Grim and Bear It
Chapter Twenty-One

Jake

I didn't know it was possible for a human to go through so many emotions over the course of three hours and not have their heart explode. I gripped Poppy's hand tight as I navigated my car toward Countryside Village Apartments. Apparently, Belphegor had spotted Daisy trying to buy ice cream with Monopoly money. Recognizing Daisy from her visits to Mina's, he managed to get her ice cream-I didn't want to know how-and carried her back to the apartments. "She's okay," Poppy reassured me, kissing my knuckles.

My chest warmed at the feel of her lips. "I know. But she might not have been. What if the people threatening me had found her?"

She squeezed my hand back. "They didn't and she's safe. Is there someplace else she can stay while you finish the case?"

I gripped the wheel harder with my left hand. "They're not going to like it."

"Better to be annoyed than in danger."

"Yeah." I released Poppy's hand to turn into the apartments. I didn't bother with a parking spot but pulled parallel to the sidewalk.

I pushed out of my car and rushed inside, Poppy matching me step for step. With the elevator still broken, I started negotiating the stairs with a grunt. The slip this afternoon had cost me, and my leg was throbbing.

"I got you," Poppy said, lifting me into her arms. "Remember? I have magical dead person strength."

I wrapped an arm over her shoulder as she took the stairs two at a time. "If Doris Manalin is spying on me, she's going to see me floating."

"I don't know who Doris is, but yes. It will look awesome."

Belphegor was waiting at the top of the stairs wearing a new orange and brown sweater, pacing outside of Mina's apartment. He was hard to look at, somehow blurred around the edges. "Amber wanted to bring some cookies and..." "The elevator is still broken," we said together. "The landlord really doesn't give a shit about disabled people," I grumbled as Poppy set me down. It was one of the big reasons I didn't live here.

"Are we gonna talk about the creeper in purple?" Belphegor asked, his raccoon-tail-eyebrows raised.

"Poppy, Belphegor, Belphegor, Poppy. She's a friend."

"A reaper is your friend?" He grunted. "Don't want to hear any bitching about me being the scary one when you hang out with a reaper broad." He turned to Poppy. "No offense."

"It's cool, I am creepy." She turned to face him. "Speaking of creepy, can you tell me why your friends are snacking on live souls? I haven't had to fight a demon in years and now you're all up in my business."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Don't blame me for their bullshit. I haven't tasted a human in a decade." He smoothed his talons down his sweater. "These sweaters feel better than people taste."

Poppy made a face, but then bobbed her head. "It's a great sweater. But can you tell your buddies to lay off before I have to chop any more in half? It's a whole thing."

He guffawed. "You're the broad who cut up Amon?" His long tail thumped against the floor, as if in joy. "Good. He deserved it." He turned to me. "I warned Mina to get this hybrid shit under control, or the demons would come." "I've got it under control," I argued.

"Apparently not as under control as you think."

I bit back a retort and took a deep breath. "Thanks, for Daisy."

He nodded.

I brushed past Belphegor and opened Mina's door to replace barely controlled chaos. Jim and Dad were on the phone while Magnolia and Eliza snuggled an ice-cream-stained Daisy on the couch. Amber sat in the armchair with cookies on her lap, leaning over to talk to Daisy. Carma was fiddling with the coffee machine in the kitchen and Mina was talking to Paris on the other side of the room.

"Daisy," I breathed, the sound making the room still. She looked up at me with big blue eyes that matched Eliza's. She slid out of her mom and grandma's arms and ran over to me. Despite the pain, I crouched down and picked her up and her arms went around my neck.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jake," she said, her voice shaking.

"As long as you're okay, Munchkin. Just don't do that again, okay? You can call me, and I'll come get you. Or call Aunt Mina or grandma or grandpa, yeah?"

"Promise." She sniffed. "I didn't want you to be mad at me."

I pulled back to look at her. "I would never be mad at you about your powers, you got that? And as soon as I'm done with this one last job, I'm going to help you figure everything out, okay?" She nodded.

