Page 136 of Reaper's Ruin
Soraya
Darkness. Complete, absolute darkness.
That was all I’d known since the Reapers had thrown me into this cell—a small, box carved from stone that seemed to swallow light itself. Even the small, barred window did little to let in any of the minimal purple light from the corridor. I’d lost all sense of time. Had I been in here only minutes? An hour?
Without a body, I couldn’t feel the cold stone against my back, but my mind remembered what cold felt like, and I shivered anyway. I listened to the distant sounds that occasionally drifted through the thick door—footsteps, muffled voices, the scrape of metal against stone. Each noise made me tense, wondering if they were coming for me, if my time was finally up.
In the darkness, my thoughts were my only company. Thoughts of Rhyker, of the last look he’d given me before they’d dragged me away. I clung to that memory, to the promise I’d seen in his eyes. But as time stretched on in this terrifying void, doubt began to creep in.
What could he possibly do against the Veil Lords? Against shadow beasts and the army of Reapers that inhabited the Umbral Keep? He was powerful, yes—the most powerful Reaper in the Shadowveil—but even he had his limits. Even Death himself could die a second time.
The thought sent a wave of nausea through me. I couldn’t bear the idea of him sacrificing himself for me, of him facing oblivion for daring to love me.
Perhaps it would be better if he didn’t try to save me. If he just did what he was sent to do. At least then he would survive.
And maybe, if it was him who reaped me, it wouldn’t hurt. At least his face would be the last thing I’d ever see.
The sound of approaching footsteps broke through my dark reverie. Heavy, deliberate steps coming closer to my cell. Fear slithered up my spine as they stopped just outside the door. A key turned in the lock, and a crack of dim purple light spilled into the room as the door swung open.
I blinked against it, my eyes struggling to adjust. A tall, broad-shouldered figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the faint illumination from the corridor beyond. Not Rhyker—I would have recognized his outline anywhere.
“Enjoying your accommodations?” a cold voice asked, thick with disdain.
The figure stepped into the cell, and what little light there was from the glowing purple torches in the hall illuminated his features. Sevrin. The Enforcer who had found us in the Flame Court, who had stared at me with such disgust.
I didn’t answer, lifting my chin defiantly despite the fear coiling in my stomach.
Sevrin’s smile widened, turning cruel. “You called him Rhyker when you screamed for him. Is that what he told you to call him? His little whore of a soul?” He leaned against the wall, studying me like a fascinating but repellent specimen. “You know, he’s caused quite the stir. Death himself, falling for a soul he was sent to reap. The irony is almost poetic. Although he said he was making the whole thing up. That this was just a ruse to get close and reap you. I don’t buy it though. I think he genuinely cares for you.”
So that’s what Rhyker was whispering about. Pretending his feelings for me were part of a plan. Smart.
For one split second, maybe even less than, I thought maybe it was true. Maybe he truly was tricking me just to get me close. But faster than I could conjure the thought, it was gone.
No.
Even though I still couldn’t imagine how someone like Rhyker could fall for someone like me, I knew in the deepest depths of my soul that his feelings for me—hislovefor me—was real.
I kept my face carefully neutral, unwilling to give Sevrin the satisfaction of seeing my pain. But something in his tone, in the eager glint in his eyes, made me pause. A realization hit me like a fist to the gut.
He’s fishing. He wants confirmation that Rhyker genuinely cared for me.
If Sevrin discovered the truth—that Rhyker had defied the Veil Lords for me, had loved me—it would destroy him. They would erase him from existence.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I looked away, crossing my arms across my chest and snorted. “I knew it. I knew he was faking it. God, how was I so stupid?”
He stepped in a little farther. “Was it though? Are you sure his feelings for you weren’t true? Surely there’s a chance this love you thought he had for you was real and he’s only now pretending it wasn’t?”
I wouldn’t take the bait. Instead, I would give the performance of my afterlife.
“He played me,” I said, injecting bitterness into my voice. “Used me.” I let out a harsh laugh. “I should have known. The signs were all there, weren’t they?”
Something flickered across Sevrin’s face—disappointment? Frustration? His eyes narrowed.
“Signs?” he probed.
“The way he kept pulling away, acting like it meant nothing. How he couldn’t look at me after...” I let my voice trail off, letting Sevrin’s imagination fill in the blanks. “I was just another job to him. A difficult soul that needed special handling.”
