Page 3 of Destined to the Reaper

“That’s not employment, that’s slavery!” Kali snapped, dropping any pretense of civility. “He is rotting on his feet! However he wronged you, it’s been four years. He’s suffered enough. He’s been punished enough.”

“No, my beauty. It is never enough,” Cornelius said in a dangerously low voice. “Anyone who crosses me will feel my wrath. Mercy does not exist in my vocabulary.”

“By the Gods, what the fuck do you want?! Surely there’s something I can get you in exchange for his freedom?” Kali asked in a pleading voice laced with a mix of anger and despair.

I hated seeing her like this. I hated that my powers and my attraction to her had played a part in causing her this pain. And above all, I hated how helpless I was to fix any of it.

Cornelius took a step forward, invading her personal space. She immediately took a step back to restore the distance between them.

“You know what I want, Kali. Serve me in all ways, and I’ll release him.”

“Never!” she spat out. “He made that mistake, and see where that left him?”

“Jasper is weak,” Cornelius said in a dismissive fashion. “Your power was always greater than his was or ever could be. I could make you legendary. Even now I can sense how much your powers have grown since our last encounter.”

“I don’t need power. I never craved it. All I want is for my brother to be free. All those who have served you met a very unpleasant fate. I will not be your next zombie,” she replied angrily.

He shrugged. “Be loyal to me, and you’ll have nothing to fear. Like you said so well yourself, you do not crave power. They did, and their greed was their undoing. Serve me, and I’ll show you things you never even thought possible.”

“Fuck that!” she snarled.

“Oh, my darling, that’s obviously part of the deal,” he purred, stirring another wave of fury deep within me.

“The only way you’ll ever have me will be my cold dead body,” Kali hissed.

Cornelius snorted, both amused by my anger and her comment. “Are you threatening me with a good time, my dear? Dead or alive is all the same to me. Willing or not, youwillserve me, Kali. And when I fuck that tight cunt of yours, I’ll make you beg me for forgiveness for ever denying me.”

“Fuck you, you twisted psycho!” Kali shouted before spitting on the ground.

It hadn’t touched him, but I felt the cold anger rising within him to have been thus disrespected. My heart sank as I awaitedwhat would follow. The air rippled around us as he summoned an illusion. No one walking past us along the street would see what truly was happening. To them, there would only be a carriage with Jasper standing at the ready while a mysterious young woman discussed with his employer.

“Jasper, your sister dropped something. We cannot allow the beautiful streets of our city to be sullied like this,” Cornelius said in a sickly-sweet voice, his eyes locked with Kali’s with a cruel glint as he spoke. “Be a good boy and lick it off.”

Kali slapped a hand over her mouth, and tears welled in her eyes as she stared in horror as her brother—or what remained of him—got down on his knees to comply with the order. I could barely repress the cold fury threatening to overwhelm me. I wanted to lash at him, but it would only further infuriate him. In turn, he would find more disgusting ways of taking it out on her.

“I will kill you for this,” Kali whispered, her voice burning with hatred.

“You’re welcome to try, my love. I’ll eagerly await your challenge,” Cornelius said smugly.

After one final guilty look at her brother, who was now slowly getting back onto his feet, she stormed off, shattering the illusion.

I watched her walk away, feeling defeated.

Chapter 2

Kali

Angry tears pricked my eyes as I stomped my feet on the way to my horse. Guilt, rage, and a sense of renewed determination slapped aside the debilitating helplessness that always attempted to rear its head whenever I thought of Jasper’s situation.

He’d been such a handsome man before he allowed his greed and thirst for power to be his downfall. As I got on my horse, I glanced at the necromancer’s carriage traipsing past me. Many of the women nearby cast less-than-subtle appreciative glances at my brother, fooled by the glamour spell that hid the rotting corpse he had become beneath the pretty illusion.

I shifted my vision back to normal so that I, too, could enjoy one last look at him in his former glory. While Jasper was physically as light as I was dark, our personalities were the exact opposite. His shoulder length blonde locks gently swayed in the wind, exposing his fair skin, and striking blue eyes. Like Cornelius, my brother was lithe with a slightly androgynous beauty.

He’d shamelessly used seduction to get what he wanted from men and women alike. As my brother had been attracted to all genders, nothing was ever out of bounds or too outrageous for him, especially if it got him ahead.

As I began the long ride to the one person who might help me put an end to Cornelius, I once more berated myself for not having been firmer with my brother when he first entertained working for him. I’d always been too weak when it came to Jasper. Although he’d been the eldest, I’d been the mature one and the voice of reason. But his hunger for power superseded everything.

I deluded myself that he would soon realize what an abusive monster he had chosen as mentor. I knew men like Cornelius well. To them, people were just expendable tools, puppets to be used to further their ends. But instead of realizing his mistake and cutting his losses by leaving, Jasper attempted to take for himself what his master withheld from him.

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