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From the looks of it, the Reaper hadn’t been exaggerating when it had called the thing “poison.”
The Reaper kept thrashing, slamming into trees, into the side of the house, cracking limbs and sending glass flying as it screamed. Juniper ran up to my side, her eyes wide, somewhere between terror and elation.
“It worked,” she gasped. “Holy shit, it worked!”
The creature lunged, and before I could get her behind me, the Reaper snatched Juniper from the ground and lifted her into the air.
“Foolish, pathetic little human!” Its voice reverberated through the air, shaking the trees and shattering more glass with its volume. Juniper was struggling, but her arm was pinned to her side and she couldn’t get the gun up. The Reaper’s massive wings whipped down, sharp spurs on their edges slashing toward me. I dodged them and leaped up the Reaper’s side, using its armor and flesh as handholds, climbing until I was on its back and nearly to its neck. The only arm it could use was occupied with Juniper, and it gave me the opportunity to crawl around to the beast’s throat and sink in both claws and teeth.
Juniper screamed as the beast roared back, dropping her as it tried to pull me off. But I’d dug in deep, and though the charm’s magic wouldn’t be as effective against this monster as it had been against me, there was no recovering from a wound like this.
It knocked me off, and I caught myself before I hit the ground, landing in a crouch. My mouth was covered in its blood, dripping down my chin, and I watched with satisfaction as the beast stumbled back and roared furiously.
“I won’t forget your face,” the Reaper screamed. “Watch where you wander in Hell, demon. No Reaper who encounters you won’t know your name.”
The darkness intensified around it, shrouding its form as it dissolved. It gave up its physical body, bursting into fluttering ashes. It would go back to Hell, and perhaps it would indeed survive and tell all the others what I’d done. It didn’t matter. Let them hunt me. Let them hate me.
Not fifty feet away, Juniper lay limply on the ground. As I sprinted to her side, a trickle of blood leaked down from a gash on her head. I squatted beside her, quickly covering the wound with my hand.
“Juniper?” I pressed my fingers carefully along her spine before I dared touch her, checking for any breaks. She groaned softly at the touch and I pulled her up, holding her close against me.
She stirred, her eyes slowly blinking open as she groaned again. “Fuck.” She clutched her chest, squeezing her eyes shut again. “God…that — that fucking hurt —”
“What hurts?” Any injury dealt to her was one I’d deal to someone else. Someone was going to pay for this — someone would pay dearly.
She shook her head. “I think I — I’m okay — knocked the air out of me when I fell. Fucking hell.” She sat up a little more, still breathing heavily as she looked around. It looked as if a bomb had gone off around us: the lawn had been ripped up in massive chunks, trees had been blown to bits, the quiet garden with all its neatly-trimmed bushes was flattened. The house itself had nearly been split in two, water spraying from broken pipes and a distinct smell of methane in the air.
“Is it gone?” she said softly. “Did it work?”
“You’re brilliant, love,” I held her face in my hands, kissing her. Fuck, I’d never tire of that mouth. Every time her lips touched mine, it was like another band pulled tight around my heart, binding me to her. “Using the amulet like that...you brought it to its knees.”
She grinned. “Glad to know you’re not the only monster I can bring to its knees.”
I kissed her again, lingering, savoring the taste of her. It was only when I pulled away a second time that I realized I was smearing blood across her face, and yet all she could do was smile at me.
“You’ve got a little something on your mouth,” she said cheekily. I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and get the fuck out of here. We could go find Leon, then leave this place behind and never set foot in Abelaum again — but the sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway drew my attention.
“He’s back,” I growled. “Jeremiah is back.”
54
There was no point in trying to hide. There was no need to be stealthy about it, not now. We walked across the lawn toward the front of the house — battered, bruised, and covered in blood. Lightning flashed in the clouds, briefly illuminating Jeremiah and his white-cloaked followers as they stepped out of their vehicles.
When Jeremiah looked at me, I felt the hateful cold of the Deep One’s gaze in his eyes. He grit his teeth, fists clenched at his sides as those gathered behind him looked at us warily. I wondered how many of them remembered me, for I remembered them. There were new ones too, of course, but so many who stood behind him now had been there that night.
They’d stood in the church and praised the killing of a young girl who begged for their help. They’d watched in silence. They’d seen me thrown down into the dark.
Now, several of them were looking at me as if I were a ghost. Their sordid pasts had come back to haunt them.
Jeremiah was shaking with fury. His white suit was stained, flecks of blood across his jacket. Black liquid leaked from his nose and over his lip.
“How thefuckare you still alive?” he snarled. “Where is my Reaper?”
Zane grinned beside me. It was strange to see him like this, with the golden color in his eyes completely gone. He was black-eyed now — like the Archdemon. The air itself was hot around him.
“Where’s yournew world, Jeremiah?” he said, tipping his head curiously. “I could have sworn you said you’d befreewhen you returned.” Jeremiah’s face contorted with fury.
“The final sacrifice is done,” he hissed. “It’sdone! Raelynn Lawson has gone to God, and it’s thanks to me! All thanks to me!” He laughed shrilly, the sound far from joyful. “I did what my father couldn’t, I did what my sister couldn’t. Me! Me, me, me!”
