Page 5 of Beneath Swan Lake (Deadly Endings #2)

I tried to ditch the Reaper, but he’s persistent. The other pair left, and I’m assuming they used the shadows to travel. Now that night is here, it’s harder to see in the dark.

We don’t go far before I pause against a tree. Flexing my arm I can tell it’s fine, if not a little stiff from getting shot and healed in a few short hours. It’s an interesting feeling. The rest of me feels like I really did fall out of the sky, and I haven’t noticed any bruising but my body sure is feeling the after effects.

Having Raymundo at my back makes me a little nervous, even if it would be less complicated to fly off and lose him. I don’t go out after dark anymore in the woods or even around my castle, and it doesn’t matter if we’re in Sherwood or Ravens Wood. I go indoors when it gets dark and keep to myself. At least the voice in my head is quiet, and I can’t help wondering what Dima is up to when he isn’t in my head.

My throat bobs, and I take a steadying breath. Just because he’s not trying to use me right now doesn’t mean there’s not an ulterior motive. Dima wants control of my father’s throne, and he’s proven in the past that he’ll do anything to achieve his goal.

Brightness lights up the space behind me, and I shriek and jump back from the tree, arms raised. I can shift at the last moment if I need to, but I’m not going to be grabbed again.

Raymundo peers at me, the sparkling yellow-gold light illuminating the space between us. His eyes narrow as he stares at me, my hands held out but weaponless. I’m not like Rapunzel; no magic is going to leak from my fingers. The only ability I have is to shift, and it’s only a power I have because someone cursed me with it.

“You okay, Birdie?” he asks, and it takes a moment to register what he just called me. My heart’s beating way too fast, and when my eyes snap to his he’s partially hidden in the shadows. I suppose that’s fitting, since they are part of him. The shadows shift in the breeze, and for a moment my mind drifts back in time.

A new flash of lighting crashes above me, and the scene is enough to make me scream.

Seraphe - Seraphim? - what’s left of him anyway, hangs from the mouth of a great bird -

“Odette.”

I jerk free when a hand grabs me, but it’s just the Reaper. I hadn’t realized he moved so close, the memories slipping in and out far too easily for my liking. Gripping my head, I momentarily close my eye.

When the memories and the voice clash together, it’s hard to figure out what thoughts are real or not. I didn’t remember for a moment that Raymundo was here, and it’s dangerous that things are clashing together like that. I need to keep my focus .

If I show weakness he might learn something about me, and I refuse to give anyone else the instruments to take me down.

“I’m fine,” I grumble, looking away. The light is reassuring, and it’s a constant unlike the lightning from years before. He’s holding it in a small glass, like something I would think of finding at a local tavern or maybe in the shops in town. There’s a lid, so it remains sealed, and it takes me far too long to realize what he’s holding. “Pixie dust?”

Raymundo nods, giving the container a little shake. I imagine he has to be careful traveling around with it, but it looks handy to have. “Most reliable form of light in the dark.”

“Do Reapers have a hard time seeing at night?”

He chuckles, and some of the tension in my chest loosens. “I don’t struggle much, and if I didn’t want to be seen I don’t have to be.”

“That’s nice for you,” I grumble, trying to ignore how the shadows somehow make this man more attractive than before. Maybe it’s because the darkness is a part of him, and I’m still trying to run away from it. “I better be going-”

“Odette,” he cuts in, and all those nice thoughts I had for the Reaper for a heartbeat shrivel and die. He’s going to try and offer help that I won’t accept. I can’t, because then I might owe him. “I think it would be wise for you to spend the evening at the Missing Shoe. It’ll take at least half a week walking straight to get back to Swan Lake Palace-”

“Good thing I can fly,” I interrupt. “I can get there faster with my wings.”

“The double wings?” he asks, and I bite my lip. He did notice a lot about me, and I definitely made it more obvious by shifting in front of both Reapers and Rapunzel. I needed to defend myself, and I’m still not entirely sure that letting her heal me was the right move. My arm feels better and I’m not bleeding, but what if I owe one of them because of it?

I stay silent, looking away before I start slowly walking again. I need to pace myself a little bit longer then I’ll take to the skies and fly home until I can’t. My parents are going to be worried, but I can’t risk upsetting the man that holds my life in his hands.

Dima shouldn’t be a priority of mine, but he’s made himself into one. Too bad no one knows that. Magic works in strange ways, and the eye he stole has more power over me than it should.

“Why do you want to rush home so badly,” he asks curiously. “I have a seeing stone, if your parents are the issue. You can contact them. I imagine if they don’t know where you are they will probably answer pretty quickly.”

