Page 5 of Mortal Reaper (Shadow Shifter)

Metal scraped against metal, but where the wolf caves held only one voice during the weapons creation process, several echoed around her. Doors creaked, and a truck started before a man swore, dropping tin implements on the ground. She forced her eyes to open.

The plaid couch she laid upon had rips in the cushions, and cracks marred the glass coffee table. The room came into focus as dust swirled beneath the overhead light.

The large window overlooked the salvage yard. Tall chain-link fencing topped with barbed wire rimmed the perimeter. There were stacked tiered racks of scavenged tires and rims in front of the rows of stripped cars.

She had walked by Graydon County Salvage many times, but she’d never had a reason to enter the premises. Had the reapers always been here? A mere three blocks from the shelter.

She sat up, catching herself as she nearly slipped off the edge of the couch. The stabbing pain sucked the air from her lungs before she noticed the source of her torment. Her wrist ended in a smooth stump.

Dannika scrambled back, attempting to escape from the misshapen limb. She held it away from her like it was some kind of alien. The room spun before she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to still her panic. They snapped open to the creek of a floorboard.

Ferguson stood before her. The dark-haired reaper, with glowing red eyes, looked as he had when she’d met him at the wolf caves, except for the missing arm. His left elbow ended in a formed stump, matching her own. “You’re awake.”

She remembered him taking her, and her attempt to scatter their molecules. While they were both missing limbs, they shouldn’t have survived. “How come I’m here?”

Ferguson arched an eyebrow. “You mean why didn’t your little suicide attempt work?”

“Yes.”

“I’m the oldest of my kind. I have been traveling the pathways for seven hundred years. While your attempt to disrupt our pathway was admirable, I possess the ability to make temporary streams.” He extended the ravaged limb. “I have not lost a limb since I was a fledgling. Killian underestimated you. He knows what you are, but he doesn’t understand who you are.”

Goosebumps raised on her skin. “What am I?”

Ferguson glanced out the window. “You will find out soon enough. Come with me, please.”

“And if I don’t?”

Ferguson held out his hand. “You won’t enjoy the alternative, and you are far too weak to fight me.”

Dannika used her good hand to push herself up from the couch. “I can walk. Where am I?”

Ferguson dropped his hand, turning toward the door. “This is the managers office at the salvage yard. Follow me.”

She descended the few steps from the office to the pitted cement landing. Dozens of red eyes peeked out from the racks. Some of the reapers wanted to devour her. Others looked at her with interest, and those looks were far scarier.

She jogged a few steps to catch up to Ferguson. “How long was I unconscious?”

He led her between a row of crushed vehicles. “Four days. I kept you under to give you more time to heal. Your hand will regenerate by days’ end. The first few days are... painful.”

Her heart stuttered.

“I missed my wedding?” she whispered.

Ferguson paused. “You are no longer a member of the Wolf clan. I suggest you become accustomed to reaper life.”

He said the words as if he’d offered her a cup of coffee. That she would simply accept the destruction of her world. Yes, it had happened many times before, but this was Raine. Her future with him. She could accept death, seeing him in the next life, but she wouldn’t survive this one without him. “I would rather die.”

His eyes flickered red. “And you will, but you must complete a task first.”

He resumed walking down the dirt row lined with twisted metal.

She attempted to connect with her shadow, with her animal, only to be met with a black void. There was nothing. “What did you do to me?”

He paused at the end of the metal aisle. “Your animal is in stasis. There’s no need for it to feel its death. Your demon soul is subdued. It will wake in time.”

Dannika approached him. “How are you going to kill my wolf?”

“I’m not. The animals will die when you feed on a human. It is inevitable.”

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