The Grim Reaper had said he would kill me if ever I were to return.
Still, there was a chance I could slip through the portal and then get back to this side without him ever knowing I had been in the Underworld.
I was facing certain death here.
Fleeing to the Underworld might be my only chance.
I had to take it.
I called on every scrap of courage I possessed as I readied myself to release the souls I held. I flew closer to Cade, grimacing at the pain that tore through my left wing, ignoring the gleeful look in his eyes as I came almost within reach of his sword arm.
I had one shot at this.
I let go of the souls and lunged for the portal, praying it would open for me, dreading what would happen if it did.
Cade’s outraged bellow followed me as I tumbled head over heels into the Underworld.
I held my breath and scanned the darkness surrounding me, senses alert for any sign my presence had been detected. I spun in a slow circle, seeing soul lights in every direction, bright and full of promise, songs muted. There was no sign of anything or anyone else.
I let my breath out slowly as I turned to face the portal, squinting to see through it to where Cade and his Tr’lirians searched the skies above Easton for me. They would have to give up eventually, and I would be able to slip back into the physical plane and have another go at freeing Chris and Rebecca. Killian was faltering in his belief in his clan leader, I could feel it. If I could just get him alone long enough I was sure he would agree to help me, for his daughter’s sake if for no other reason.
It wouldn’t be easy, sneaking back into the compound for a second time. But there had to be a way. Maybe I’d swing by home first, and grab Talaom to act as a decoy. He owed me that, for all the trouble and pain he had caused while following Almorthanos.
Minutes inched by, each one seemingly slower than the next, but eventually Cade and his soldiers began to fly off. I prepared myself to leave the Underworld.
I stretched my wings, grimacing at the pain in the injured one, and moved closer to the portal.
A cold, hard hand gripped my ankles, wrenching me backwards.
I screamed, frantically flapping my wings, uncaring of the pain as I fought to kick myself free. The grip on my ankles tightened, cold leaching into my skin.
I looked down, sure who had hold of me, desperate to deny the truth.
Flames shot out of the Grim Reaper’s empty eye sockets as he stared up at me, his cloak billowing around him, revealing and then concealing his abnormally tall skeletal frame. The longer I looked at him the colder the air around me grew, until each breath felt like swallowing jagged shards of ice.
I opened my mouth to beg, to plead, to scream, when he swung me through the air.
Nether mist deadened my screams even as they erupted from my mouth. I was flung at dizzying speeds through the black sky of the Underworld, the souls awaiting rebirth shooting before me like a wave. The wave separated down the middle, leaving a dull black expanse between the two sides.
I careened into it and then stopped, spinning in the grip of the nether mist as all light around me was extinguished.
I felt ground beneath my feet seconds before a heavy weight pushed me to my knees.
A fierce wind whipped around me and I covered my eyes to shield them. The wind died away and when I opened my eyes the Grim Reaper stood before me, scythe raised in his skeletal hands.
‘Abomination.’ That single word, spoken in a chilling and cavernous voice, sent shudders racing through my limbs, freezing the protest barely formed on my lips.
‘It is time to die.’
I could do nothing. Could only watch as he swung the scythe at my neck.
The dark light wreathing the blade flared, blinding me. I screwed my eyes shut, tears leaking from the corners.
This was it.
The end.
33
‘What have you done?’
My eyes snapped open, widening when I saw the blade inches away from my neck. Even more disturbing was the way the dark light reached out to envelop me. No longer blinding in intensity, it had softened as it moved over me.
I did not risk moving anything but my eyes as the dark light flowed behind me. I shivered as it caressed my wings, its touch strangely soothing as it stroked the injury I’d sustained fleeing Cade.
The Grim Reaper’s gaze followed the movement of the dark light as it left my wings and returned to the blade of his scythe. He stretched out a skeletal hand, almost as if he wanted to touch my silver wings himself. The hand withdrew and he drew himself up to his full height.
