Page 116 of Finders Reapers

I didn’t know why, but I had the feeling that the red desert was a very real place.

A cloud of black dust burst from the dunes and collected in a cloud that began to race across the empty landscape. A moving shadow.

It came closer and closer, but in the same way that the universe refused to let me help someone destined to die, I could not move out of the path of the dark cloud.

When it came closer, like the black water of a tsunami, I realized that it was not one collective shadow but many.

Drudes.

Scrambling, rolling, and clawing their way across the ground in response to the shifting sand.

The ground behind them opened up. A hole that grew wider and wider like a gaping maw as it formed a whirlpool in the desert.

They were running from something. A worm the size of the Bellagio hotel burst from the sand with a screech that could burst eardrums. More teeth than a creature, with scales the size of Captain America’s shield and sightless eyes. Its mouth drooled as it gashed its jaw.

I had never seen anything like it.

One by one, the worm monsters burst from the sand.

The Drudes slowed, like setting cement. Pieces of the moving shadow flaked away as it began to solidify and drop to the floor.

An ear-piercing shriek rent the sky, and the pain rattled my bones and echoed through my primal memory.

I had no idea what was happening, but tears ran down my face as I watched the Drudes die.

Someone placed their hand on my shoulder. The skin was black as night, swallowing any light, with freckles made of stardust and tattoos of moving magic.

I turned, but before I could see who had grabbed my shoulder, the dream ended.

It was morning.

Charon had talked about his sisters, Mara, the goddess and darkness, and Nova, the goddess of light. He had talked about how Nova had sent giant beasts to eat the demons and to weaken her sister.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning, when I tumbled the images of my dream around my mind, that I realized what I had witnessed.

Maddox had told me that drudes were all but extinct. Somehow, I had been dreaming about them. I had met them in the ether as I had collected a soul. I had the feeling that it was all part of a bigger puzzle—but I had no idea what any of that had to do with me.

Maddox and the guys were looking into the contracted souls to try and unseat Mr. Bub from Quietus. Unfortunately, the demon was needed because his magic helped keep the doorways open.

Maybe Charon hoped to replace Mr. Bub with another Hell king (or queen). If there was a circle for every Sin, it only made sense if there was a ruler for each one as well.

Maddox was driven by a desire to find whoever had killed Richard—and the other guys in the Grim seemed content to do as Charon had commanded, which apparently had been to protect me and keep me away from Mr. Bub. Which they had no idea they had failed miserably at.

I’d been placed with this Grim for a reason.

Charon had a reason.

Reasons that I didn’t even know if I cared about as long as it didn’t cause me or the guys pain.

Though I had a feeling, it would.

I had been stewing for hours when I heard the coffee machine beep. With a sigh, I swung my legs off the side of the bed and grabbed my dress from the previous evening. Coffee sounded good, though Starbucks would have been better.

I wondered if I could take the Camaro and slip out without any of the guys noticing.

I stretched my arms over my head with a yawn as I padded through the kitchen arch, stopping when four sets of eyes swung to mine.

“How did all four of you get in the kitchen without me noticing?” I blinked.