Welcome to Tales from the GrimVerse: Grim & Bare It – Killion’s POV, an urban fantasy novel I’m republishing with scenes from the original story but told from the Master Vampire’s point of view.
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Chloe’s Uncle Morty, who works for the hospital and acts as coroner, left for a break with his assistant as I made my way to the small, cramped office alongside what they referred to as The Pit. I kept myself invisible, shutting down my sensitive nose to the revolting smell.
I’d done my homework on the new grim, annoyed that I was eager to see her again. She’d spent the morning working at The Smoking Bean, an establishment I was familiar with but never frequented. That explained her scent of brewed coffee. While avoiding Death, I’d done research into her background and past. A college student studying veterinary medicine, she intended to reopen the clinic her parents had established years ago. The two of them had died in a car accident when she was eighteen, and the clinic had been shut down. Although Chloe had survived, she’d been so traumatized by their deaths that she hadn’t spoken a word for months afterward. To this day, she still visits a grief counselor.
Two jobs, a full academic schedule, and a dream…fascinating. Yet, how could she kill Avi Gustafson? None of my research had turned up an answer, and although I suspected Death might have one, I was reluctant to engage him just yet. I had orders from his boss, Mei Han, and was about to deliver Chloe’s first assignment. Mei had decided I should tutor Chloe for now.
I was both irritated and intrigued by the idea.
Inside the office, I encountered a sleeping puppy. My invisibility did not fool it, however. It peeked open its eyes and stared straight at me. The outline of magical energy glowed faintly in its aura, and I smelled the afterlife on it.
“You must be her psychopomp,” I murmured. Every reaper was given one, along with a manual of SMG codes and a tattoo branded on their chest that marked them as one of Soul Management Group’s employees. To mundanes, the skull and crossbones appeared to be a butterfly or compass, both easier to explain to family and friends if they should ask. A reaper could never reveal their job to their non-magical counterparts or they would risk their soul contract coming to an early end.
While the place was quiet at the moment, a security guard read a magazine at the front desk. It was unclear why humans might wish to break into the morgue, and doubtful any type of supernatural would, outside of perhaps a desperate ghoul. It is far less complicated to find sources of blood, organs, and flesh on the street for those who partake of such things. They tended to prefer fresh, as in alive, sustenance, anyway. Perhaps the guard was here to secure the morgue’s drugs? I couldn’t imagine who or what would want the chemicals used in examining and preserving bodies, but either way, a barking dog would alert him to my presence.
The pup stood, shook itself out, and then sniffed at my shoes. I stayed immobile, waiting to pass inspection. After a moment, she sat on her hunches and looked up at me, wagging her tail. She had the largest ears I’d ever seen on one that could fit in the palm of my hand, dramatically long hair hanging from them. Not chihuahua…perhaps a Papillion-mix.
I sat in the chair opposite the desk and the psychopomp hopped into my lap. It had been a long while since I’d had a pet and her curious gaze and lapping tongue made me smile. “I bet you’re something when you morph into your beast.”
She wagged her tail and stood on her back legs, placing her front paws on my chest.
The door opened and Chloe came to an abrupt halt. I was still invisible and her mouth fell open at the sight of the dog, who must have appeared to hover above the worn seat of the guest chair. “What the…?”
The psychopomp’s miniature tail wagged furiously as her tongue licked my face. I tried not to laugh. “Don’t be alarmed,” I said, releasing my magic to become visible. My dark suit was covered in the dog’s white hair, but I patiently endured her adoration.
Chloe shut the door, double-checking that no one was near. “What are you doing here, and how did you do that?”
Ignoring her questions, I stood, setting the wriggling dog on the desk. “Where are the robes?”
She gazed up at me and I sensed the blood in her veins reacting to my presence. She was close to five-seven and I loomed over her, causing her pulse to speed up. A tingling in my blood made me withdraw my magic, more so when she inhaled deeply as if taking in my scent. As before, her thoughts were easy to read and I tapped in, hoping to discover the truth of her origins. All I uncovered was her wondering how her hair looked.