‘What is this trickery?’ He shook the scythe in my face. ‘Tell me how you did this. I command you.’
Still on my knees, I gazed up at him, not daring to shake my head in the face of his towering rage and with the scythe still so close. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is it you think I’ve done?’
‘You have the wings of an ascended being, but humans live too short a lifespan to achieve such greatness. It is a perversion for any but the true of heart to wear the silver. You would have had to positively affect the lives of millions of people to qualify for ascension. Not possible…unless–’
He lunged for me, gripping my chin in a punishing grip. He leaned in close, so close I could see all the different colours in the flames dancing in his eye sockets, yet strangely they gave off no heat. His head was so close to mine, my eyebrows should have been singed.
‘Look at me,’ he said. ‘Show me your soul.’
Mesmerised by the dancing flames, I forgot to blink, forgot to breathe, as he held me immobile with his gaze. An eternity later he released my chin and stepped back.
‘Your quota is fulfilled. You are no longer required to act as reaper for Easton.’
I stiffened. ‘That’s impossible. I have thousands of souls to reap before my contract is fulfilled. There’s no way I’ve reached my quota.’
‘And yet, this is what you have done. To be truthful, you have more than met your quota. You have exceeded it exponentially.’
‘How?’
‘This I do not know. All I can see is the mark left on your soul.’
‘But I haven’t reaped the souls of five hundred people, let alone thousands.’
‘A reaper’s duty involves more than just reaping souls and sending them on to rebirth. A reaper is responsible for the souls of every man, woman and child in their assigned domain. Something you have done in the time between when you were last in the Underworld and now has brightened the light of every soul in your care, along with many more.’
He waved his scythe and we were no longer in the void. Instead we hovered beneath the canopy of stars representing the souls awaiting rebirth.
‘Think, Tyler Morgan of Easton. What was it you did that prevented these souls from being extinguished?’
I bit down on my bottom lip, shaking my head. ‘I don’t know. The wings just appeared after I…’ I gazed up at the souls shining so brightly above me. ‘Angellin. I saved Angellin. Uncontrolled nether was destroying it, and I used pure aether to restore the city, to balance out the light and dark.’
I frowned as I thought it through. ‘You’re saying I fulfilled my soul quota by saving the lives of the Davilians trapped in Angellin? But there were barely three thousand. I killed over a dozen Wraiths, incurring a thousand-soul penalty for each one. It doesn’t balance out.’
‘Your actions did not just save the Davilians. If Angellin had fallen, the effects would not have been contained to that plane. There would have been a cataclysmic chain reaction, and Easton would have borne the brunt of the storm as the higher plane collapsed. It would have been engulfed within hours. Aftershocks would beset the rest of the country, spreading all over the world, before the balance between the nether and the aether was restored. Millions would have died, if not for you.’
I shuddered to think how close to catastrophe we had all been. If Cade hadn’t taken me t
o Angellin to lock me up with the Davilians, the city would have been destroyed. I choked down a hysterical giggle at the thought he had inadvertently played a part in saving the world.
It was so surreal it was hard to take it all in.
I looked at the Grim Reaper, wary though he appeared to no longer want to chop my head off with his scythe.
‘What happens now? I mean, with me.’
‘Your contract is fulfilled. You will no longer be called to reap the souls of Easton’s dead.’
That explained why Talaom had felt the call for the Tr’lirian guard Cade had killed and I hadn’t. Yet?
‘But I’m still a reaper, aren’t I?’
He nodded.
I thought about it for a moment. ‘Chris Bradbury. He fulfilled his quota, but he was no longer a reaper when he was brought back to life. Why am I different?’
He waved a hand at my wings. ‘You need to ask?’
A fleeting smile curved my lips before I got back to business. ‘What about Talaom? He’s the dark reaper who was resurrected in a new body, like I was.’
‘The abomination must die. You must kill him when you return to the physical plane.’
I shook my head. ‘There has been enough killing. I won’t do it.’
