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The Soul Dealer was ready for them. Ribbons of shadow snaked out of the fingers of his left hand, wrapping around Death to restrain him. His right hand snapped around Bunny’s neck like a whip, squeezing her throat tight as he pulled her face close to his.
“You should have just taken the deal, Bernadette,” he tutted, his eyes glowing with madness. “Neither of you are gonna have celestial roles when I’m done. You could have had a place in the new order.”
She choked, struggling for air. “Maybe…”
“What was that?” he asked facetiously, cocking an ear toward her.
She drew what little breath she could and forced it back out again. “Maybe I’ll settle for hitting you where it hurts,” she grunted, bringing her knee up as hard as she could into the Soul Dealer’s crotch.
He instantly let go of her, and she scrambled over to where Death struggled against his bonds, but she didn’t have time to free him.
The Soul Dealer clasped both hands to his chest then threw them forward. The shadow-crow burst forth from his chest, only this time it was huge. It plummeted toward Bunny and Death in a flash of inky black wings, talons flashing.
This is it, Bunny thought. This was how she died. And Death wouldn’t even be able to walk her to the gate.
Breathe, her mother’s voice said in the back of her mind.
She wasn’t shocked or joyful at hearing her mom speaking to her. All Bunny knew in that moment was that she had to obey.
She took in a huge breath as the crow got closer, and then released it as she lifted a hand to hold her pendant.
And with that exhalation, Bunny released all the light she had stored inside of her.
She pushed every happy memory she had collected in Mosswood into that light. Every hope she’d had for an actual future that could never be with an immortal being who had captured her heart. She thought of her dad’s smile, of her brother’s kindness, of her mom’s quiet determination.
The light that shone from within the moonstone was blinding, and it met the crow head-on. The shadow disintegrated, feathers vanishing into grains of sand that blew away in the force of her power.
But Bunny didn’t stop there. She kept on pushing, feeding the shadow back into the Soul Dealer until none of it existed outside of his body. And then, when he had nothing left to attack with, she started to force the light into him.
Smoke began to seep through the pores of the Soul Dealer’s skin. His eyes bulged out of his face his mouth open in an endless silent scream.
Then, while she watched, he slowly disintegrated, too.
Relief washed over her, and she sank to her knees in exhaustion, her shoulders hunching forward. A moment later, she felt Death’s cool touch on her shoulder.
“Bunny,” he said gently. “Look.”
There, in the pile of ashes that had been the Soul Dealer, sat Death’s onyx pendant.