Stop it. Her libido didn’t listen, crying out its lust. Being half-vampire, half-human, I had that effect on most mundanes. Yet, knowing I excited her set my blood on fire. My inner beast smiled.
Setting down the soda and half-eaten snack she carried, she composed her face into a neutral expression. As soon as her hands were free, the dog jumped into her arms, nearly knocking her sideways. Such a tiny dog, but so strong. I heard her think the dog’s name—Ghost. “Are you here to take them back?” Her voice sounded a bit too hopeful about turning in the robes. “I don’t have them with me, but I can get them after my shift.”
“Rookies,” I muttered and was pleased when annoyance flashed through her eyes.
I hadn’t been attracted to a human in decades and this one was far too chaotic for me. Better to keep her at arm’s length until I figured out why she had the strength to kill Gustafson and why Death had been warning me to stay away from her. I brushed dog hair from my vest and pants. “You have a job now. Your robes should be accessible at all times.”
“I do have a job.” The psychopomp wiggled in her arms, reaching for me. Chloe set her on the floor. Ghost reared up on her hind feet and danced before scratching at my pant leg. “Two, in fact, and they don’t like it if I show up in depressing costumes.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, ignoring the puppy. “And the scythe?”
She pointed. “Under the desk.”
“That will have to do.” I eyed Ghost, still begging for attention. “Bring the dog as well.”
I grabbed the doorknob and she launched forward, hand out. “Just a minute.” She slammed the door shut. “I need answers, starting with, are you my watcher?”
So she’d been told the news, probably by Tinder, the SMG employee in charge of the reapers’ employment contracts. He was Mei’s righthand man. “‘Watcher’ is an antiquated term. I prefer mentor.” I fought to keep my tone serious, but not enthusiastic. I didn’t need, nor want, this odd human disrupting my life, and yet… “And yes. Temporarily.”
She drew back, not any happier, it seemed, than I was. “What does that mean—temporarily?”
“I am a detective, not a watcher. However, due to the circumstances, SMG has asked me to step in and assist you, since we have a…relationship.”
“Detective? Like a police officer?”
Ghost sat at my feet staring up with her big puppy dog eyes. I removed my hand from the knob and buttoned my blazer. “The grim you exterminated is part of a much larger rogue group, as I mentioned. SMG retained my services to uncover how large and who is heading it.”
“So what exactly are you? I mean, in the supernatural department.”
“Not your concern.” I had to look away from her intense stare, so I glanced at my watch. “We must go. Get the scythe. Time is running out.”
“For who?”
“Whom,” I corrected, seeing it brought the desired annoyance flaring to life in her face again. “Bring the dog.”
The Pit was still empty as we passed. Ghost wiggled in her arms, excited, but all I sensed from Chloe was dread.
“I have a moral dilemma,” she said.
The guard was at the desk. Magic coursed through me as easy as walking, rendering me invisible once more. “Don’t we all?”
That’s when she realized the guard didn’t see me. She covered her response surprisingly well and continued walking by him. “Just taking the dog out. I’ll be back soon.”
His attention returned to his phone, the sounds of a game filling the air as he grunted his confirmation.
The night sky greeted us and Ghost nearly catapulted from her arms. I heard Chloe worrying about puppies this young and the fact they weren’t supposed to touch the ground since they hadn’t received all their immunizations yet. Reluctantly, she put down the dog. “How do you do that?” she asked. “Keep people from seeing you?”
I watched Ghost sniff about. “That man has a dull mind and wouldn’t believe in the supernatural if he was struck upside the head with it. A mere suggestion to ignore me was all I needed.”
“Don’t insult my friends. And previously, you were invisible to me.”
