Page 41 of Of Bone and Ash

“Oh, Serafina,” he tsks, “you didn't think my death would be that easy? Did you?” he whispers, laughing to himself before shoving his blade forward, pushing me back until my back collides with the rough bark of a tree. “I told you,” he hisses between clenched teeth, lowering his head to look me in the eye. “We. Are. The. Same. The only difference is that you allow yourself to be bound by Fae laws and emotions. The lives of these Fae are nothing compared to us.”

“I am a Fae!” I snarl back, grabbing my magic and shoving him off me with more effort than I want to admit. He curses but stays on his feet again as I leap forward, the years of training with my older brother coming in handy as I attack.

The man is fast, moving his scythe in front of him and blocking my blow as I bend and duck under his arm, calling on my sword and striking fast and hard. The man curses, jumping out of the way, but he’s not fast enough as my sword slices the fabric of his shirt at his back.

Magic suddenly hits me in the chest, bursts through my magic shield without a second thought, and I feel myself flying through the air before I crash into a tree. My back slams so hard into the trunk that the air is knocked from my lungs, and I gasp, trying and failing to refill them as I land hard on the frozen ground below.

Ow!

Fuck, this guy was holding back before. I wasn’t prepared for that much magic to hit me all at once. I roll to my side, my hands empty since I dropped my weapons when I was thrown back. I slowly crawl to my hands and knees, sucking in small puffs of air as I watch the man in my peripheral.

“That was not nice!” he snarls, his hand moving to his back, fingers coming away soaked with dark blood. I slowly shove to my feet, releasing a choked laugh as he glares at me.

“You started it,” I point out, cracking my neck to the side and using the pain coursing through me to help strengthen my magic. My sword slowly appears in my hand, and a sort of calm fills me as I feel my features morph, sharpening into a mask of death as a dark cloak of ether settles over my shoulder.

The man eyes me with a calculating look, his jaw clenching and unclenching several times as he too, starts to shift. I watch with bated breath as his Reaper form takes over. His handsome features morph into that which is suitable for the harbinger of death as he grows impossibly tall. His cold gray eyes glow red, and… oh shit, twisted horns slowly emerge at his temples, twisting back into the soft locks of his black hair moments before his own red cloak billows around his tall, muscular frame.

An odd sort of thrill races down my spine as I watch him, wondering what the fuck he is. He says we are the same, yet I don't have horns, and I’ve never heard of a Reaper with a red cloak. “I did,” he murmurs, the tone of his voice pitching so deep in this form I have a hard time understanding him. “Do not make me finish this, Serafina. I would rather work with you than against you.”

“Are you killing the girls from the school?” I ask, trying to ignore how I still find the man in front of me attractive when he looks like a monster. To be fair, I look as scary as he does. Maybe this is an instance of like calling to like? Either way, I’m pretty sure I’m fucked in the head. When he doesn't reply, I click my tongue, watching him from under the shield of my hood, and shake my head. Yeah, he can go all the way to the fiery pits of Hell with his request to work together. I may be a fucking monster, but despite my constant need and craving for death, I would never purposely kill an innocent girl.

I’d die before I let that happen.

“How are you in my dreams?” I ask again, needing these answers.

“Dream?” he asks and chuckles, lips tugging into a wicked smirk as he slowly spins his black scythe at his side. It’s bigger than mine, and red magic sparks from it when the sharp, intricately carved spear at the end of the long handle strikes the ground. I stare at him in confusion, trying to figure him out.

This is a dream… I think.

It is just like the one I had the first night I came to Silverwood.

“If not a dream, then what?” I ask in confusion, tilting my head while I let my magic slowly circle the man standing in front of me. He only laughs harder, and I glare at him. Yeah, never mind, I don’t need answers from this prick. “Leave,” I snarl, whipping my magic at him and shoving him back against a tree, making his eyes widen in shock before they narrow on me. “Give me the girl and leave,” I demand as I press my magic further into him. I watch his jaw tighten in anger as his head is pressed back against the tree.

“If this is a dream, Serafina, how is there a girl here? And how do you expect to bring her back with you?” I stare at him for a moment, unsure how to answer that one. Yeah, I’m definitely not thinking clearly. I shake my head, trying to figure everything out, but it's like there is a fog there, suppressing all ability to think. “You know, you're not being so nice when you are the one who called me here,” he adds, and my attention darts back to him.

“What?! I didn’t?—”

“You did. You called me here, Serafina. Now, what will you do with me?” he taunts, raising a brow as his eyes flick up and down my body suggestively. I immediately flush at his attention while simultaneously wanting to kick him in the dick. I grimace at my reaction and step back, needing more space between me and this guy.

Jesus. There is something in the air here, making me act insane. I don’t fucking blush when men look at me! I glare at them until they look or run away, typically in fear that their soul is about to be yanked out. I resist the urge to facepalm at my idiotic behavior as I look around, noting my surroundings. I’m still in the forest. Looking up, I frown when I see a cloudy sky. Shit, nothing to help guide me back to the school. I need to wake up! But the guy is acting like this isn’t a dream.

Suddenly, a stabbing pain strikes at my temple, taking me so off guard that I cry out, my vision darkening as I stumble back. My knees buckle, and I curse as I let my sword go, blindly reaching out to catch myself so I don’t faceplant in the mud below. My ears ring as I try to get my eyes to work, blinking several times, trying not to panic as my vision slowly goes in and out.

I hear the guy yelling something at me, and through tunneled vision, I see sparks of red magic brushing over my fingertips, soothing some of the darkness away. My head throbs as I lift it, looking into the red eyes of the stranger my magic still has bound to the tree. His features have changed, no longer the infuriating smirk I saw moments ago. Instead, there is black veinlike magic crawling up from his neck as he yells at me, straining against the magic that holds him captive.

“Serafina!” he snarls. The one word making it through the loud ringing in my ears as I look back down at my hands, a flicker of fear running through me at what I see. My fingers, which are covered in cold mud, have slowly begun to turn black. Not in the way my nails do when my Demonic magic forces my shift, but a pitch black that is creeping up my fingers, encasing them in shadows before moving further up my arm… wrist…

It's then I notice that my hands hurt. Not a normal pain that I use to help keep myself and my magic steady. But a burning pain that feels like my blood has turned to acid and is eating me from the inside out.

“Dammit!” I hear the man scream, making me look up, my heartbeat pounding in my ears as he brings his scythe up and severs my magic. The pain that adds to me tears a scream from between my lips as the darkness curls in on me. The last thing I see is the red glow of the man’s eyes as he runs toward me, shaking his head and yelling my name.

NINETEEN

Darius

Iwatch as the girl I’ve been obsessed with for over a decade vanishes in front of me, a roar of outrage bursting from me as I strike the ground with a burst of magic where she once knelt. Dirt and mud fly through the air as I take deep, uneven breaths, my hand letting my scythe go as I try to compose myself. I shift, letting my cloak and horns fall away as my normal black clothing reappears, replaying every detail of what just took place.

Serafina Covington.

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