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I had one more goodbye, and this one was a fraction easier than walking away from Julia. Leviathan followed me down the stairs keeping his thoughts to himself. When I stepped into the living room, Noah looked up from his seat on the couch.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked and stood, staring me down.
Neither Julia nor I had ever told Noah the entire story. He knew I was special in some way, based on some of the things I had done in his presence, but he didn’t know why.
“Noah,” I started and he cut me off.
“Don’t give me a line of shit, either. You fucking died at the police station. I saw that shotgun blast go through your chest and the fucking mess it made, and the next thing I knew, we were in the car driving by the ocean and you were stone-cold dead, dude.”
“I’m not exactly alive now, either,” I said and he stepped back.
“What are you? A talking zombie?”
“No. I just inherited my father’s job,” I said, knowing it would strike him silent for a minute.
He stared at me like I sprouted a new head. “The guy in the car...” he trailed off and his gaze dropped to Leviathan. “Something about him freaked me out even before he started talking.”
“The guy in the car was Death,” Julia said from the stairwell behind me.
Noah’s gaze jumped to her.
“Nick’s father,” she finished and I didn’t turn, didn’t acknowledge her until she walked past me, and slumped on the couch.
Noah slowly processed the information, his face transforming as the truth sunk in. His eyebrows moved from a shocked arch into the scrunch of anger and his lips thinned as he pressed them together. “You could have told me, you know,” he snapped and crossed his arms.
I couldn’t help it, the absurdity of his statement made me laugh. No one in their right mind wants to be friends with Death’s son.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” His hands balled into fists and he dropped his arms.
“You would have thought I was nuts,” I said.
“Shit, man, I know you’re nuts,” he said and his hands relaxed. “It would have made a lot more sense than me believing you might be an alien, like Superman.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “It was just... easier to let you believe what you wanted because the truth is farther out there than any of your thoughts.”
He glanced at Julia. “How long have you known?”
“Since eighth grade. I found out after my parents died. That’s around the time he started seeing reapers,” Julia said, waving her hand in my direction. “The first time I saw one I freaked out a little.”
She freaked out a lot and I raised an eyebrow, silently challenging her understatement. She sent her ‘be quiet’ glare my way.
“Reapers?” Noah said and reached for the chair, lowering himself onto the cushion.
“Yeah,” both Julia and I said at the same time.
“Ben and Danny were reapers,” I added and Noah’s mouth dropped open. His entire body went slack with the shock. It took a full minute for him to recover and close his mouth.
“But they died in the tornado,” he said.
“They’ve been dead for a hell of a long time. After the tornado, they stayed in Purgatory,” I said and glanced at Leviathan.
“Actually, they went back to the reaper realm to get their next assignment,” Leviathan said and stretched out on the floor, opting to lick the dried blood from his paws instead of elaborate. I let it go for now, but I had to wonder if that contributed to the escape of demons.
I refocused on Noah.
“And how long have you been dead?” he asked, crossing his arms.
I glanced at my watch, calculating the time between arriving at the police station and right now. “Three hours,” I said and locked eyes with him.
He dropped his gaze to the floor.
“I died today,” I said and took a deep breath. My body tingled from those words, rendering my muscles into a quaking mess. I reached for the wall to steady myself, reconciling the truth with the fact that I was standing here. I knew how bizarre this must seem to Noah because it was a new level of insanity for me.
“I have to go,” I said, hating the shake in my voice. “Keep her safe, okay?”
“The car?” Noah said and glanced out the window.
“No, not the car, you idiot. I’m talking about Julia,” I said and his eyebrows rose. I knew I was asking a lot of him, especially if the demons decided to come up here and finish what they started in Florida, but I also knew he harbored a silent crush on her and had since we walked into high school four years ago.
“I’ll do my best,” he answered and glanced back out the window. “Any chance you can leave us the car?” he asked and shifted. “I mean, we’re kind of stuck here without wheels,” he added quickly.
“Yes. I’m leaving the car. She’s got the keys,” I said nodding toward Julia. I crossed the room, sticking my hand out. “I’m sorry I never told you about all this.”
He just stared at my hand like it was a particularly awful strain of disease. “Yeah, well, it kind of pisses me off, but I’ll get over it. You’re still my best friend,” he said, still staring at my offered hand. “But I am offended by a stupid handshake. Are you shitting me? After all we’ve been through, bro?”
Instead of taking my hand, Noah pulled me into a quick hug. “Just promise me you’ll be the one to come get me when it’s time,” he said.
I stepped out of his grasp and met his gaze. “I promise. Take care of her while I’m gone, okay?”
Noah glanced over my shoulder at Julia and then returned his gaze to mine. “Definitely.”
“Thanks,” I said and turned, walking out the door without looking back. I kept going with Leviathan keeping pace next to me. When I hit the street, I reached down, grasping the scruff of his neck and willed us into the realm of reapers.