Page 41 of Reaper Unhinged
Too many of them.
Way too many for it not to have been pre-planned.
This had been an ambush, and now they had us.
My head is still fuzzy from the drugged darts that mute our abilities. The same drug they used on Conah all those weeks ago. Of course, Mammon would have it in good supply. He’ll need it to overcome Lilith’s army. Another factor to consider when we finally raid his hideout. This drug needs to be destroyed.
“How long before this shit wears off?” Mal asks from across the carriage.
He sits with his back to the wall, one leg up, arm braced on his knee. He looks relaxed, as if we’re voluntarily locked in a box and on a nice sojourn somewhere.
I don’t know how he does it.
“I don’t know. Could be hours.”
“And they’ll probably drug us before then.” He sighs as if being drugged is a mere inconvenience.
I grit my teeth and take a breath through my nose. I’m being unfair. This isn’t his fault, and this…this is just Mal dealing in the way Mal does.
“I don’t recognize any of the demons Mammon sent.”
“Grunts,” he says. “Faceless fucking grunts.”
“Well-trained grunts.”
They have the cadets, and Master Luena, the traitor, is in on this. I recall her smile as we were dragged, semi-conscious, to the carriage. She will die for this. I’ll make sure of it.
Mal caresses the wood. “It’s laced with obsidian,” he says. “Won’t be easy to get out of.”
“It will once we have access to our scythes.” Which might be never if they keep us drugged. I peer through a gap in the wood out at the dirt track and then up at the moon. “I think we’re headed east. They’ll need to stop soon to rest the drake.”
“That could be our chance to escape,” Mal says.
I do value his optimism. It fuels my determination, because I know if we fail, if these bastards get us to Mammon, then nothing will save us.
“I kinda wish I’d stayed longer with Fee,” Mal says softly.
We’re both thinking the same thing: what if we never see her again?
“Can you get a message to her?” Mal asks. “Let herfeelwe’re alive?”
I shake my head. “The drug’s messing with the soul bond right now.”
He sighs and drops his head back against the wood. “Yeah, makes sense. Let’s hope the messengers we dispatched made it out.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him I saw one take an arrow to the leg and the other…I watched several of Mammon’s demons chase him.
If either made it out, it would be a miracle. But maybe a miracle is just what we need right now.
“Fee will have made it, though,” Mal says. The moonlight lancing in through the gaps in the wood highlights his wistful smile. “She’ll fucking make it, Az. That woman is resilient as fuck.”
I close my eyes and picture her face. I can’t give up. I won’t.
I will find my way back to you, Fee. Or I’ll die trying. And then an idea forms in my mind, so obvious I want to kick myself for not having thought of it sooner.
My eyes snap open. “We need to move about.”
“What?” Mal asks.
