Soul Reaper

by Kate Keir

  I looked back to the Draugur. I wasn’t even sure if Lyall was still alive at this point. I felt the tell-tale trickle of blood from my nose—I was trying too hard, and I was hurting myself. Raising my hand, I screamed the ritual at the Super Draugur for a third time, and still it didn’t stop.

  My eyes went back to Helena but she simply looked at her watch, saying, “Tick, tock.”

  There was nothing I could do. Lyall was going to die, and it was my fault because I hadn’t been able to stop it. My mind frantically searched for a way to kill the Draugur. Images of all the manuscripts I had pored over with Pen flooded my mind, and yet there was nothing in any of them that could help me.

  I vaguely heard Freya sobbing at the other side of the room before a strange calmness came over me as I thought back to what Helena had just said to me. The only way it can be stopped is if I tell it to stop or if I magically cease to exist.

  The time for hesitation was gone. I didn’t even let myself think about what I was going to do. I let myself feel a moment of gratitude for them taking the cuffs off my wrists, before I threw myself headlong into a shift.

  I had gotten so much better at becoming a wolf now that within just a couple of seconds of bone-snapping pain, I had become my white wolf inner animal. With a savage howl of complete loathing and fury, I leapt across the room and sank my fangs into Helena’s neck before ripping backwards and listening to the satisfying sound of tearing skin as I extracted her throat.

  She had a look of complete surprise in her eyes as she sank to the floor and died on the spot. I whirled around in time to see the Super Draugur letting go of Lyall and allowing him to slump to the floor in a lifeless bag of bones.

  Crossing the room in a bound, I stood over Lyall and growled menacingly at the nearest human. It was a warning; call them off or I’ll do to you what I did to your boss.

  The humans and Draugur began to back slowly out of the room, keeping their eyes on me the whole time. I looked over toward Artair and spoke to him through our telepathic link.

  Don’t let them take the Super Draugur. We need to know what we’re dealing with.

  Artair moved toward the now docile monster and used the cuffs that had been on my wrists to secure it. “The Super Draugur stays with us,” he growled.

  None of Helena’s staff decided to argue the point, and they didn’t try to intervene as Freya and Artair uncuffed themselves and rushed to Lyall’s side.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Leaving Artair to watch over Lyall, Freya and I found some clothes for me, and I quickly changed back into human shape. By the time we came back, Finlay had arrived and was kneeling next to Lyall alongside Artair and Pen.

  “How is he?” I asked as I dropped to the floor and studied Lyall’s face.

  “He’s breathing normally. He’s going to be fine, Flora.” I sighed in relief at the confidence in Pen’s voice.

  My eyes darted to the mutilated body of Helena. It wasn’t a pretty sight. “We need to get him out of here. No matter what she did, she was still his mother.”

  And I had killed her, I didn’t add.

  “Flora, I think I found the room where they have my blood stored. If we can steal it back, he can’t make any more Super Draugur.” Finlay stood up as he spoke.

  “I’ll go with you.” Artair stood up too.

  “No, I need your strength to help carry Lyall out of here. Pen’s in no fit state to help, and Freya can’t do it alone. Finlay and I will go and get the blood,” I insisted.

  I was grateful when Artair didn’t argue or hesitate. “Okay, we’ll get Lyall out to the car. You guys can follow us once you do what you need to.”

  Pen turned tired eyes on us. “Be careful, both of you. If you’re not out within half an hour, we’re coming back in to find you.”

  Finlay and I both nodded before heading out of the metal room through the same door the humans and Draugur had used.

  Once outside, we found ourselves in a stark white corridor that had a couple of doors along the walls at random intervals. Finlay didn’t pause at any of them. “It’s not in this corridor, Flor. It’s in the next.”

  I hurried along beside him. I was silent, as images of what I had done to a human being flashed through my mind.

  Sensing my roiling emotions, Finlay turned to me. “You had no choice, Flora; she was going to kill him.”

