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small world

“ Y ou seem distracted, Cinth.” Niko commented, his bow aimed at our target.

“I’m not,” I lied.

My classmates were becoming less afraid of me, coming up to ask me questions about Reaper as if I would know. Irritating . The reputation that took me years to build was crumbling because of her.

He released his arrow, finishing our job. “I’ve known you since you were just a boy, I know when something’s bothering you.” He quickly packed up his things, and we bolted from the area.

“I can handle it.”

We stopped running when we got down to a crowd of people, blending into it.

“Come on.” He nodded towards a nice restaurant; the streetlight caught his eyes, turning them amber. “Let’s eat here.”

I followed him in and we ordered. “Now, tell me, what’s going on?”

Reaper and I had been messing with each other for three months now, and it was clearly affecting me enough for Niko to notice. I sighed. “It’s this girl from school.”

“Huh.” He was surprised. “Thought you were immune to these things.”

“It’s not like that. She’s so weird. She messes with my head. It’s like…” I didn’t know how to explain it. “One moment, she’s mocking me and the next she’s licking my neck.”

He raised a brow and repeated my words slowly. “Licking your neck? ”

I waved my hand in the air, a bit embarrassed I just told him that. “She’s just trying to get a reaction out of me and she’s actually managing.”

“Sounds like she has a thing for you.” He chuckled.

“No,” I said sternly. “Definitely not. I don’t know what it is about her, but she’s making me lose control.”

Niko squinted his eyes at me. “That’s… Odd. I’ve never met anyone with more control over their mind and body than you.” He scoffed. “You even have better control than I do.”

“I want to kill her,” I muttered. She’s messing with my plans and if it extends outside of school, I don’t know what I would do. I need to contain the situation. Quickly.

“Probably not a good idea to kill a classmate.” Niko sipped his wine.

There was loud laughter at a nearby table, and I turned to look at who was causing a ruckus at such a restaurant. How?

I locked eyes with Reaper, and she gave me a smile, melting the world around us. The red-headed man next to her followed her gaze, spotting us, before making his way over to our table.

“Nikodemus,” Silias greeted.

“Silias.” Niko nodded.

Silias smiled at me. “It’s been a long time, Vulture.”

Not long enough.

After getting my name, he hated my guts more than he did before, but that was most people.

His face lit up. “You two should be eating with the Kokkino clan.”

No, no, no. Absolutely not.

“Bring the tables together.” Silias snapped his fingers and a few waitresses moved tables, sending a couple from their table to make room for us .

“That’s very kind of you, Silias.” Niko nodded at him as we took our new seats next to them. I don’t know why Niko was being so nice to Silias. He’s never failed to curse his name after he killed Ender.

I also want Silias dead, for my own reasons, but I’m not ready to face him yet. There were still things I needed to do before I could take control of the Underworld. I also knew people wouldn't take a teenager seriously, even if I was the Vulture.

“Allow me to introduce everyone,” Silias began, more for my sake than Niko’s. Silias gestured to an old man. “This is Oremus.”

I already knew Oremus, from when I was a lot younger, I hadn’t seen him since Silias took over. He still looked the same, just a little more wrinkles on him. He shot me a smile, recognising me even after all these years, and I nodded back at him.

Silias motioned towards a woman in braids, his second in command. “Rayne.” Then the twins, his loyal stooges. “Leo, Sterling.”

Rayne’s gaze was analytical, and the twins were scowling, probably still pissed about the warehouse a few weeks ago.

Finally, Silias put a hand on Reaper’s back. “And Celestine. Though, you may know her as the Grim Reaper.” Silias stuck up his chin, proud of what he had created.

Niko’s eyes widened at Reaper’s youth, beauty, and street name. “Reaper?”

Reaper gave him a slight smile and nodded. I was indifferent but also cautious of Reaper being a bit too close to my bubble. Normally she taunted me as much as she could, but now, sitting so close to each other, she hadn’t even looked at me.

“Demons below.” Niko rushed to Reaper’s side, kneeling before her.

My eyes widened and brows furrowed. What is happening?

He took her hand in his, a soft expression on his face.

“I had no idea you were Reaper,” Niko started with a laugh.

“You probably don’t remember me, Datura.

The last time I saw you, you were this small.

” He measured just over a metre in height .

Excuse me, what?

“She goes by Celestine,” Silias corrected him. “I’m surprised you still remember her after all this time.”

“Of course, she’s his daughter.”

Whose daughter?

