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Colton stared at the bowl for a long time before he spoke. “You aren’t interested in Dannika or Raine. You wanted me to agree to this deal. Do you seek my death? I will offer it to save my clan. To save Dannika.”
“No!” Dannika hissed.
Raine grabbed Colton’s arm. “This isn’t the way to unite the clans.”
Hakim wrapped his bloody hand in an orange cloth. “I have need of you and it does not require your death. One day, you shall do my bidding. You will complete a task and fulfil our agreement. If you do not, your animal will die and you will turn reaper.”
Dannika sucked in a breath. “You took his animal as payment?”
Hakim shook his head. “I have taken nothing. Provided Colton completes the task I require of him, he will stay as he is.”
Her eyes narrowed on the Bokor’s hand. The sweet smell of blood permeated the air. “Do you know what the task is?”
Darkness crept to the edge of her vision as Hakim backed away from her. “No. It is yet to be determined.”
He turned and opened a velvet box on a shelf behind the counter before grabbing several syringes from inside.
Colton arched an eyebrow. “That’s a modern delivery system.”
Hakim inserted a needle into the bowl, sucking the liquid into the syringe before replacing the cap. He repeated the process six times, then put the syringes into a leather bag with a long strap.
He placed the pouch on the counter. “Colton, you must cut your hand and make a blood pact, or the sedative will not leave this store.”
Colton took the dagger and cut his hand, then held it up to the Bokor. “I don’t go back on my word.”
Hakim unwrapped his bloody hand and grasped Colton’s. “You owe me a task of my choosing. You will obey, or your animal dies.”
Colton nodded. “I will not hurt Dannika.”
“No, you will not.” Hakim released Colton’s hand and passed Dannika the leather pouch. “Our deal is complete. You can sedate your reaper now. I hope it gives you what you need. Colton has paid a very high price.”
Dannika’s eyes narrowed on Hakim. “I thought you didn’t know what task you wanted?”
“I don’t. The stars have not aligned yet. This is not his time.” He waved his hand. “You have a world to save first. I suggest you get at it.”
Dannika glanced between the men. “How do we revert a reaper?”
“You must return them to their mortal form. Though they will remain reaper, with no animal form, they can eat as shadows, age, and die,” Hakim said.
She leaned forward. “How?”
Hakim’s eyes twinkled in the unnatural light. “Reapers result from gluttony. Simply do the opposite to reverse the condition.”
Dannika swallowed hard. “We have to starve them.” Could she inflict that kind of torture on another living being? Could she live with the deaths if she was wrong? If she inflicted this kind of pain, was she any better than a reaper?
CHAPTER24
Dannika exited Hakim’s occult shop with Colton and Raine. The silence was oppressive as they made their way to the edge of the brick building, where the shadows brought comfort and the means of escape.
“That wasn’t what I expected.”
Raine ran his hand through his hair. “My demon is excited. It’s looking forward to a fight. My wolf is uneasy.”
Dannika glanced at the blue and orange paint peeling from the building. “Gluttony. Starvation. Why does this remind me of the Ten Commandments?”
“These are not the demons of our hell. They’re from a different world, but the means to win this war is reaching biblical proportions,” Raine said.
Dannika nibbled on her thumbnail. “Hakim said a reaper has never been reverted before.”
