‘We should get going’ said Talaom. ‘The longer we wait there’s more chance of Godden finding out we’re still alive and that Angellin wasn’t destroyed.’ His brow furrowed. ‘Our people are defenceless; weak. If Godden finds out they survived, he will not hesitate to ensure the complete destruction of our clan.’
‘Okay.’ I moved into the middle of the lounge, calling on aether as I prepared to wrap it around Talaom so I could carry him to the compound.
He moved towards me, stopping after a few steps. He frowned, a hand hovering over his chest. ‘Someone is dying.’
‘What?’ I placed a hand over the hollow below my throat, feeling nothing but warm skin. ‘Are you sure?’
Talaom’s eyes went wide. ‘Don’t you feel it?’
I shook my head and dropped my hand, heart pounding.
‘What is it? What’s happening?’ Rhonda’s head swung from one of us to the other, voice rising.
‘Talaom is getting the call to reap a soul.’
‘And you’re not getting the same call,’ said Sam. ‘But you’re the reaper for Easton. Not him.’ Suspicion riddled his words, eyes narrowed as he glared at Talaom, clearly suspecting a trap of some sort.
I nibbled at my bottom lip, unsure what to do. I stepped closer to Talaom, acting on instinct to place my hand on his collar bone. I closed my eyes, concentrating on his heartbeat, syncing mine to it.
There. Faint, but unmistakable, the call of a soul to be reaped. I opened my eyes and stepped back. ‘It’s real. He has to reap a soul.’
‘But you don’t.’
I met Sam’s eyes, aware mine would be brimming with doubt and confusion. ‘No. This is not my soul to reap, and I have no idea why.’
Talaom grimaced, a groan escaping his gritted teeth. ‘I can’t ignore this much longer. The cold…it’s getting worse.’
I gave a sharp nod, well aware of how intense the cold could become when a reaper attempted to hold off on the need to reap. ‘I’ll come with you.’
Sam opened his mouth to say something and I cut him off. ‘I have to do this. I have to know why he is called to reap and not me.’
Sam stalked over to Talaom, a hard glint in his hazel eyes. ‘Anything happens to her…You know what happens next.’
Talaom gave him a pained smile. ‘Got it.’
I put a hand on Talaom’s arm. ‘Let’s go.’
‘I can’t go like this,’ he said, waving a hand over his body. ‘I need to be in astral form.’
‘Fine. You lead. I’ll follow.’ I summoned my wings as he took a seat on the couch, Connor and Rhonda jumping up to give him room to stretch out. Within seconds his astral form hovered in the air in front of me.
I quickly slipped into the astral plane and followed Talaom as he led the way up and through the ceiling, questions hammering at me. Why hadn’t I felt the call to reap? I was the assigned reaper for Easton, Talaom an interloper here by happenstance. But he had been called, and not me.
I’d been able to establish the validity of the call to reap when I’d touched him, but just because someone was dying didn’t mean I wasn’t flying into a trap.
My misgivings grew as Talaom flew ahead of me, heading for the northern outskirts of Easton, the direction of travel on the same trajectory as Killian’s compound. The ball of dread in my stomach grew heavier, uncomfortably so, as it became clear we were headed to the compound.
Talaom’s flight was unwavering, with no attempt at evasion or concealment as he flew over the heavily guarded gate. Instead of heading into the main building, his path veered to the left, around to the back of the building. He reached the back corner and halted, though his astral form writhed as he held himself back from the reaping.
I flew to a stop a short way behind him, calling on aether as I prepared for an ambush. Nothing happened, other than for Talaom’s astral form to writhe with increased agitation. He appeared poised to fly forward, yet was holding himself back, the effort to do so taking an extreme effort.
I edged closer, still not sure if this was a trap or not, and peeked over his shoulder.
I swallowed down a gasp at what I saw.
