Something shifted off my side, and cool fingers took my hand, placing something in the palm. Her chants started off so low I couldn’t make out any words. Gradually, they became louder and louder until they were beating against me with such power, it shook my very core.
“Bright light, shining light, heal dis hurt with all thy might.”
Heat blazed down my arm, sending all my nerves into a frenzy. A sob escaped, sounding foreign to my ears. What was she doing to me? Not knowing was torture. If only I could open my eyes, or fight back.
“So mote be it,” she finally called out, her voice strained and breathless.
My eyes flew open as I jerked up from the pillow, gasping. Yellow light danced against the walls from sets of long stemmed candles that had been placed all around the room. I was in a full size bed with hand carved wooden posters that practically touched the ceiling. The old man at the entrance of the park was standing next to a cabinet with drawers, the top one lined with bottles. His eyes were wide as he stared down at me, his hand gripping the back of a chair.
“How long have I been here?” I tried to ask, but my mouth was so dry the words wouldn’t come out clearly.
“Get him some water, Justice,” she said.
I looked to my side and found a beautiful honey- colored woman sitting in a rocker. Sweat ran down the sides of her face, her eyes drooping slightly from what looked like exhaustion. Without saying a word, the old man disappeared through the door, shutting it after him.
“I know what ya are, Reaper. What I don’t know is why you in my town. Dere been enough death in dis city, so you and yo Hellhounds need to leave. Grant me dat since I saved yo life.” Her brown eyes burned into me with such hatred it was unreal.
The door squeaked as Justice reappeared with a small glass of water. He handed it to me as I reached for it with the arm the Hellhound had torn into. It was completely healed. No scratches or marks to even indicate a wound was ever there. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Demorals healed fast, but there was no way this wound should be completely gone. Somehow I managed to look away from the astonishing sight. I eagerly downed the water until I swallowed the last drop.
I cleared my throat and looked back over to the lady sitting in the chair, patiently rocking and waiting for my answer. “How long have I been here?” I asked more coherently, looking down at my arm again, wiggling my fingers to make sure everything was still working. This made no sense. Judging from the healing on my arm, I should have been here for weeks.
They could have found Izzy. My head spun. She could be hurt or dead. I closed my eyes, trying not to think like that.
“I asked you a question first. I’m not answerin’ anything until you do.” She sat back, crossing her arms with her lips puckered, daring me to test her.
“I’m here looking for a girl. I need to help her.”
“And yo friend out dere? What’s he needed fer?” she asked, motioning toward the door.
So Ryker was still alive! “He’s helping me find her.”
She rolled her eyes. “Pssh. A Reaper helping someone? I don’t believe it.” She stopped rocking and leaned in closer. “Don’t lie to me. I can cause you and yo friend a lot of pain.” Despite her threat, her words sent an overwhelming feeling of relief over me. She saved both of us.
“I’m not lying. I don’t know what you’ve been through with other Reapers, but I’m not like them. I’ve been locked away for over twenty years because I broke our law trying to help this girl and her sister.” It hurt thinking back to that day, but she needed to know I could be trusted, or I might not make it out of here, and I needed to find Izzy before someone else did. “I lost her sister, but she made it. Now after all these years, the people who killed her sister are after her. I mean your city no harm. Those Hellhounds were after me and the other guy. Not anyone else.”
She leaned back into the rocker and began gliding again. Her eyes never leaving mine. “I believe you,” she said, pausing for a minute. “And to answer yo question, you’ve only been here fer three days. We had to sedate you to extract de Hellhound poison.”
Curiosity got the better of me, but I had to ask my next question. “How do you know about Hellhounds?”
She threw her head back, releasing a comical laugh. “Please. We been dealin’ wit Hellhounds fer years. Did you forget what city you was in? Folks always sellin’ they souls fer de glamour of de lights on a stage. Of course I’d rather deal wit dem Hellhounds den dem other Reapers dat been crawlin’ over dis place de past few days.”
