Chapter 37
My jaw drops as I’m left in the vast space with Riggs and Crew. I jerk my gaze to the demon on thin ice beside me and tighten my brow.
“Did you know this?” I question.
Crew shakes his head. “No. But I’m going to murder them for keeping this from me.”
I spin my gaze and body toward Riggs, “What the fuck do you know?”
My steps thunder as I close the distance between us, letting the anger swell in my chest like a burning flame. Crew’s steps are close behind, and I reach forward, ready to wrap my hand around Riggs’ throat.
“Your father was an extraordinary person, Mara.” Riggs backs into the wall. “He did things for this city that I can only dream of achieving one day.”
“I know that. Don’t you dare speak to me like I didn’t know my own dad,” I hiss.
Riggs raises his hands as a shield. “Look. I know this sounds insane, but he and my father were good friends.”
“I doubt that,” I spit back.
“Cut the shit, Riggs.” Crew steps forward. “Tell her the truth or fucking leave. This isn’t the time for games or backstories on friendship. Tell her now, or I’ll kill you.”
Riggs swallows hard. “Alright. Relax.”
I curl my fists, and he keeps speaking.
“From what I understand, a powerful fate was passed down in your family for generations. The Casttens aren’t human in the least. They are deadly, powerful, and the perfect hybrid many associate with fear, chaos, and death.
You do possess human traits, but there is so much more that flows through your veins. ”
Crew asks, “Why would they associate that with Mara’s family?”
Riggs grimaces as if the words are painful, leaving his lips.
“A hybrid of what?” I hesitate to whisper.
“Mara is one of the only people alive who can channel the Grim Reaper’s powers.”
I feel a sense of shock move through me that isn’t my own.
I’ve known something has been different about me for years, and when the Grim started appearing to me, I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.
He felt familiar—inviting yet terrifying—and I’ve always been intrigued, as if I wanted to know more.
My father was an amazing man—protective to a fault—and I know he never intended to keep me in the dark about who I was. However, I absolutely believe he kept me there because of what could happen to him. He thinks he was protecting me, but now I feel my dad haunts me.
“It’s my father,” I say, earning a harsh stare from Crew. “The current Grim Reaper is my dad.”
“There is no fucking way,” Crew nearly shouts.
“When he died, we believe he replaced the Reaper and stepped into the position. We think he is assisting us in taking out the Elders to protect you, whether he realizes it in this form or not, and we think Lowell had him murdered to draw you to the Order.”
“Killing him wouldn’t help the issue,” I explain. “It would only push my dad closer to the Grim.”
“True,” Riggs says. “But with your father gone, Lowell’s chances of survival increased, since he didn’t think your father was bonded to anyone.”
My jaw slackens, and my heart shatters. My father embodies the familiar feelings associated with the absence of light and darkness, my ability to thrive amid chaos and calm, my need for death, and the power I feel when the light leaves someone's eyes.
My dad was bonded to my mother, and I never knew that—something an angel would never do with a human.
“But he was… bonded,” my voice shakes.
“Yes. And not fully human.”
I am the Grim Reaper’s daughter.
“Lowell wanted to control you. And Shaw knew.” Riggs walks to the exit, following Sam’s footsteps. “I think you have powers you’ve never tapped into, Mara, and Crew can help you access them.”
“Why is it important to be bonded?”
“Because without a bond, you are only a hybrid unable to truly possess higher power.”
I blink at him.
“We will see you tomorrow night. Go show face to Lowell and Carver, and act normal, please.”
He leaves the room, and a silence creeps up my spine. The words swirl through my head like a jumbled chaos, and I walk forward a few steps, unable to remain calm. Crew’s emotions flood me, not helping the churn that rolls my stomach.
“Mara, shit,” Crew says, rubbing his temples. “This information was never relayed to me. I swear.”
The panic fluctuates through his system as he starts to pace. His black wings nearly quiver at his sides, and I block out the extra emotions. I approach him, stopping him in his tracks, and wrap my arms around him, feeling everything he feels.
“Stop,” I whisper. “I believe you.”
“This can’t be happening,” he rambles. “How are you calm?”
“I’m good at pretending.”
“Well, I’m apparently not when it involves you,” Crew nearly shouts.
I think about my words carefully for a moment before I speak, because I always felt like my father wasn’t truly gone.
Physically, yes, but spiritually? Never.
He kept things from me, but I’m not upset.
