Page 71 of Reaper’s Ruin (Reaper’s Ruin Trilogy #1)

“That’s interesting,” I said, unable to keep the suspicion from my voice. “But it doesn’t answer the question of what they’re up to.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know specifically, but I know it’s not good.

There is something... wrong in the Shadowveil.

The Veil Lords aren’t what they seem. The longer I served them, the more pieces I heard, the more certain I became that something is very wrong there, I just don’t know what.

I don’t hear everything. Just pieces. But from the fragments I picked up over the years, I just have this deep instinct that things aren’t right.

I do know, however, that there is a great power beneath the Umbral Keep—something they guard jealously.

Something that stirs in the deepest shadows.

I’ve never seen it, but I’ve felt it. Like a heartbeat beneath the stone. ”

A chill ran through me at her words. In eight hundred years, I’d never heard of such a thing. But then, the Veil Lords kept their secrets well .

“What is it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Truly. I even tried to sneak down there once to look but it’s spelled shut. Whatever is down there is big. And I just have a feeling it’s not good.”

I studied her for any signs of deceit but found none. Was it possible she was telling the truth? She was truly on our side and there was something nefarious happening in the Shadowveil?

“There’s something else,” Jade added, her voice dropping lower. “Something I overheard just before everything happened. The Veil Lords were... afraid. Of you, Soraya.”

“Me?” Soraya’s voice rose in disbelief. “Why would they be afraid of me?”

“They called you ‘the one from the prophecy.’ The one who could bring their end.”

Silence fell across the cabin, heavy and oppressive.

“What prophecy?” I finally asked, my arm instinctively tightening around Soraya.

“I don’t know the details,” Jade admitted.

“But they’re terrified of her. Of what she might become.

It’s why they wanted her reaped immediately.

I didn’t understand why they were so scared of this little human-fae girl, but then that light she unleashed in the courtyard—I’ve never seen anything like it.

No one has. And now I’m wondering if they were right.

Maybe she is some special part of some prophecy that destroys them.

Her light burned straight through shadow. ”

Soraya looked down at her hands, as if expecting to see evidence of this power there. “Selyse called it ‘Soulflame,’” she said softly. “She said it was rare. Special.”

“Well, whatever it is, if the Veil Lords were scared of you before, they’re going to be terrified of you now. And they won’t stop hunting you because of it. They can’t afford to. ”

The implications of her words settled over us like a shroud. If what she said was true, then our brief sanctuary here was just that—brief. Temporary. The eye of a storm that would inevitably close around us.

“So we’re fucked, basically,” Taelon summarized, breaking the tense silence. “Not only are the most powerful beings in the afterlife hunting us, but they may be up to something even worse than just trying to obliterate us. And they won’t stop until they’ve erased us all from existence.”

“Not necessarily,” Jade countered. “If we can discover what they are, what they fear...” She trailed off, looking directly at me.

I shook my head slowly. “I’ve served them for eight centuries, and in all that time, I’ve never seen anything that could threaten them. They’re as close to gods as anything I’ve encountered. They are immortal.”

“And yet they fear her,” Jade persisted, nodding toward Soraya. “Which means they can be harmed. Can be ended.”

Soraya’s hand found mine, her fingers intertwining with my own. I looked down at her, at the woman who had changed everything for me, who had brought light back into my endless night. The thought of losing her—of watching the Veil Lords extinguish that brilliant flame—was unbearable.

In that moment, something shifted inside me. A decision crystallized, absolute and unshakable.

“You’re right,” I said, addressing Jade but looking at Soraya. “If they fear her, they can be harmed. And if they can be harmed...”

“They can be destroyed,” Skorn finished, pushing off from the wall. “You’re talking about war, Rhyker. War against the Veil Lords themselves.”

“I’m talking about protecting what’s mine,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “I’ve lost one world already. Now she’s my world, and I won’t lose her too. ”

Soraya squeezed my hand, her eyes bright with something that looked like fear and hope intermingled. “Rhyker, you can’t possibly think we can fight them. You saw what they’re capable of. The Sentinels alone—”

“We fought our way out once,” Lorien interjected. “With preparation, with a plan...”

“It would be suicide,” Soraya protested.

“Maybe,” Taelon acknowledged. “But is hiding any better? Waiting for them to find us? Because they will, eventually. And then what?”

She fell silent, the truth of his words impossible to deny.