I bolted up, instantly regretting it. I placed my hand across my forehead, trying to massage the throbbing away. “There are others here? How do you know?” Reapers who came over to this side always remained invisible to the human eye.
“I just know. But dey ain’t like you. I can sense dat. Nothing good be in dem Reapers.”
I started to push my way out from under the sheet. “We have to get out of here. They’re here for her.” I was having trouble breathing, and the room was closing in on me. No matter if we left this instant, I had the feeling we were already too late. But I couldn’t be! I had to save her. This was my chance to resolve the bitter guilt that ate away at me each day.
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m afraid you can’t leave right now, though. Your friend was a lot worse dan you. On de verge of death, he was. Never seen anything like it in all my years of practicing. I’m not even real sure he’ll make it with my help.”
Justice shifted like he was uncomfortable at those words, like he thought I would get up and attack them due to this new knowledge. He looked terrified of me.
I took a deep breath, not really knowing what to say. Ryker was here because of me. He might die because I brought him here. This was my fault. I didn’t want to lose him like Sophia. He was the only friend I had.
“Can I see him?”
She looked to Justice and nodded.
“Thank you.”
Justice walked over to me and pulled the covers back. He held onto my arm and helped me from the bed. I was in a white outfit that looked like a hospital gown.
“You may be still a little weak from dat blood loss, so you bess let him help you over dere. I’m gonna mix up some more stuff fer yo friend.” She stood and went to the cabinet, grabbing bottles.
Before Justice could usher me out the door, I stopped him. “Can I know the name of the lady who saved my life?”
She turned and looked at me with a slight smile hinting at the corners of her lips. “Shiloh Lauren.” Without waiting for my response, she turned back to what she was doing. She seemed to be not the least bit interested in my name. I guess my title was enough for her. She didn’t want to get to know me. She just wanted me out of her city. It was the first time I felt ashamed of what I was. Death was supposed to be natural, not manipulated and toyed with the way my brothers were using it. Yeah, I had seen their cruelty and lack of emotion for what they did, but her not wanting to know my name made me feel unimportant, lower than the dirt she walked across on this wooden floor.
I dropped my head, looking anywhere but the back of her head. “Nice to meet you. And thank you. I’m Cade, by the way.” I wasn’t sure if she heard me or not. I could barely choke the words out. Even if she did, I didn’t think she cared.
Justice pulled at my arm. Without fighting it, I let him guide me down the darkened hall. Voices became louder as we entered a tiny kitchen where four women were busy prepping something on the counters and stove. The room smelled like heaven, making my mouth water.
“You don’t be puttin’ de sage in dat. It’s gonna make it taste off,” a large one said.
Another with her hair swept in a large braid turned to her, holding a knife. “Who said we was usin’ yo recipe? You ain’t de only one dat can cook. Most of the time yo food taste dry and like rubber anyway!”
The large one turned around, her face twisted with anger. She stopped when she saw me, causing the others to turn at her sudden silence. Their mouths hung
slightly open, staring at me like I was the weirdest thing they’d ever laid eyes on.
The awkwardness must have been too much for even Justice since he grunted and continued to pull me around the small round table loaded with food, ingredients, and a vase full of yellow daisies in the middle. They could hardly wait until we were out of sight before they were whispering with excitement. We went through a living area decorated in a mixture of gold and dark reds. The furniture was old, but well taken care of. Pictures of women who looked much like Shiloh stared at me from the walls.
Justice pulled open the front door and pushed the screened door open with a loud creak. “He be out dis way.” His voice, unlike Shiloh’s, was warm and friendly despite his fear.
I blinked a few times and glanced back in the house. “Why is he outside and not in the house?” I asked as we started down the steps that groaned under our weight. The yard was bright and full of life as nature carried on around us. A dragonfly buzzed around my head with curiosity, and there was a rushing creek just through the woods.
