Page 2 of Destined to the Reaper

More and more cities and counties constrained the celebration to All Hallows Eve on October 31st. Some included All Saints Day—or All Hallows Day as many still called it—on November 1st. But we included All Souls Day on November 2nd.

For the children, it was a wonderful form of entertainment. Not only did they get to wear disguises, roam the streets after sunset, and be welcomed to come knock on the door of nobility and the wealthiest, but they also got to beg for food which was to be given unquestionably. For the poor, it was a chance at a full belly with something better than scraps or moldy leftovers. They could also beg for money instead without being sent away with a boot in the rear. In exchange for such bounty, they merely had to pray for the souls of the people they visited as well as those of their dead relatives, and to help ward off evil.

But adepts of the dark arts understood the true importance of those prayers. They genuinely helped ward off the increased presence of the foul beings hiding in plain sight during those three days. For that reason, the mages and sorcerers didn’t object when the church started encouraging the people to givea tasty pastry called soul cakes to the visitors instead of leaving food and wine for the wandering spirits over that period. Contrary to old beliefs, such Pagan offerings didn’t sate and send those spirits away but lured even more of them to the city.

A mesmerizing light ahead cast out all such wandering thoughts.

Conflicting emotions swirled within me at the sight of Kali Jenkins by our carriage. Like most necromancers, she tended to dress in dark colors. Where Cornelius loved black, Kali had a thing for dark shades of red, purple, and occasionally green. This time, a deep burgundy cinched dress flattered the delightful curves of her slender body, with a narrow waist that flared into a voluptuous rump begging to be grabbed, perky breasts perfect to fit a possessive palm, a long neck made to welcome thirsty fangs, an angelic face whose innocent appearance hid the hot vixen that lurked beneath, and plump lips made to swallow a man’s thick c—

“Fuck you, Cornelius!”I hissed once I realized such foul and lecherous thoughts actually emanated from him.

I had many thoughts about Kali, some of them covetous, but never in such a disrespectful manner.

He chuckled maliciously, making the people nearby glance at him with an even more disturbed expression. Nobody knew of my existence, not even his apprentices. Only he could hear me, no matter how loudly I shouted. On rare occasions, if I or circumstances made him sufficiently angry, people could get a glimpse of my presence within him looking as if a demonic creature were trying to push out of him from under his skin.

Abusing Kali was but one of the many ways in which he enjoyed tormenting me. From the first time I’d laid eyes on her four years ago, I’d been enthralled by the beauty of her soul. In my wonder, I’d been too slow hiding my emotions. As a man whore, Cornelius would have naturally pursued her just toadd another notch to his belt as she was an attractive woman. But knowing she had piqued my interest suddenly made her a challenge to conquer… and destroy.

In many ways, I felt responsible for the woes that now tortured her. If not for Cornelius’s constant desire to hurt me, he would have quickly tired of the chase after Kali first turned him down. But the thought of defiling the one female to have prompted such a strong reaction from me in centuries was too good for him to pass up.

Even with the sorrow on her face, Kali looked stunning as she apologized to her brother—our coach driver. Every time I witnessed this, it further broke my heart. Jasper, her older fraternal twin, had begged Cornelius for an apprenticeship with him. Although his sister had tagged along, it had been more in the capacity of an advisor and not out of any personal desire to also become one of his pupils. Every year, hundreds of aspiring candidates came groveling for a position with one of the most powerful necromancers of our era, if not of the past few generations.

The moment the siblings stepped into his study, Cornelius knew he had no use for her brother, other than as a means to an end. His shock when she declined his invitation for them to join as a pair quickly shifted into an anger filled with malicious determination. No one refused him. He would not only humble her, but also make her suffer and rue every single day she denied him what he deemed rightfully his. And should she ever surrender—which to him was inevitable—he intended to make her pay a thousandfold for each moment she delayed.