31
Cade stood in the middle of a concreted parade ground, a blood-splattered sword in his hands, with hundreds of stone-faced Tr’lirians lined up in rows facing him. Killian stood on his left, while Chris had his arms wrapped around Rebecca on the right. Tear streaks were visible on Rebecca’s cheeks as she sheltered in Chris’s embrace.
Twelve men knelt on the ground directly in front of Cade, one of them with blood pouring from gashes on his bare back where his wings had recently been cut away. His white wings, now splattered in blood, lay discarded on the ground between him and Cade. The men on either side of him still had their wings, but they were patchy, with more falling out to drift lazily to the ground even as I watched.
I bit back a cry when I saw their faces. They were the ones who had barred my path to Angellin’s aether-wreathed tower. I had called on their souls, causing them to flee through the portal. The one whose wings had been cut from his body was the one who jeered at me before he left, taunting me with the news I would die along with the city and all of the Davilians.
‘For dereliction of duty and deserting your post, you are hereby sentenced to death,’ said Cade in a clear and considered tone, showing no pity or remorse as he pronounced his sentence.
The words were barely out of his mouth before he casually ran his sword through the chest of the wingless Tr’lirian. I dug my nails into my palms, frozen in place as I watched the body topple sideways. As if from a distance I heard Rebecca scream. The body hit the ground with a sickening thud. I finally felt the call of the dead Tr’lirian’s soul, but I couldn’t risk moving forward to collect it even as the chill below my collarbone intensified.
For Talaom it must have been ten times worse, having felt the call for so much longer. His astral form shuddered and he moved forward, obviously intending to go and reap the soul.
Tr’lirians could see into the astral plane.
Cade would be able to see him.
He would know he had not been killed in Angellin.
If he realised the city had not been destroyed, the lives of all the Davilians I had recently saved would be put in jeopardy again. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
I used a thread of aether to tether Talaom’s astral form in place. Once he was secure, I reached out for the soul of the man Cade had just executed. I called the soul out of his body. It hovered in the air above Cade, the light blazing out of it a mix of black and silver. He stared at it for a long second, before deliberately turning his back on it. Though disgusted by his lack of respect for the dead, I ignored him as I used aether to guide the soul higher into the air.
I was heartened to see many of the formerly stone-faced Tr’lirians broke ranks to crane their necks and watch the soul of their former comrade as it ascended into the sky above them. I whipped it towards the north before pulling it in a circle around the compound and out of sight of the watching Tr’lirians.
Talaom’s agitation was worsening when I finally pulled the soul around the last corner and let it settle in front of him. He stretched out a hand, astral features wracked with pain and concern.
‘As soon as I touch it, I’ll be drawn back to my body,’ he said in a whisper. ‘I won’t be able to help you.’
‘I know, but you need to do this. Your client is waiting.’ And it was his client. Not mine. Although I could now feel the draw of the soul, everything that had taken place told me this was Talaom’s responsibility.
I tugged the soul the last few inches so it made contact with Talaom’s hand. Light flared around us as it began the next stage of its journey. I released the bands of aether around Talaom and watched as the call of his body dragged him away from the compound.
Only then did I turn back to see what was happening on the parade ground, to see if any of them had noticed the flare of the soul being sent on to rebirth.
I need
not have worried. All eyes were centred on Rebecca as she wrenched herself out of Chris’s arms and strode up to Cade, violently slapping him across the face.
‘Monster.’ Her loud cry echoed in the hush following her actions. It was as if no one dared breathe.
Cade roared, bloody sword poised to strike her down.
Chris darted forward and grabbed Rebecca’s arm, pulling her to safety a second before the sword would have cut her in half. Cade came after her again, bellowing in anger when Killian stepped in front of him.
‘Cade, no, she didn’t mean it.’ Killian’s handsome face was tight with worry, hands held out in entreaty as he begged for his daughter’s life.
‘How dare she strike me? I will have my vengeance.’ Cade made to step around his second in command.
‘There has been enough killing,’ said Killian. ‘We need to focus on what is important. We must solidify our position. It is only a matter of time before someone in the national media realises Easton is in lockdown. We must ensure we have total control before that happens. Right now, the citizens are confused, scared, malleable, but that won’t last. They’ll start asking questions, resisting. It’s their nature.’
