AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But it’s his red glowing eyes that always gets me. The first time I saw them, back in 1874 on that dreadful night, I nearly had a heart attack.
Now, a century and a half later, the terror is still there, but the need to protect my sweet soul is stronger. I force down the fear and face him bravely.
For her.
“It is not your soul to have,” I say in a firm measured tone.
“They are all my souls to have,” he answers with a growl.
I feel the icy air piercing my skin. It chills my insides, but I don’t let it faze me.
“Not this one,” I say as I glare into his red eyes. “Not her.”
I can feel his anger intensifying. There’s a connection between the Soul Collector and this dark dank cave. It’s like the cave is furious as well. I can feel the rage emanating from the rocky walls.
“Tell me why I should not crush you for your disobedience,” he snarls. His huge hand closes into a fist and I know that he could easily snuff the life out of me. Before today, I wouldn’t have minded the blissful emptiness of non-existence, but now… knowing that my dear sweet soul is in the world… no. I can’t leave this existence. Not without seeing her again.
“Because,” I say with a swallow, “I am in love.”
The anger on his horrid face turns to amusement. He tilts his massive head as he watches me like a cat toying with a captured mouse.
“Reapers can’t feel love. They can’t feel anything.”
“I feel many things when I look at her,” I answer honestly. I close my eyes and picture the way she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes. The tug I felt in my chest as she smiled sadly at me. The intense primal need to protect her. I can feel it growing within me, getting stronger with every moment that passes. If that’s not love, then I don’t know what is.
“I feel a kinship with her soul. When I saw her, when I touched her, I felt… I felt… Love. Peace. Yearning. Lust. My body stirred. My soul bloomed with life. I had to save her. I had to return her.”
“She was not yours to return,” he says with his red eyes glowing.
“She is all mine,” I say as I glare back at him. “All.Mine.”
He looks amused as he watches me. That look pisses me off.
“All souls belong to the Soul Collector.”
“You cannot have her,” I say boldly. “She is mine and I will never allow it.”
He steps forward and slams his giant fist beside me, shaking the ground at my feet. I stand tall and don’t flinch as the other fist comes thundering down on my other side, barely missing my shoulder.
I stare into his eyes as he lowers his face a foot from mine. The frigid cold is unbearable. It’s freezing me to the bone.
“You disobey the Soul Collector?”
“For love, yes.”
We stare at each other for a long frigid moment that stretches out for an eternity.
“Souls must be rendered,” he finally hisses. “Love or not, the plane of existence must be put into balance. The fate of life is larger than your love, Grim. It’s larger than everything. Even me.”
“No, it’s not,” I say in a defiant tone. “There’s nothing bigger than my love for her. Nothing.”
That horrible demonic mouth curls up into a grin as he stands back up and watches me from above.
“You amuse me, Grim. I knew there was something about you. Something different. The only Reaper to get his job by massacring the Reaper sent for him. Now, this. The first to love?”
I hold my chin in the air as I stare him down.
He may think this is amusing, but it’s not. Nothing has ever been more serious.