I’m grateful that he protected me. My dad did what he was meant to do when he passed. He replaced the Grim.
“Please do not get any ideas,” Crew spits, gripping my shoulders. “You won’t have to do that. That’s not your destiny.”
I don’t respond because if the time comes when I need to, I will gladly take the scythe from my father’s hands to protect the people I love. However, I can’t shake the feeling that something larger is at play, and I don’t think that is my destiny either.
Crew continues to ramble, allowing recent events to overtake his thoughts and reasoning.
“Bannermin,” I say, softly.
He continues to pace.
“Bannermin.”
He doesn’t stop.
“Crew, damnit!” I throw my voice in his direction.
He stops, his eyes wild with a mix of emotions.
“My dad wouldn’t have left me to assist in this if he didn’t think I could handle it. Just because it may be the fact of my life and family doesn’t mean anything will come to fruition. It sounds like it’s my choice.”
Crew’s hands cup my face. “Mara, this is dangerous. We are playing with literal death right now.”
I nod, allowing him to feel everything he needs to. I feel dazed, but as reality sets in, I realize I’ve known this for years. It all makes sense.
“We should leave.” His hand cups my face more firmly. “And I don’t mean for Halcyon City. I mean, we need to leave for good.”
“Crew, you are panicking.”
He huffs sarcastically. “Fuck yeah, I am.”
“Why?” I push. “Why can’t we handle this?”
“You can, Mara,” Crew replies.
“And you can’t?”
“I…” he stutters. “Your dad is the literal Reaper.”
“Semantics.”
His hands run wildly through his hair. “You are insane, blood slinger.”
“If we determine how to accomplish this together, we can overcome the Elders. All the Elders.”
I place my hands on his chest, feeling the anxiety causing chaos in his heart. I press harder, allowing a wave of calmness to flow into him. His hands wrap around my wrists, and he closes his eyes, feeling the relaxed vibration move through us.
I lean in and plant a kiss on his soft lips. The bond between us resonates in pleasure, and it takes all my strength not to continue.
“We are going to kill Lowell. We are going to kill your father. And we are going to kill Sam,” I whisper. “We are not joining the Voids either.”
He exhales slowly. “I think it’s too late for me.”
“Then we will play the game.”
Crew smiles. “I told you to let your fear make you insane, and I should have been more careful with my words.”
“We can do this,” I say, kissing him again, and I hear a deep hum leave his throat. “And you know we should. They are plagued by power—driven mad from their lives on Earth.”
“I know,” Crew whispers back. “I’m sorry I roped you into all of this.”
I sigh. “I always knew you were annoying.”
He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close. A delicious hum moves between us, and I breathe deeply, absorbing his scent surrounding me like a fragrant hug.
“Careful of the Grim, Crew.”
He snaps his gaze to mine. “Careful of fucking James Castten.”
I can’t help but giggle as he places his forehead against mine.
“This is insane, Crew.”
“Just like you.” He smirks.
I squeeze my arms around him tighter as our chests press together. Our hearts beat in sync, the bond a constant moving source inside us—darkness and light melding as one—making each of us feel calm and neutral together.
“What does it feel like for you?” he asks, nuzzling into the small of my neck. “The bond. What Sam did.”
I kiss him, sending a tingle down his spine. “Like everything I’ve been missing—everything I was desperate to find—was just handed to me.”
He smiles, sending a shiver of darkness through my own veins.
“And you?” I ask.
Crew kisses my neck, my ear, then my forehead, before finally landing on my lips.
“For years, I’ve wandered lost, a prisoner to the demons I can become and captive to the fucked-up beliefs of who I should be.
” He kisses me deeply. “It feels like when I met you, everything shifted. You are my light, my darkness, and every beautiful shade in between, and my last breath will be dedicated to making sure you know that.”
I cup his cheek, staring into his platinum eyes. “And it will be a long, long time before that day comes. For both of us.”
He hesitates. “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?” I ask.
“Of this sealed bond,” he admits, and I furrow my brow. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself. It is consuming me. The need to protect you is overwhelming, and the day I can’t…”
“I’m fine,” I whisper.
“For now,” he says.
In our nearness, an emotion washes over me that I can’t quite identify, and I tilt my head toward his.
He pulls back from my touch, lowering his hand to clasp mine as we leave the warehouse.
His large black wings fold in the narrow hallways, and we cross the threshold of the final exit, revealing the courtyard where we were only last night, when Crew nearly died in my arms.