Page 56 of Reaper’s Curse

Had the mere stay of strangers in the otherwise stagnant citadel been the catalyst for change? Or were all the changes a direct result of Raven’s unexplained healing of the afflicted?

Yes, the wicked bastard had been correct. She was interesting and curious and worthy of further exploration, but not in the way that sadist would propose. Never in that way.

She’s clearly special, and I’ll go down fighting before I see her harmed.

I pressed my eyes closed and heaved a breath. Why was I thinking about Raven in such a manner? She was just a coreaper. A Gunn.

A lie I’d been telling myself since we first met.

And now…

Gods, she tasted blissful.

The feel of her skin, the flavor of her lips, her breast in my hand.

My heart hiccupped.

Palming her breast, accidentally, wasn’t something I would regret anytime soon.

Unless she wants you to.

Reaping head. Pull it together.

I clenched my hands in the hair at the back of my skull and squeezed my arms against my temples. When had this bullshit thought process of mine begun? When she’d kissed me, or earlier?

My chest rose and fell with uneven breaths.

Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I knew exactly when my confused and complicated thoughts regarding Raven had begun. Too long ago.

Only, ever since I’d caused her to fall into the shark tank, her hatred for me had become more passionate than the adoration other females in our reaper class thrust upon me. Given the feud between our families, and the deplorable who called himself my father, feeding Raven’s tempestuous emotions had served to keep her at a respectable distance.

Safely beyond Ubel’s reach.

And yet…

I contemplated my varied reactions to Winter’s presence. Did I truly find the male irritating on his own merit? Or had I been jealous from the start?

Shit. I didn’t want to think about these things. Raven was safe, behind fortified walls, protected by guards, at the palace. Where Winter resides.

A snarl vibrated at the back of my throat. I chose to ignore the animalistic response and, with another cleansing breath, pressed forward with more useful considerations.

Aldine had told us that the key to the curse should be found at the palace. And since Raven had worked some sort of deal with the queen, and was actually staying at the palace, she was hopefully working on that inside track. Making progress, finding answers. We would compare notes soon.

I swept my gaze to the castle overshadowing the surrounding city. Large portions of the roof had become blanketed in black. Crows. Hundreds, possibly thousands of them, had migrated to the city. I had noticed their numbers growing ever since I’d witnessed Raven use the crow clicker. Had the device worked as some sort of beacon, drawing the birds to our location?

The presence of the birds was a curious thought, but not one of my more pressing concerns.

The farthest tower of the castle drew my attention. The same tower I had eyed from the higher rooftop deeper in the citadel. And…the same tower that had snagged my attention when I was something other and here on a mission with my siblings.

An unusual glow, visible to my soul hunter senses, radiated from the highest window of the tower. And an unnatural amoeba-shaped shadow surrounded that same space in the structure. I somehow knew the shadow and glow were significant. I needed to get closer and investigate.

Of course, Raven currently stayed at the palace. I could ask her to take a closer look while I swept every inch within the citadel walls for my siblings. She might not be able to identify the glow, but the shadow… She’d see that, and she’d be curious.

I dipped my gaze back to the many buildings and streets filling the space between the castle and pub. People moved like ants along the maze of roadways.

My soul hunter sight locked into place, and I could easily distinguish the afflicted from the healthy. Distance hardly factored into my ability to identify one or the other. A muddy aura blurred the afflicted. The healthy were not blurred.

Below, the pub door squeaked and slammed. Drunken mumbles and laughter followed—one male and one female. I stepped to the roof’s edge and peered down. A merrily intoxicated couple had made it a full five strides outside of the Bridge Crossings pub before partaking in public indecency, kissing and groping.