The war was over. After nearly two and a half thousand years, if Tomas was to be believed, peace had finally been achieved. It was what I’d been working toward, but suddenly, I felt at a loss for what to do next. I wasn’t sure what was required of me now that I had accomplished my goal. It sounds stupid when I put it that way, I know, but after three months of fighting, you kinda get used to it. When that’s taken away from you, you feel more than a little bored.

I’d decided to take one of the underground rooms in The Nook Inn for a few days to rest and recover. It turned out that the biggest drawback to using so much of Granis’s energy was exhaustion. Despite being half-human and half-Granis in nature, I still wasn’t designed to use the energy for long periods of time. My arms and legs, which had been used the most when I’d made my prayer, were so sore that I could barely move them that first night.

Marisha had tended to me, making sure I got something to eat before passing out. On the one hand, it was a little humiliating to be spoon-fed right after I’d saved the world, but it was also quite an attractive idea to have such a cute girl looking after me. Now that the fear of my mission had passed, I began to think about a possible future in dating her. The thought terrified me and filled me with so much elation I felt I couldn’t breathe at times.

After the first night of rest, I felt much better. I wasn’t fully recovered by any stretched definition of the word, but I was well on the road to healing. The arms and legs were still sore, but I could get up and move around again, which was a huge plus. To my pleasure, Marisha didn’t take this as her cue to leave at all. Quite the contrary, she kept finding excuses to hang out with me. Outside my room, the Reaper Clan was undergoing deconstruction, but inside, it was peaceful.

Marisha and I ordered food from Tony Packo’s, a great hot dog joint in Toledo. We sat and ate, laughing at some funny episodes of The Big Bang Theory on Netflix. We didn’t care what was going on in the world around us. All that mattered was that we’d done our job. This was our time, and we took full advantage of it.

The first and second night, Marish had slipped away to her own room while I slept, to be back in perfect timing as I woke up. But on the third night, exhausted from playing games and watching TV all day, she’d fallen asleep on one half of my bed, and I didn’t have the willpower to wake her up. I’d pulled the covers over her slipped in myself, falling asleep almost at once. The next morning, we’d woken up in each other’s arms, with the smell of her hair being the first thing I’d noticed.

“Good morning,” I said groggily as we woke up and I stretched.

“Morning,” she agreed, squinting at the bright sunlight streaming through the window. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” I said, rolling over to look at her. “Why is it more comfortable when you’re with me?”

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A slight tinge of pink appeared in her cheeks, but she still rolled her eyes at me in her usual sarcastic manner. “I think that means you like me.”

“Nah,” I said, flopping onto my back. “That word isn’t strong enough.”

The words had escaped me without my intention, and I froze, already mentally kicking myself. You’re an idiot! But before I could think of a way to apologize for the blunder, or find some smooth and witty thing to cover it with, she was moving closer to me. She sat on my hips and looked down at me with mock-condemnation.

“It isn’t strong enough?” She asked, arching one eyebrow. “Does that mean you love me?”

Time seemed to jam to a stop. I could have sworn I’d died for a moment there. “Well, that is the popular opinion, yes.”

Damn, that was smooth, I thought to myself. Why can’t I be that smooth with other women?

“Finally, he admits it!” Marisha said loudly, sounding pleased. “I thought we’d be married before he said it!”

I blinked rather stupidly up at her. “What?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to admit it for like a week now,” she said, rolling her eyes again. “You can’t keep a girl waiting so long, Silas. Anyone else would have moved on by now.”

“You mean,” I said, swallowing dryly, “you feel the same way?”

She seemed to ponder that for a second. It was the longest second of my life. “Well, let’s see. Does this answer your question?”

And without warning, she lowered herself down until she was laying on top of me, and kissed me. Time resumed its normal speed, and the moment was gone too fast. She broke away, her hands on either side of my head and her hair falling down to tickle my face. I suddenly realized that I’d stopped breathing, and dragged in one shaky breath. She grinned at that.

“Well,” I said, trying my hardest to sound casual. “That wasn’t very clear. Perhaps you should try again?”

It was the kind of thing you said to an angry dragon, not a hot girl that was straddling you. Half of me expected her to shift and hold a knife to my throat for my nerve. Let me just tell you, when a woman makes a move like that, normally that’s a terrible idea. Lucky for me, Marisha seemed to like the idea. She leaned down and kissed me again. My arms went around her and pulled her tighter against me. She made a noise I could only call a happy growl and kissed me harder.

I’m not the type to, as they say, kiss and tell. Some things have to be taken to the grave, so all I’ll say is that I’ll never forget that morning. If you’re expecting some detailed account of an erotic encounter, then you’re shit out of luck. That’s not my style, and the memory is only for me. Nope, this is a story about how I became a Reaper. I just threw in this last chapter as bragging rights. Yep, I just wanted to brag that I got Marisha Miridis. Well, back then she was Marisha Redman, but not anymore. All in all, those three months of struggling were nothing, nothing compared to the happiness I have with my wife