Page 63 of Reaper’s Ruin (Reaper’s Ruin Trilogy #1)

I gripped Soraya’s hand, pulling her down the empty corridor lit only by the faintest glow of purple flames, each step getting us closer to the exit from the prison wing.

Several sets of eyes watched us from behind the bars on their doors.

Reapers awaiting judgment. Most who openly defied the Veil Lords were erased instantly, but the few that escaped an instant scythe were sent here as punishment and a more miserable purgatory.

We reached the door leading to the Keep, and I pressed my ear against the thick wood and listened. My mind raced with calculations, every potential escape route mapped and remapped, so I knew exactly where to go the moment I opened this door.

Twenty minutes, Taelon had said. Twenty minutes to prepare the distraction that might give us our only chance at freedom.

I had been stunned when Skorn and Lorien had instantly jumped at the chance. I’d never given either of them the time of day, yet when Taelon explained what had happened—that I was asked to reap a soul before she’d had time to find peace, a soul I’d fallen for—they’d stepped up without hesitation.

“What’s happening?” Soraya whispered, her small hand tightening around mine.

“We’re waiting for the distraction.”

“What kind of distraction?”

“Taelon and two of his friends—all court warriors—are going to fake a fight over a gambling debt. Reapers brawl all the time, but three court warriors going at it with their powers should draw quite the crowd. Clear our path to the gates. The keep is spelled so no Reaper wings can slice in or out of it, so we’re going to have to run until we get through the courtyard and out from under the spell. Then I can get us to safety.”

“Taelon? He’d really do this for us?”

I remembered his words about needing redemption, about being bored with decades of the same existence. But it was Lorien who’d surprised me most. “I loved a girl like that once,” he’d said simply. “Would have burned this entire world down to save her. I get it, Death. We’ll help you save yours.”

Even Skorn, who rarely spoke, had given his grunt of agreement—worth more than a thousand words from the massive Frost Warrior. Then, in his low rumble, he’d added, “Been waiting for a reason to get reaped. Might as well make it count.”

Perhaps I’d been wrong all these centuries. Maybe there were some fae who weren’t the monsters I believed them to be. Because even knowing the risks, three fae warriors were now the only thing standing between Soraya and eternal oblivion.

“Yes. They know the risks,” I answered her. “But if it goes well, no one will ever know they were involved.”

“And if it doesn’t?” she asked.

“Then they know where to meet after they escape behind us.”

“And what if...” she started with the fear gnawing inside of me, then trailed off.

“They know the risks,” I repeated, though deep down I hated they were taking them for me. But in life, I knew I’d have done the same thing for anyone, faced oblivion itself, to save an innocent.

I listened to the door again, hoping to hear the signal before any guards I’d dismissed returned. Minutes crawled by each one stretching my nerves tighter.

Could they be betraying me ?

The thought clouded my mind, nagging at me that I’d trusted three fae with my plan. Cursing myself for being so stupid to fall for their act.

Then I heard it.

A distant crash, followed by shouts that echoed through the stone corridors. Another crash, louder this time, accompanied by what sounded like the roar of flames.

An explosion rocked the Keep, the very stones beneath our feet trembling. More shouts, closer now. The unmistakable sound of elemental magic unleashed within the confines of the Umbral Keep.

I couldn’t help the grim smile that crossed my face as my doubts in them dissipated in an instant. They had delivered exactly as promised.

“Now,” I said, taking Soraya’s hand and pulling against me. “We move fast, stay quiet, and don’t stop for anything. Keep your hood up.”

I eased the door open, peering into the corridor. Empty. The distraction was working better than I’d dared hope. Another explosion echoed through the Keep, followed by shouts and the sound of running feet.

We moved swiftly through the shadowed corridors, pressing into alcoves whenever we heard approaching footsteps. The sounds of the battle grew louder, then faded as we took a different route, circling toward the main gates.

I cursed my inability to use my wings to slice us to safety. Instead, because of the ancient magic surround the Umbral Keep, we were forced to remain on foot.

“How far is it?” Soraya whispered.

“Farther than I want it to be. Just stick with me and we’ll get through the gates where I can use my wings to slice us out of here.”

Her fingers tightened around mine. “And then? ”

“And then we go as far and as fast as we can. We go to Selyse and hope she can help us before they find us again.”