My eyes widen. “You have a seeing stone?”

“Course. I use it to communicate with the other Reapers for the most part, but it has other uses. Your parents have one too, I’m sure.”

Wetting my lips, I try to decide what to do with that information. A seeing stone isn’t something most people have in Mystica. They are quite rare, and I heard rumors that the Reapers utilized them but never really put much thought into it. It makes sense that they would have access to the stones, but contacting my parents means putting a location on where I am. The few times I’ve left the palace seemingly in a daze during my transformation, I stumble into the palace within the next few days and claim little to no memories of what happened.

Running into Raymundo and the others complicates things. My parents will have more questions, and they might even ask him about me. I can’t have them learning too much, or their attention will shift to Dima and that will end badly for us all.

I still need to get my eye back.

It’s not a good idea. I can’t be caught siding with Raymundo if Dima decides to pry again. I need the wizard on my side as much as possible and getting close to a Reaper in any capacity will make Dima suspicious. Holding up a hand, I try to get Raymundo to give up this useless mission. “No. Goodbye, Reaper. Don't follow me.”

He snorts. “You realize I'll go to Swan Lake whether I'm with you or following you.”

“I don't need your help.”

“I never said-”

He stops talking, shoving the pixie dust vial into his pocket in one smooth motion. It’s surprising how fast he can move, and partially explains how he shot me out of the sky. There’s nothing that I hear or see when I look around trying to figure out what the Reaper senses that I don’t.

My back stiffens when I hear it too, and in a panic I throw myself to the ground. There's the sound of footsteps, and I hold my breath as panic settles over me. It’s the chewing sound from my nightmares. I thought the darkness was bad, but that noise crawls inside my brain and is almost worse than the wizard who pops in and out of my life as he pleases.

I’m breathing too hard and can’t stop the panic. I crawl until I’m close to the bushes, partially hidden by the brush, and Raymundo watches me with guarded eyes. I sure hope no one notices him.

That chewing noise lives in my nightmares. It’s from that monstrous bird that ate my suitor once upon a time. It might not be the same bird, but it’s similar enough. I force myself to peer through the bushes beside me, trying to spot the monster in the darkening night. I imagine I look a bit insane from Raymundo’s view.

The Reaper crouches beside me, and he’s close enough I can still see the details of his face despite the nonexistent light. Adjusting without the pixie dust takes a moment, but I catch his eyes narrowing as he watches me instead of our surroundings. Something bumps my arm, and I realize he’s pulled the bow free. If he shoots that thing it’s going to take more than one arrow, and I fear its master might be nearby.

His arrows are like nothing I’ve ever seen. They are stone-tipped, but he uses the shadows to make them move faster, swifter, the arrows moving in impossible directions from the bow. If he takes aim, surely he of all people could kill the beast.

Dragging my attention back to the space beyond the bush, my eyes catch sight of the monstrous bird. And I wish I didn’t. It reminds me of a mutated swan, but impossibly big with teeth like daggers and a neck a bit too long. The creature is so much worse than the swan that I transform into when I shift. If I didn’t know any better I would think it’s one of the nightmares of Wonderland.

I can't quiet my breathing, and Raymundo watches for another moment before grabbing my wrist. I try to shake it off, but something happens.

His form goes a little… see through. I can feel his touch but I can see through him too. I open my mouth to scream but sensation leaves me. No noise comes out despite my efforts. He gives me a blank look before focusing back on the clearing, and my mind is still trying to figure out what's going on.

Holding up my hand, I can see through that too. I'm not just see-through, I'm invisible. Eyeing the monster again, I realize it shouldn’t be able to see me like this.

He dragged us into the shadows. I've never seen what that looks like unless it's magic a Reaper is sending outwards. To be in the shadows is to visit Death, and I don't know if I like it.

“The girl was here,” a voice says, snapping me from my thoughts. Whipping my head around, I stare at my personal nightmare.

The bird can't talk but that doesn't stop Dima from speaking with it like it can. He walks out of the darkness, impatiently crossing to the creature, scoffing as he stops beside the beast. He gives the creature a rough slap on the neck, and it’s because of the blue light radiating off his fingertips that I can make out so much detail.

It’s his magic, the blue swirls that control my life. Raymundo seems unconcerned about being spotted as he watches.

When I try to speak again, nothing comes out. I guess sound doesn’t travel through the darkness.

