12. Chace
(Three minutes earlier)
Aldine stood motionless as the silhouetted figures approached.
Move, you idiot.
The muscles in my legs ached from the strain I thrust upon them. Run faster. I needed to move quicker and get to Aldine.
Everything had happened too rapidly. Only moments ago, I’d stared at the name cutting into my arm with the sting of a cigarette to skin. The burn had tugged me toward the shadows lining the building at my side, the call beckoning me like a siren’s song.
I wanted to go. Needed to go.
But…
Raven marched in the opposite direction, Aldine in yet another.
My gut churned with unease. Something pulled at us, attempting to separate us, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.
When the front doors to the church up the street had flown open, Aldine and the two people he followed froze. A billowing of black smoke had curled and fallen in wispy tumbles out the open doorway. And I… I’d kicked into a wicked sprint up the street, heading for Aldine and the danger taking shape.
From within the inky smoke exiting the building, creatures of black emerged. The woman screamed and fell to the ground, the darkness descending upon her. Her companion dashed away, another creature in tow.
And Aldine just stood there.
Move!
Could these shadowy specters have the same effect on reaper-kind? I really didn’t want to find out.
Three specters edged toward Aldine—and me—as I skidded to a stop at Aldine’s side and grabbed his arm. My elder turned his glazed eyes toward me while tiny pearls of sweat trickled down the side of his face.
Crap.
Steeling my nerves, I shook Aldine, lightly at first, then violently.
The shadowy specters slunk toward us. And even though the creatures moved at a slow pace, as if stalking and assessing their prey, Aldine remained immobile, trapped in a trance, making no effort to run or defend himself.
I clearly stared at the answer to my question. The one I had not wanted to know regarding reaper susceptibility.
I glanced down the street to Raven. She ran away, three specters in chase. I called after her, but she kept moving. An odd sensation that I had failed to act on something imperative dropped in my gut, only…
I released a tight breath through my clenched teeth.
I couldn’t help Raven if she continued moving out of reach. I’d hoped she’d show more backbone, yet I couldn’t blame her for running. If Aldine hadn’t fallen into an unmoving state, spelled as he appeared, I might have done the same.
Might. Although, not likely.
Every pull and tug on Aldine’s arm had no effect. The old reaper didn’t move, as if stone encased his feet.
“Aldine. Please.” I might as well have been talking to myself for all the response I got…or didn’t get.
Specters surrounded us, their gassy forms engulfing our bodies. Tendrils of smoke slipped into my mouth and down my throat.
The choking. The struggle for breath. I fought the desire to tear open my own trachea. Blinking against the sensation, I ignited the reaper within me. But the reaper refused to wake.
I released my hold on Aldine and dropped to my knees.
My eyes burned for all the wrong reasons. They should burn with the fires of everlasting transition—the gateway for souls to the beyond. Not sting with frustration and defeat.
The time had not yet come to concede to such a thought, and yet…
I pressed my palms to the ground.
Breathe, I commanded myself. Breathe.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a white-haired, pale-skinned male―appearing more phantom than physical―cut through the creatures, dispersing their misty makeup like a gust of wind through a cloud of smog.
The guy smiled at me as he passed, while doing nothing to fight the creatures. The specters merely shrank from his presence. No clicking and clucking—they simply vanished into the cold cobblestone of the street.
And the pasty male kept on moving, right past me, Aldine, and the female zombie. He headed down the street, straight for Raven.
Whatever sent black shadows of the night skittering away with nothing more than their presence… Well, that kind of thing fell into the” shifty” category.
My nostrils flared, and I glowered at the guy’s retreating form. The gritty texture that coated my throat strangled my attempt at a warning call to Raven.
Aldine coughed and coughed. He, too, had dropped to his knees, and he no longer appeared trapped in a transfixed state.
“Are you all right?” My throat felt raspy and sore, and my voice slipped forth as hardly audible.
I balanced myself and my elder against the hard ground.
Aldine nodded and rubbed his throat. Taking him at his word, I snapped my attention back to Raven and the male making his way in her direction. The white-haired stranger walked, ran, then disappeared into the nooks and shadows lining the buildings.
Maybe he chased after Raven, or maybe his direction remained nothing more than a coincidence. Either way, our team needed every available reaper on this task, and I couldn’t afford to lose her.
At least, that’s what I told myself was the reasoning behind any concern cracking my chest.
For a moment…the tiniest sliver of time…I sat beside Raven in the lecture hall, a prickling heat washing over me when my arm pressed against hers. The memory came and went like a blip, vanishing as quickly as it had awoken.
I dipped my head to Aldine’s ear. “Forget the reaps for now. Head back to the pub. Raven and I will be right behind you.”
I patted his shoulder then, fighting against the burn in my body, pushed to my feet. Swallowing hard, I soothed the scratch of my throat, if only for a second, and belted Raven’s name.
The three-wide specter wall of dark smoke obscured her form, revealing only a faint outline of her back and swinging ponytail.
Her run faltered.
If she slowed, those things would catch her. Then do to her what they’d done to me.
I lurched forward, preparing to break into a sprint. I’d never reach her in time. Raven was a goner. But I needed to try.
Behind me, Aldine cried out.
I froze.
Raven. And now Aldine. Hadn’t I just told the older reaper to head back to the pub?
Must I be the only one thinking clearly?
I had less than a second to weigh my options. Zero chance existed of getting to Raven in time, but Aldine kneeled mere feet away. No matter how much the decision cut through my chest, the choice became beyond obvious. Even if it made my blood curdle.
I spun toward Aldine, and my muscles tensed. Instead of making his way toward the pub, Aldine stood in front of the zombie woman, his palms pressed to the side of her head. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his body shook.