We reached a junction of corridors, pausing at the corner to ensure our path was clear. The main courtyard lay ahead, and beyond it, the massive gates that represented our only chance at freedom. So close, yet impossibly far with the open ground we’d need to cross.

“Almost there,” I whispered. “The courtyard will be exposed, but with the distraction—”

“Going somewhere, Death?”

The voice froze me in place. Slowly, I turned to find Sevrin standing behind us, his silver eyes gleaming with vindication.

“I knew it,” he said, a cold smile spreading across his face. “I knew you were lying. All that nonsense about studying her, gaining her trust... you actually care for this abomination.”

I pushed Soraya behind me, my wings erupting from my back in a violent explosion of shadow.

“Walk away, Sevrin,” I warned, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Doesn’t concern me?” he laughed, his own wings unfurling in response. “The great Death himself, betraying everything he stands for? Betraying the natural order itself? I’d say that concerns us all.”

His scythe materialized in his hand, the blade glowing with cold purple light. “The Veil Lords will reward me handsomely for bringing in your head once they’ve learned what you’ve done.”

There was no more time for words. Sevrin lunged forward, his scythe slashing through the air where my throat had been only a blink before.

My wings, though they couldn’t slice to shadows here, pushed me out of the way, and I summoned my own weapon as I spun away from Soraya, drawing the fight from her.

Our scythes clashed with a sound like thunder, dark energy cascading around us in violent waves.

Sevrin was powerful—the Veil Lords didn’t choose their Enforcers lightly—but I had centuries of experience he lacked.

I parried his strike, twisted beneath his guard, and landed a blow that would have severed a lesser Reaper in two.

But Sevrin was no ordinary Reaper. He deflected the strike at the last instant, his wings carrying him backward with lightning speed before he launched a counterattack.

We traded blows in a deadly dance, our weapons leaving trails of purple veil light in their wake, each strike powerful enough to shatter stone.

“Rhyker!” Soraya cried as Sevrin’s blade sliced across my arm. I hissed through clenched teeth, eyes flicking to the wound. Not blood—shadow leaked from me like ink, curling through the air in tendrils of smoke.

It wasn’t just pain. It was loss. Every drop of shadow was a thread of my essence leaving me. Reapers didn’t bleed, not like mortals. We bled what we were.

Lose too much before the wound knitted itself shut, and we’d fade into nothingness. And a killing blow in Reaper form was just that—final. Irreversible. Obliteration.

The sound of my name on her lips cut through the rising haze in my mind.

As my wound started to close, sealing the shadows back inside me, I drove forward with renewed fury, my scythe becoming an extension of my rage.

Sevrin faltered beneath the onslaught, his confident grin twisting into something harder. Meaner.

Pure determination ignited in those eyes that had stared at me with envy for decades. This was his chance to prove he was stronger than Death. That he’d finally climb out from beneath my shadow and stand in my place.

But my place wasn’t his to take.

My place was beside her .

And I would drain every last drop of his essence one slice at a time before I let him get near her.

But our battle had not gone unnoticed. Shouts echoed down the corridor as more Reapers approached, drawn by the sound of our combat.

“Kill them!” Sevrin commanded, and the Reapers started rushing toward us.

“Go!” I called to Soraya, gesturing toward the courtyard as I parried another of Sevrin’s strikes. “Run for the gates!”

“Death has betrayed us!” Sevrin called to them. “He protects the soul! Take them both!”

The newcomers advanced cautiously, spreading out to surround us. I backed toward Soraya, keeping my scythe between us and our attackers.

“Stay behind me,” I growled, calculating our odds. Ten against one, with more surely on the way. Not impossible, but not favorable either, especially with Soraya to protect.

Just as the first Reaper lunged forward, a wall of fire erupted between us, so intense it drove our attackers backward. Through the blaze strode a familiar figure, his hands flickering with dancing flames.

“Looks like we’re late to the party,” Taelon grinned, taking up position beside me. “Got a bit caught up entertaining the masses.”

“Taelon!” Soraya breathed, relief washing over her face.

He winked at her and smiled. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“What are you doing?” I ground out. “You shouldn’t be openly fighting. They’ll kill you for this.”

He shrugged, the flames growing in his hands. “Plan B, it seems since Plan A went up in smoke.”