Excerpt From The Official Reaper Rulebook:
11. Deals are allowed to be made if payment is sufficient
.

After Riley had her breath back and found a seat on the couch, she was able to tell everyone what had happened without screaming, though the accusatory tone remained. Her pale cheeks were flushed from the cold and her anger, but she was slowly beginning to calm down as the oldest man explained to her why Dracula had showed up.

"So the chick you want brought back from the dead is this guy's girlfriend," she says after a moment, wrapping a lock of hair around one of her slender fingers," and the wolf shot her so that the fog would dissipate, but now he feels bad. Did I get it all right?"

"For the most part," the older man, Malcolm Murray, confirms. "She'd been fighting him and his brother all her life, but she must have been so tired to give in like that." Riley gives a little nod, biting at her lip. If she brought Vanessa back to life, would it trigger the fog again or would she be reset as mostly human? Riley couldn't be sure, but she really wished Grim was around to give her some pointers.

"You guys must live in a soap opera or somethin'." Heaving a sigh, she stands and starts to pace the length of the room. "Alright, so we'll have to kill Dracula before I bring Vanessa back to make sure he doesn't manipulate her again."

"That won't be easy," a new person states, a woman by the sound of it. Riley looks over her shoulder and spots the human standing in the doorway of the parlor, all long limbs and pale skin with short hair that fell just below her chin in loose curls. The woman was beautiful, her features reminding Riley of the Fair Folk she had seen when she was a child, graceful and fluid in everything they did. "You have to get close to him in order to kill him and he has to be in his human form."

"Are you the expert on vampires around here?"

"Mm, I'm an expert on all things dead." With a grin, the woman crosses the room and sticks out her hand for Riley to shake, the Reaper not even hesitating to take it. The human was warm and her grip was sure, both things Riley loved at the moment. "I'm Catriona Hartdegen."

"Riley Liu," Riley replies with a smile of her own. The second Catriona's fingers fully closed around Riley's hand, there was a sharp, snapping shock that shot through her entire body and made her jerk her hand back. It had never happened before and going off the confounded expression on Catriona's face, it had never happened to her before either. "What the actual fuck was that?"

"Static shock?"

"I've never had a static shock make my fingers go numb." Riley wiggled her fingers for emphasis, the tips of them turning a dark red as though they'd been burned. Catriona's fingers have done the same, a deep angry red that was tender to the touch, and both women kept their fingers slightly away from their bodies to avoid any accidental pain.

"How strange," Frankenstein murmurs, stepping closer to observe without touching. "And that's never happened to you before, Miss Liu?" She gives him a dry look and he shrugs his thin shoulders. "I wouldn't be a scientist if I didn't ask questions."

"Just take my word on it, then." She blows on her fingers and seats herself on the floor beside the fireplace, frowning as the pain slowly starts to abate. "Alright, that particular bit of weirdness aside, let's come up with a plan to gank a vampire." She closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head. "I can't believe I just had to say that."

"If it's any consolation, I never thought I'd have to ask someone that wasn't God to bring a loved one back to life," the wolf offers. His name was Ethan Chandler, an American with a thick accent and the bearing of someone who was used to fighting. "So, does anyone have any ideas?"

"Bullet to the heart," Malcolm says immediately, his expression hard and grief-filled. This Vanessa Ives was dear to his heart, though Riley doubts he's the type to admit it out loud.

"I could get behind that idea."

"Yes," Riley agrees with a nod, looking up at the group assembled in the room," a bullet would do nicely. We wouldn't have to be unreasonably close and it's incredibly effective against pretty much anything."

"I'll do it, I'm the best shot here." Malcolm looked a bit miffed, but didn't comment on Ethan's statement.

"So it's settled, you guys will shoot the undead bastard that ruined my tater tots, then you'll bring me my payment, and I'll bring Vanessa back to life." Sitting there, surrounded by the confident people of her new group, Riley was incredibly pleased with the plan. Surely everything would run smoothly from here on out?

