Page 27 of Unforeseen Mate

CHAPTER 11

HAYDEN

He could hear the wailing of souls as they approached the barrier between the realms, not knowing what fate had in store for them. Hayden moved along a narrow path that he negotiated carefully as he walked. Normally, he’d have just moved between the realms encased in the shimmer, but Fallon wasn’t strong enough for that.

The long, low wail of a reaper alerted Hayden that the presence of someone close to death had been discovered. The last thing he needed was a sword fight, but Caye was right; it was the only way to ensure their passage to a healer and to the Hollow. Once he killed one of the death wraiths, known as reapers, the rest would stand down and not try to claim her.

A cry of discovery came just before the reaper emerged from behind the veil. Hayden had just enough time to remove the harness and confront the reaper. “She is mine and you will not have her.”

“She is close to death, hellhound. You cannot save her. Stand aside and I will let you live,” said the reaper, sneering at him.

Hayden shook his head. “That’s not how this works, and you know it. She isn’t dead yet and I won’t surrender her to you.” He unsheathed the sword. “If you want her, you’re going to have tofight me for her.” He pointed the sword at the reaper. “I will have your life for hers.”

“So be it,” said the reaper as he hovered above the path, draped in a gray monk’s robes belted with twine, and raising his long-handled scythe.

The most difficult part about fighting a reaper was that the only way to kill it was to remove its head. The fact that they floated and were not bound to any kind of ground made even the least skilled of their kind a formidable opponent. They were fast, but not supernaturally so, and a hellhound was a good match for their speed.

The reaper charged at Hayden, his scythe raised. Once challenged for possession of one almost dead, the reaper could not claim the soul until the one making the challenge had been defeated. Hayden stepped back and smacked the reaper’s back with the flat of his sword. It wouldn’t hurt the reaper, but it was something of an insult and put the reaper on notice that Hayden was an opponent it might think twice about fighting.

The reaper whirled around, exposing its non-face to Hayden. The reaper’s hood covered its head and any face it might have had was shrouded in the inky darkness provided by the hood. It raised its scythe and swung viciously at Hayden, making a kind of whistling sound as it did so. Hayden countered by engaging the deadly weapon with the sword. The clang it made echoed in the In-Between. It might attract attention, but no one would interfere and once he’d defeated the reaper, he would be clear of obstacles and could make better time to the healer.

The contact with the scythe was powerful, and Hayden could feel the vibrations from the contact as they traveled up the length of the sword. Before the reaper could recover, Hayden lashed out with a backswing that angled up in an attempt to take the reaper’s head. It didn’t work. The reaper parried anddeflected with his scythe, and the opponents backed away and circled one another.

“Grant me safe passage and you can continue to exist,” offered Hayden.

“Never,” returned the reaper, flying toward Hayden at full speed.

Again and again, sword and scythe clanged as they attacked and parried, each hoping to better the other. Hayden had size and muscle on the reaper, but the reaper had far more experience. Over and over, it tried to dance away to put more space between them in order to build speed as it charged Hayden. But this was not Hayden’s first fight with a reaper, and he knew better. Time after time, the reaper would try to open the distance between them, only to have Hayden press closer, like a prize fighter, trying to stay in the clinch and overpower his opponent.

Hayden could feel his arm tiring, his breath becoming more difficult. He needed to end this, and he needed to do it soon. If he didn’t, Fallon would die and that he would not allow. It was time to change it up. Hayden danced away from the reaper, grabbing the hem of its robe to whirl it around and bringing his sword down across the reaper’s back. The reaper howled in what passed for pain and outrage. A blow like that might not kill it, but the creature was not impervious to pain.

It whirled around, its scythe down low. Even so, it was at a height sufficient to behead Hayden. It swung, letting out a victory cry. This was the opening Hayden had been waiting for. Even though they were skilled fighters, reapers were overly confident in their abilities. This one would only know the foolishness of that for a moment before Hayden took its head.

Parrying the scythe, Hayden knocked it out of the reaper’s clutches. In that moment, the reaper realized it was dead. That realization came only moments before Hayden’s sword swungthrough the reaper’s robed hood. The sword moved like a hot knife through warm butter, severing the head from the reaper’s body.

Hayden staggered back, trying to catch his breath. Taking in deep lungfuls of air was not recommended between the realms—the air was putrid and fetid and didn’t offer much relief. He leaned over, the sword buried in the ground, and rested for only a moment before wiping the blade on the reaper’s disembodied and puddled robes and putting it back in its sheath. He placed it on the travois next to a sedated Fallon.

The rest of the trip to the Hollow was uneventful, for which Hayden was grateful. Passing into the Hollow was like passing into paradise, especially compared to the rest of the In-Between. The place between realms was not a pleasant place to be, especially in corporeal form. The Hollow, on the other hand, was like a bubble within the In-Between. Stepping into the Hollow was like walking into a lush valley filled with green and running water. The air was fresh and pure, and Hayden took a moment to breathe in deeply. He made his way to their healer, who greeted him at the door.

“She is not one of us. I am forbidden to help her,” was the healer’s greeting.

Hayden had not come this far to lose Fallon now. “Forbidden by whom? Last time I checked I was alpha here and my rule was law.”

“It is tradition, and it is tradition that binds and protects us.” He scented the air. “She smells of death. She is too close and will make the journey to her final resting place sooner rather than later. If it is of any comfort, she will go to the realm above Earth and dwell there in peace and happiness forever.”

“It isn’t. I am done with people telling me there’s nothing I can do. While that might be true, you are a healer and I know there is something you can do.”

The healer shook his head. “Hayden, I have known you all of your life. I was with your mother when she whelped you and brought you into this world. Your mate is beyond my skills to save. She is human. Perhaps if she was a hellhound or even another shifter, I might be able to help, but she isn’t and she is too far gone. I can give her something that will hasten her passing and make it easier for her, but that is all I can do.”

Hayden shook his head. “No. I will not lose her. There must be something that can be done.”

“The only thing that might save her is if she were turned, but she might not survive the transition.” The healer walked forward placing his hand on Hayden’s shoulder. “I am sorry, Alpha, but there are some things over which we have no control.”

Hayden jerked away, taking Fallon and heading to his own cave, high up on the hillside. Those who lived within this grotto watched him go. He could feel their eyes upon him and knew they were suspicious of Fallon’s presence. Humans were not allowed. To violate that tenet was to risk the wrath of the gods. While hellhounds were powerful, they held a tenuous place between life and death.

He entered his cave, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. Many hellhounds simply had flaps of skin or heavy canvas. Hayden had chosen to fashion a regular, solid door. He moved the bed closer to the fire and placed Fallon in it, covering her up. She felt warm to the touch and yet she shivered almost uncontrollably—her body wracked with a fever. Removing the bandages, he could see the bleeding had all but stopped.

All he had to do was defeat a fever. He was among the greatest warriors the hellhounds had ever produced. Surely, he could defeat a fever. He smiled as he looked down on her, and knew it was not the strength of medicines that could save her. If Fallon was to survive, he would need to claim her and start her transition from human to hellhound. If she survived thetransition, she would be healed. The big question in that idea was, would she survive the claiming and the transition?

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