Page 44 of Reaper’s Ruin (Reaper’s Ruin Trilogy #1)

Pressed together in the darkness of Lord Cassius’s curtains, Soraya and I listened, her body molded against mine, her breath warm against my neck, my arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Each word the uncles spoke filtered through the curtain like poison.

At first, it was idle chatter. The fireworks. Court gossip. Lord Marwyn complaining about Lady Melayna—the boring, uptight favorite everyone assumed Prince Alaric would wed once he was crowned.

Cassius agreed, his voice full of disdain. “The only thing she has going for her is her father’s coin and the fact she’d do exactly what she’s told.”

“That Lady Soraya would be a far more interesting choice,” Marwyn said. I felt Soraya stiffen, her fingers curling into my jacket. “Beautiful. Clever. And with her little medical talents, not a bad person to have around when the court’s healer is off diddling peasants in the woods.”

A flicker of rage sparked in my chest, but I forced myself to focus—on the sound of creaking hinges, the scrape of something metallic. A hidden safe, maybe. We were close.

But then Lord Cassius chuckled, and the sound sent every muscle in my body taut. “He’s too soft for a woman like her. She’s too beautiful, too sharp. She’d run circles around him. We’d end up with a queen wearing the crown while our dear King Alaric played house.”

“Then what would you do with her?” Marwyn asked, amusement in his voice.

Cassius didn’t hesitate. “Put her where she belongs. In my bed.”

Soraya’s entire body flinched, but I was already frozen, the words slamming into me like a blade.

“Oh, I’m getting her in mine,” Marwyn said. “She’s got that fire. Bet she’s a screamer.”

“Ten gold says I bed her first,” Cassius replied.

“You’re on.”

A roar swelled in my throat, animalistic and burning, pressing hard against my ribs like it wanted to tear its way out.

My vision narrowed to red. My grip around Soraya’s waist tightened reflexively, every instinct demanding I step out from behind this curtain and end them both right now.

I was ready to rip their filthy tongues out of their mouths, watching as they choked on their own blood.

Soraya’s hand splayed across my chest, as if she could sense the rage vibrating off me. The gentle movement settled me enough I remained still.

“Okay. Here. The last five,” Marwyn said, his voice low but carrying in the quiet room. “This one is close enough I can ride there. But these four are too far to get back in time for the coronation.”

“I can Realm Walk and use the portal trees to reach them,” Cassius said. “I’ll take the last four. Then it’s done. The King has no more heirs to contest his right to the throne. Fucking asshole and his little bastards everywhere.”

The King’s bastards? So... Soraya was fathered by the King?

Marwyn made a sound of agreement. “She better make good on her word once we do this for her. ”

She?

The single word sent a jolt through me. Someone else—a woman —was pulling the strings? The revelation shifted everything I thought I knew about the Storm Court murders.

Soraya and I stood frozen behind the curtain while they talked about the next victims, making their plans before deciding they should get back to the party.

“A few more hours of dancing around like a pansy then I can get some sleep,” Cassius said. “Let’s get back and get this party over with.”

Their footsteps receded, followed by the soft click of the door closing. I released the breath I’d been holding, unwrapping myself from around Soraya and stepping out from our hiding place.

Her face was pale in the dim moonlight filtering through the window, eyes wide with shock. “Did you hear that?” she whispered. “They said ‘she.’ A woman is behind this?”

“I heard,” I confirmed, my mind racing through possibilities.

“But who is she? And why does she want me dead?” Soraya’s voice trembled as she paced the small space. “Why was I killed if this list is heirs to the throne? Children of the late King? I didn’t even know Faelora existed until I died.”

The answer hit me with sudden clarity. “Your father,” I said quietly. “If your father was Storm Court royalty—perhaps even the King himself...”

“No,” she shook her head, refusing to accept it. “No way. That’s impossible. That would mean—” her voice drifted off before she finished with... “I would be heir to the Storm Court throne.”

“It’s possible, Soraya. Maybe Lord Cassius wasn’t the only Realm Walker in the family.

It’s rare to be a Realm Walker, but not impossible both the King and his brother-in-law carried the ability.

It’s well known fae used to travel to the Mortal Realm and have love affairs with humans.