But nothing ever goes to plan when Vanessa Ives is concerned.


Riley pushed the door to her house closed behind her, resting back against it for a moment. The only evidence of Dracula's unexpected arrival was the spilled tots on her front porch, but she would clean that mess up after she had a nice, long soak in the tub.

She was tired, her fingers still hurt, and she was starving.

With a slight wince, she pushes away from the door and heads to the back of the house, stopping in her room just long enough to grab a clean set of clothes that weren't sporting grease stains, and then moves to the bathroom down the hall. It wasn't very large, the floor made up of sparkling white tiles, the walls dark wood, a clawfoot tub set against the right wall with a small table beside it holding all of Riley's bath products. Across the room from the door was a short counter with a sink set into it and a mirror above it; on the counter were various face washes, ponytail holders, and a radio. On the left wall, there was a simple shelf holding the fluffy, yellow towels and washrags with a laundry basket below it.

Riley sets her clothes and glasses on the counter and flips on the radio, nodding along to a classic rock song as she takes off her dirty clothes and throws them in the hamper. After that, she sets the water to running and climbs into the tub, resting her arms along the sides and closing her eyes.

"Seasons don't fear the reaper," Riley sings along quietly," nor do the wind, the sun or the rain. We can be like they are. Come on, baby, don't fear the reaper…." She trails off as she slides underneath the water, the need to breathe not afflicting her. Technically, she was already dead and so had no need to abide by its rules, so she often went diving when she was stationed in Australia. The only scary thing about that place was the amount of animals trying to murder people.

She surfaces again after a moment, slicking her long hair back and reaching blindly for the bottle of shampoo. It's not until someone hands it to her that she realizes her house wasn't as empty as she had assumed. Instincts developed over the centuries had her leaping out of the tub and latching onto her necklace without a second's thought, facing down her opponent in her birthday suit.

"Always so overdramatic," the intruder drawls, keeping his gaze solely on her face. "I thought you Death Devils were supposed to be calm and collected all the time."

"Don't call me that," she snaps back at him without lowering the necklace. He knew what she could do with it and stayed a good six feet away at all times, carefully out of reach. "How the hell did you get in my house?" The man clasps his hands behind his back, looking around at the small room without a care.

"I have need of your services."

"Ain't happening."

"All you Death Devils are the same, so impatient sometimes."

"You call me that about one more time and I'll rip the fangs outta your head, Drac." He stares at her for a moment, dark eyes narrowed slightly as if he had a hard time believing she actually knew who he was. "It's been awhile since we last met, I think it was right before you corrupted Judas Iscariot." He gives a slight shrug, barely perceived, and even manages an arrogant smirk.

"It's good to see you again, Lái lì." Riley gives a slight wince at the Chinese pronunciation of her name, not having heard it in at least a decade since her father passed into retirement in the Afterworld. "Would you like to get dressed before we continue our negotiations?" Riley's left eye twitches, hating the way he seemed so comfortable in her home. "I'll put some tea on while I wait." And just like that, he walked out of the bathroom without a glance back.

Grumbling under her breath, Riley pulls on fresh underwear and a pair of loose jeans, a black top with bell sleeves, and her cowgirl boots before moving into her bedroom. She quickly dries and braids her hair, pulling on a simple cowgirl hat that kept anyone from seeing how messy her hair actually is, and an assortment of rings.

"The elders and I are having a long conversation about stronger runes when I get back," Riley growls, taking another moment to apply a light coat of pale lipstick. With that finished, she made her way to the kitchen, Count freaking Dracula pouring himself a cup of tea like he had any right to it.

"Would you like some sugar," the vampire asks without looking up, his sharp hearing probably picking up her footsteps before she even left her room. That had always bugged her, wishing her own hearing were so great. If it was, then I certainly wouldn't be playing host to this ass. She snatches her cup out of the vampire's hand and slouches in a kitchen chair, looking up at him with a stare that could freeze water.

"This had better be good, Drac."

According a website, Riley is translated to Lái lì in Chinese.