The animals were fleeing.
I dashed upstairs, and dragged Cheesecake out from under the bed. I barely managed to get the terrified cat into his harness before I dashed back downstairs. Leon was still exactly where I’d left him, shirtless as he stood on the deck, his claws out and his back tense.
“Leon, I’m ready, let’s go.”
He turned back to me, and something on his face made my heart plummet like a stone. “Give me five minutes to make sure it’s distracted. Then start driving.”
I gulped, shaking my head. “No. No, you’re coming with me.”
“Five minutes, Raelynn. You need to do as I say.” His face was grim, the cocky determination I was so used to seeing there utterly gone. I felt sick. I was so cold.
“Then you’ll catch up with me,” I said firmly. “I’ll start driving first, and you’ll catch up with me. Right?”
He turned, walking back inside. His bare feet left steaming prints on the freezing deck. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out a folded piece of yellowed paper.
“When you’re far away from here, try to summon me back.” He held out the paper, and when I couldn’t bring myself to take it, he forced it against my chest. I put Cheesecake down, holding onto his leash, and unfolded it.
I recognized it immediately.
“This is your mark.” My eyes were stinging. “From the grimoire. You said…you said you hadn’t found it yet…”
“If the Reaper doesn’t kill me, you can summon me again.” He grinned, but it didn’t reach those smoldering eyes. “I’ve never given anyone permission to summon me. But if you can, bring me back to you.”
I knew what this was. I didn’t want to acknowledge it, because it hurt so bad, but I knew.
If the Reaper doesn’t kill me…but he didn’t believe that. He was saying good-bye.
He was saying good-bye, and I…
I threw my arms around him, squeezing as tightly as I could. I didn’t want to let go, he couldn’t make me let go, but he wasn’t holding me back either. He was gently – so very gently – pushing me away.
“I’m sorry.” The stinging in my eyes was welling over now. He couldn’t do this. Not like this. “I’m so sorry, Leon, please, please don’t —”
“Don’t say you’re sorry.” His voice was just a whisper as he backed away, putting distance between us as if he was afraid I’d cling to him again. “No human is ready for forever, and forever is all I have. But you gave me a part of your life, when mortal lives are so short.” He laughed softly. “I suppose saving your soul could be as good as owning it, so you’d better fucking survive.” He glanced back at the trees, as a freezing wind ruffled his hair and another cry shattered the night. As the awful sound faded away, he said, “You should know that I love you, for whatever that’s worth. Stay alive. Don’t waste that mortal life.”
That was where he left me, standing there in the door with tears streaming down my face and his name in my hand.
The ground was crawling with insects. Centipedes and creeping spiders fled beside mice and rabbits. The birds had been roused from their roosts, taking flight with a rattle of leaves and flutter of wings. A fox and her pups paused when they saw me, then hurried on, heads low as they ran.
Only I went against the tide. The youngest plants — little seedlings, sapling trees, fresh grass — were withering and dying. The air was sharp with the scent of blood and mold, cloying in my nose, like a butcher’s slaughterhouse.
There was a hierarchy in Hell: Demons, Archdemons, and Reapers above all. They were once executioners, having made a delicate pact with the Archdemon royals to only kill those demons who had been outcast.
But Reapers couldn’t be trusted. Demons hunted souls, Reapers hunted death. They craved it, hungered for it. They were as old as the Gods and nearly as dangerous.
I’d heard legends of magicians attempting to summon them. Kill enough people in offering, and maybe you could get one to show up. They couldn’t be contained like demons, nor commanded as we could. Offer them an intriguing enough task, and maybe they’d take it.
Or maybe they’d kill you for bothering them.
The forest had gone deathly silent. It was as if the world had been draped in a heavy cloak, smothered and breathless, the air eerily still. I paused, breathing deeply, my ears straining for the slightest sound.
It had to be close.
A twig snapped, and I whirled around, claws outstretched — nothing. Just that empty, dark forest. Would it pass me by? Would it head straight for Raelynn? She would be driving by now — so long as she didn’t get any foolish, hard-headed ideas. Fucking hell, she had to obey me this time. She had to.