Juniper stayed close by my side as I limped into the house, guarding my back with her gun at the ready. She gasped when she saw the gruesome art I’d adorned the living room with: the gore spattered across the furniture, the blood on the walls and carpet.
“Damn, that’s…wow…” She paused, having stepped onto something that looked like a liver. It probably was a liver.
“Jealous of my artistic talents?” I said. “I’d say I’m the next James Pollock.”
She shook her head. “Maybe if Pollock had a baby with Charles Manson.”
We crept toward the back of the house, where I’d seen someone through the window. I could hear their pounding heart; I could smell their fear — they must have been hiding back there for hours. With the amulet torn out of me, my body was working wretchedly hard to try to heal, and it was making me dizzy. My body was a balloon and my head was an iron weight, making every step difficult. But there was no time for rest, no time for sleep. Thunder rumbled, and rain began to tap against the windows in the hall.
If I couldn’t rest to recover my strength, then I needed something else. Something immediate.
I needed a soul, and I frankly didn’t care how I got it. The Council would have to forgive me for bending the rules just this once.
I tried not to think of Leon. I tried not to think of what it would mean to be “broken” by a Reaper. He’d sooner die than submit to anything or anyone, but stubbornness can only do so much.
The house shook, but it wasn’t with thunder this time. I paused, and Juniper looked at me in confusion — right before an awful, unnatural cry pierced the night.
“It’s coming back,” I said. “The Reaper is coming back.” The lamps in the hall began to flicker rapidly, and a layer of ice stretched over the windows. Suddenly, with a pop and a shatter of thin glass, the lightbulbs in the hall all burst.
“It took down Leon.” Those words felt too thick in my mouth. They were poison, so bitter I wanted to spit them out. “It took him down. Fuck.”
“We’ll look for him, Zane,” Juniper said. “We’re going to get the fuck out of here, and we’ll find him. Both him and Raelynn. We’re not letting the Libiri have this.”
“I admire your hope, Juniper.”
Cracks formed in the ice as it coated the windows. I wanted to shatter the glass, I wanted to rip this place apart. Leon was out there somewhere, probably on the verge of death. I had to get to him somehow, but right then, I was damn near helpless. The thought of his life being snuffed out, shattering the bond we’d had for so long, enraged me to the point of madness.
I grabbed a decorative vase and hurled it toward the wall with a cry so loud it rattled the glass.
Juniper gripped my arm, yanking me back as hard as she could to make me look at her.
“I only have hope because you gave it to me,” she said fiercely. “You gave me hope when I had none, Zane. Jeremiah told the Reaper not to kill Leon. We’ll get to him. He’s strong.”
I brushed my claws over her face, tucking back her hair. It was wild and tangled, a mane around her face. As beautiful as I’d ever seen her. “But I’m not. I’m not strong enough to protect you, Juniper. I’m sorry.”
She grasped my hand and held it tight against her face, her dark eyes hard. “I don’t need your strength, Zane. I just need you. Don’t fucking leave me.”
Her storm hadn’t lost its strength, not even now, not even with death bearing down on us. I pressed my forehead to hers, her eyes locked on mine in the dark. “Never.”
Another roar split the night, and she took a deep breath. “Let’s keep moving. We need to get you that soul.”
We found a locked door at the back of the house — an easy obstacle to get past. The lights had all been turned off in the bedroom beyond. Whoever was hiding there seemed to have realized they weren’t alone, and had plunged the room into darkness.
“Come out, Meredith.” Juniper shut the door behind us. There was a shadow on the other side of the bed, and it gasped sharply when Juniper spoke. “We know you’re here.”
Slowly, on the other side of the bed, a woman stood. Her white blouse and skirt were disheveled, her blonde hair messy, her face pinched into an expression somewhere between terror and fury. She looked between the two of us, wiping her hands repeatedly on her skirt.
“Get away,” she hissed. “You…you monsters!” She jabbed her finger accusingly — not at me, but at Juniper beside me. “You’ve ruined everything, you bitch! Victoria offered you! She made her offering!” Her voice increased in volume and in pitch, nearly hysterical. “My daughter…my beautiful daughter…she did her duty.” Suddenly she screamed, seized a mug from the bedside table, and launched it at us. It exploded against the wall, shattering porcelain to the floor.
“Your daughter is dead,” Juniper said coldly. “Soon, your son will be too. Did you all think there’d be no consequences? Did you think no one would ever try to stop you?”
Meredith sneered, looking at Juniper with disgust. “Imagine a pathetic girl like you, shunning your destiny. No future to speak of. A trash girl from a trash family.” She shook her head. “To think you’re still standing here, while my daughter…while my daughter is…”
I wasn’t going to stand there and listen to her talk to Juniper like that. I would have happily ripped out her tongue, but she still needed it.
She needed it to make a deal.
I lunged across the room, seized her by the throat and pinned her to the wall. She shrieked, cursing as she clawed uselessly at me. The house rumbled again, creaking with the force of the Reaper’s supernatural cry. We were running out of time.
The Reaper would be here within moments. I had to make this quick.
“Death is coming for you too, Meredith,” I growled, snapping my teeth near her face. “Which murderous beast would you rather face? The monster your son has released, or the monster your son has become? Or…would you rather face me?”
Her eyes widened, darting between me and Juniper in confusion. I grinned, letting her get a good look at the fangs. “All I need is for you to agree. Offer me your soul, and I won’t kill you.”
“What good is a demon’s word?” she snapped, but I could see the desperation in her eyes.
“I swear it,” I said, laying my hand over my heart as if that meant fuck-all concerning my honesty. “Offer me your soul, here and now. Guarantee yourself some peace in the afterlife. And I’ll let you go.”
My claws hovered over her skin, eager to dig in. All I needed was her word. Just one little agreement and…
“Fine,” she snapped. “Fine, take it. I —” she shrieked as my claws dug in. I made my mark hurriedly, roughly, the strings of her soul binding to mine within moments. It had been a long time since I’d taken a soul from pure desperation, especially one so vile as hers. Cruel souls felt so sticky, like they were covered with a slime that could never be wiped away.
But claiming her did what I needed it to do. Power flooded through me, my vision flashing for a moment as my body healed, bullets pushing out of my flesh and dropping to the floor. I gasped at the rush, breathing rapidly as my strength returned. It wasn’t really pleasure so much as it was simply relief.
When I opened my eyes, I felt alive again.
Meredith was staring at me with absolute horror. “Black eyes,” she whispered. “Merciful God…Deep One, deliver me…”
I stepped aside, motioning toward the door. “Run while you can. Your Godly son will be back soon.”
That seemed a horrifying enough prospect to get her moving. But she only managed a few steps. Juniper grabbed her from behind — and slit her throat.
I’d promised I wouldn’t kill her. Juniper hadn’t been part of that bargain.
“See you in Hell,” Juniper said, kicking her over onto her back and standing over her as she bled out across the white carpet. As the light drained out of the Hadleigh woman’s eyes, Juniper looked back up at me, uncertain wonder on her face. “She’s right, Zane. Your eyes are black. They’re solid black.”
I didn’t have time to contemplate what that meant for me. Juniper’s face fell and she raised her hand, pointing behind me. Her eyes were wide as she yelled, “Zane! It’s back!”
The window behind me shattered, glass bursting around me. A massive hand encompassed me, crushing me in its grasp, and yanked me out into the night.
