Page 136 of Grim Tidings

“Shit,” I whisper.

Rafe reaches over and slaps at my shoulder. “There you go.”

“I mean—fuck. Why did—No one said anything? For thousands of years?”

Rafe shrugs. “It’s explained in the handbook.”

“What is?”

“You will serve your duty as Guardian for the purpose of securing your own future. Deviations in this mission will result in your own suffering. That’s what the book says. Clear as day.”

“That’s not—that doesn’t mean anything, Rafe. That’s just a bunch of vague words strung together.”

“You should have felt it, Gabriel.” Rafe picks up my pen and wiggles it in front of my face. “Didn’t you feel it?”

That first night at the bar, when she slid onto her stool, it felt like the whole place tipped sideways. In the alley, when she lifted my hand to her mouth and I felt like I had to kiss her. I had to.

I thought it was her magic. Something similar to my compulsion. Something meant to trick and trap me. But it wasn’t that at all. It was—

A gift. A choice. My very favorite consequence. It was a key fitting into a rusty lock. A sharp click as it turned to the right.

Rafe taps me in the forehead with the pen. “Sign your paperwork,” he says. “I have places I need to be.”

I look dumbly down at the file in front of me, the words swimming on the paper. I sign in the spots I’m meant to, then hand the file over.

Thousands of years. Half an eternity. Distilled down to a single file folder.

It would be depressing if I could muster that particular emotion right now.

“Beautiful,” Rafe says. He pulls another pen out of his pocket—this one from some radio station in Baltimore—and starts to scribble his name next to mine. “This will be processed and you’ll be free to live your mortal life. Thank you for your service to the Office of Guardians.”

“Sure,” I answer faintly.

Rafe smiles at me. “You really did do good work, kid. You should be proud.” He claps me on the shoulder. “It’s time for you to rest now.”

Rafe turns toward the door. I stand behind my bar, an empty glass of scotch in my hand and my heartbeat an unfamiliar thump thump thump in my chest.

“Wait,” I call. “That’s it?”

Rafe doesn’t turn. “That’s it.”

“But—” My hands are shaking so bad I have to put the glass down. “What about Darcy? If everything was for her, then—”

Then why isn’t she here? Why isn’t she mine? What good is declaring a soulmate, if I don’t get to keep her?

“What happens next?” I ask.

Rafe yanks the door open. Light spills in from the sidewalk, flooding the room in bright, shimmering gold.

“Gabriel,” Rafe laughs. “Can’t you feel it?”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Darcy

I adjust my earpiece and jam my thumb into the button that flips the number above my head from 87 to 88. A shadow appears on the other side of the window, and I try to muster some enthusiasm.

“Hello and welcome to the Department of Hauntings and Spirits.” My jaw pops with a yawn. “How can I help you today?”