Then Niko nodded at me. “And the only person who could get this one to be nice back then, even if it was only to her.” He turned back to Reaper, staring at her intently.

“I'm sorry, Celestine, you just look so much like your father.” He released her hand and went over to the other side of the table to sit across from me.

Silias shifted his gaze to me. “Do you remember her?”

Niko shook his head and responded for me. “I think they were both a bit too young to remember. They were only nine.”

We met nearly a decade ago? How many times have our paths crossed? I’ve met thousands of people since I was nine and taken countless blows to the head, so my memory wasn’t the best, but how could I forget those icy blue eyes of hers?

“They’d be sharing a chair if they did.” Niko chuckled, and I saw Oremus laugh, but I didn’t understand the joke.

Silias cut into his food. “She keeps his ring around her neck, refuses to take it off.”

Reaper didn’t respond to any of what was said, sipping on her water. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat.

“This is the girl you gave your ring to?” Niko was surprised.

“Apparently,” I muttered.

“You didn’t claim her, did you, Vulture?” Silias asked me.

I locked eyes with Reaper, I claimed her before, even if I can’t remember why, and I'm contemplating publicly claiming her again now. “What if I did?”

“Cinth.” Niko warned, but in this case they pissed me off. Stealing what was once mine .

Silias laughed. “Then that would be a problem.”

For him. “Yeah, it would be.” Try me, I dare you.

He shook his head with a dark smile and asked again. “Is Celestine yours?”

Yes.

No.

Shit!

“He doesn’t remember me, Silias,” Celestine replied in a low voice, not looking up from her drink. “It was a long time ago, and he lost his memory.”

“Right, of course,” Silias said. The news of my coma and memory loss was an advantage to those who sought revenge on me. I was lucky to have Niko there to protect me in my vulnerable state.

I met Niko's eyes, melancholic and heartened.

“What?” I spat at him in a low voice only he could hear, pissed off that my memory was so bad I couldn't remember a thing about Reaper before meeting her months ago.

Niko slowly shook his head. “It's just so tragic.” He matched my volume. “You two have always had such a strong bond, but for reasons we don't know, Moira keeps tearing you and Celestine apart.”

I blinked at his words. Did we really used to be that close as kids?

Then that meeting we had again four years ago…

I wanted to protect her, so I gave her my ring.

I turned to Reaper, but she was staring at her water.

Eventually she turned up to meet my eyes.

Then her eyes shifted to Rayne, watching the both of us, before quickly looking back down at her glass.

The table changed the topic and continued talking.

I tuned everything out, trying to recall my memories, but I couldn’t quite grasp them.

It all just looked like a haze. A sharp pain in my head stirred, as if an attempt to even try to visualise it would get me killed.

I gripped onto my head, closing my eyes, praying the pain would subside .

“You’re right, Silias, Hyacinth should train Celestine.”

I snapped my head up. “I should what?”

Niko shot me a disapproving look at my rudeness, but I’ve never been known for being polite. “We were just discussing that you and Celestine are very young but talented, and I’m sure you both have a lot of things to learn from each other.”

Silias nodded. “Exactly, she’s currently learning to be more independent and who better to teach her that than Vulture.”

Everyone turned to me, waiting for my answer. I couldn’t look like an asshole.

“No.” I mean, I could.

I noticed the slight curve on Reaper’s lips, hidden by her glass, but Silias’s smile fell as he asked me. “Why not?”

“I don’t like Reaper,” I admitted, bluntly. As if I would train her to my level and be forced to spend more time with her. Seeing her at school was enough, and she was already ruining my reputation there. I couldn’t imagine what the streets would begin to whisper about me if I started training her.

Silias shot his head to look at Reaper. “What exactly is your relationship with Vulture?”

“He attempted to kill her a couple months ago, remember?” Leo reminded him.

“We actually don’t get along,” she said. “We’re a bit competitive at school.”

“Competitive,” I repeated in a mutter, rolling my eyes.

“Oh, sorry,” she taunted. “I guess it’s not really competing when it’s with you.”

What is she doing? I laughed. “Yeah, you know what? You’re right, it’s just you who literally gives me no room to breathe with all your bullsh–”

“Um, excuse me.” She leaned forward in her seat, a sudden spark of enjoyment in her eyes and a small smile. “You dumped a frog on me.”

“That’s because you started it.”

She laughed. “No, I did not start anything. ”

“Yes, yes, you did,” I retorted. “I think I would remember you threatening me.”

“You threatened me first.”