Page 53 of Vexed
I crawled to her side. Her skin was almost completely transparent, her bones clearly visible beneath. I hovered over her, grazing her cheek with my bony fingertips. “Lily,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
Time seemed to stretch and warp. Then, a flicker of color touched her cheeks, and with a choked gasp, she coughed, black water spilling from her lips.
Her eyes snapped open, and she recoiled from me, terror flooding her face. I was still in my skeletal form, the grim reaper she knew only in nightmares.
Panic threatened to overwhelm me. I forced myself to focus, willing the human facade to return. I watched as the bone faded, replaced by flesh and blood. “It’s me,” I said, my voice raw with urgency. “It’s Vex.”
She watched with widened eyes, holding her breath, until the transformation was complete. Then, with a shuddering exhale, she threw herself into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“How did you know?” she choked out.
I held her tight, burying my face in her neck. “You called for me,” I whispered softly.
The Lucent Waters clung to Lily like a second skin, but the shimmering, disorienting glow was fading from her eyes, replaced with the familiar sparkle I loved. It was slow, agonizingly so, but she was coming back. I reached for her, my hand hovering inches from her face, waiting for her to take it.
“Come on, darling,” I murmured, pulling her gently from the ground. She coughed, sputtering out the last of the Lucent liquid.
“Vexlorn! You dare defy the decree of the Council?” Ophiel’s voice boomed, laced with self-righteous fury. He stood on the edge of the Lucent pool, his face contorted with fury.
“If it’s a war you want, Ophiel, it’s a war you’ll get,” I growled, my eyes narrowing. My grip tightened on Lily’s hand, pulling her closer to my side.
He let out a short, condescending laugh. “You? A rogue reaper? You think you can stand against the might of the Arc Reapers?”
His smug grin faltered as the ground began to tremble. First, Thalia materialized beside me, her expression grim. Then Adimus, his gaze unwavering.
But it didn’t stop there. From the glow of the Crimson Domain, from the looming Morta Tower, and even from the Erebus Cathedral, they came. Reapers, scores of them, each a spectral warrior cloaked in the shadows of death itself. They halted behind me, a silent, formidable army.
Thalia stepped forward, her voice cutting through the tense silence like a shard of ice. “You wanted to punish Vexlorn for what he did to those… trash humans. For what they did to the woman he cares for.” She spat the words like venom. “Yet, you would condemn an innocent girl without a second thought. We will not stand for it.”
The shift in the air was palpable. This wasn’t just about Lily or me anymore. This was about something bigger, somethingfundamentally broken in the way the Council dispensed its justice.
Thalia reached out, a heavy, black garment flowing from her hand. My robe. The Reaper’s Robe. The symbol of authority. I hadn’t worn it since… well, since I decided bending the rules was more fun than following them.
As the robe settled on my shoulders, a surge of power coursed through me. It was more than just control over the other Reapers. It grounded me, completed me.
And then my scythe materialized in my hand, its obsidian blade gleaming in the faint light. A sinister smirk spread across my face as I took a step towards Ophiel.
His face twisted in disbelief. “Vexlorn, you can’t! I am your superior! You can’t do this!”
Silence. Not a single reaper stepped forward to defend him. Not even Adimus, the stickler for rules, moved a muscle.
He continued to scramble for words, trying to reassert his authority, but his voice was laced with fear. “Stop! I order you to stop!”
I swung my scythe, the blade whistling through the air, connecting with a sickening thud against his chest. He gasped, his eyes widening in sheer terror.
I leaned close, my voice a low, venomous whisper in his ear. “You have been the biggest pain in my ass. So long,sir.”
I swung again, sending him hurtling through the air and into the Lucent Waters. His screams were cut short, muffled by the shimmering depths. The silence that followed was deafening.
I turned to face the assembled Reapers. Their expressions were unreadable. Some looked shocked, others approving. But then my eyes landed on Lily.
She was staring at me, her face glowing with a warm smile, her eyes filled with awe. The Lucent glow was almost completelygone, replaced with the vibrant life that I thought I had lost forever.
I returned her smile, a genuine, heartfelt warmth spreading through my chest.
“Let’s get you home, darling,” I said, my voice soft. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I knew exactly what I was going to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
