Page 35 of Destined to the Reaper

The visceral terror that prospect systematically awakened in me twisted my insides as images of Jasper flashed in my mind. I’d seen firsthand what happened when the person who owned your soul decided to turn on you. Pharos’s intentions towards me might be goodnow, but what if I angered him in the future? I barely knew him. What if centuries of Cornelius’s foul influence lay dormant in him and triggered at some point when I least expected it? Pictures of me rotting on my feet, my mind fading as my soul wasted away, replaced those of my brother. If the Reaper cursed me, no one would come to my rescue.

Accepting death now guarantees such a horrible fate can never befall me.

Such a monumental decision couldn’t be rushed. I would have needed much more time to get to know him better before committing to something so extreme and irreversible. But the clock was ticking against me.

Pharos was free. He would see to it that Cornélius got his comeuppance. I had lived a decent life. If I died now, a pleasant afterlife would await me.

An afterlife without Pharos and without having saved Jasper.

Tears of rage pricked my eyes at the unfairness of it all.

“Your stupid rules don’t make sense,” I said angrily in a teary voice. “Why can’t you protect me? I get that you can’t interfere with Fate, but every living being is allowed to look after those they love. It’s illogical that you should be expected to stand by idly while your mate or children are getting slaughtered!”

He stiffened, and a strange expression fleeted over his features. The gaping wound still slowly closing made reading him a bit more difficult.

“I would be allowed to protect my mate or offspring,” he corrected in a soft voice.

“Then why the fuck can’t you protect me? Am I not your bride?” I challenged.

“No, Kali. You are not,” he said in a factual tone.

That cut me deep. I recoiled and pulled away from him, making no effort to hide my shock and disbelief.

“So you’ve been lying all along?” I whispered, my voice filled with pain. “You were playing me all those times you called me your bride?”

“I was not. I want you to be mine, Kali,” he said with a conviction that left me confused. “I meant it every time I called you my bride, but you rejected me.”

“What? I did not!” I argued, even more baffled. “Did I not welcome you every night?”

“You yielded to me for the sake of this mission. But every time I called you my bride, you rejected my claim,” he insisted.

In that instant, the memory of all the times he gave me that title came back to the fore. And I indeed had systematically told him that I wasn’t his bride.

“Right… But… I didn’t really mean it. Like… You know…”

A savage roar and the right door whining on its hinges reminded me that we were running out of time.

“I accept your claim,” I blurted out. “I am your bride… willingly.”

My heart sank when he gave me a sad look.

“It’s not that simple, my Kali. For it to work, the bond has to be genuine. You cannot simply consent to earn my protection. This is not a commercial transaction or a trade. You must want us. You must truly wantme.”

“But I do want you!” I countered. “Over those three days while you were away, I didn’t stop thinking how broken hearted I was at the prospect of potentially never seeing you again. I was wondering if you would want to pursue a relationship with me after this or if our coupling had merely been a means to an end for you.”

“It wasn’t!” Pharos said forcefully. “I want you, Kali. I want all of you, including your heart and your soul. But if your heart is all you can give me for now, I will take it to save you, if you truly want me.”

“I do, Pharos. I sincerely care about you and want us to be together.”

His eyes flicked between mine with great intensity. I held his gaze unwaveringly, confident in the sincerity of my feelings. Although he still seemed uncertain, Pharos leaned forward and captured my lips in a tender kiss laced with a hint of despair. I instantly melted against him, the warmth of his body and of hissoul wrapping around me like a blanket. The entire world faded, including the feral screams and savage banging on the doors.

The softness of his lips and the hardness of his muscular body messed with my brain. He was the same lover I had been giving myself to over the past few days and yet, in the flesh, it felt different, in its own wonderful way. A tingling sensation spread from my mouth, down my throat, and throughout my chest. Before I could analyze it, a soft swishing sound followed by a wave of malice put an end to the kiss.

We both jerked our heads to look at the left side of the room. The nightmarish silhouette of Grizelle appeared to glide through the wall as she entered our temporary refuge.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are. It is quite rude of you to leave in the middle of the game,” she said in a tauntingly chastising tone. “More of my little friends have come out to play. The door is about to break. Time to say your farewells. Tic-toc, tic-toc, little human.”

“Fuck you,” I hissed.

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