Chapter 28 #3
“I don’t want you.” The Reaper Lord sniffed. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m Reeve Ashton,” Reeve said, standing taller. “And if you want my friends, you’ll have to go through me.”
The Reaper Lord stilled, his attention wholly focused on Reeve now, almost as if he’d been taken by surprise. But then he shook off whatever had gripped him and repeated, “I don’t want you.” He turned to Braedan. “I can take your sister, or I can take you. It’s your choice.”
Viri tried to move again, but she was still trapped in place. “You’re crazy if you think either of us are going anywhere with you,” she spat.
The Reaper Lord’s head tilted to the side. “It seems you need some…motivation.”
With a flick of his gloved finger, she flew backward, hitting the ground hard.
But it wasn’t the impact that ripped a scream from her—it was the pain that erupted beneath her skin, like she was being stung by a thousand firewasps all at once.
It was a different kind of burning from what the obelisk had caused, but no less excruciating, causing her to writhe and shriek on the charred grass, the agony growing with every second that passed.
“STOP IT!” Braedan yelled.
“LEAVE HER ALONE!” Reeve bellowed.
Through teary eyes, she saw them straining against their invisible bonds, but they had no defense against the magic holding them in place.
“This is merely a taste of what she’ll experience as my prisoner,” the Reaper Lord said, another flick of his finger causing the pain to increase so much that Viri rolled over and retched.
“Every day, I’ll find some new way to torment her.
But you, Braedan—if you come with me, I won’t hurt you, not like this.
You’ll be revered among reapers, given a place of honor as their next Reaper Priest. You won’t even want your freedom by the time I’m ready for your sister—you’ll be begging to keep the power I give you. ”
“N-N-No,” Viri moaned.
The Reaper Lord’s voice became so soft that she barely heard him continue, “After everything that happened today, are you really going to let your sister keep paying for the mistake you made nine and a half years ago? There’s only one ending for her, but if you do as I say, she’ll be able to enjoy a normal life before that time comes.
So make your choice, or I’ll take her with me right now. ”
Viri retched again, the stinging turning to blades piercing her nerve endings. “D-D-Don’t do it, B-Braed—”
She didn’t even finish saying his name before he shouted, “I’ll go with you! Just stop hurting her!”
A wave of the Reaper Lord’s hand, and Viri’s pain vanished, leaving her curled in a ball, trembling and weeping. She cried out when gentle fingers touched her, only to find Braedan and Reeve had been freed from their magical bonds and were crouching beside her.
“Y-You can’t go with him,” Viri pleaded with her brother, shaking violently. “I n-need you.”
“And I need you to be safe.” Braedan’s face was still pale, but his eyes were resolute. “If this is the only way to ensure that, then so be it.”
“We can f-fight him.” Viri looked toward where her parents lay, trying to see their daggers or the magical fillium they shared when hunting, but there were no weapons in sight.
“You saw what he can do with his magic.” Braedan shook his head. “I won’t risk him hurting you like that again.”
“I can t-t-take it.”
“Don’t you understand, Viri?” Braedan ran his hands through his auburn hair. “I can’t take it. I can’t watch that again, not after what happened with the obelisk, not after you—” He broke off, his voice cracking. “Mom and Dad are dead. I can’t lose you, too.”
Fresh tears streamed down Viri’s cheeks as she realized her brother’s mind was made up. She inhaled deeply, steadying her voice enough to argue, “But if you do this, you will lose me. He said—He said it’ll be years. Anything could happen in that time. What if I never see you again?”
Braedan pulled her in for a kneeling hug, his arms tight around her as he whispered into her ear, “I swear, Viri, we’ll be together again one day.
I’m going to figure out what he wants from you, and I’m going to find a way to stop him.
As soon as you’re safe, I’m coming back to you.
” He drew away to look into her eyes, his own watery. “Do you trust me?”
Viri’s lip wobbled. “Always, Brae.”
“Then trust me to do what I must to protect you. I’ve already let you down once, and I promised myself I’d never do it again.”
Her brow furrowed. “You’ve never let me down.”
Braedan closed his eyes. “I wish that were true. If it were, today never would have—”
“As touching as this is,” the Reaper Lord interrupted in a drawl, “I’d prefer to leave before any hunters or Nox arrive. Braedan, it’s time to seal our deal in a way you can’t return from.”
