Death has a Daughter (DHAD Series) Read Online Free

him.  I smiled to match his.  It’s the one thing I’d gotten from him, he always said.  Only someone of his line had that charming smile, he’d say.  If my father would have had a boy, I probably would have been a beast like my father.  He had dark-blue, almost black, eyes and pitch black hair to match.  He stood about seven feet tall and was nothing but solid muscle. 
    Even at his age, Dad could take on our best Reapers.  He had retired way too early.  I heard it was a day that had all Guardians celebrating , as they would no longer have to face my father.  I had heard so many stories about his escapades, but he never would confirm or deny any.  If rumors were true, he was a lethal killing machine.  He never let me see that side of him though.  To me, he was just my smart, caring dad, who currently had his hand on his scythe.  A scythe I had not seen since the age of six, after he had just retired. 
    “ Why do you have your…”
    “ You mean yours.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It has always been family tradition to pass down this scythe to the eldest child who has completed training, so it’s yours now,” he said, and handed it to me.  With both hands, I took ahold of the scythe.  I let out a sigh as my hands started to tingle from its touch.  This thing was as beautiful as I remembered.  The hilt was a polished, gunmetal grey.  About halfway up, there was a huge, blood-red ruby that was orbited by smaller, dime-sized rubies. The center ruby had the power to extract the soul from the human’s heart when I placed the tip of the scythe into it.  This center ruby not only had the power to extract the soul, it would also hold onto the soul until I brought it to the extractors to face judgment.
    “ I thought...” I stuttered, and became astounded by how right it felt in my hands.  It made the fact that I would really be out on my own soon sink in.
    “ Thought what?  Cendall, you are my eldest and only Reaper child.  After the tourney tomorrow, you will graduate.  It’s yours,” he said with a pronounced, proud voice.
    “ But…I thought that since... “
    “ Oh, stop now!  You know that being female has never hindered you from anything!  You deserve it.  Now open it,” he said, as I pushed that magic, small indent that made the scythe elongate from both ends to its full, four-foot potential.  Even in its extended form, it took my breath away.  My fingertips felt the scythe’s smooth, perfect blade.  A gasp escaped my lips when I reached the tip and watched in awe the result of my fingers touching it:  Blood began dripping down my hand.
    “ Thank you,” I smiled.
    “ How does it feel?” he asked as his eyes lit up.  “I just sharpened it, as you can see.”
    “ It’s amazing. It fits perfectly in my grasp.”
    “ I knew it would.  Now, go rest, you will need it tomorrow when you take that top spot from Drake.  I won’t be home tonight. I have some errands that I need to attend to, so don’t wait up,” Dad said as he walked past me, and I stood there, dumbfounded.  This scythe had been passed down for hundreds of years. A ton of top Reapers bearing our family name had collected souls with this, and it was now mine.  A grin spread across my face.  Victory would be mine at the Reaping with this in my hands.  I pushed the indent, making it go back to its original form, and wiped my bloody hand on my pants.

Chapter 3
The Reaping
    Dave and I walked up to the tournament board at the Reaping, and I stared at it, searching for my name and my first opponent.
    “I got Eric,” I said to Dave when I finally found my name.  “Who did you get first?”
    “ Drake,” he said coldly.
    “ Sorry.”
    “ Yeah, someone’s got to face him first, I guess.  I just wanted to advance a little farther than the first round,” Dave said, and I agreed.  It would be naïve to encourage him to win.  He just wasn’t at Drake’s level, and we both knew it.
    “ Eric has