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“It’s not his blood I’ve called you to spill,” Jeremiah said, his voice far too loud for such a small, insignificant mortal. The Reaper’s eyes jerked over to him and Jeremiah flinched, rightly so. At least he still had the sense in him to be afraid, regardless of what the God urged him to do.
“Not his?” the Reaper growled. “Then why, Ancient Lord, have you called my name? A Reaper does not appreciate its time being used frivolously.”
“There’s another demon,” Jeremiah said. “His name is Leon. He’s guarding someone, a mortal woman. I need him removed from her side. I need him broken.”
The Reaper rumbled again — whether it was chuckling or merely breathing, I couldn’t be sure. “Break him? And why would I not kill him, Ancient Lord? A Reaper arrives to take a life. I will not be denied that.”
Jeremiah smiled, the expression twitching on his face. “Of course not. You may have the demon at your feet, as an offering. Once the other one has been broken, I’ll take him for myself. But you can have this one when the job is done.”
Great. I was a fucking bargaining chip between a Reaper and God — when it came to “places I wanted to be,” this landed solidly last.
At least Juniper was gone. She’d run when the Reaper arrived, and it was my one sense of relief in this mess. Guns and knives wouldn’t bring a Reaper down. She wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Once the Reaper killed me, the bond between Juniper and I would be broken. Her soul would be free again. Maybe she’d find another being to take her to Hell; I hoped she did. A woman like her was too much for this world, too much for one mere mortal life. She needed more. She needed her freedom beyond this Earth.
Fuck, that hurt more than I’d thought it would: the melancholy, the...the loss. I wasn’t afraid of dying — I hated leaving Juniper behind. I hated knowing that Leon would either die fighting this Reaper, or be broken and forced back under the Hadleigh’s control. I hated that I’d failed to protect either of the beings I cared for most.
Juniper would survive; my little wolf would find a way. That was my only comfort.
“We Reapers are not servants to be given tasks,” the Reaper growled. “But out of respect for an Ancient One, I will oblige your request. The demon, Leon, will be broken, and I will return for this one.” It leaned down, its silver eyes gazing into mine. “You say you will not submit to death, demon. But your body is poisoned. What a shame you will not be able to fight me, but you will be an easy meal.”
A cold wind swirled around me, dissipating the lingering smoke and the Reaper with it. The night was eerily silent: no crickets chirped, not even the wind moved. Jeremiah walked back up beside me, casually picking at his teeth. “Too bad about your little bitch running away.” He looked down at me with a cruel smile. “Did you think she’d save you? Running is what she’s always done best. She’ll run, and run…” His eyes hardened. “But you’ll never escape a God.”
He began to walk away. I was so goddamn weak I could barely lift my head to see him go. I couldn’t run. I could only lie there and wait for my death to return.
“Personally,” Jeremiah said, as he kept walking, “I hope she comes back. I hope she tries to fight the Reaper for you. I’d stay to watch the slaughter but...I have a sacrifice to attend to.” He turned, looking back at me. His eyes were fogged, and when he spoke, his voice wasn’t his at all.
“When I return, demon, I will be free. And it will be a very different world. It will be a world where no matter where she runs, Juniper Kynes will never escape me again.”
51
Juniper Kynes will never escape me again.
Yeah, we’ll see about that, bastard.
I’d watched everything from a distance, hidden behind the stone shed where we’d killed Kent. There was a chain on the door now, so I couldn’t get in, but I’d neededsomethingbetween me and that massive monster Jeremiah had summoned. The Eld, the Watcher, the Gollums — they were all bad enough. But this creature was no mere monster, it wasn’t just a beast.
It was intelligent, and it was dangerous as hell if it regarded something a God had told it to do as merely arequest.
I hated to keep hiding there, but even after Jeremiah had left, I waited. I didn’t trust that the bastard wasn’t watching from somewhere nearby, or that he didn’t have other gunmen posted up somewhere. Zane lay still for several minutes, before he began to struggle as if to get up. He kept reaching for his back, clawing at it as if something there was hurting him.
My hands shook, and my throat tightened as I watched. It made me sick to see him like that. Jeremiah hoped I’d come back to fight the Reaper, and he was going to get his fucking wish. If it could bleed and draw breath, then I could kill it.
I’d find a way.
Finally, after enough time had passed that I was almost certain no one was watching, I moved in.
Zane’s eyes were closed, his breathing weak and far too slow. He was riddled with bullets, the wounds still bleeding. None of his wounds had even begun to heal. My hands hovered over him with uncertainty, furious tears making my eyes sting.
“What did he do to you? Fuck…” I brushed my fingers over his face, over the blood drying on his skin — and his eyes fluttered open.
“I should have known.” He tried to smile, but it turned into a wince of pain. He lifted his hand and I caught it, holding his bloodied fingers against my face. “You couldn’t just do the safe thing and stay away, could you?”
“Fuck no,” I hissed. “As if I’d fucking leave you. Don’t be ridiculous.”
He shook his head. “You can’t fight a Reaper alone, Juniper…”
“Watch me! Don’t you dare tell me to go again: I won’t. Just tell me how I can help you.”
