by Nicky Graves
“That’s what it feels like,” I admitted.
“Has it ever activated?”
“Twice.”
“Tell me,” he said.
When I hesitated, the snake wrapped tighter, disrupting oxygen and blood flow. It became difficult to breathe. I wondered why the crystal didn’t activate now. I was in danger. Couldn’t it sense that my life was being snuffed out by a coiling reptile?
“Tell me,” Azrael said again, the snake now coiling so hard my ribs threatened to snap.
“Can’t . . . breathe . . .” I wheezed.
The snake loosened its hold slightly.
I glared at it, and I swear it glared back at me.
“A vampire bit me,” I said. “The stone saved me.”
“Vampires are vile creatures,” he said with distaste. I wasn’t sure he was in the position to judge others. “And the other time?”
“When you were fighting with Lawson. I was able to move while in the vessel. Maybe it wasn’t because of the stone, but I thought it might be. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be able to break through bulletproof glass.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“You shouldn’t even be able to host the stone. Especially since you’re human. It should have destroyed your body by now.”
That was not on the list of side effects.
“And it’s strongest when you or someone close to you is threatened,” he said thoughtfully.
The snake hissed at me and then sunk its fangs into my shoulder. I screamed in agony as it bit me again and again. I tried to get away, but the more I struggled, the more it coiled and attacked. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t escape.
Between fear, pain, and lack of oxygen, my vision blurred. I was to the point of passing out when finally the snake ceased its attack and slithered away.
“The stone should have protected you,” Azrael said, standing as if to inspect me. “Why didn’t it?”
I didn’t respond since I was still sucking in air, and it didn’t seem as though Azrael wanted my opinion. I wasn’t even sure what my opinion would be other than I really wanted life to return to normal. And I wanted to get the hell out of this snake-infested castle.
Azrael rested his hand on the top of my head and closed his eyes.
“It’s deep inside of you,” he said. “Stubborn rock. I guess there’s only one option.”
“What’s that?” I asked hesitantly.
The scythe unwound from his arm and formed into its deadly shape. He held it. “We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“By old fashioned you mean . . .” I couldn’t finish my thoughts. I could only remember him yanking out Lawson’s heart.
“I’m going to kill you.”
“But it won’t work,” I said quickly.
He didn’t seem worried. “And why not?”
“I might die, but I’ll become a reaper. So the stone will be inside of me still.”
“Exactly. And then I’ll kill you again.”
“You’ve had a long day. Aren’t you tired from all the fighting?” Stalling seemed like a good option at the moment since I didn’t have any others.
He grinned. “Tired? You forget who you’re talking to.”
“I have a plan,” I said hurriedly. “You can just tell me what you want the stone to do. And I’ll do my best to make it happen. I’ll be your wingman.” Unless it was genocide or an apocalypse. Or any killing in general.
He laughed. “Nice try. But the stone is only at its most potent when it’s with me.”
“But does one person really need all of that power?”
“Yes.”
The silver blade pulsed. Its proximity to me was alarmingly close.
Either the stone was going to save me, or I was about to die. There was nothing I could do but sit on the chair under Azrael’s control.
Azrael hooked the scythe around the back of my neck. The cold, sharp metal of the blade bit against my skin.
“I’ll make it quick,” he said.
I barely heard him. My heart thudded in my ears and my mind couldn’t process the flood of thoughts. Thoughts of the past. Thoughts of the future that would never be. Pain. Fear. It was too much.
Pleading with the stone was my final attempt to live.
The blade dug into my skin. I inhaled the scent of my own blood.
And still the stone didn’t help me.
“Do it,” I said, not wanting this limbo agony anymore.
Azrael laughed. “Very well.” He pulled the blade away only to then swing it at me.
21
Just as the blade struck, a blue light filled my vision. The scythe bounced back at Azrael.
“Welcome back, old friend,” he said. He reached out to touch me but was somehow repelled. “Don’t be like that. Just come back to me.”
Whenever Azrael drew closer, I flinched away. Pushing back from the chair, I was able to break free from sitting. I hurried to the door, but Azrael blocked me with his invisible puppet strings, preventing me from leaving the snake room.
“Do you really think this little girl can give you what you need?” he asked.
I assumed he was talking to the stone, but I had no idea why. Maybe after all these years he had lost his mind like the blank reapers.
Azrael glared at me. I could feel anger pouring from him. His hand was still gripping his scythe.
“I will get you back,” he declared right before striking with the weapon. The blade slashed close, but the stone moved me back.
It was odd having this thing inside of me that protected me when it felt like it. I was completely useless. I was like a baby in this world. My family and I were dependent on protection from Lawson and Ranger—and even Boomer. And now a stone.
If I got out of this alive, I was going to train long and hard. This world was mine whether I wanted it or not. I could either skate by like Boomer and have Azrael attack me whenever he pleased, or I could own the situation and become someone Azrael would think twice about messing with.
While I preferred the first option, I knew in my heart that my future wasn’t going to be easy. I was to be the first female reaper. I’d like to live long enough to make a few memories in that role.