“I don’t want to go back there,” Taelon said.

“It’s fucking misery. And if what Jade says is right, then who fucking even knows what they’re up to.

I don’t want any part of it. I’m done. I say we fight back, find out what they’re up to and save our own asses from decades of misery while we’re at it. ”

Lorien nodded and Jade mirrored the gesture with a nod of her own.

Skorn straightened, something like purpose lighting his stoic features.

“I’ve wanted out of the Shadowveil for decades.

I don’t even know if a door is ever coming for me.

I’m done serving the masters even if it means obliteration.

If this is how it happens—fighting for something that matters—then so be it. ”

“Then we prepare,” I said, my resolve hardening with each passing moment. “We learn everything we can about the Veil Lords, about this prophecy, about the power Soraya holds. We gather allies if we can. And when the time comes, we’ll be ready.”

“I’m in,” Lorien declared with a roguish grin. “Always did enjoy a good rebellion.”

“As if you could keep me out of it,” Taelon snorted. “Besides, I’ve grown rather fond of having sensations again. Food. Drink. And don’t get me started on how ready I am for taking a little tumble with a willing partner.” He winked at Jade, waggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Try it and I’ll slice off that thing between your legs before it even sees the daylight.”

He burst out laughing. “Fair enough. And really, the one I want to tumble with is that sparky little sorceress.” He bit his fist and growled.

Lorien rolled his eyes. “She’d turn you into a slithering, slimy grubble before you got within ten feet of her bed.”

“Maybe,” Taelon conceded with a wink. “But what a way to go.”

I looked around at these unlikely allies—these former Reapers who had risked everything to help us, who were now pledging themselves to a cause that seemed impossible. A strange sense of belonging washed over me, something I hadn’t felt since my human days. A camaraderie. A shared purpose.

Soraya stood suddenly, her expression torn between disbelief and determination. “This is crazy. You’re all crazy.” She looked at me, her eyes full of emotion. “We’re talking about fighting gods, Rhyker. Actual gods of death.”

I rose to stand before her, taking both her hands in mine. “Yes. And if that’s what it takes to keep you safe, then that’s what I’ll do. What we’ll do.”

Her eyes searched mine, looking for any hint of doubt. She wouldn’t find any. In eight centuries, I’d never been more certain about anything.

“I won’t let them take you from me,” I promised her softly. “I’ll burn the whole Shadowveil down before I let them touch you.”

A single tear slipped down her cheek. “I can’t ask you to risk everything for me. Any of you.”

“You didn’t ask,” Taelon pointed out. “We offered.”

“Because some things are worth fighting for,” Lorien added. “Even dying for. ”

“And some things are worth living for,” I said quietly, reaching up to brush away her tear. “You showed me that, Soraya. You brought me back to life when I’d been dead for centuries.”

She looked around at the faces watching us—the unlikely family we’d somehow gathered around us—and something in her expression hardened. Resolved.

“Okay,” she whispered, then stronger: “Okay. If we’re going to do this, we do it together.”

I nodded, something like hope kindling in my chest. “Together.”

Outside, thunder rumbled across the mountains, as if the very sky were responding to our declaration. Storm clouds gathered on the horizon, dark and ominous. A fitting backdrop for what we now faced.

War was coming. The Veil Lords would not stop hunting us. Would not rest until they had extinguished the light they so feared.

But as I looked at Soraya—this impossible, extraordinary woman who had defied death itself, who had awakened something long dormant within me—I knew with bone-deep certainty:

I would tear apart the veil between worlds before I let them take her.

I would challenge the gods themselves if it meant keeping her safe.

I would face oblivion without hesitation if it meant she could live.

Because for the first time in eight hundred years, I had something to fight for.

Someone to love.

And not even death itself would tear us apart.

She walked over and took my face in her hands, the look in her eyes pouring all of her love, all of her trust, into me. “I love you, Rhyker, and together, we’re going to find some way to save us all. ”

And as she pressed her lips to mine, I realized something terrifying and true—

Death wasn’t the end of our story.

It was only the beginning.

***

Craving more sexy reapers and swoony romance?

The Reaper’s Ruin trilogy has just begun, and it’s only the start of a massive Faelora Chronicles world filled with characters you’re sure to love! Rhyker and Soraya’s battle for their hearts and their lives continues in Book Two (coming soon).