He went so still I thought I had pushed my luck too far. After a long and tense moment, when I was sure he was going to punish me for refusing to obey him, he said, ‘You are no longer mine to command, but never forget I am the Grim Reaper. I decide the fate of my reapers. You may have ascended to the silver, but you are still an abomination.’
‘You’re right. I shouldn’t be alive, and neither should Talaom. But if we didn’t exist, if we weren’t abominations, Angellin would have fallen and millions of innocent souls would have died, never to be reborn. That has to count for something.’
‘Very well. If your abomination agrees to act as reaper for Easton, as penance for his crimes, I will allow him to live.’
‘Okay, that’s great. He’ll do it.’ I let out my breath in a rush of relief.
‘He must understand only death will free him. Only then, if he has fulfilled his duty as reaper, will I allow his soul to be sent on to rebirth once his mortal body dies. If not, I will rip his soul to shreds myself.’
I nodded fervently. ‘Understood. I’ll tell him.’
‘Go now. And, Tyler, understand this is the last time I will allow you to take refuge in the Underworld. You do not belong here. You belong with them.’ He pointed at the canopy of souls. ‘The duty of those who wear the silver is perhaps even more onerous than that of a reaper. Do not fail them.’
I had no chance to respond. A great wind swept me up and threw me towards the souls, forcing me towards the barrier between the Underworld and the physical plane.
Just when I thought I was going to slam into the inky barrier, a shimmering portal appeared and I slipped through, blinking against the sudden brightness of day.
How long had I been in the Underworld?
I cast about me for signs of Cade or his Tr’lirians but the skies were empty.
Time to head home, tell Talaom about his new role, and come up with a plan to save the people of Easton from Cade.
The Grim Reaper was right. The weight of obligation I felt to the living was far heavier than what I felt when I’d only been responsible for the dead.
I could only hope I’d be able to fulfil my obligation without any more people dying, but as I scanned the street below me, a sense of doom threatened to bring me down.
Fires burned all over the city, smoke obscuring the sky. Yet despite this I could hear no sirens, see no fire engines or other emergency services vehicles. Instead it was a sea of black as the mercenaries tramped the streets, menacing the locals. All while white winged soldiers hovered above in the astral plane, supervising the organised chaos.
Cade’s invasion was underway.
34
I landed on my front lawn, and received my second shock in as many minutes.
Killian stood at the front door, with Chris and Rebecca a step behind him. They turned at my gasp, all three sets of eyes going wide as I retracted my wings.
Wary, I scanned the astral plane, searching for anything amiss. Was this a trap, or had my impassioned plea to Killian been heard? I could see nothing to alarm me, with the exception of my unexpected visitors.
Killian slipped between the others and marched towards me. I stiffened, still not convinced I wasn’t being set up somehow. I was in no way prepared for what happened next.
He halted a short distance from me and smoothly went down on one knee, head bowed. ‘Forgive me, Ha’niel, if I had known what you truly are I would never had gone against your wishes. I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit.’
‘What the hell?’
My thoughts echoed the explosive comment from Chris.
I hurried forward and latched on to Killian’s arm. ‘Get up.’
He resisted my efforts to pull him to his feet, but did raise his head to look at me, anguish in his deep blue gaze. ‘I am not worthy to stand in your presence. I worked against you, refused to aid you in your quest to free my daughter and her fiancé.’ His voice choked up. ‘I almost got you killed. Cade told me you were injured, and passed through the barrier to the Underworld. I was sure the Grim Reaper would kill you, as he vowed to do if you ever returned to his domain.’
‘Yeah, well, as you can see I am totally fine.’ Better than before I entered the Underworld, in fact. I called on my wings and gave them a shimmy, relishing in the feel of them, whole once more after whatever the dark light of the Grim Reaper’s scythe had done to the left one.
Killian took in my wings, a sick expression crossing his features before he prostrated himself with a low moan. ‘Please, kill me. I deserve to die for what I have done to you.’