  “I ripped out her throat, Finlay.” My voice increased in pitch as I spoke.

  “She had control of a demon throttling her son to death, Flor. That makes you a saviour, not evil.” Finlay stopped walking as we reached the end of the corridor. He poked his head around the corner slowly, checking for any danger.

  “I’m not sure Lyall will see it that way,” I whispered.

  Finlay nodded to me that the hallway was clear, and we quietly rounded the corner into the next corridor. “You saved his life, Flor. Look, I get it. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to take a human life, but no one deserved it more than Helena did.”

  I was saved having to reply as we reached a door, and Finlay indicated we were going inside. He gently pushed the door open and stuck his head into the room to see if it was empty. Thankfully it was, and we stepped inside.

  Finlay crossed the room to a rack on the wall that contained around thirty vials of blood—his blood. He started to hurriedly load the vials into a bag while I kept an eye on the corridor from the door.

  I suspected the remaining staff at the facility weren’t too thrilled at the thought of another confrontation with us, but I was certain they wouldn’t want to let Finlay’s blood go without a fight.

  Dropping the final vial into a bag, Finlay made for the door. “Let’s get out of here, Flor.”

  I was more than happy to oblige, and we both jogged along the corridor toward the fire escape stairs.

  “I’m sorry, we can’t let you leave with that.” A voice floated down the hallway behind us.

  We both whirled around to face three humans standing behind us; two of them held guns which were pointed at Finlay and me. I raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. I had never had a gun aimed at me before, and if I was completely honest with myself, I had never expected to either.

  I shot Finlay a sideways glance. There was no way I intended to kill any more humans, and they had guns. No matter how magically superior we were, we wouldn’t survive being shot. I nodded my head, indicating he should give them the bag of blood.

  For a moment, I thought he was going to refuse. I braced myself for the sound of gunfire, but it didn’t come as Finlay placed the bag on the floor and slid it toward the humans. As one bent to pick it up, we both turned and darted down the corridor and onto the fire escape stairs.

  As we raced down the stairs, back into the underbelly of the facility, my heart pounded so hard I thought it would push through my chest. I was convinced they would follow us and kill us anyway.

  It was only once we fell through the door at the bottom of the stairs and into the massive underground chamber that I finally felt safe enough to pause and try to get my breathing under control.

  Both of us took a few minutes to lean with our palms against our thighs and reward our lungs with huge gulps of air. Finlay straightened up first, and after a few more deep breaths, I joined him.

  “I’m sorry, Flor. I had no choice. We couldn’t fight against actual guns.” His expression was grim.

  “I know. It’s okay. We’ll find a way to kill the Super Draugur.” I gave him a weak smile. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others.”

  The sound of a cough from the other side of the chamber made us both pause. We turned back to see a slender girl with pixie-cut, platinum-blonde hair and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen walking apprehensively toward us.

  “Not another step closer or I’ll be forced to do something you might regret,” Finlay growled.

  She quickly halted her approach and blinked before starting to speak. “I–I was hoping you would take me with you, Flora Bast.”

&n
bsp; “How do you know my name?” I was curious, but I kept my distance.

  “Sluag asked me to check on your future often,” she replied simply.

  Finlay took a step toward the girl. “What do you mean, Sluag asked you to check on her future?”

  She trembled slightly but lifted her chin and continued bravely. “He wanted me to tell him the exact date and time of Flora’s death, but I couldn’t ever quite find it.”

  Intrigue got the better of me, and I took a couple of steps toward the girl. “Who are you and why would Sluag ask you to do that?”

  She smiled tentatively at me. “My name is Leah Wells. I’m a seer. I can see the future.” As Finlay and I raised our eyebrows in surprise she hurriedly continued. “I can’t see all of the future, and not everything I see always happens in quite the way you expect.”

  Finlay shifted from one foot to the other. “Flor, we have no proof she’s who or what she says. Sluag could have sent her to divert you by telling you complete lies.”

