Page 137 of Reaper's Ruin
Sevrin studied me, suspicion evident in his silver eyes. “You don’t seem surprised.”
I shrugged, glad my heart was no longer beating again so he couldn’t hear it racing. “Deep down, I knew something wasn’t right. I mean, Death itself, falling for a half-breed fae abomination?” I forced my voice to sound hollow. “I was an idiot to believe it.”
I turned away, praying he couldn’t see through my act. “I guess that’s why I’m here, right? Because I was stupid enough to trust him.”
He watched me carefully for a few moments, his head tipping as if I was some interesting thing to be studied.
“What do you want? Just to come here and drive the dagger in deeper that I got tricked into thinking Death had feelings for me?” I snorted. “Trust me, no one could make me feel worse than I already do, so just save your breath.”
He studied me again for a while, then finally with an irritated grumble he said, “I was just here to give you a message. He’s coming to reap you. The Veil Lords gave him the order, and this time, he’s going to follow it. And the Umbral Keep is spelled, so you’re not jumping away this time.”
“Good,” I said, surprised by the steadiness of my own voice. “Then send him in soon and let’s get this over with.”
Sevrin’s eyebrows rose, genuine surprise flashing across his face before his mask of contempt returned. “How noble of you,” he sneered. “Accepting your oblivion with such grace. Though I doubtyou’ll maintain that composure when his scythe slides through you.”
“I think I’ll enjoy it far more than I have talking to you,” I responded, not even bothering to turn to him.
“Enjoy your final moments,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “Think about everything you’re about to lose. Everyone. The terror of non-existence, of being erased completely. No door. No afterlife. Just... gone.”
He studied me one last time, then turned to go—but something about the way his eyes lingered at the door chilled me. As if he wasn’t quite convinced. As if the game wasn’t over yet.
The door slammed shut behind him, the hollow sound echoing through my cell.
I sat motionless for several minutes, his words bouncing around in my mind. Despite my defiance, they had found their mark.No door. No afterlife. Just... gone.
If Rhyker couldn’t save me, and God knows he would try, then I’d never see my mother again. Never know what lay beyond that shimmering doorway my sister had gotten. The one that continued eluding me.
“Come on. Jump!” I squeezed my eyes shut trying with all my might again to activate my realm walking abilities. But nothing happened. I wasn’t sure if it was because Sevrin was right and this place was spelled to keep me from traveling or if my body just refused to go any farther away from Rhyker.
“Please. Jump. Give me a door. Anything to save him the horror in reaping me,” I whispered to myself, closing my eyes once more and trying with all my might to find peace or jump away from this dark and dangerous place.
But instead, I just remained there alone in the cell. Waiting for Rhyker to come and end me, his greatest fear. All the hope I’dcarried since my death—the hope that I would find peace, find my door, find my way back to mom—extinguished in an instant.
But worse than that was the thought of what this would do to Rhyker. Having to reap me, having to be the one to end my existence completely. How would he live with that? How could he continue for centuries more, carrying that weight?
Part of me hoped he would find his peace afterward. That somehow, reaping me would free him from whatever had kept him in the Shadowveil for eight hundred years. That he would find his door and move on to whatever waited beyond. But I knew this would break him. This was the very thing he’d fought so hard against in denying his feelings for me. And now it was about to become his brutal reality.
I wiped away tears I hadn’t realized were falling. What a mess. What an impossible, heartbreaking mess. We’d found each other across death and realms, against all odds, against all reason—only to be torn apart just as we’d finally admitted our feelings.
Time passed, though how much, I couldn’t say. The darkness remained absolute, the silence broken only by my own breathing and the occasional distant sound. I tried to prepare myself for what was coming, to find the courage to face my end with dignity.
When I heard footsteps approaching again, I stiffened. These were different. Heavier, more deliberate. I knew those footsteps. I’d listened to them for days as we’d traveled together, as we’d fought together, as we’d loved together.
“Holy shit, Death’s coming,” I heard a guard whisper.
Rhyker.
“Open the door. I’m here to reap this soul,” he commanded, the power in his voice leaving no room for objection.
The key turned in the lock, and the door swung open. And there he was, filling the doorway with his tall frame, his swirling grey eyes gleaming in the darkness like stars in a midnight sky.
“Leave us,” he said to the guard. “Now.”
The men in the dark cloaks hurried away down the hall as if the beasts of the Shadowveil themselves were nipping at their heels.
My body warmed at the sight of him, and I rushed forward without thinking, collapsing into his arms, tears rushing down my face as he enveloped me with his powerful embrace.
“Rhyker,” I breathed, against his chest.
