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what breaks through them, but we have no power over the gates themselves.”
“But you’re reapers,” I said. “Reapers escort the souls from this world through the gray fields to the next. How can you not have power over the gates?”
“As you said, the Aedh were the gatekeepers. We are merely the guides.”
“So how do the guides get the souls through the gates if they have no power to open them?”
Again his lips twitched. Part of me wished he’d smile for real. The other part was damn glad he didn’t. This man—this being—was dangerous enough.
“The gates are attuned to souls and automatically open when one approaches. But the term gates is really a misnomer. Each gate is more a series of energy portals, not an actual structure.”
“As you are not actual flesh?”
“I am flesh as of this moment. I am as real as you.”
“So why isn’t everyone in this place getting weirded out by the sword-carrying half-naked guy?”
“Because they do not see my true form. They see what they expect to see—whatever that might be.”
“But this isn’t your true form, is it? Reapers are energy beings, just as the Aedh are.”
“It might be more accurate to call us shifters. We are all born with both an energy and a flesh form, whether Aedh or reaper. The reapers can take on other forms, however, to suit what their assigned souls expect. The Aedh cannot.”
I nodded. The Aedh were also winged when they found flesh, which is why many people mistook them for angels. Thankfully, the wings were something we half-breeds missed out on. “As interesting as all this is, it’s not explaining why you’re so keen on tracking down my father.”
He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, resting his forearms comfortably on the table’s edge. The sheer force of the heat and energy radiating off him had pinpricks of power crawling across my skin—a sensation that was uncomfortable but not exactly unpleasant.
And yet it scared the hell out of me. Uncle Quinn was the most powerful being I’d ever met, but I might as well compare a bonfire to the sun.
“Your father,” he said slowly, “is on a very dangerous mission.”
“Well, that certainly explains everything.” Not.
He didn’t seem to get the sarcasm, and continued in the same flat tone, “The portals, as I said, are set to open automatically for an approaching soul, but they can be temporarily opened via other means. Magic originating from this world has been the chief offender, but if enough power is gathered from the dark path, that gate can be opened by those on the other side.”
I frowned. “How? I mean, hell is hell. You know, a place filled with suffering, pain, and all that. How would they even have time to gather such power?”
“As I’ve already said, hell is a human term and not truly accurate. The dark path is more a place where the sins of a soul’s lifetime must be atoned for before he or she can move on, and that does not always involve suffering.”
But sometimes did, obviously. “So all the souls who walk the dark path are redeemable?”
“Yes.” He hesitated. “Those who are not are killed. That is another reason for the existence of the Mijai.”
A chill crawled down my spine. It was a stark reminder that I was sitting in front of a man who could end not only this life, but every one of my lives, for all eternity. I rubbed my arms and said, “Once the souls are redeemed, are they reborn?” When he nodded, I added, “How?”
“There is only one way in and out of the dark path, and that is back through the portals.”
“Meaning the gates are two-way?”
“Yes. Once souls are allowed back through the portal, we escort them across the fields to the light path.”
“Are they instantly reborn there?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes not.” He shrugged. “It depends on demand and how many souls are already waiting.”
So what did the souls do if they weren’t reborn instantly? Float around playing harps? The thought made me smile, even though I recognized the foolishness of it. “So how does this relate to my father?”
“Your father is a former priest. As such, he has some power over the gates and their locks.”