And he did so by turning her brother into an undead servant. While Jasper would never have become a particularly powerful necromancer in his own right, had he not let excessive ambition blind him, he could have made a decent living from his profession and achieved respectable levels. If not for Cornelius’ssick need for retaliation and obsession with punishing Kali, he would have simply rejected Jasper’s request and sent him on his way.

Instead, Jasper was now standing in a decaying corpse, staring off in the distance while his sister spoke gently to him. His mind wasn’t gone… not fully. He could still feel pain, sorrow, and regret. He could hear and comprehend most of the words she spoke to him. He simply couldn’t respond.

To the rest of the world, Jasper looked like a dashing, elegantly dressed young man stoically awaiting the return of his employer by his carriage. The stern glances the crowd leveled on Kali confirmed they interpreted the scene as him staring away from the strange woman who wouldn’t stop harassing him with her unwanted attentions.

While Kali’s attire was the proper level of demure not to have her pegged as a sex worker, people probably assumed her to be a social climber attempting to use her womanly wiles to ensnare a handsome young man with a stable, well-paid position. As she only recently moved into the city, merely renting a small house near the Fey Woods, the locals didn’t know of the blood bond that linked them.

Appearances could be so utterly deceiving, especially when helped by a glamour spell like the one that hid Jasper’s true appearance or the fact that two skeletal horses were pulling that carriage.

“I will never give up on you, brother,” Kali said in a pained voice. “I know you can’t respond, but I also know that you hear me. Please don’t despair. Just hang in there a little longer.”

“My beautiful Kali,” Cornelius said in a sickeningly purring tone. “How nice of you to come pay a visit to your brother. Or should I be so bold and assume it is my delightful presence you seek?”

By the way her body stiffened, and her head jerked around to look at us over her shoulder, Kali had been too focused on her twin to notice our approach.

The instant anger and disgust that flicked over her features—quickly hidden—gave me no small amount of pleasure. Too many females fell for Cornelius’s mysterious charm. Tall and lithe, he had the pale skin and androgynous charm common to vampires, although he wasn’t one himself. Piercing blue eyes with thick lashes peered out of his oval face framed by a curtain of long, black, wavy hair.

He quirked his lips in that obnoxious way he considered seductive as he tilted his head to the side to give her a slow once over. Feet slightly spread in a position he deemed manly, he rested both hands on top of the skull pommel of his walking stick in front of him. He didn’t need it. His wide range of magic made sure to keep his body young and flawless. He just liked the style… not to mention the lethal blade hidden within, laced with deadly poison.

“Cornelius,” Kali said in greeting with that delightfully throaty voice of hers.

She flicked her long, straight black hair over her shoulder as she turned to face him. It had been months since she last came to Willow Grove. I didn’t know what she’d been up to during that time, but her power had undeniably grown. To my relief, I perceived no sliminess emanating from her aura, as was normally the case when someone quickly acquired new powers through morally questionable means.

Despite the politely neutral expression on her face, the hatred burning in her obsidian eyes couldn’t be mistaken. Even though it wasn’t aimed at me, it still stung to have her stare in my direction with such animosity. The darker shade her soul systematically took in his presence also saddened me. I felt bereft of its otherwise enticing light.

“It is normal for a sister to want to visit with her fraternal twin,” she continued in a neutral tone. “But I also wanted to see you.”

Cornelius immediately emitted a purring sound that whipped my anger and irrational possessiveness of the young woman into a frenzy. His delighted reaction revealed the fact that I had betrayed my emotions, which I quickly silenced.

“Ah! I knew you’d finally come to your senses and reciprocate my affections,” he said in the most disgustingly suave fashion.

Once again, Kali clamped down on how repulsive she found him and waved a dismissive hand. “While your attentions flatter me, I am not looking for any type of relationship. All that matters to me is my brother and granting him peace. I want to discuss you releasing him.”

He opened his eyes in an exaggerated display of shock and surprise. “Release him! Why would I let go of such a well-trained pet? You should be happy I’ve provided him with steady and reliable employment. In these tough economic times—”

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