Dima looks much the same as every other time I’ve had the misfortune of seeing him. He’s got dark shoulder length hair that’s more of a dirty brown than the red brown of Raymundo’s. His dark blue eyes are visible when he lifts his hand and the blue light drifts past, highlighting the lone scar on his cheek where I got my nails in him once. He learned from that mistake.

Peering around, he makes a clicking noise with his tongue. “Come out, come out, little swan…”

I step back, but it feels like floating in the shadows. Looking at Raymundo he’s still watching me, Dima’s words making me feel sick.

“I know you’re here, Odette,” Dima carries on. “You made me come all the way out here because of your little accident. We can’t have my future in-laws finding out I left you to struggle through the forest. Let me bring you home. They’ll be so happy I saved you!”

His words make me try and stumble backward, but its hard to do with the Reaper holding fast to me. So long as we’re connected, it appears that I’ll stay in the shadows, and Dima doesn’t have a chance of spotting me this way. I try to hurry backward at his threatening words, tripping over my own feet. I fall, but Raymundo maintains his grip on me so it doesn’t look like I’ll slip from the shadows and be spotted.

“I wouldn’t make me mad, Odette,” Dima continues, his voice low and dangerous. “We both know what happens when you do that.”

Instinctively I reach to wrap an arm around my stomach, and I really wish Raymundo couldn’t see me in the shadows. Now he’s going to know something’s up; all I can hope is that he won’t want to talk about it.

Dima grunts when a flashing light goes off within his cloak, and he fumbles to find it as the giant bird lets out a displeased noise after being pushed away. I’m not even surprised when he pulls out a seeing stone. It’s no secret that he has one, and it would be foolish to travel without it. As much as I dislike him, Dima’s family comes from money. Enough so they can purchase rarities like that.

He groans. “Mother-”

“Dima!” the voice coos, and I’m surprised how clear it is from here. “Where did you get off to?”

“I’m looking for one of my pets, Mother.”

If Raymundo could burn a hole through me from the intensity of his stare, he would’ve by now. I give my arm an experimental tug, but he isn’t budging. Looks like I won’t try turning and running just yet.

“Well hurry up, dear! We have to attend dinner tomorrow with the King and Queen, and we don’t want to be tardy. Lord knows that princess of theirs is off in trouble someplace again more than likely. We want you to look like the perfect suitor even if she’s absent.”

“I am the perfect suitor. And if I’m not, I have my ways, Mother.”

“Do not try and beat on that girl again! Her parents will banish the idea of any marriage if you try that. Manners, Dima. You won’t cover your tracks so well the second time.”

He grunts again, glancing around. For a moment he looks through the trees right at us, and I subconsciously move closer to Raymundo. He can’t see us like this so far as I can tell, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want his gaze on me.

And Raymundo is standing so straight I know he’s listening to every single word intently. I’m not going to be able to casually blow this off and move on like I had hoped.

“I’ll continue to search the forest, Mother. Don’t worry yourself about this. The princess will be in attendance by dinnertime tomorrow.”

Dima presses both palms to either side of the stone, severing the connection. He glances our way again, and I hold my breath in case he somehow spots me. I feel like he shouldn't be so focused on this place, and I look towards Raymundo and try to speak again.

Still no noise. How is this helpful if the Reapers can’t communicate in the shadows?

“Do you feel that, Aggie?” Dima says, his voice quiet in the night. There’s no other sound, not even the wind, as we stand in the shadows and listen. “I can sense… something.”

Raymundo's grip on my wrist tightens as Dima speaks, and he's trying to pull us backward. It's an odd feeling in the shadows, like being moved by the wind. I don’t budge, and he doesn't put enough force into his hold to move me.

I swear Dima's looking right into my soul when he stares in our direction. Those blue eyes promise hurt if I end up anywhere near him. “Oh, Odette…”

His voice trails off, and horror rocks through me when he reaches beneath the cloak, pulling out a jar. It’s too dark even with the strange blue light emitting from his fingertips to see what’s in it, but I’m quite familiar with that jar.

I pull on Raymundo with my free hand before pointing, trying to convince him to move. It won’t matter if the shadows shield us if Dima can use me to see through them. I’m jerking around to try and get this damn Reaper to listen, and he’s just looking down at me like I’ve gone mad. I feel a little crazy, unable to use my voice to explain anything that’s going on. It would almost be better if Dima could see us. At least I could try and explain to Raymundo why we need to move right now.

That familiar, unwanted feeling of an invasion in my brain makes me snap my eye shut, aware that Dima is far too perspective. If Raymundo dragged us into the shadows he should have no idea where we are now.

