Page 31 of How to Survive Your Own Death

Yes, Geri was a curious one. Perhaps his task would be easier if he had chosen someone less inquisitive. She was not the only person who lived close to the veil. He could have waited another day or two.

It did not matter. The deed was done and the idea of being bound to another person was repellent. He only wanted Geri.

“There are some remaining who are of the same cohort as me. Fewer are those who came before me,” he said. There were younger reapers but they were products of a different age. They understood the modern world. Bazel did not have time nor the inclination to form an attachment, but he had a fondness for Amais, who was only a century old.

Geri made a humming noise. He did not like it. That was the noise she made when she searched for the holes in his answers.

Too curious.

Being the focus of that curiosity was unsettling and exhilarating. He did not know what to do with that particular combination of emotions.

“What happened to those who came before you? Do they retire to Ghost Florida?” she asked.

“What comes next is unknown.”

“Do you have family? I know, you sprang fully formed from the ether, but do you? Parents? Siblings?” Geri asked. “I know it’s a silly question. Familial structures, if they existed for reapers, won’t resemble anything like human families.”

“I do not have a family.”

As such.

“That sounds lonely,” she said.

“It can be,” he said with a candor that surprised him. “My cohort was the closest thing I have to siblings.”

“Tell me all about them.” Excitement shone in her eyes.

“Seraphina was the last I had regular contact with. I am unsure of the others, if they still exist.”

The excitement dimmed. “I’m sorry.”

“Do not be. Our duties come first. They would not want me to waste time mourning them.”

Zarall would be appalled at such an emotional display. The last time he saw Zarall, they reaped souls as a fire spread to the neighboring houses and ultimately took out half the city block. That was three decades ago. Humble Good Day—last reported to be in Chicago—would share some wise reflections on the nature of their existence. Even if their life was long, it was still temporary, or some such thing.

“Wow, your relationship with grief is super unhealthy,” Geri said.

“That is a mortal concern.”

“Do you miss them?”

Bazel considered the question. “I was closest with Seraphina. Zarall was the eldest by half a minute and considered it their right to boss the others. Humble Good Day⁠—”

“Wait, explain that name,” Geri said, sounding amusing.

“It is rude to laugh at the names of others.”

“Fine, fine. You’re right. That was insensitive of me,” she apologized. “Please tell me about Humble Good Day.”

“Humble took pride in being a good friend,” he said. Then added, “We have not spoken since the Great Influenza.”

“Because they’re a little bitch?”

Her question clearly asked for gossip, which he was not inclined to share. “Because I am too busy for social calls,” he said.

“Oh, you’re the little bitch. Don’t give me that look.”

“There is no look. Do not be judgmental.”