Page 69 of Reaper’s Ruin (Reaper’s Ruin Trilogy #1)

Dawn light filtered through the cabin’s small windows, casting golden beams across Soraya’s sleeping form.

I watched her—the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the way her long hair spilled across the pillow, the soft curve of her lips as she dreamed.

Even after these few days together, I still marveled at her existence. At the miracle of her in my life.

For eight hundred years, I’d lived in shadow and isolation. Now, somehow, I had this—mornings filled with light, a small cabin nestled between mountains, and a woman who had changed everything.

I slipped from the bed, careful not to wake her, and moved to stoke the fire. The mountain air carried a chill even in summer, and I wanted her to wake to warmth. Such a simple desire, yet it filled me with a strange contentment I’d never known before.

The past few days had been... surreal. Almost like a dream of what my human life might have been had fate taken a different turn.

We’d settled into a rhythm that felt oddly natural—hunting for food, gathering water from the stream, finding moments of peace despite the shadow of danger hanging over us.

It felt like playing at life—a beautiful, fragile imitation that could shatter at any moment. Yet I cherished every second of it.

I heard her stir behind me, the furs rustling as she stretched. When I turned, she was watching me with those impossibly blue eyes, a sleepy smile on her face.

“Morning,” she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. “How long have you been up?”

“Not long,” I said, moving back to the bed to press a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep well?”

She nodded, reaching up to trace my jaw with her fingertips. “I had the strangest dream. We were back home—my home, in Minnesota—and you were trying to figure out how to use a microwave. It was... weirdly domestic.”

I caught her hand, pressing my lips to her palm. “A microwave?”

“It’s a thing that heats food really fast,” she explained with a chuckle. “God, I miss modern conveniences. Do you know what I would give for a hot shower right now? Or delivery Chinese?”

“I could heat water for a bath,” I offered, smiling at her enthusiasm for these strange modern marvels I’d never experienced.

“It’s not the same,” she sighed dramatically, then broke into a grin. “But I appreciate the offer, Jeeves.”

I growled playfully, pulling her against me. “Jeeves?”

“Mmm-hmm. My very own personal butler, Jeeves, to heat bath water and wait on me hand and foot like you do. Except with better abs and a much nicer ass.” She ran her hands down my chest, her touch igniting that now-familiar heat beneath my skin.

I captured her mouth in a kiss that quickly deepened, her body melting against mine. It would be so easy to lose ourselves in each other again, to sink back into the furs and forget the world outside. But her stomach growled loudly, interrupting the moment.

“Breakfast first,” I murmured against her lips. “Then we can resume this... discussion.”

“Fine,” she pouted, then brightened. “I can help! Let’s use those mushrooms I found yesterday near the stream. Did you see them? We can cook those up with the rabbit you caught. ”

I paused, remembering the fungi she’d proudly brought home the night before. “Soraya, I did see those mushroom. They’re poisonous.”

Her face fell. “What? But they looked just like the ones you brought back the other day!”

“The poisonous ones often do. That’s why I warned you not to forage without me.”

She flopped back on the bed with a groan. “Damn it! Why don’t you have delivery pizza or McDonald’s? This whole living-off-the-land shit is for the birds!” She threw an arm over her eyes dramatically. “It’s enough to make me want my fucking door!”

I stiffened at her words, and she immediately realized what she’d said. She sat up, reaching for me.

“I’m kidding,” she said quickly. “Bad joke. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head, trying to dispel the cold dread her casual words had evoked. “No, you should want your door. That’s the whole point of this. To help you find it.”

She slid her arms around my waist, pressing her cheek to my chest. “Maybe. But not yet. Let’s not think about that. I wouldn’t trade this—trade you—for anything. Not even indoor plumbing, and that’s saying something.”

I chuckled despite myself, the knot in my chest loosening at her earnest expression. “I’m assuming this is high praise?”

She grinned up at me. “The highest. Now feed me, mighty hunter, before I perish from starvation.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “As you command.”

The simple domesticity of the morning warmed something inside me I’d thought long dead.

I cooked while she talked, her voice filling the small cabin with a light I’d never known in eight centuries of darkness.

She spoke of her old life—her mother, her friends, her studies—painting a picture of a world so different from my own that it seemed almost fantastical.

