Page 41 of Down from the Tower

“It’s part of the burden of being a Reaper. I can withstand a great deal of torture before I’m down and out. Midas’ gold might hurt like hell, but it’s not fatal. I just don’t know how to dig it out at the moment.”

I have no answers for that. Other than the fight earlier, I’ve never seen my father do battle with anyone. He’s usually turning people to gold by barely lifting a finger. Watching as he raged and sweated to deal with Zarev…

I flick my eyes towards him again. This isn’t a weak man, and I’ve gotten myself lost in the forest with him. I’m blindly trusting him, if only because this is my first chance to ever leave the tower.

“If you don’t focus, you’ll walk into a tree,” Zarev tells me, just early enough that my eyes zero in on the trunk before me and I veer to the left. “You need to focus, Rapunzel. The forest isn’t a safe place.”

“Is that why Midas built the wall?” I snap, my voice sharper than I intended.

“You know Midas built the wall to control who enters the Tressa,” Zarev replies, his voice staying the same even tempo. “And to keep out those he doesn’t want in his lands.”

“He didn’t want you there.”

“He didn’t invite me.” Zarev coughs, pounding a fist to his chest. “Enough questions. I can’t keep this up and find us shelter. We can talk when we’re no longer bleeding.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask about the black blood, but I bite back my questions and return to focusing on the dim path. We’re stuck together until we at least get out of this forest. I’m going to get my questions answered, whether or not he wants me to.

12 Zarev

We hunker down in a decent sized cave a few hours later when neither of us can go further. Rapunzel looks stunned by my choice, but this isn’t the castle that turned into her prison. These are dangerous woods, perhaps not as dangerous as the Red Woods, but the creatures here will devour more than just her innocence and beauty if given the chance.

Building a fire is easy with the pixie dust and very little effort, though Rapunzel’s questions about that give me a headache. When the bite of cold night air no longer surrounds us I hold my hand out to her. “Let me see.”

She hesitates before shifting closer on the stone floor, pressing a hand over her chest. She’s been breathing heavily for the past half hour, and if I had to guess the dress is too tight. I felt it in the pull of the corset when I pinned her to the ground when sense abandoned me.

Not my finest moment. That hunter within me is long gone, and there’s little I can do to curb the hunger anymore. My body doesn’t require much nourishment in this form, but that doesn’t mean a craving doesn’t hit from time to time.

And unfortunately for her, Rapunzel is a craving like no other. Her kindness calls to the monster clinging to my soul, and all I want to show her is what kind of monster I can be.

She’ll scream, but for it to never end, not for help.

She twists her body so I can study her arm, and the spine sticks out of her flesh, reminding me of the problems at hand. The blood is mostly dry now, and it’s stuck in there good.

“I told you it’s a Gryffin spine,” Modred says, and I glance towards the cave entrance. But Rapunzel nearly jumps out of her skin, and the fact that she can see him still unsettles me.

She isn’t touched by death. She’s well acquainted though, and can see the things only a Reaper should be able to.

Something’s given her the ability to see the dead. Is it because of her power or something else? Perhaps Midas has more than one reason for hiding the dead in Tressa.

“Does that make it poisonous,” I ask him, and Modred lifts his brows as I study the spine. I glance up at him, and when darkness flashes through his eyes I realize I need to send him on as soon as my powers let me. Evil already clings to his soul, and it won’t take too long to corrupt him. “Come now, spirit. You’re dead, not inept. Is the spine poisonous?”

He bares his teeth at us, but the effect isn’t as gruesome as he wants it to be. His skin may have melted off in life, but in death you cannot tell the difference. Whatever evil swirls around him isn’t set in stone yet, and his personality is still part of his spirit. “Yes. I hope it kills the bitch.”

I turn back, flicking my fingertips, and some pathetic shadows dance free to shove at Modred. It’s a weak effort, and tells me how low I’ve allowed my reserves to get, but Modred still stumbles back in shock.

“So you can touch me,” Modred cries, and if the living could see him he’d be the reason someone found us out here. “You’re the hand of Death, aren’t you?”

“That’s a touch morbid,” I reply, turning back to her arm. She’s paler now, looking between the two of us. “I’m a Reaper, Modred. My job is to usher you into the afterlife.”

“Well you’re doing a shite job at it.”

“Yes, that happens when my magic is running on empty. The sooner I can heal, the sooner I can send you away.”

“I don’t deserve to be dead,” Modred whines, and I use the distraction to poke at Rapunzel’s arm.

She hisses, and I shrug in response before speaking up. “The princess thinks so. She delivered the punishment. Your disrespect has no place in court.”

“I didn’t know I could do that,” she says quietly, moving to grab fistfuls of her hair again. “I’ve never hurt someone before with my magic.”

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