‘They will bow before me or they will die,’ Cade said in a low growl.
‘Granted, but subduing resistance will take time we cannot afford. Better to strike now, make it impossible for any of them to organise.’
Cade’s nostrils flared, but he lowered his sword. ‘Very well. Get the men ready to fly. We take Easton in one hour.’ He bent down and wiped his bloody sword on the dead Tr’lirian’s pants. ‘And get this mess cleaned up.’
Without another word, he sheathed his sword and launched himself into the sky.
I took the first breath in a long time as I watched Chris usher Rebecca towards the compound, shadowed by four hulking Tr’lirians. I wanted to go to them, whisk them away to safety, but had no hope of making a clean getaway with so many of the enemy in attendance.
I watched in silence as Killian dismissed the bulk of his troops. Soon only he and the surviving members of the rear guard from Angellin remained. A deep frown furrowed Killian’s brow as he leaned down to close the eyes of the Tr’lirian Cade had so casually run through. He bowed his head for a moment, before ordering the men still on their knees to remove their fallen brethren.
A hard lump settled in my throat as four of them picked up the dead man’s wings, while the remaining seven contended with the body. Heads down, eyes averted even from each other, they shuffled off the parade ground with their grisly burdens.
Killian remained where he was, staring down at the pool of blood marring the ground in front of him.
I retracted my wings and stepped around the corner of the building, swiftly making my way to his side.
He gave no indication he was aware of my presence
‘The next blood to be spilled could be your daughter’s. Is that what you want?’
He slowly turned to face me, a grim twist to his full lips. ‘You’re supposed to be dead.’
‘Happy to disappoint,’ I said with a tight smile. ‘I’m here for Rebecca and Chris.’
His eyebrows arched. ‘And, what, you think I’m going to just hand them over to you?’
‘You will if you want your daughter to live. You can’t protect her from Cade forever. He will kill her. You know he will.’
A dark bleakness settled in his deep blue gaze. ‘She is safer with me than you. Once Cade finds out you’re still alive, he will not rest until you lie dead at his feet. You should never have come back here, Tyler. I don’t know how you managed to get this deep into the compound without being discovered, but your luck won’t stretch much longer. You need to leave. Now.’
‘I won’t leave without them.’
He turned away. ‘Then you will die here. There can be no other outcome.’
‘Yes there can, if you help me. Cade is insane. You have to know that. Help me get Rebecca away from him. I’ll make sure she’s safe. She and Chris.’
For a brief moment, I thought he would say yes. A lightening of his expression, the slightest hint of relaxation in his tense stance.
‘Reaper.’
I spun around at the enraged shout, unable to stop myself taking a step back at the sight of Cade flying towards me at immense speed, dozens of Tr’lirians in the air behind him. Killian lunged and grabbed my arm.
‘You should have left when you had the chance,’ he said, digging his fingers into my forearm, expression tense.
A cold sweat erupted all over my body at the thought of being caught by Cade, fear fizzing in the pit of my stomach, a rush of acid making for my throat. I pushed it down, swallowing the bitter taste the bile left in my mouth. I would not let him take me.
I pushed at Killian with a wave of aether, calling on my wings as I did so. He released me instantly, eyes wide as he took in my silver wings. He fell to his knees, staring up at me, mouth hanging open.
Another roar from Cade dragged my attention away from the awe in Killian’s gaze.
I spun around and launched myself into the air, powerful sweeps of my wings lifting me high and fast into the sky. But it wouldn’t be enough. I’d barely had wings for half a day. Cade and his soldiers had been flying for generations. They could probably outmanoeuvre me in their sleep.
Not that I was ready to give up. I still had a few tricks in my arsenal.
I flung a blast of aether behind me, whipping up a whirlwind of power that would, I hoped, take care of some of my pursuers, or at the very least slow them down.