Which was odd because she seemed to think my world was fantastical, but hers had flying metal crafts and ones on wheels that you rode around in instead of carriages.

It had boxes that played stories and other wonders I could barely process.

“I wonder what my friends think happened to me,” she mused, picking at her breakfast. “I mean, I just... died. Murdered in my living room with my mom. There would have been a funeral, I guess. People crying. It’s so weird to think about.”

“Do you regret not being there? Not seeing your friends one last time?” I asked carefully.

She considered this, her brow furrowed. “I regret not seeing my mom again. Not saying goodbye. But the rest... it feels distant now, you know? Like a story I read once rather than my actual life.” Her eyes met mine. “Is that terrible? That I’ve let go so easily?”

“No,” I said honestly. “Death changes perspective. It’s not something most souls ever have to reckon with consciously, since they find their door and move on. You’ve had to exist in this in-between state long enough to see your old life from a distance.”

“And fall in love with Death himself,” she added with a small smile. “That probably changes your outlook too.”

I reached across the table, taking her hand in mine. “You’ve changed mine as well. More than you could possibly know.”

Her eyes softened, and I saw in them all the words we’d already said to each other, all the promises we’d made in the darkness of night and in the light of dawn.

A sound outside shattered the moment—a crack of a twig, the shuffle of movement.

Instantly, I was on my feet, my wings materializing from my back with a sound like tearing silk.

It still startled me how easily they came in this form now, as if my body remembered what it was even when dressed in mortal flesh.

The only thing I couldn’t do was summon my scythe .

“Stay here,” I commanded, reaching for the axe I’d left by the door.

Soraya stood, her body tense. “Rhyker—”

“Stay inside,” I repeated, my voice leaving no room for argument. “If anything happens, run for the woods. Don’t look back.”

Her eyes widened with fear, but she nodded. I slipped outside, my wings curled protectively around me as I scanned the clearing in front of the cabin.

At first, I saw nothing but the stillness of the forest and the distant mountains. Then movement caught my eye—a figure emerging from the trees, mounted on a chestnut horse.

I tensed, raising the axe, then froze as recognition dawned.

“Taelon?” I called, disbelief coloring my voice.

The rider pushed back his hood, revealing that familiar grin I’d somehow, against all odds, come to appreciate. “Death himself! Or should I say Rhyker now that I’m on the mortal side of things too?”

Before I could respond, the door burst open behind me.

“Taelon!” Soraya cried, rushing past me toward the approaching rider.

Taelon swung off his horse with the easy grace of a man who’d ridden in life, his face lighting up at the sight of her. “The lady herself! Safe and sound, I see!”

She threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. “You made it! We weren’t sure if—I mean, after everything—”

He laughed, lifting her off her feet in an exuberant embrace. “It’ll take more than a few Sentinels and an army of Reapers to keep me down.”

“Wow, it’s amazing actually being able to hug you this time. You’re not some faded face behind the veil. ”

He set her back on her feet then waved a hand over his face. “And how terrible that must have been for you not being able to appreciate this mug properly.”

Soraya burst out laughing then hugged him again. “Thank you so much. We never would have made it this far without you.”

He squeezed her back then gave an exaggerated groan of pleasure. “Wow! This whole being alive thing is amazing! I haven’t felt tits pressed against me in decades!”

A growl rumbled in my throat before I could stop it, my wings flaring in warning.

Taelon raised his hands, still grinning.

“Kidding, kidding! Mostly.” He winked at Soraya.

“It’s great to meet you on this side of the veil, guys.

And I’ve gotta say, having actual sensations again is just..

.” He inhaled deeply. “Fucking incredible. But hey.” He waggled a finger at my wings.

“How the fuck did you get those? Mine are noticeably absent and it’s such an odd feeling. ”

“I don’t know. They just started working suddenly,” I answered honestly, though deep down I knew it was my need to protect Soraya that had summoned them even in the living realm.

He wiggled his shoulders as if trying to materialize his wings then shrugged. “Well, not for me apparently. But I’ll trade them for the food and the fresh air and all the sensations of being alive without a moment’s hesitation.”

I approached, my wings folding back as I extended my hand. “Thank you for what you did. You risked everything for us.”

His expression sobered slightly as he clasped my hand. “Worth it. Trust me. Anything was better than another century in that shadowpit.”