Shadow Oracle by Laura Greenwood

Three

I shuffle uncomfortablyon my seat, trying not to let the nerves overtake me. For whatever reason, I don't feel as if I should be here, despite the fact I was given an appointment with the career adviser as soon as I asked for one. It's probably because I've never considered any type of reaper career path, which makes sense when I didn't know I was one until a few months ago.

"Miss Weston?" a woman with curly dark hair asks from the doorway to the left.

I rise to my feet. "That's me."

"Why don't you come in and get comfortable." She gestures to her office.

I smile weakly and rise to my feet, hurrying to follow her into the room.

She gestures to the empty chair closest to the door and I take it as an invitation to sit. Nothing about the room is particularly noteworthy save for the plaque on the desk reading Ms Chobury.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Weston."

"Likewise," I murmur.

"I see you haven't had a career appointment while studying here before, is that right?"

I nod.

"That's unusual, most of the time we try to talk to the students when they arrive at the beginning of the year," Ms Chobury says.

"I wasn't here then. I only started a few months ago." Heat flares to my cheeks. No one told me I had to have a meeting with the career department. No doubt everyone was too distracted with all the other things that came with my arrival at the academy.

"Ah, I see. That explains it. So, let's start at the beginning. What career paths have you been considering?"

I fiddle with a loose thread on the hem of my skirt. This is a bad idea. I should have done more research before coming here.

"I don't know," I admit.

"That's okay, we have a lot of people in your position. What did you think before you came here?"

"I had no idea I was a reaper until then, I don't even know what career paths are open to me." This all sounds so bad. Up until now, my newness to the world hasn't felt so bad. Juliet and the twins are always quick to explain things when I make it clear I don't understand, and even then they do it in a way that doesn't make me feel like I'm missing too much.

"Ah, I see." She jots down a couple of notes. "We can start with the basics if that helps?"

"It would, thank you," I mumble.

I hate feeling like this. I wish there was something that could make it go away.

"Well, all the career paths open to humans are open to you. If you have a strong preference for accounting or law, you can do those. Of course, there are also specialisations in those fields for reapers too."

"There are?" I never thought about the need for different professions like that in the different supernatural types. On reflection, it makes a lot of sense, it just never crossed my mind.

"For accounting, there are a lot of specialisations in the reaper bounty points. You'll need to get your general accounting qualifications first..."

"It's okay, I'm not good enough at maths for that."

Her lips quirk into a smile. "All right. Law is the same, you need to get your general qualifications first, and then you can specialise in a reaper subject. That's either dealing with reapers who need representing, or dealing with cases where a reaping has occurred."

"I thought reapers couldn't testify in court?"

"We can't," she confirms. "But there are still implications when a case has been solved because of the input of reapers or ghosts and they tend to need specialists. That's also just in criminal cases. In civil cases or disputes, reapers are capable of testifying. It happens a surprising amount when there's foul play involved."

"Oh."

"Do you think that's something that would interest you?"

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure."

She nods. "That's helpful."

I give a short laugh. "Is it?"

A kind smile stretches over her face. "It is. Knowing what you definitely don't want to do, or what you're not sure about helps me to work out what kind of jobs are a good fit."

"Oh." This isn't what I expected from a careers meeting.

"There are some very specialised reaper jobs. I see your reaper bounty points are already high. You're in the top ten of your year."

"I have a good porter on my team," I admit, my thoughts flitting to Mathias.

"It takes a good seer to have the points you do," she assures me. "If you keep up these kinds of points, the Reaper Guard will be an option for you. They only accept the very top performing students because of the importance of their work. You'll already have experience of the kind of thing you'll be doing, but it'll be at a more complex level."

I nod along with what she's saying, trying to work out whether it feels like the right fit for me.

I'm honestly not sure, but it's going to give me plenty to think about.

"There's teaching at Scythe Grove or at one of the other reaper focused academies. Then there is caretaking if you have a particular affinity to the trees that give the wood to create our scythes."

"I don't think either of those are right for me," I say.

She scribbles down a note. "What about law enforcement?"

I perk up. "I don't think I considered that as an option."

"There isn't a specific department for reapers, so in that case you'd be joining one of the agencies as a general supernatural, but it's an option. There has been a rise in reapers wanting to join, which the agencies like because of what it means for the crime teams."

A frown tugs at my features. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Ghosts can't become witnesses in a legal sense, but that doesn't mean they didn't see anything. Being able to talk to them is an advantage most detectives don't have," she says. "I'll include some information in the follow-up email I send you?"

She must have sensed the interest in my reaction. I've never thought about it before, but having seen how hard Agent Fielding is working to try and help me and the other people trapped inside the Shadow Association's grasp, I like the idea of it as a possibility.

"You do also have the option of apprenticing to a blacksmith specialising in scythes. You're at a disadvantage because of your size, but it isn't impossible if it's what you want."

"I don't think that's for me."

She ticks a box on the form. "All right. So I'll send you some information in my email about a few options. There's also a career quiz that I'll include the link to that'll ask you questions and give you the most likely outcomes. You don't have to stick to what it says, but it might give you some ideas about what you want to look into more, and sometimes I find that's enough to point you in the right direction."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Even if it gives me yet another thing to think about. Perhaps I should have waited until after I'd dealt with everything else on my plate. But I feel like this is something important, especially when it'll involve some of the subjects I choose next year.

"You're welcome. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or make another appointment. We're here to help you in whatever way we can. I hope to see you soon."

"Me too." I smile and get to my feet, leaving the room with my thoughts racing. Hopefully one of the others is around so I can talk to someone about the meeting I just had. Maybe they'll be able to give me some ideas about each and what they might mean for my future.