I feel myself moving while Raymundo shakes me, probably trying to make me open my eye. It won’t matter so long as Dima can’t see, and I won’t risk giving up a Reapers secrets -

Solid hands slam into me, throwing me backward, and my back aches when it slams into the earth. I gasp, eye opening as the air is knocked out of me, staring up at the stars.

I don’t have to check to know that I’m no longer transparent. The force of hitting the earth is enough of a giveaway that the shadows are gone. I panic, scrambling to stand, and look around.

The only light is from Dima’s magic, and there’s blue light fully encircling him. He’s stuffed the glass back into his cloak. There’s no reason to keep using my eye when he can see the Reaper all on his own.

It’s hard to make him out, but I can almost feel the tension in the woods as Raymundo stares at Dima. Even without the enhanced sight I have as a bird, I can tell the two of them are glaring. And I honestly have no idea if Dima’s stolen power is stronger than death. Surely not, right?

Looking between them, I think it’s Ray that pushed me. Dima is still too far off, and maybe he took a wide shot to try and find who was hiding. I don’t know if the attack could actually harm us in the shadows or if Raymund simply wanted answers to my strange behavior.

“So there is a Reaper out here,” Dima says, taking a deep breath. The gigantic bird beside him makes a cawing noise, and I stare at them, too afraid to look away. “Aggie, make quick work of my bride.”

I barely have time to register his words before the bird launches itself at me. I’m surprised that after all these years this is the bird from that first night. I didn’t think Dima was sentimental with any of his monsters like that. I thought he was too busy tormenting beasts.

Aggie is a mammoth of a thing, launching her fat body across the dark space. I can make out the rounded shape against the other blacks of night, but it’s hard to see. I wish I was still attached to Raymundo, who could probably drag us into the shadows again and disappear.

I spin, ignoring the way my feathered skirt tangles in the bushes as I twist and try to get away from that thing. When it opens its wide mouth I can see the sharp teeth, just like the ones I remember from the night they ate my suitor. Scrambling back in the dirt I ready myself to shift. If I turn my back, I’m dead.

My strongest form is as the cursed swan, and I’m not going to be picky if shifting can save my life. Whatever the two men are doing is utterly lost to me as I catch my footing, preparing to jump up and let the change take me.

“Odette!”

I think that’s Raymundo, but honestly his voice fades as something strikes me in the side and I hiss, knocked off balance and back on my butt from the burn. Then the Reaper’s familiar grip returns to my skin, grabbing my arm.

It’s only familiar because there’s scarring on his palms. Dima has nothing like that, so I know the man grabbing me can’t be him. That weightless feeling hits me again, and the fear momentarily slips away.

Then it disappears, and Ray is in my face.

“Why did you close your eye?” he growls, and I barely catch sight of him before I can see the dark sky above, barely distinguishing the treetops from everything else.. He dragged us back into the shadows, and I kind of hoped it meant he was taking us away from here. Why did he have to stop?

“Reaper,” Dima’s voice rings out in the night, interrupting anything I might say. “You won’t be stealing away my bride.”

His body stiffens as he holds me, his arms straightening as he drags me to stand. There’s no pain in the shadows at least, and I try to urge him to leave and ignore the ache in my side. The bow is in his hand but there’s no arrow, and I don’t bother to look and see if he let one fly when it looked like Aggie might take a bite out of me.

Then he wraps an arm around my waist, and all at once a weightless feeling takes over. One moment I’m peering up at the Reaper with the endless green eyes, and the next there’s a dark tree behind him, making those eyes that much more profound.

Shadow hopping. I’ve heard of it, but never seen it. It’s not as disorienting as I expect. The first time he must have only moved us a few feet, but this time I feel the tug as we travel over a distance. For a moment I think we’re well and away from Dima, until his voice rings out again.

“You’re not hiding among the common folk, are you, little swan?” Dima taunts, and I twist in Raymundo’s grip. It’s not hard to move among the shadows, and although there’s the weight of his arm, there’s little resistance. We’re still almost in the same spot. “Would your parents approve? ”

I snarl, glancing back at Raymundo. His hand still touches my arm, and it seems so long as we remain touching that I can stay hidden with him.

I gesture for him to go, hoping that between his keen eyes and shadow magic that he can see me. But instead of listening, he shakes his head, points to the ground and lets go of me.

Oh no. This again.

Instead of staying near me he disappears in a blink, and now that I’m not touching him I can’t see where he disappears to in the shadows. I jerk my head around to try and spot him, but his voice carries from somewhere on the other side of the trees.

My nails dig into the bark of a tree, and I close my eyes as my breath comes in little puffs. What is it with men jumping into things and making it worse?