  Something told me she was being honest with us. “I dunno. I think I believe her, Finlay.”

  Sensing the need to prove herself, Leah spoke up again. “I have seen enough to know that Finlay’s sacrifice didn’t break the prophecy of your death or betrayal, Flora.”

  Even though we had known there was a good chance the prophecy hadn’t been broken, I was devastated to hear that Finlay had given his life for nothing and that I would still be dead or betrayed before I turned twenty-one.

  Finlay turned away from the girl with a snort of disgust. “Pfft, she’s lying, Flora. Let’s go.”

  Leah held my gaze, her eyes pleading with me to take her with us. “Finlay, even if she isn’t a seer, we can’t just leave her here to be Sluag’s prisoner. We’re not the bad guys.”

  Tell that to Lyall. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

  Finlay studied the girl while he considered what to do before finally seeming to reach a decision. “All right, but we need to leave now.”

  I smiled at Leah. “Come on.”

  The girl beamed at me and followed us through the open gate and back into the drainage tunnel.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I stood at the end of Lyall’s bed watching his slow and steady breaths. He was still unconscious, but Pen had assured me he was going to be okay. The sun was just setting outside, and the tiny dust motes floated through the rose-gold beams of light that filtered through the arched window.

  I wrapped my arms around myself and closed my eyes, fighting off images of Helena with the gaping hole in her throat. I could hear Sluag’s voice resonating inside my head.

  It’s a funny thing, you know, killing a person. It’s a life event that you can’t really come back from. It changes you, forever.

  The door clicked behind me, and I almost whimpered with relief as the distraction silenced Sluag and temporarily washed the images of Helena from my mind.

  A freshly showered and dressed Pen approached me, and I smiled a little to see her looking so much better.

  “How are you doing, Flora?” she asked me quietly.

  I thought about lying, but this was Pen; she’d see through it in a heartbeat. “Terrible,” I admitted. “I never realised I had signed up to become a murderer, Pen. I can’t get the image of Helena out of my head, and he’s never going to forgive me for killing his mother.” I gestured to the sleeping form of Lyall as I finished.

  Pen caught hold of my shoulders and gently shook me. “You are no murderer, Flora. She was going to kill her own son. You did what you had to, and you did more for Lyall than any of us.”

  I returned her intense gaze with tears shining in my eyes. “I don’t think I can live with myself, Pen,” I whispered.

  “You can and you will. You’ve helped Enid, and you also saved Leah. The good things you have done far outweigh what happened with Helena.”

  I thought back to our meeting with Leah. The girl had been quiet on the journey back to Castle Dion, and there had been no time to question her further on her claims of being a seer.

  “Do you think Leah’s telling the truth, Pen?”

  “I do,” Pen replied sagely.

  “Then I’ll be dead in a few months,” I murmured.

  “Or betrayed,” Pen spoke up. “Although, Leah tells me that her visions do not always happen in the way you might expect.”

  I narrowed my eyes sceptically. “The prophecy existed way before she had her vision. You know this is going to happen one way or another, Pen.”

  “But perhaps having someone who can see the future might allow us to avoid the prophecy,” Pen said hopefully.

  I snorted. “Even I know you can’t outrun fate, Pen.”

  Lyall murmured in his sleep, drawing our attention back to him. When he didn’t wake up, I blew out a long sigh of relief. I wasn’t ready to face him yet.

  “Flora, I hate to ask this of you right now, but I’m afraid I must.” Pen sat down in a wooden chair near the window.

  I stared at Lyall’s beautiful face for a moment longer before shifting my eyes to Pen. She was illuminated by the light from the window, and she looked almost like a goddess. “What do you need?” I asked her.

  “Helena’s soul will almost certainly have gone to the Everwood by now. I’m sure Sluag will want her back. She would make a superb Draugur.” Pen looked at me guiltily.

  “You want me to finish his mother off permanently while he’s still unconscious?” I didn’t mean for my voice to sound as hard as it did.