“Yo friend was so sick when we got y’all here. He wasn’t even conscious.” He stopped and eyed me. “Someone of your career should’ve known dat.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew Ryker had been sick, but we didn’t have time to nurse his illness. I didn’t want to face how bad he was getting. If he did make it through, I was sure I’d have to listen to him talk about how Earth’s tiny vampire insects almost killed him. I smiled.
“We didn’t know what exactly yo friend had gotten himself into. It’s an illness dat none of us have ever seen de likes of. Progressing faster dan anything we’ve experienced. The Lady made up what she thought would be de best for his health, but it’s hard to fight de unknown. With dat bein’ said, we didn’t want to expose anyone else to him, so we put him in dis shed.”
I nodded as we reached the door to a wooden shed. An air conditioner hummed from the side window, dripping condensation into a puddle teeming with mosquitos. “Justice…” I paused, trying to catch my breath. Even with his help, the walk took more out of me than I expected. He looked at me with patience in his warm dark eyes. “Most people would’ve probably let us die on that street. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.”
He chuckled. “You just remember dat when my time comes, Reaper. Let me go out gently.”
I returned the small laugh as he handed me a protective mask.
“Better safe dan sorry. I know you gots to get well to help dat girl. You don’t want to get de same thing he’s got.”
I took the mask and wrapped it around my mouth and nose, securing it behind my ears.
“I’ll stay out here and wait.” He stepped away and sat on a bench beside the door.
It took me a minute to maintain my balance before I walked into the shed. Several sheets were hung to keep the sun out of the room, making it just as dark as the house. I pushed one to the side and found Ryker. His skin was as pale as the white bed sheets. His breathing was raspy and irregular. If not for that small sound, I would have thought I was looking at a dead man. I slowly walked around the bed until I was near the head and sat in a chair. I pulled the mask off. Whatever was wrong with Ryker was no threat to me. It was hard for me to see him like this. I needed him to wake up and laugh about something insanely stupid. I was used to that Ryker. Not one who was near death.
“Ryker? Can you hear me?”
He didn’t move or change.
“You have to wake up and get better. I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you.” I looked away, toward the sheet moving from the icy air conditioner. Why was this so hard to tell him? He probably couldn’t hear me anyway. “I know Demorals are supposed to be these hard-asses that can face anything alone, but, well, I guess I’m different. Ryker, I’m scared shitless. We’re fighting something that’s way stronger than us, and you’re the only one willing to stand with me against it. You’re my best friend, and I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you. I’ll have no one.” I looked back at his pale face, hoping for a miracle.
I sat in silence, listening to his breathing for hours. By the time I came out, the sun had rested over the horizon. Justice stood and took me under the arm as he had before without saying a word. Once back in the house, everything was quiet except the ceiling fan turning in the living room.
“Sit. You must be hungry. You ever try human food before?” Shiloh asked as she met us in the kitchen.
Justice helped me down into a chair at the table.
“No, but it smelled out of this world when we came through earlier.”
She smiled. “My sisters would be happy to hear you say dat. Let’s see what we can get in yo belly. You got to get yo strength back up.” She opened the refrigerator and began pulling out dishes, putting them on the counters to warm. “Justice, I imagine you hungry too since you been sittin’ out dere all day.”
Justice nodded and pulled out the chair beside me. “Yes ma’am,” he said as he sat.
Shiloh placed a plate full of food in front of me and Justice after it was done heating, before sitting down across from me.
“Never in all my years would I have imagined a Reaper would be eatin’ dinner wit me at my kitchen table,” Shiloh said, amusing herself into quiet laughter. Justice joined her, stealing a look in my direction.
“Maybe I can be pleasant company to match this amazing food,” I said as I shoved a fork full of something white and mushy with a brown substance drizzled over the top into my mouth.
