Light the Shadows (A Grimm Novel) by Michelle Clay

Micah whirled to face the ghost. “Oh my God, Anna!”
    “Murdered me, reaped my soul. Whatever." Anna lowered her gaze and pouted. "Same difference as far as I’m concerned.”
    Micah moved toward the adjoining closet. What had he done to reap the real Micah’s soul? And if he'd taken Anna's, how old did that make him exactly?
    Anna drifted through the wall, into the bedroom. She said, “I went to the laundry room right before the end of my shift at the hospital. I was going to get sheets and gowns out of the dryer like I always did, but it blew up. A piece of machinery went through my chest , and I died instantly."
    The ghost stared at her own reflection in the dresser mirror. "I refused to cross over, wouldn’t believe I died. I was so worried about my mom and dad. How would my little brother feel?”
    Micah thrust her head through a clean t-shirt then gaped at her friend. “You became a shadow?”
    “ Not exactly. I opened the door, but didn’t go through.” Anna’s image flickered. “James Sullivan lost patience. He pushed me across the threshold. He didn’t even give me a choice. He forced me to cross over so I wouldn’t become a shadow.”
    " Is that really a bad thing, Anna? The one I saw today was frightening."
    Anna’s shoulders sagged. “You can’t just hang out in purgatory. I was taken to an office where a man called Death gave me a choice. He said I didn’t have to cross over to my idea of heaven or hell , but there was a condition. I had to guide others as a shepherd.”“That doesn’t sound too terrible.”
    " I’ve had to watch Reapers kill all my friends, my family … there's no one left. They’ve taken them all. I’ve watched everyone I care about die. I’ve even guided them through the doorways leading out of purgatory.” Anna's voice drifted away along with her image. “Sometimes, I don’t know if being a shepherd is a gift or a curse.”
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Sully moved down the hospital corridor after the mark had been delivered to the shepherd waiting on the other side. When he spotted Micah Munroe breeze through the sliding glass doors, he decided to stick around. He’d behaved badly the last time he saw her , and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. He’d been doing this job for ages, and no one had ever affected him like this. Not since Sarah.
    He twisted the silver ring on his middle finger and frowned. Thoughts of Sarah hadn’t haunted him in a long while. It had been close to a hundred years since she’d lived and died. Why would he think of her now?
    ****
    He’d been a Reaper for many years and knew things like love, marriage, and children were never going to be an option for him.. Then Sarah came along, and he forgot all about those rules.
    In a cruel turn of fate, Sully had been the one sent to reap the soul of the woman he loved. Even knowing it was inevitable, he nearly lost his mind with grief. He would have refused, but knew another would be sent in his place. Sully couldn’t imagine someone else doing the deed. He thought it would be easier for Sarah if in the throes of death, it was his familiar face she saw. He’d been terribly mistaken.
    He went to see her that afternoon with the understanding that it would be the last time he'd do so.
    She was coming back from a ride around her father's property when he arrived. Sarah’s horse spooked when it stepped too close to a snake. Clover, which was a gentle giant of a horse and far too big for such a petite woman, reared up.
    Sarah clung to the beast’s mane, cooing words meant to soothe. Nothing worked. The snake lashed out , and the equine stumbled backward. Horse and rider spilled over the edge of the rocky bluff. The incline wasn’t so steep, at least not enough to kill her during the fall. The equine, however, tumbled atop her, crushing her beneath its massive body.
    Heartsick, Sully made his way down the steep embankment. “Sarah!”
    He fell to his knees beside her, afraid to