing the rock garden and Fabian started throwing the chew toy for Oscar to chase. Frustrated, she tried again. “Come on, masters! It’s got to mean something to you!”
     
    “I already knew about this,” Fabian said, as Oscar ran up to him and dropped the chew toy at his feet. “We had our suspicions that you were the ones, but we had to be sure. That’s why we asked for the test that you passed. Not that we thought you would fail.”
     
    “You asked for the test??” Avani asked. “How come you never told us?”
     
    “Well, I figured it would be better if you heard it from Grim Reaper Olana. After all, we’re both in her line now,” Gideon explained. “Plus she’s more experienced than I am. She’s already mastered all her powers, while I still have a while to train. Not to mention, it’s tradition for the current guardians to break the news. That would be her, not me.”
     
    “Oh.” Her mind went back to all the traditions that they had talked about before. The current guardians would be staying in the Underworld until they were called up to reap someone’s soul. They had to keep balance between both worlds and could never be seen interacting with people unless that person was dying. Somehow, the idea of being a guardian wasn’t settling with her.
     
    “I’m not sure if I’m the right demon for this job,” she began.
     
    “Everyone says that.” Fabian shook his head. “You’ll be okay. We’ll teach you what we know, and you’ll be used to your new role in no time.”
     
    “Yeah, but won’t we have time for the other stuff in our lives?” Yuka asked. “We’re still young and want to go to school and hang out and date guys. We just want some of that normal teenage life stuff. You know what I mean?”
     
    “And you’ll get that,” Sebastian promised, standing up. “It does seem like a lot, but you will have time to spend on everything else. I was able to go to college and swim in my free time. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
     
    “I guess it won’t be too bad.” Kaska shrugged. “I mean,