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Orange light shines up from the darkness.
“What is—?”
Before I can finish the thought, Grim and I are sucked down into the light.
CHAPTERTEN
Grim
Oh fuck.Not here. Not with her.
I struggle to push myself up, but my legs give out and I crumple back down to the familiar rocky ground. Everywhere is pain. Every movement hurts.
I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I have to fight through it for my girl.
I plant my fist onto the ground and push myself up with a grunt.
“Keep her out of this!” I shout into the darkness. I know he’s there. He’s always there.
“Such a beautiful, innocent little soul,” the Soul Collector hisses from the shadows. “And feisty too. She had the chance to escape, but returned and destroyed my Reaper to protect you.I understand now why you covet her so much.”
“Don’t take her away from me,” I say with a crack in my voice. I don’t have a heart, but I can feel it aching just the same.
“We made a deal, Grim,” he says as I hold Anna protectively behind me. I’m holding onto her arm, hoping we can somehow get through this. “You. Human female.”
“Don’t talk to her,” I growl possessively.
He ignores me. “I heard you say the words, but is it true? Do you love this creature? This Reaper of human souls? This Grim?”
“I do,” Anna says from behind me. She puts her hand on my back as she steps forward and proudly stands beside me.
I stare at her in awe. She’s so brave. She’s so incredible. She’s facing down the Soul Collector to proclaim her love for me, looking defiant and brave. I’ve never felt so connected to another person. I’ve never felt so in love. It’s overwhelming. It’s all-consuming. I can feel the light of her love filling me from my head to my toes.
“I do love him,” she says with her chin in the air. “More than anything. I don’t know who or what you are, but he’s done his time. He’s paid his price. Let him go. Stop tormenting him.”
“Of all the creatures who’ve inhabited this planet since its creation,”the Soul Collector hisses,“the human female is by far the most complex. The most confusing. I don’t know how human males figure you out.”
“They don’t,” she says as she smiles sadly at me. “But they try and we love them for it.”
“Whenever I think I have the mind of a human female figured out, something surprises me and I realize I don’t know a thing. A human female falling in love with a Reaper? With my Grim? I didn’t think that was possible and now here we are.”
“We had a deal, Soul Collector!” I shout into the shadows. “So, let us go! At least let my Anna go. Keep me if you must, but return her. Now!”
“We had a deal and The Soul Collector never reneges on a deal. Your time as a Reaper is over, Grim. Your scythe has been destroyed. Your soul is no longer enslaved to me. I release you from your bondage.”
I take a breath of relief as tears fill my eyes. I’m so relieved, but I’m still weary. There’s always a catch with this demon. I’m just waiting for it to drop.
“But,”he says with delight in his voice. Here it comes…“The mark of the Reapers will be on your human skin for everyone to see.”
“The mark? What mark? That wasn’t part of the deal!”
“As you pass through the light,”he continues, ignoring me,“you will become human again. Never speak of this place and your souls will be at peace. They will be where they belong, together.”
Anna screams as the cave shakes and the long cracks snake through the ceiling, spilling orange light on our heads.
The forceful grip seizes our arms and we cling to each other as we’re yanked up through the ceiling and back into the plane of existence.
We wake up on Anna’s kitchen floor. The place is still trashed, but we’re only focused on each other, making sure that the other is okay.
