Page 19

I took chase up the steps, making it up one flight then a second, but there was no sign of Kaiser or his beasts.

I considered turning back when tense voices carried to me from the right and I whirled toward them with my blade raised.

There was nothing but a stone wall in front of me, but as those voices elevated, I stepped closer to it, hearing them speak beyond the grey bricks.

“-he will not rest until he finds who is responsible for unleashing his prized creature.” A female voice. Reaper Lily, I was fairly sure.

“The culprit was likely among the dead,” Reaper Pavros answered sharply. “His search will reap no reward.”

“It doesn’t add up,” Lily hissed. “There’s more to this as he says. I’m sure of it.”

A grinding of stone sounded right in front of me and a door began to open in the wall. I leapt away from it, turning to run, sure I couldn’t make it out of sight before those Reapers appeared and caught me eavesdropping on them.

A hand closed around my mouth and I was yanked backwards into a shadowy space at the top of the stairs where concealment spells washed over me, cloaking me in darkness while a silencing shield spilled over me too.

My hand flew to grip the muscular arm that was banded around me to try and pull the large palm from my mouth, but he only held on tighter.

The Reapers stepped out of the concealed passage and headed away along the corridor, leaving us there without a backwards glance.

“You’re being hunted,” Harlon’s voice made the tension run out of my body.

He released me so I could turn to him and I met his blazing eyes through the gloom.

“They have no leads to me,” I whispered, overjoyed to find him there.

“I’m not talking about the Reapers, Ever,” he said in warning. “Though they are a threat we cannot ignore.” He glanced over my shoulder to the place where they’d been, his jaw flexing before he looked back at me.

“Who then?” I demanded.

“The Fury,” he said darkly, hatred coating his words. “The one you seek to kill. Every night, I come down here and keep watch outside your quarters, hidden in the shadows. But every night…he comes here too.”

Confusion left me quiet, but then it shifted to anger. “I don’t need you watching over me.”

“I’m well aware you can look after yourself, Ever,” he said firmly. “But I can’t sleep thinking that the Reapers may find some clue that leads them to you. If they were to strike at you, you would not be alone in the fight.”

“Dammit, Harl,” I cursed. “Why didn’t you say something? Why not come to my quarters instead of slinking around in the dark?”

“Because, as you have just proved, you are far too prideful to let me watch over you,” he said, a smirk to his voice.

“I don’t need babysitting,” I agreed.

“True. But you do need a friend,” he sighed, reaching up and prodding me under the chin. “Now, this Fury…”

“I can handle him,” I growled, my fingers tightening on my blade.

“His intentions are unclear,” Harlon said thoughtfully. “He could have struck at you if that was what he planned, but instead he sits and waits and watches with the same patience I do. Tell me, Ever, what would Kaiser Brimtheon gain from watching over his enemy?”

The words burned against my tongue, the truth of what Kaiser had done to me and all he believed I was. But the Nightfire sizzled against my lips and refused to let the words pass.

“I don’t know,” I said eventually, though I could make a damn good guess.

His precious ‘Void’ wasn’t going to be snatched away from him before he could take me to The Matriarch.

Kaiser was keeping an eye on his cargo, making sure I neither made a run for it nor got snatched away by another trince o kaské – piece of shit.

“What’s going on with the Reapers? Have they found any more clues? Anything that could lead them to me?”

Harlon glanced down the corridor, seeming on edge. Despite the silencing shield around us, he lowered his voice to answer. “The Cardinal Reaper interrogated all of the Reaper acolytes. I told him what I knew.”

“You did what?” I gasped.

“Nothing about you,” he said quickly. “But I told him of the Reapers’ dealings. What they had been doing here. Of the monster they have trapped beneath the Keep.”

“And what did he say?” I asked, my pulse thudding erratically.

“He knew nothing of it. He had me swear allegiance to him, so I made a vow of secrecy not to breathe a word of this to the other Reapers. I’m helping him, Ever. He seeks justice, but he cannot dole it out without enough evidence of their dark dealings. So I thought, perhaps…if you went to him-”

“Are you mad?” I blurted. “If I tell him what I know, he’ll have me killed for treason.”

“He would pardon you for your service, I’m certain of it. Do you think I would risk asking this of you if I had any doubts at all?” He gripped my hand, but I snatched it away.

“You can’t trust him.”

“He’s the Cardinal Reaper,” he said in astonishment. “He was chosen by the stars. His soul is as pure as the waters of Pisces, he-”

“I thought that about all of the Reapers at Never Keep before I saw their truth,” I said bitterly.

“I know. Things weren’t as they seemed. But I believe there’s corruption here, it’s not all of them.

It can’t be. Besides, what would the Cardinal Reaper have to gain by lying?