Five minutes later my plate was clean, and my stomach felt on the verge of busting through my skin. “Truly amazing,” I commented as I took a napkin and wiped my face. My two companions were only half done with their food and stared at me with amusement.
“You besta go get some rest. You’ve been up an awful long time. Tomorrow, I think I have a new remedy we can try on yo friend,” Shiloh said.
Ryker’s face flashed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty for sitting here enjoying a nice meal while he was alone and sick outside.
“Do you need Justice to help you?”
I cast a glance at Justice who had a mouth full of food. I didn’t want to make him get up from his meal. After all, he had sat outside by that shed all day waiting for me.
“I think I can manage.” I inched back from the table, taking it extremely slow. The last thing I wanted was to fall in front of them. Gripping the wall for support, step-by-step, I made it back to the room I had woken up in earlier that day.
I lay back on the bed, locking my fingers behind my head, and stared at the ceiling. I needed to get out of here. The longer I was here, the more likely Izzy would be found. I couldn’t believe they traced our location through the tattoo, remembering what the two Demorals talked about in the vision I had before waking up here. When did they start doing that?
I thought long and hard and concluded that I was probably the reason behind it. They found out at the trial that I’d been watching the family. If I’d had a tracker back then, they’d have known what I was doing, and could have stopped me from preventing Izzy’s death. They would have known I was spending entirely too much time watching them, leaving room for attachment.
The need for overprotection now was just another thing I screwed up with my past actions. By the time all this is over, the list of screw-ups would be too long for one person to remember.
I was sure she was in New Orleans. All it took was that crazy guy in the bar to point out the dream I’d had. It was linked to her, leading me to this place. If other Demorals were here, I was no match for them like this. I was weak. A Hellhound bite was fierce and could take a lot out of someone. Just a nip would kill a human in seconds. Instinctively, I picked my arm up and looked it over for any traces of the mangled flesh that was there three days ago. Nothing. I let it drop to the bed as an exhausted sigh escaped my lips.
I rolled over, peeled the fresh sheets back, and crawled under. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
It had to be.
<
br /> Eleven
The next morning I was awakened by hoots and hollers, accompanied by thunderous laughter. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and stretched.
Cautiously, I shifted to get out of the bed. Thinking I would be slightly disoriented like the day before, I placed a hand against the bedpost for support. However, much to my delight, I felt normal. On the table near the head of my bed lay a bowl full of a dried gray paste and a brush next to it. I looked over my arm expecting to see the mixture smeared, but it wasn’t there. I walked over to a mirror hanging on the wall and found it ran along my nose, forehead, and chin. Shiloh must have come in during the middle of the night or early this morning. Whatever this stuff was, it had done a miracle. Maybe this was the stuff she was talking about doing with Ryker.
Excitement overtook me as I slipped on my boots and headed out the bedroom door. “Shiloh?” I called. The laughter stopped immediately as I came into the room, wiping at my forehead to remove the paste. I found her and her four sisters sitting in the living room, each with a coffee cup in hand.
“Mmmm, Shi, a man lookin’ like dat callin’ yo name out. For once in my life I’m a little jealous,” one said. Her eyes grazed over my body like a tiger craving raw meat.
The one closest to me sniffed in my direction. “He may look good, but he don’t smell as tasty. You need to hit up de shower, handsome.”
Shiloh stood, rolling her eyes in their direction before ushering me back to my room. “How do ya feel today?” she asked. “The paste has a strong order, so dat smell is mostly comin’ from dat, but I agree—you do need a shower. While you clean, I can wash de outfit you was wearin’ so you can change out of dis gown.”
Being clean was the least of my concern. It was still hard getting adjusted to being able to bathe more than once a month from being locked away. I had grown kind of accustomed to my own stench, but I guess others didn’t have that same gift. “Is this what you were talking about using on Ryker?” I asked, ignoring the mention of a shower. I continued before she had a chance to answer. “Because it worked wonders on me. I feel like my old self again.”
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