Azrael tightened his grip on the scythe. He knocked the pulsing blade against the hard floor. Within seconds, snakes slithered from hiding. They slinked from plants and under furniture. I could no longer see the floor, but a moving, writhing mass of snakes coming at me.
Even if Azrael didn’t have his hold on me, I would have been paralyzed by terror.
“Okay, life stone, can you do something about the snakes?” I pleaded. I figured it didn’t hurt to talk to the stone like Azrael did. At this point I was willing to try anything.
But the stone reverted back into hibernation mode and left me to fend for myself. Was this a test? Or was the stone really so fair weathered that it only helped when it liked?
The snakes continued their pursuit, climbing and weaving up my legs. I could no longer see my knees and then my stomach. I squeezed my eyes closed. It wasn’t until I was buried under snakes as they wrapped all around me, weaving me into a writhing mummy, that the stone finally kicked in again. It pulsed inside of me like a revving engine.
Anytime now, I pleaded silently, not wanting to open my mouth. It wasn’t until a snake sunk its fangs into my leg that the stone pulsed one last time before a wave of energy burst from me.
The weight of the snakes was gone, but something wasn’t right. I felt . . . gross. I blinked my eyes open to find snake bits everywhere, including on Azrael and me.
My stomach heaved, and I threw up on the dead snakes and my shoes that were also covered with snake bits.
Azrael bellowed a string of curses as he raised his scythe. He struck at me and I dodged, slipping in snake innards. It wasn’t until I was backed into a wall that the stone pulsed again. But not before Azrael slammed me against the wall and placed his hand over my heart. He
said something in a foreign language. Black smoke wisped from his lips and entered mine.
The stone coiled inside of me and then Azrael and his castle of dead snakes were gone. I had shifted.
I hadn’t been expecting to shift. And I certainly hadn’t expected to shift into my bedroom.
Hurrying to the door, I opened it and peered out.
“Ranger?” I whispered, hoping he was around.
A tapping on my shoulder had me whipping around to find Ranger behind me. He glanced at my clothes, which were covered in blue blood and snake chunks.
“What happened?” he asked, his nose wrinkling at the sight of me.
“Azrael. You have to go make sure Lawson is okay. Azrael ripped out his heart.”
Ranger shifted, leaving me alone. I listened for sounds in the house before I scurried to the bathroom and turned on the shower. I didn’t want to run into Mom or David looking like snake vomit.
It took several rinses and repeats before I felt confident that all snake chunks were gone. I then hurried to change into clean clothes, discarding my ruined clothes into the garbage.
“I would like to go back to where Lawson is,” I said to the stone. “Please shift me there.”
Nothing.
“Please.”
Nothing.
To say it was frustrating not being able to control the stone was an understatement. Would it only activate if I was in danger?
I ran downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. “Please take me to Lawson or I will stab myself,” I said, wondering if that would work. It wasn’t that I wanted to stab myself. But I was desperate. Azrael would eventually find me here. I didn’t want my family caught in the crossfire.
“Last chance,” I said to the stone, feeling stupid for having a one-sided conversation. Azrael had spoken to the stone, so it had to be listening. “I want to see Lawson.”
Nothing.
Crap.
I lightly poked my palm with the knife. Why go slasher on myself if a drop of blood would do? At the sight of blue blood beading on my palm, my knees grew soft.
“Take me to Lawson,” I said again. I cursed, knowing the small bit of blood did nothing to spur the stone into action.
I wanted to cry.
Instead, I lifted the knife, paused to rethink my choices, and then plunged the knife down to my hand.
22
Just as the blade bit into my hand, my vision turned blue. The knife repelled from my grip and flew across the room.
“Take me to Lawson,” I said again.
Instead of shifting, blue smoke billowed from me and formed the shape of a hunched-over ancient man with large ears that bent over at the tip. His long gray hair and beard nearly touched the floor. He was much smaller than me, only coming up to my shoulder. He wore a flowing blue robe that pooled at his knotty, bare feet.
“Yoda?” I asked.
He looked up at me, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t be stupid, girl.”
“Are you real, or did I stab myself too hard?”
He rolled his eyes. “After centuries with Azrael, I just want to relax,” he grumbled. “Now I’m stuck with some troublesome child. Listen and listen well, girl. You will not summon me. You will not try to use me. You will go about your life as if I don’t exist. Do you understand?”
“No. Not at all.” I must be dreaming this. The cranky blue man couldn’t be real.
He raised up on a puff of blue smoke to become eye level with me. “Are you stupid? I refuse to be bonded to someone who is stupid.”
“I’m not stupid. I’m confused. Who are you?”
He sighed. “Let’s get this over with. I’m Treble the Blue. I don’t want to fight your battles. I don’t want to transport you places. And I certainly don’t want to do anything that girls do. I consider myself retired, and I want to be left alone.”
“You’re the blue stone? For real?”
He nodded.
“Then can we cancel the bond?” I questioned, wondering if I might have lost my mind. Maybe the fight with Azrael had snapped something inside of me. My mom would come home to find me having a conversation with the toaster.
