“I’m the reaper’s assistant. The Bureau operates like any other corporation. Donn’s like the CEO, but like if a CEO had crazy, magical powers. He’s responsible for the dead and has several realms. He can pretty much make up whatever he wants.
“One of his realms is the afterlife. Then there’s Tech Duinn, which is sort of a punishment realm. Like any other corporation, everyone has a job to do. My job is to assist Morgana, who runs the reaper division. A reaper’s job, like that of a reaper such as Ossy, is to escort souls into the afterlife. The HR department keeps all of us in line.”
Hale shuddered. “Apparently, they’re also responsible for hunting down beloveds.”
“Right,” I whispered. “That, too, I guess.”
I put my finger to my lips when I caught sight of another demon shadow moving nearby. But they were far enough away that it wasn’t even close to finding us. When it was safe again, I whispered, “I think we need to move. If we keep moving, the demons can’t find us.”
The problem was that if we kept moving, Ossy couldn’t find us either.
When we all stood, we still huddled together, trying to stay perfectly still like statues as another demon approached. This time, the shadow came right up to us as if it knew we were there. Then another followed. And another. Before I knew it, demons surrounded us.
Chapter Thirty
Ossy
The demons stood in a circle, shadowy figures becoming just a little more human-like, a bit at a time. They looked like they belonged to some weird-ass cult or one of those strange men’s clubs with bizarre initiation ceremonies. The ones where they acted like they were better than everyone else while doing the weirdest shit imaginable. Some of it was downright crazy, where somebody decided they were Jesus after spending forty-two years living in their parents’ basement, and somehow ingratiated themselves into a following. The demons weren’t actually showing their dicks to each other, and honestly, I’d feel better if they were, because then maybe they’d leave Phin and the others alone.
Not that I could talk. I technically worked for a god named Donn, and yeah, that sounded a little cultish, too. Except it was true. Donn really was a god.
I couldn’t see Phin or the other two beloveds, but I knew the demons had found them. “Get away from him!”
Phin must have heard me, because he gasped. “You came for me again.”
I wanted to tell him, of course, that I had come for him. I would always come for him. He was the most important person in my life, and I would never take that for granted again, especially not after losing him twice. But the demons fanned out, squaring off in front of us before I could say so.
I didn’t really know how to fight. I was more of a lover, and I liked it that way. All I knew how to do was surf, ferry souls, and love Phin. And beyond my abilities, how did one go about fighting a shadow? Donn made the cloaks work, so they didn’t help much. I might be immortal, but I didn’t have magical powers. I wasn’t a witch like Cameron or Hale. Still, I would fight for my beloved, even if it was a losing battle, even if I ended up in Tech Duinn. I’d do whatever I had to for Phin, so long as he stayed safe and happy.
Cael turned on Donn, who stood in front of him, blocking his view of the demons. “Make the demons leave, love. You know this isn’t right.”
Donn clenched his jaw and averted his gaze. Cael cupped Donn's cheek.
Then Donn sighed. “I’m prepared to call a truce.”
That was when Morgana stepped in. “What kind of truce?”
“If you continue to reap the souls I send to Hollowbrook, I will leave the beloveds alone, so long as they do not enter the afterlife and return to the living realm. They must not cross that threshold back into the living realm. The door only goes one way.”
Morgana nodded. “We’re prepared to meet those conditions, but we’re staying on the farm, and there will be wards.”
Donn sighed, nodded, and waved his hand as though brushing something off his shoulder. The demon shadows swept across the fog and vanished.
Phin appeared alongside the other two beloveds.
We met each other across the distance. I caught him as he jumped on me. He wrapped his legs around my waist and buried his face in the crook of my neck. “I didn’t know how to get back to the farm.”
I held him tighter. I didn’t think I’d ever let him go again. “It’s okay, love. I’ll teach you how to use the cloak.”
Phin pulled back enough to meet my gaze. “Really?”
“Of course. We’ll start reaping souls together until you get the hang of it.”
I darted my gaze toward Donn. “Now that you’re no longer in danger...”
Phin smiled softly. “You’re calling me your love.”
“That’s because you are. I love you more than my life. That will never change. Not for our eternity together. In this lifetime, the next, and every lifetime after. I’ll make sure you never forget.”