” Harlon pressed. “I’ve thought of all the angles, but I can’t see any reason for him to ask this of me if he was involved with the other Reapers’ twisted magic.

He would hardly ask me to seek out more of their crimes, would he? What purpose would it serve?”

I had no answer, but I was still resolute in my decision. “Don’t speak my name to him.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said fiercely.

“And watch your damn back, Harl. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t trust any of them anymore.”

“I know. I get it, I do.” He sighed. “But Ever…the Reapers are hunting for who was down there. I’ve heard whispers of some precious asset that had been discovered down there. I thought they were referring to the monster at first, but I’m not sure it was that.”

“I know what it is,” I whispered in realisation, inching closer. “But this stays between you and me, okay?”

He remained quiet for a moment then nodded.

“Promise?” I pressed.

“I swear.”

“They have a beast chained up down there,” I said, tension rising in my chest at the memory. “We saw it beyond one of those strange archways.”

“What kind of beast? And who’s we?”

“Me and – a friend,” I said quickly.

“What friend? Ever, if there’s someone else involved in this-”

“There’s not,” I said firmly. “She’s dead. And the only other person who went down there with me was Galomp, and that wasn’t the same night anyway. He didn’t see anything.”

Harlon considered my words, pushing a hand into his hair. “So this beast?”

“It’s more than just a beast actually. This is going to sound insane, but you have to believe me.”

“Of course I’ll believe you,” he swore.

“They have a Dragon,” I said on a breath, relief at finally being able to talk to someone about this crashing through me.

“It’s chained up and fuck knows how long it’s been there, but it looked beaten and cut and it had these odd green crystals shoved into its skin.

” I knew how insane it sounded but Harlon didn’t laugh or scoff at me.

He deliberated my words, shock cresting on his face, then he slowly nodded.

“A Dragon. Fuck,” he exhaled. “That’s one hell of a star-damned secret to keep.

They clearly don’t want word of it spreading.

And the fact that they know someone was down in the chamber with the acolytes means they’re on high alert.

They’re afraid of what someone might have seen.

” Concern flickered at the edges of his gaze, giving away his fear.

“What do you know about the monster that was in that chamber with us? The thing that descended from nowhere and sifted through my mind. It saw me, Harlon. And not with its eyes, it saw my fucking soul and decided to let me live.”

“It’s a dark and dreadful thing,” he rasped, terror creeping into every corner of his features.

He shifted closer still, glancing around us, and I sensed that whatever he was about to tell me was something he might be killed for.

“They believe it’s the Void mentioned in the Elysium Prophecy.

The Reapers think it can be wielded as a weapon.

But it’s volatile. It needs to be kept fed, and the way it chooses its meals is to judge those it’s offered and select its prey.

The Reapers believe it leaves the worthy alive. ”

My pulse elevated. “What does that mean? ‘The worthy?’ What is that thing, Harl? How did they bring it here?”

“I heard Reaper Jaspin speak about the power of bloodshed once. A whisper only, a snippet of a conversation. But it has something to do with that monster, I’m sure of it.”

“The power of bloodshed?” I murmured. “As in, blood magic?”

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging. “I’ll keep hunting for more information.”

“Be careful,” I impressed.

“You too. Stay away from the Reapers’ passages. And for the love of Scorpio, stay out of trouble. Don’t invoke their ire. They bring transgressors below the Keep and I don’t think you would survive the trip twice.”

“I know,” I said thickly.

“If they find any clue that leads them in your direction, they’ll come for you. They will kill you before you expose what you know. They’ll do so with such efficiency that you won’t have a chance to breathe a word of what you know to their leader. So if you told the Cardinal Reaper now-”

“No,” I cut him off. “I told you already, I don’t trust any of them. Least of all their leader.”

“I’m just trying to protect you,” he growled, his jaw ticking in frustration. “Don’t be stubborn for the sake of stubbornness. At least think on what I’ve said.”

I ground my teeth. No one else in the world would have the power to make me listen to another point of view when my mind was set on something.

I nodded stiffly, promising with that small gesture that I’d consider his words.

“I need to return to the Reapers’ Quarters for the dawn ceremony before they realise I’m missing,” Harlon murmured, stepping out of the shadows and releasing the concealment spells that were hiding us.

He gave me a look that lingered on my flesh and made me long for a moment among the waves with him, where nothing could touch us but the blazing sun.

“Kill the Fury sooner rather than later,” he said in a dark tone. “It’s time to prove you’re the warrior you always told me you would be.”

I watched him go, my heart sinking over the fact that I couldn’t fulfil that task while the Nightfire lived inside me.

If only I could, Harl. If I only fucking could.