“No. And don’t attempt to stab yourself again. I’m letting you off the hook this time, but next time you will be punished.”
“And you won’t help me shift?”
“No.”
“What’s the point of bonding if I can’t shift?”
“You can shift when you’re a reaper. Which will be soon, by the way.”
“How soon?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“When you breathed in the black smoke, Azrael put a curse on you. You’re going to die.”
“But you saved me from him before, can’t you do it again?”
“No. It’s a curse. I can’t save you from a curse.”
“But I’m still going to be a reaper after I die?”
“Yes. Well, maybe.”
“What do you mean, ‘maybe’?”
He sat down on the counter and glanced at my mom’s leftover coffee. “Nasty stuff. I prefer a nice tea. Do you have any?”
“How can you think of tea right now?”
“Haven’t had it in over a thousand years, girl.”
“If I get you tea, will you explain how I might not become a reaper?”
He thought for a moment and then nodded.
I walked to the cupboard and grabbed a mug, filled it with water, and then placed it in the microwave.
“What’s that contraption?” he asked.
“A microwave. It heats food.”
“I prefer an open flame.” He peered through the microwave window.
“Sorry, no open flames here.” I grabbed a teabag and tossed it on the counter as I waited for the microwave.
“What’s that?” he asked, looking at the bag.
“Tea.”
“That’s not tea.”
“Maybe not a thousand years ago, but it is now.”
He made a disgruntled sound.
“Tell me why I might not be a reaper,” I said.
“You are female. And a cursed one at that. Azrael’s curses are not to be taken lightly. You will die.” He seemed happy about my demise, but I was not.
“When will I die?” I asked.
“On your birthday. The day in which you were first given life is the day the reaper’s curse will take it away.”
The microwaved beeped, jarring me. Half in a daze, I opened the door, took out the mug, and plopped the tea bag inside. I then set it on the counter next to him.
“Drink it,” he said.
“I thought you wanted it.”
“I do. You are not strong enough for me to take my full form. You must drink it so I can experience it through you.”
“You can taste what I taste?”
“And feel what you feel. We are symbiotic.”
“And yet I’m going to die, and you will live.”
“Yes, yes,” he muttered, smiling down at the tea. “Drink it.”
“The instructions say to wait a couple of minutes.”
“I prefer a light steep.”
With a sigh, I tossed out the bag and blew the steam from the mug. I cautiously sipped from the cup, making sure I didn’t burn myself. However, I almost wanted to, especially if Treble could feel the burn as well.
I wasn’t a fan of tea, especially green tea. It tasted like a cup of freshly mowed grass.
His face screwed up in disgust. “Nasty. Nasty stuff. This is not tea.”
“It is.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Maybe that’s because I don’t like it and you’re using my taste buds.”
“You don’t like tea?”
I shook my head. “Never have.”
His expression fell into dismay. “Maybe you didn’t get the right kind.”
“I’ve tried several. I don’t like any.”
“You must learn to love tea.”
“No, you can have tea with your next host. But since I’m dying, I won’t be drinking anymore tea.”
“When is your birthday?”
“This weekend.”
He didn’t seem upset even though I was panicking inside. If he felt what I felt, surely he would be a little more sympathetic. But maybe being so old, he just didn’t care anymore about anything except tea.
“I want to go check on Lawson,” I said.
“No. It’s better if you stay here.”
“Are you saying that because you don’t want to take me?”
“Exactly.”
I opened the cupboard and grabbed David’s sour candy that Mom had to ration out to him. I hated the stuff. And if I hated it, Treble would loathe it. “If you don’t take me to Lawson, I will eat this entire bag.”
He didn’t seem fazed. It wasn’t until I popped one into my mouth that his eyes scrunched tight and his lips puckered. “Stop.”
I took out the candy from my mouth.
“Water,” he demanded.
I filled a glass and drank from it.
He sighed with relief and then grumbled, “Nasty stuff.”
“I’ll eat more until you take me to Lawson.”
When he folded his arms to glare at me, I poised a candy by my mouth. He huffed and then the blue smoke swirled and he was gone. Was he back inside of me? I tried not to let the thought creep me out. But there was an ancient man living inside of me like a parasite.
Before I could try to talk to Treble again, he shifted us to the dead zone. Plopped down in the middle of pod central, I had no idea where to go. Would Lawson still be at the battlefield, or maybe a hospital? Did reapers have hospitals? Or a morgue?
“Which pod belongs to Lawson?” I asked Treble, thinking I would start there. If nothing else, I could pack Lawson some clothes. I would continue to think positively. Lawson had to be okay. But even if I made myself believe all would be well, part of me knew it would take a miracle.
I didn’t get any answer from Treble as to which pod belonged to Lawson. And conveniently for Treble, the bag of candy was left at home.
I glanced at the pod closest to me. Since they all looked the same, I had no idea if this one belonged to Lawson. But hopefully Treble had been kind enough to set me down where I needed to go . . . unless he was mad at me for the candy stunt, in which case I was probably far away from Lawson.