‘Okay, that’s it. I’ve had enough bullshit to deal with these last couple of days. You do not get to flake out on me, Professor Michael Killian.’ I sent my wings away and smacked his bowed head. ‘On your feet, soldier. Now.’
He scurried to do my bidding, though he kept his eyes downcast once he stood.
‘I get that the idea of me being a Ha’niel means a great deal to you, but it’s not true. My having silver wings has nothing to do with any Tr’lirian heritage, or a thousand years of contemplation and sacrifice. Okay?’
When he still refused to lift his eyes, I gripped his chin with both hands and wrenched his head up. ‘Look at me, and listen to what I am telling you. This is a reaper thing. I fulfilled my soul quota in a big way, preventing what the Grim Reaper called a cataclysmic chain reaction. In doing so I ascended to a higher level of existence. That’s why I now have a real set of wings. Not because I’m some mythical Tr’lirian.’
Killian’s eyes widened as he listened. He gave himself a shake, and then brushed my hands away as he took a step back. ‘You are not Ha’niel?’
‘I’m afraid not,’ I said. I flicked a glance to where Chris and Rebecca stood, watching on silently. ‘But I’m not sorry if you thinking I was one made you see reason where Cade is concerned. ‘I’m also thinking you believing me to be a Ha’niel isn’t the only reason you brought them here.’
Killian stared down at me, brow furrowed. ‘You’re right. Cade’s quest for revenge against Clan Davila these last centuries has clouded his judgement. Still, he is my clan leader, I owe him my obedience.’
‘You don’t owe him your daughter’s life.’
He rubbed at his chin, composure firmly back in place. Though he avoided making eye contact with me or the others as he said, ‘I need to get back there, before he finds out what I’ve done.’
He gave a deep sigh. ‘If you are truly not Ha’niel, I can help you no longer.’ Now he met my gaze. ‘Keep my daughter safe. If anything happens to her, I will kill you.’
I grinned, glad to be back on familiar ground with him. ‘Good to know.’
Without another word, he strode to the car parked at the kerb and climb
ed in. I didn’t bother watching him drive away. I turned to Chris and Rebecca instead.
‘Are you two okay? You look a little shell-shocked.’
‘Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m feeling,’ said Rebecca. She gave me a weary smile. ‘After everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours, all I want to do is curl up and forget the end of the world is coming.’
‘You look wrecked. Let’s get you inside so you can rest up.’ I put my hand on her arm and guided her to the front door. I tried the handle. Locked. I peered through the window pane set in the centre of the door. The light was on in the front entrance, despite it now being daytime, and no one came to answer my knock.
‘Don’t think anyone is home,’ said Chris. ‘No one responded when Killian knocked earlier.’
I frowned. Sam and the others had been going to look up his friend from the local gun club. But that had been last night. They should have been back hours ago. And Talaom; he would have returned to his body once he’d reaped the soul of the Tr’lirian Cade had killed. Were they all out looking for me? When I failed to return soon after Talaom, Sam would have been worried. But surely Killian would have said something if Sam had come out to the compound looking for me.
I nibbled my bottom lip as I tried to think of where they might be. Perhaps they had returned to Rhonda’s, or gone to one of the hotels. Regardless of where they were now, I needed to get Chris and Rebecca inside and out of sight before any of the Mayor’s hired mercenaries or Cade’s people spotted us.
I contemplated the door in front of me. I had to get inside. I needed to find out where Sam and the others were. If something had happened to him...God, just the thought of him being in danger made me ill.
‘Generally speaking, doors don’t open just because you stare at them,’ said Chris. ‘I take it you left home without your keys. Want me to kick the door down?’
I let out an unladylike snort, his offer serving to release some of the tension running through my body. ‘Thanks, but how about we leave that for Plan B. There’s something else I want to try first.’ I focused on the astral plane, willing it to open up for me.
Silver Reaper (Reaper Series Book 3) Page 19