  Pen flinched but held her ground. “It needs to be done, Flora.”

  Shooting another glance at Lyall, I spoke again. “I don’t suppose it makes much difference. He’s already going to despise me.”

  “I’m sorry, Flora. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. I will stay with Lyall and watch over him.” Pen settled in the chair.

  I made my way to the door. “How very kind of you to take care of him after sending me to kill his mother for a second time.”

  She frowned at me but didn’t say anything. Apparently coming to terms with being a murderer got you a free pass to have a tantrum or two around here. I headed outside and into the Everwood.

  It was amazing how being surrounded by the blue-flowered trees was like a healing balm on my soul. I felt as though I hadn’t been able to breathe while I was in the real world, and now I could gulp down the sweetest air in abundance.

  Several pure souls approached me and hovered nearby. I could sense the goodness emanating from the tiny lights, and it made the blackness inside me feel even more dark and dangerous.

  The souls didn’t seem to notice the change in me, however. They called my name and gently grazed my face as they flew past me in delight at having their Soul Keeper amongst them.

  Almost without thought, I cast my silver mind-net and gently captured all of the pure souls within the wood. With one swift thought, I let them know they were going to be reborn before releasing the thousands of tiny lights to dash excitedly through the trees.

  I frowned as I focused on my next task—finding the rogue soul. I knew Pen was right; it would be better to prevent Sluag from creating a Draugur with Helena’s soul, and she had proved how evil she was by trying to kill her own son.

  But as I walked through the trees and searched for any sign of her, I couldn’t help feeling guilty for doing this while Lyall still lay unconscious at the castle.

  There were several rogue souls milling around the Everwood, and each time I located one, I was sure it would be Helena, but none of them were her. Each rogue I encountered was sent swiftly into oblivion, and after seven of them I started to feel the tell-tale signs of using too much energy.

  Choosing an ancient, thick-trunked tree, I sat down on the spongy grass and leaned my back and my head against the gnarled bark. I closed my eyes and cast my mind through the Everwood, searching and searching for Helena’s soul.

  After twenty minutes, I had to admit to myself that she wasn’t here; Sluag must have gotten to he
r first.

  I ground my teeth and clenched my fists in anger. Although I had felt guilty for trying to find and obliterate Helena, it would devastate Lyall to see his mother as a Draugur. I’d failed him again.

  The sound of a snapping twig caused my eyes to fly open, and I was halfway to my feet before I remembered that the Draugur approaching me housed Finlay’s soul and not one of Sluag’s rogues.

  “Were you about to wipe me out, Flor?” He chuckled as he sat down next to me.

  Allowing myself to sink back into the grass, I gave him a grim smile. “I’m really on edge lately. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have done it.”

  “It’s all right. I freak out every time I look in the mirror, so I can’t really blame you.” He studied me for a moment before continuing. “Especially after everything you’ve been through lately.”

  I stared back at him and thought about dismissing everything by telling him I was okay, but I wasn’t okay and despite being stuck inside a different body, this was my best friend. I wanted to tell him I was falling apart, and I wanted him to make it better.

  “I killed someone, Finlay,” I whispered.

  “Flora, if you hadn’t done it, then Lyall would be dead.”

  “Everyone keeps telling me that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I feel disgusted with myself,” I admitted.

  “Maybe once Lyall wakes up and tells you he’s grateful for what you did, you might feel differently,” he suggested.

  I flinched at the thought of Lyall waking up. Of course, I wanted him to wake, but that didn’t make the thought of facing him any easier. I needed to keep myself distracted somehow.

  “I lost Helena’s soul. I think Sluag already has it,” I confessed.

  “We’ll deal with it, Flor. At least we have a Super Draugur now.”

  “A Super Draugur I can’t kill, and we lost your blood so they can make more,” I growled.

  He bit his lip. “Yeah, it’s not looking great, but Sluag still needs to find someone inside the real world to create the next ones for him.”

  I thought about that for a moment. At least we had slowed things down for him.