“When you initially walked in, you weren’t expecting anyone to be there. It took a few seconds for your inner eye to register my presence, that’s all. You can see me because we are connected, whether I use glamour or not.”
She should have been freaked out, but she wasn’t.
Ghost relieved herself and bounded after us as I led the way toward the rear entrance of the hospital.
“I won’t kill anyone,” she told me firmly. “That’s my dilemma. I’ve given it a lot of thought. You’re going to have to find someone else.”
His footsteps never faltered. “Not an option.”
The doors of the entrance slid open at our approach. She picked up the puppy, hoping not to get in trouble for flaunting the no-pet rule clearly posted next to the firearms ban.
A heavyset man in a lab coat was exiting just then with a tray from the cafeteria in hand. I made myself invisible once more.
“Don’t tell your aunt,” he said to Chloe, dipping his chin at the assortment of plastic-wrapped items he carried. “I need the extra calories tonight.”
His generous belly said differently, but she saluted him in silent unity. Morty’s wife ran a bakery in town and it appeared he taste-tested everything.
“You can’t take dogs in, you know,” he called over his shoulder. “Only service or therapy canines are allowed.”
“I’m training her for therapy.” The lie rolled off Chloe’s tongue with ease but I felt her instant guilt over it.
The doors swished shut, Morty giving her a wink as he continued on his way. They shared a special bond.
“The psychopomp is a therapy dog of sorts,” I stated. The antiseptic smell here was weaker than in the morgue. I shed my glamour. “They shift into a welcoming companion at times to assist souls into the afterlife.”
“Oh, I’ve seen her do that.” We passed the receptionist’s desk. The night attendant was also distracted with a computer game behind the raised counter and barely acknowledged us. “Believe me, no one’s going to want to cross to the afterlife with that beast breathing down their neck. Ghost might chase them there, but she’s not suitable, nor friendly, as a psychopomp.”
I tapped the elevator button and glanced around. We were alone, the distant sound of a nurse paging an orderly over the speaker system. “If it makes it any easier, you’re not killing anyone.”
She blew out a long, slow breath. “That’s a relief.” She stepped inside when the doors opened and I pushed the button marked three. “What am I doing? I thought that’s what grims did—harvest souls.”
I crossed my hands in front of me and stared at the panel. “This particular soul is a half-mag.”
“Mag—I don’t understand that term.”
“Magical. Those without magic are often referred to as no-mages or mundanes.”
“Like in Harry Potter.”
My eyebrow twitched. “This creature has no control over his abilities, but still uses them to create havoc in the mundane world. He was scheduled to die as a result of his last robbery but ended up in a coma instead. Brain-dead and living on borrowed time, his ghost haunts the hospital, continuing to cause chaos.”
“How exactly do I, um, reap him?”
I needed to be patient and remember she hadn’t sought this job as a reaper—she’d only been pushed into it because she’d wanted to save a friend. Stupid and reckless, but honorable. “With your clever wit.”
It took her a moment. “Did you just make a joke?”
The teasing note of her voice made me pull back once again. It was seductive, charming. My beast liked it far too much. “You have the scythe and a psychopomp. Are you truly that dense?”
There…the irritation was back. “I don’t typically walk around waving a big blade at people or siccing a dog on a comatose patient.”
The elevator dinged softly. “You’ll never rise above GR second class if you can’t figure some of this out on your own.”
“GR what?”
The elevator slid to a stop and the doors opened. We stepped out. “You’re starting at the bottom of the ladder, of course.”
The nurses’ station was busy with patient alerts, phones ringing, and two different aides running through the corridors. An attendant was on a phone at a computer station. “I told you, it’s just gone,” he stated sharply. “The whole program disappeared.”
The lights overhead flickered and a shadowy figure laughed as it whizzed by us.
“Grim 281, meet Talon Harris.” I patted Chloe on the back, shoving her in the direction of the ghost. “Go get him.”
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How will Chloe’s first assignment go? Find out next in Episode 5!