Braedan helped Viri rise weakly to her feet, but then he handed her off to Reeve, who wrapped his arm around her in support.
“What do I need to do?” Braedan asked, his expression grim but determined.
The Reaper Lord waved lazily toward Amity and Jorth. “Siphon from them.”
Braedan jerked backward. “What?”
“Ellixen lives on after death,” the Reaper Lord said, “and while they won’t have much of it, a taste of stolen magic is all you need to become a reaper. Prove your loyalty to me, become my Reaper Priest, and your sister will be safe for as long as I can give her.”
Braedan looked as if he were going to be sick. “You want me to—to—”
“Siphon from your dead parents, yes,” the Reaper Lord said heartlessly. “Do it now, or I’ll rescind my offer.”
Viri wanted to scream at her brother, to yell that it wasn’t worth it, to say she would go with the Reaper Lord, but she knew it would be no use. Braedan had made his choice—he was going to protect her, no matter what it cost him.
Reeve’s arm was the only thing that kept her upright as Braedan walked stiffly over to their parents and knelt between their bodies.
His hand shook visibly as he reached for their dad, his throat bobbing as if he were swallowing back bile—just like Viri was—but he wrapped his fingers around Jorth’s bare forearm and closed his eyes in concentration.
One second stretched into five, ten, twenty, before Braedan finally squinted up at the Reaper Lord and said, “Nothing’s happening.”
“You have to want it,” the shadowy man instructed, sounding impatient.
“Others become reapers because they want the strength, the heightened senses, the power. Some just enjoy the euphoric high. But you? Think of what you want, why you’re doing this, and then use that to reach out and steal their magic, claiming it as your own. ”
Braedan glanced back at Viri, his eyes roaming over her face until they turned steely with resolve, then he slammed them shut again to concentrate once more.
He looked like he had during his Impartation, only instead of willing his ellixen into the obelisk, he was willing their father’s ellixen into himself.
This time, it worked.
Almost instantly, Braedan’s veins began to blacken, the sight of them—and what they meant—so disturbing that Viri had to turn away.
As she did, her gaze locked on Reeve’s hands, finding no trace of the strange silver lines she’d seen when he’d siphoned from her.
It didn’t make sense—he was technically a reaper now, and she could apparently see reaper veins, and yet, there was no evidence marked into his flesh, as if he’d never taken her magic to begin with.
But Viri couldn’t think about that now, because Braedan’s tremulous voice called out, “Done,” and her gaze returned to him just as he released his grip on Amity, having siphoned from her as well.
He rose to his feet above their parents, his blackened veins spreading all the way up his arms, proof of what he’d done, what he’d become.
Braedan was a reaper now.
And he’d done it to protect Viri.
A sob left her, but she clamped her mouth shut over it, not wanting to make this any harder on her brother. She knew he was doing this for her, and while part of her hated him for it, she hated herself even more.
“Say your goodbyes,” the Reaper Lord said. “It’s time to go.”
Viri shook her head as her brother walked woodenly toward her, refusing to believe this was it, that he was really going to leave her. Her tears were coming so fast now that it was hard to see as he stopped in front of her and pulled her in for a tight embrace.
“I love you, Viri,” he whispered. “Promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to live your life. That’s what Mom and Dad would want—for you to be happy.”
“They’d w-want us b-both to be happy,” she wept against his chest.
“And we will be, one day,” Braedan vowed, pulling back to meet her blurring, tear-filled eyes. “Until then, make sure you live well enough for both of us.” He kissed her forehead, then stepped away to haul Reeve into a bruising hug, rasping out, “Look after her for me. You’re all she has now.”
Reeve said something in reply, something Viri didn’t hear, and then Braedan was releasing him and striding away, following the Reaper Lord through the lifeless angelrose hedge toward the wayportal. He didn’t look back, not even once.
The moment he was out of sight, Viri crumpled to the ground, sobbing so hard that she was sure her heart was tearing in two.
Reeve sat and pulled her into his arms, telling her everything would be all right.
But he was wrong—nothing was all right, and it never would be again.
Her parents were dead. Braedan was a reaper. And she—she—
She didn’t know what she was, only that she was alone.
“You’re not alone,” Reeve said fiercely after she wailed her fears aloud. “I’m here, Little Shadow. I won’t leave you. I’ll never leave you.”
His words only made her cry harder. Everything that had happened flashed through her mind, torturing her in a way that not even the obelisk had managed.