"Would it be okay if I have someone else come help you for a little bit until I'm done?"

She hesitated. "I don't know."

"Could you try for me?"

She studied my face carefully, then nodded. "Okay."

"That's my girl." I kissed her head and set her down. She ran back to the couch and jumped onto her mom's lap.

"Pardon me, Jake," Sebastian said. "I didn't realize you'd be bringing your Poppy."

My Poppy. Yes, she was. The memory of her lips against mine made my chest warm as I looked back at her. "Yeah."

"Is there a reason she's present? Not that I'm not thrilled to see her."

I turned to face him. "Because she was with me when I got the call, and she cares about Eliza and Daisy."

"And you still say I shouldn't be concerned that you're getting threatening emails and spending time with a reaper?"

I narrowed my eyes. He said it loud enough for a nearby Mina to hear. Mina, never one to let anything go, turned to me. "Do you care to explain what I just heard?"

"Nope," I said. "No, I do not."

She turned to Paris. "Talk."

"I...think it's best if you two talk in private," Paris said. "I can't break my word to Jake."

"Hey, Jake, can you come check out the ceiling fan in my room?" Mina said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's doing that thing again."

I motioned for her to lead the way, then followed her into her bedroom. "How long until it takes them to figure out you don't have a ceiling fan?" I asked, closing the door behind her. "About two minutes, so start talking."

"I don't know where to start."

"The reaper is a good place."

"It's Poppy."

Mina rubbed the heel of her hand over her breastbone. "Holy shit."

"Yeah." When Mina and I became partners, I told her about Poppy. She even helped me look for clues as to what happened, but we had gotten nowhere.

"She's a reaper?"

"Explains a lot, doesn't it?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "It's why we couldn't replace anything on her. Why every trace of her was gone. God, Jake, are you okay?" "Fine."

"Bullshit."

I looked at my friend who was for all intents and purposes my older sister. "No. I don't know."

"Jake, seeing a reaper isn't good, childhood love or not."

"I know. But she swears I'm not on her list or whatever."

Mina tilted her head. "For now."

"For now." I studied my feet. "She kissed me today. Well, I kissed her. We kissed each other and..."

"And?"

"Just...fuck."

"Ah." She walked over and gave me an awkward hug. "What can I do?"

"You're voluntarily hugging me? It's that bad, huh?"

She pinched the skin on my inner upper arm before stepping away. "Yeah, well, Carma's made me soft." As she said it, her entire face lit up. Carma was the best thing that had happened to her, even if Mina's life had been turned inside out while they were falling in love.

"Okay, now about the threats."

"They're only against me. SHAP won't put my family in a safe house until there's a direct threat." I rubbed the back of my neck. "But Eliza needs help until we can get Daisy's powers under control and Daisy is just as overwhelmed." She looked at me as if I were missing the most obvious thing in the world. "Have Eliza and Daisy go stay with your dad and Magnolia. You know Daisy wouldn't cross the line at her grandparents and Eliza will have help." "And I can add cameras to their security system."

"No, I can. You have enough to deal with. Finish your case. Watch your back."

I nodded. "Thanks." I put my hand on the doorknob as I turned to leave, then hesitated. "You didn't give me shit about Poppy."

"Your first love is a grim reaper. This doesn't have a happy ending, bro. And I don't know how to make it any better."

Another nod. "Yeah." I opened the door and walked back into the living room to replace only my family, Jim, and Carma. Amber, Belphegor, the ghosts, and Poppy were gone.

I didn't have to wonder where they went for long. A violin version of "My Heart Will Go On" rose up from the apartment below. I looked over my shoulder at Mina. "I can't tell if the boys pulling Poppy into their Titanic obsession is a good thing or a bad thing." "This may solve your entire problem. They may chase Poppy off," she mused softly.

I hit her shin playfully with my cane, smiling, then froze as realization dawned. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bathroom. "That's Poppy playing," I whispered, remembering her practicing the song over and over again when we were kids. She was more skilled now, but I could tell her playing anywhere. "You shouldn't be able to hear her."