Almost like a game they used to play. Your mother may have thought she was with a human and not even realized it was a fae King having fun in the Mortal Realm. ”

Soraya pressed her hands to her temples. “This is too much. This can’t be real.”

“It would make the most sense. Rumors were that King Aric was known for being a bit of a rule breaker. Maybe he realm walked even with the ban against it. Perhaps you truly were the King’s daughter.

There’s only one way to find out for sure.

I’ll wait here and grab Lord Cassius tonight. I’ll make him talk.”

“What?” Her eyes widened in alarm.

“You heard him—they leave tomorrow to kill more heirs.” I turned to face her fully, urgency threading through my voice.

“And we’re running out of time. The Veil Lords will start looking for me, and when they find me, they’ll find you.

Not to mention, we don’t know how long Selyse’s spell will last. This is our only chance for answers. ”

“Right here in the castle? What if you get caught?”

“I won’t. The guards aren’t stationed outside this door. They’re farther down the hallway, and the walls are stone. No one will hear us.”

“No,” she said, moving closer to me. “Maybe we should follow him and catch him tomorrow out in the woods. Do this somewhere private.”

“You heard him. He can realm walk. What’s to stop him from leaving from this room? It happens tonight. Right here.”

She bit her lip, twisting it between her teeth. “Okay. Alright. Let’s do this. I need answers.”

“You need to go back to our chambers,” I insisted, knowing what I might have to do to extract information from Lord Cassius. “I don’t want you involved in this.”

“No.” She planted herself in front of me, blue eyes flashing with determination. “You’re not doing this alone. ”

My carefully maintained control began to fray. “This isn’t a discussion, Soraya. Go back to our rooms. Now.”

“Stop treating me like I’m some fragile thing that needs protecting!” she shot back, color rising in her cheeks. “This is my life—my death—we’re talking about. I deserve to know the truth. And I deserve to look him in the eyes, the man who killed me and my mother, while I hear it.”

The thought of her being captured, of her being hurt, sent a wave of fear through me unlike anything I’d experienced in centuries.

“Don’t you understand?” I hissed. “If this goes sideways, if anything happens to you—” The words choked in my throat, too raw, too honest to voice.

“What?” she challenged, stepping even closer. “Tell me, Rhyker. Why does it matter so much to you?”

“Because I care for you!” The admission tore from me, ragged and unplanned. “Because I won’t let you come to harm!”

Silence fell between us, thick with unspoken tension. Her eyes widened, searching mine with an intensity that made me want to look away, but I couldn’t. Not from her.

“You care for me,” she whispered, repeating my truth, her voice barely audible.

“Yes,” I said, the simple word my most powerful admission.

“And you were jealous tonight when Lord Destan was touching me.”

My breath came rough and raw as I answered, “I was furious.”

She stepped closer, her eyes full of fire and softness all at once, and when she leaned in—lips barely a breath from mine—I froze.

Gods help me, I wanted to kiss her. Wanted to claim her, take her, worship her. But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

I turned my head, breaking the moment. “No. ”

She blinked, startled, hurt flashing across her face before she masked it with that determined fire that always undid me.

“What are you so scared of? Why won’t you admit you want this as much as I do?” she whispered.

“Because you’re too good,” I said hoarsely, every word scraping against the raw edge of my need. “Too pure. If I touch you like I want to, I won’t stop. And I won’t ruin you just for my own pleasure.”

Her eyes searched mine, and then she said, “Rhyker... I spent my whole life on the sidelines. I missed so much . And now... now I’m dead and these could be my very last moments to experience things.

At any moment, a Reaper could come through the shadows and end me.

At any moment, I could get my door. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me or what’s waiting for me on the other side of the door if I get one, but I do know that I want this.

If there’s even a chance I’ll carry memories with me, then this—” she stepped even closer, her hand splaying over my chest, right above the heart that hadn’t beat in centuries until she showed up— “ this is a memory I want.”

My resolve wavered, a crack forming in the wall I’d built around myself centuries ago. “Soraya—”

“I want to feel passion like I’ve never felt,” she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to reach inside me and grip something vital. “Passion that I feel for you. Passion that I know you feel for me. I want this, Rhyker.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides, trembling with the effort it took not to grab her, pin her to the wall, and kiss her until the world burned down around us.

But I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.