Shattered Reality | Book Two

Chapter XIII

Ruby stares at me in disbelief, her eyes wide in fear. I told her everything necessary for Grim to wipe her mind. I also told Marge. Getting them to sit down in their house was a little hard since they were acting like they had ants in their pants. I'm sure I would too if I found out everything I ever learned was false.

Was I like that?

My reality was changed so long ago that it seems like my life before was the fake part.

"You mean, you've been suffering from these hellhounds on your tail from this supposed Grim Reaper?" Ruby's voice is soft as Marge wanders off. My eyes watch her grandmother silently walk into the living room as she collapses onto the couch. I cannot imagine going through my entire life like Marge only to find out it was so...twisted. Luckily, as soon as Marge sits down Grim appears and stares deeply into her eyes. Seconds later, Marge falls asleep on the couch and Grim turns around with a nod, telling me it's done. I sag in relief and stare at Ruby. I notice Grim points at her in question, and I shake my head. Ruby notices this and turns around in her seat. Her warm brown eyes scan everywhere, but Grim is invisible to her as he stands beside her. "He's here right now, isn't he?"

I look down before murmuring, "Yes."

Her gasp is loud before she stands up. "Can he hear me?"

"Yes."

"Okay, great," Ruby suddenly whips around back and forth. "Listen dude, I don't know much about you or even truly what you are and I get that I can't, but trust me, if I find out you hurt Cassie, failed to protect her, or even betrayed her, I will make your life a living hell," Ruby stares into the living room, facing the complete wrong way. Her words make my eyes sting with loving tears. "I don't know how I will do that since you kind of own hell...maybe. I don't know. Just know I will try everything in my power to get my revenge if you hurt Cassie!" She finishes by throwing a finger in the air and stomping her foot on the ground. She still stares in the wrong direction, but whirls around when Grim talks.

"Duly noted."

Ruby barely even gets to gasp before Grim suddenly stares deep into her eyes and then Ruby is dropping to the floor. Luckily Grim has reflexes like a cat because he catches her before she falls against the hardwood and turns to me. I send him a warm smile before walking around the table to grab Ruby's legs. We work together to place her on the couch, safely tucked under a blanket. After we do the same to Marge, I turn to him.

"When they wake up they won't remember anything?"

"Correct," Grim nods. "And have really bad headaches," he murmurs. I shrug before crashing into him, giving him a warm hug. Now that I know it's okay for me to actually touch him and he doesn't mind, I've been hugging him and touching him a lot lately. I cannot help it, every time I do, warmth floods my system and a deep sense of security runs through my veins. Grim just pats my back slowly before pulling away and quickly snapping himself out of the house to wherever he needed to go. Sadness fills my heart before I remember exactly who he is.

He's Theodosius, the God of Death.

I should know better than to expect love. Especially now that I know it's the one thing that will cause his downfall.

___

I crash into my bed, alone. It's the first time I've been alone with my thoughts ever since everything happened. Even Azrael isn't here with me right now because Grim has been angry with him. Azraels has also been watching over Zeuxis, who proves every day he is more and more trustworthy. Since his father is Thanatos, he knows secrets no one else has known. Such as the prophecy. The prophecy was supposed to be kept away from Grim, apparently. We learned that from Zeuxis.

Yet Grim still refuses to trust him. It's understandable, to say the least. Grim has been alive for hundreds of years with only one friend who is technically his...servant.

Grim would never leave me without protection, and he made sure I knew that when I caught him pressing his fingers against the walls of my house. It turns out he put a protection spell thing on it. He just was too weak to use it before which made me wonder how he had the power now. Either way, my house is now demon and angel proof. Even if they decided to drop a nuke on my house, we would be perfectly fine.

I sigh as I look up at the stars on my ceiling, the constellations I placed up their shining brightly in the night. My eyes lock on the upside down 'W' on my ceiling and I find myself grinning and the irony of it. That upside down 'W' happens to be the constellation I was named after, and it's all proud up there in the sky. I find the queen's story kind of similar to mine. She was told to sacrifice her gorgeous daughter Andromeda because she upset the Gods. Even though I don't have a daughter, I can't help but notice how similar our stories are. I pissed off the God of Life simply because there's a chance I could kill his brother. Even though I know their relationship isn't exactly what one would call good, they are still blood and blood is deeper than...hows that go? Whatever. I bet Thaddeus, the God of Life, would rather just kill me now than risk the chance of me ruining the world and killing his brother. I don't even know how God's die. Do they have special swords, magical death sentences? What about God guillotines? I bet not, but Azrael did say something about a head being chopped off in the library.

Either way, the less I know the better.

Ever since I came to the realization of just how I will destroy the God of Death I've been careful. Of course, that was a week ago and I'm just now realizing what my realization truly means. No more kisses. No more longing looks. No more desperate hugs. I need to distance myself from him as much as I can so that I don't feel the strange pull we seem to have one toward one another.

I knew it was there from the start. Even when he was an ominous shadow that growled out profound messages, I felt something for him and had a couple dreams about that shadow. It was weird. He was a mass of blackness that I was attracted because of his voice.

I mean, his voice sounds like the whispers in the woods after a storm. But when he gets angry, his voice is the harsh wind pushing the trees over. Basically, his voice is so...sultry and just sexy. Grim himself is sexy.

Every time I close my eyes I see his piercing black eyes, his full lips, the eyebrow piercing right above his eye. Every time8 I dream, I see him cradling me as he kisses me softly. Those dreams always turn darker and his grip soon becomes hot and practically burns my skin as he kisses down my--

I'm thankful for the knock on my door that brings me out of my thoughts. "Cassie?" Ravenna pokes her head in my room. Ever since Grim flipped that switch in her mind to make her nice for a day, she's been nicer. And he put her back to normal.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" I ask sitting up and scooting across my bed so she can sit down. I pat my comforter and look to her with trusting eyes, but she just backs up.

"Nothing, sorry..." she trails off as she shuts my door. I hear her door shut forcefully. I'm left in my room staring blankly at my wall. Something is up with Ravenna, but I fear that if I get too close she will get snappy with me. It's better not to push her, let her come to me. But my heart still demands that I go out and console her. She's obviously going through something difficult but my mind tells me to stay on my bed.

I run a hand through my hair as I blow air out between my cheeks, falling back against my bed only to freeze as something white flies upward. My eyes lock on it until it suddenly twists around and reveals what it is.

A white leather.

It's too long to be a bird feather and too beautiful to be a pen feather thing. My mind already knows it's an angel feather as I reach up and delicately pluck it from the air. It's soft to the touch, making me gasp as my fingers rub against it. It feels like velvet that could never be rubbed the wrong way. Or like sour onion soup in a solid form, it's that smooth. I wonder how this got in my room, but remember the wind and all other things. It must've fallen perfectly across my pillow, and I caused it to lift up by falling right next to it.

Somehow, as I stare at the feather, I know that although Grim promised me his protection, something horrible is about to come.

___