I bit back the urge to scream, forcing myself to breathe evenly as I flew as fast as I could for Easton, brain racing to come up with a plan that didn’t end with me being skewered on Cade’s sword. I couldn’t go home. That would only endanger Sam and the others. It would have to be the hockey grounds. With luck, they would be empty at this time of night and I’d have more of an idea of what the hell I was going to do once I got there.
I screamed when a sharp pain ripped through my left wing, just above the shoulder. I twisted in mid-air, right wing flapping furiously to stop me falling from the sky. Gritting my teeth, choking back another scream, I reached up and grabbed the knife jutting out from between the feathers. I wrenched it free, agony dropping me closer to the ground, blackness hovering around the edge of my vision.
No.
I was not going to pass out.
I fought the pain, refusing to give in to the dizziness threatening to swamp me with each sweep of my left wing. The wing still worked, but agony shot through my body with each movement. I had to land, but within seconds the sky above and below me was filled with Tr’lirians. Surrounded, I had no choice but to turn and face Cade.
32
Cade gave a maniacal laugh, waving his sword in my face.
‘I’m going to enjoy watching you die, Reaper. You are a perversion that should never have been allowed to live.’ He pointed the tip of his sword at my damaged wing. ‘An abomination, parading yourself around with what only the most holy of our kind should ever possess. You are no Ha’niel to wear silver wings.’
For once, the thought of reaping an illegitimate soul did not trouble me as much as it normally would. It was him or me.
And I chose me.
I focused on the draw of his soul, calling it to me.
It responded, briefly, but I lost contact with it when I was jostled from the side, pain flaring through my damaged wing. I slipped lower in the sky, narrowly avoiding the outstretched sword of the Tr’lirian who had banged into me.
‘Mine.’ Cade swung his meaty fist, slamming it into the Tr’lirian’s shoulder, forcing him away from me. ‘I will be the one to kill her.’
He sneered at me, a fierce light in his eyes. ‘I don’t know how you managed to carry out this perversion, but rest assured I will pluck each and every accursed feather from your wings myself before I kill you.’
‘It doesn’t have to be this way.’ I said, seeking to distract and delay him
as I marshalled my energy to call on his soul again. And not just his. I had to call on those of the Tr’lirians surrounding me as well, to have any hope of surviving this encounter. ‘I’m sorry my having silver wings upsets you. If you let me land, safely, I’ll make them go away. I promise.’
‘Every word that drips from your mouth is a lie. You may have fooled my son, but you will never get the better of me.’
I sucked in a deep breath. ‘Then let’s get to it.’ I reached out my senses and latched on to his soul, spreading my net as wide as I could to catch the souls of the Tr’lirians arrayed around us both. I heard shocked cries as my power was felt but did not take my eyes off Cade.
His free hand clutched his chest, lips curled into a snarl. He lifted his sword, arm shaking with the effort it took to maintain his grip.
Cries of agony echoed in the air around me as I tugged on the souls, seeking to call them forth.
Too many.
I could feel them, slippery within my grasp, but was unable to yank them clear.
We hung in the air, Cade and I, as around us his soldiers fought to overcome the pain racking their bodies. It couldn’t go on. I couldn’t justify the torture I was inflicting on them. I had to release their souls, knowing the second I did so Cade would carry through on his threat to kill me.
But I had no choice.
My vision blurred, and I shook my head to clear it.
But the blur remained, a shimmer in the sky between Cade and me.
No. Not a blur.
A shimmery oval that undulated in the air, giving me a glimpse of a black expanse filled with hundreds of sparkling stars.
I gulped down fear as I realised I was looking at the portal into the Underworld.
Cade didn’t appear to see it. Killian had said the portal had been closed to them ever since the battle where I had destroyed Jonathon Grimm and freed the Grim Reaper from Almorthanos’s taint. But I could see it, more clearly with each passing second.
So, did that mean the portal would open for me?
Even if it did, I would find no refuge in the Underworld.
Silver Reaper (Reaper Series Book 3) Page 18