“What are you doing?” Dashing forward, I yanked Aldine’s hands away from the woman.
She remained unchanged.
Aldine stammered, “I tried…I tried…”
“What? What were you trying to do?” I glanced past him down the street toward Raven.
The other specters had vanished, and Raven lay on the ground with the specter-repellent male on top of her.
On. Top. Of. Her.
Volcanic heat exploded through my system, and I cussed under my breath. Wanted to snap that white-washed bastard’s neck.
Before I realized what I was doing, I stepped away from Aldine.
Thump.
I spun back around, my teeth clenched so tightly my jaw could have cracked. The zombie woman lay sprawled on the ground.
Aldine pressed his hands to his temples as he bobbed his head back and forth. “I tried to save her. Reap her properly. But a huge chunk of her is blocked or missing. And it’s been so long since I’ve reaped a complicated being.”
I groaned internally. You probably shouldn’t have tried, then.
Wanting to shake him, I opted to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
Aldine opened his mouth, but instead of words, white foam spilled from his lips. His body began to convulse and thrash with a seizure.
My mind screamed. Aldine kept me from Raven and the specter-repellent individual. I wanted to smack the old reaper in the face and knock the sense back into him.
And…I needed to help the bastard.
Healing was not my area of expertise—far from it—but I knew such an action would only serve to release some of my own tension, temporarily, and would likely do more harm than good.
Pulling Aldine tightly to my chest, I wrapped my arms around him and held him steady. The plan―prevent him from hurting himself with his uncontrollable flailing.
I lowered us to the ground as a unit, my muscles aching. Despite my attempt to make my movements smooth and gentle, we tipped forward a tad too fast and toppled sideways. I planted my knee to stop and steady myself.
Aldine stopped shaking, and I laid him carefully upon the uneven ground, cleared his mouth and throat, then wiped the remaining foam from his lips.
“I tried to save her with a reap.” He gasped, his words quiet and rather distant.
“What happened?” I leaned over him. “Are you okay?”
Acid burned in my throat the second I asked the question. Of course Aldine wasn’t okay. One look at him and anyone could tell he was out of sorts in a terrible way.
A slight tremble rattled through his limbs. At his mumbled request, I helped him sit and then monitored his breathing. This fell under new territory for me. Never before had I attempted to help a soul get better. I usually moved them on to the next stage.
Raven slid to a drop at Aldine’s side. “What happened? Is he all right?”
At her return, I loosened a sigh. I had allowed my focus on Aldine to cloud my senses and thereby failed to notice her approach…or what had happened between her and the strange local.
“He apparently tried to rea—”
The stranger appeared at our side, smelling of cherry wine and fermented tobacco.
I cleared my throat and immediately adjusted my word choice. “Help the woman over there.”
I lifted my chin, indicating the zombie woman lying in the street, even as my gaze shifted to the high point of the stranger’s ears.
Definitely some fae blood thrumming in the veins of this prick.
The stranger kneeled beside me. “What happened to him?”
“I’m not sure.” I spun sharply to face the newcomer, my eyebrows slamming down. “Who are you?”
“You can call me Winter.” The stranger extended his palm as if he expected me to partake in a traditional, cordial greeting.
I dipped my gaze to his bleached hand. Yeah, I don’t think so.
I actually fought a snarl.
I shifted toward Raven, turning my back on the new (irritating) Winter guy. “What’s the deal?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Her gaze fluttered to Winter, and her cheeks reddened. She quickly averted her gaze. “He might have saved my life. Maybe.”
What the reaping fu―
I glanced between them, clenching my jaw as my insides twisted.
I didn’t have time for whatever was transpiring between her and the specter-repellent citizen. Neither did Aldine. We needed to get our elder off the street and into a comfortable bed so we could evaluate his condition.
Pulling Aldine’s arm over my shoulder, then sliding my own arm around his back, I tried to lift the old reaper, even as he made zero effort to help carry himself.
“A little help,” I said between gritted teeth.
Raven quickly responded, and together we pulled Aldine to his feet.
She nodded toward the woman Aldine had tried to reap. “What about her?”
“Leave her. There’s nothing we can do for her right now.” I guided the direction of our linked party back the way we had come.
“Can I help?” Winter shifted next to Raven as if he meant to take her place supporting Aldine’s weight.
To my surprise, she stepped aside without a single word of argument, then she moved several strides ahead, leading the way to the pub. Her back and shoulders stiffened as her hands clenched at her sides, and her head swept from side to side, scanning the path.
Hoisted against my shoulder, Aldine hung as nothing but dead weight. Head dipped to his chest, he didn’t say a word. Nor did I to Raven, Aldine, or the new guy. I said nothing to a single soul.
But my insides… They simmered.
Winter leaned his head across the baggage of the reaper supported between us and whispered, “I’m sensing a strong case of animosity.”
“Don’t take it personally. I generally don’t care for most people.” I tilted to see beyond Aldine’s dipped head. “And there is definitely something not right about you.”
From what little I’d witnessed, Winter could be controlling the specters. And if he was, that would mean he was somewhat responsible for Aldine’s current condition.
Winter straightened, pulling his face from view. “You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough. You may be a stranger, but I saw what you did.” I couldn’t erase the image from my mind of the questionable male draped over Raven’s laid-out body.
The visual made me want to―
I clenched my jaw. Gods below, I didn’t even want to consider what that graphic stirred within me. Or why it stirred anything at all.
But yeah. I didn’t care if I offended the dude. My team and I would always come before the locals of this messed-up place.
Winter snarled. “You forget yourself, sir. This is my home. So, exactly who is the stranger here?”
We locked glares over Aldine’s slumped head. I resisted the urge to drop the old reaper and throat punch the prick. But just barely.