Page 84 of Dante's Circle Reborn

Ashen ran his hands through his long, blond hair and swallowed hard. “I guess we could use a few of those now.”

They followed Levi and the two spoke in hushed tones, and she was glad for that. It was all a little bit too much, considering that it had been almost a full day since she had met this reaper, this man who had been sent to kill her but had protected her instead. What would it mean for his soul that he had killed a fellow reaper and had gone against the rules of his new life?

He had protected her, just like she had tried to protect him. And now she was afraid that he was going to lose everything because of it.

There was a reason they were fated mates, and yet the idea that they were still so new at this was ever-present in her mind.

“Here we are,” Levi said after a near-silent journey. She looked up at the two-story house in the woods and could feel the wards pulsating off of it. Protection. Home. Sanctuary.

She didn’t have magic of her own, that’s not what kind of paranormal she was. However, she could usually sense it. Ashen’s shoulders tensed.

“Will this magic harm my mate?” Ashen asked, and she froze, blinking up at him.

Okay, so they were just going to declare it like that, were they? Good to know.

Levi shook his head. “No, it won’t.” A pause. “Your mate?”

“Yes,” she said, hoping that Levi understood. She knew he wouldn’t be able to sense the bond, but there was no going back now. Not with that declaration and the fact that they had killed to protect one another.

Her life was tied up in fate, why should she run from it?

They made their way inside Levi’s home, but she didn’t relax. The other reapers could show up at any moment, and she had a feeling that once Ashen figured out exactly who he was before, everything would change once again.

It didn’t matter that had been, what, only twenty hours of her knowing him. She didn’t want him to be hurt any more than he already had been.

He had died before and was already risking everything for a life of his own—and for her.

She protected her family, her nieces and nephews and her sister and brother-in-law. She did her best to keep them safe, even if all she could do was be the watcher amongst the others of her realm. She wasn’t a warrior, and she couldn’t even flash from one side of the realm to the other.

But she had always been there for her family. And now, she would be here for Ashen. Even if she didn’t know what to do next.

“You are Levi?” Ashen asked, his voice hoarse.

“I am.” Levi looked at his face, trying to see someone there that wasn’t.

“Do you know of reapers?” Eva asked, and Ashen stiffened.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No, he will need to know who the reapers are, especially since one died in his realm.”

“Reapers. They’re real? They aren’t just the bogeymen?” Levi asked.

“They’re real,” Ashen growled. “So real that I’m one of them. Apparently, when someone dies, another can decide, or rather fate can make the decision for that soul to be reborn into a reaper. I don’t remember who I was before. I don’t remember anything other than the fact that I was a bear and I died in flames.”

Levi let out a rough laugh, one that was strange and full of pain. Eva wanted to reach out and hold him, the same with Ashen, but she didn’t. She stood still, knowing that this was important.

“So you take souls?” Levi asked, ignoring the giant elephant in the room. Namely, how Levi knew Ashen. She was grateful that they were taking this slow. She didn’t know if Ashen could take too much all at once.

“I’m supposed to. I didn’t. The man we killed wanted me to take Eva’s, and I wouldn’t.”

“So he came after you. And you killed him?”

“I didn’t know a reaper could die again, but he threatened my soul and Eva’s. So I used my scythe, and I took his instead.” Ashen growled a bit, and she wanted to move his hair from his face just to make sure he was okay. It was such an odd reaction, but she felt as if she had done it countless times before.

“Are you going to get in trouble for that reaper?” Levi asked.

“He already wanted our souls, so I’m going to go with yes,” Ashen answered dryly, and she smiled, surprised he could laugh at a time like this. Or at least joke.

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