Page 6 of Destined to the Reaper

“I will show you, if you are willing to pay the price required,” she challenged.

My face immediately closed off. “Why does he need my soul in order for him to be separated from Cornelius? I’m trying to free my own brother from having his soul stolen by that son of a bitch, and your Reaper expects me to hand over mine in the process?”

“He needs a bond that supersedes the current one with Cornelius in order for him to escape,” the Weaver explained.

“As in a new host?” I asked.

She nodded. “A temporary one until he can reintegrate his own body.”

“Fair enough. But why do I have to give him my soul for that? Why can’t I just host him?” I challenged.

“Because he is tethered. Your soul will create a stronger bond that will allow him to break free,” she replied patiently.

I pinched my lips and realized I was subconsciously shaking my head. However desperate I was to find a way to free my brother, handing over my soul to a powerful being from the netherworld, a Grim Reaper at that, was where I drew the line.

“Surely there has to be another way that doesn’t involve me giving away my soul?” I argued.

Cliona pursed her lips. Although she appeared to ponder the matter, at a visceral level, I believed she already knew the answerbut was deliberately delaying speaking it either for dramatic effect or because she was wondering if I had what it took to see this through.

The thought she might kick me out nearly sent me into a panic. While I wasn’t ready to pay such a hefty price, she was my last hope of saving Jasper. I’d spent the past four years looking for a way, none of which even remotely stood a chance.

“Maybe there is one,” she said at last.

I perked up, hope swelling in my heart. “And what would that be?”

“You must carry a part of him within you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked when her voice trailed off and she didn’t expand. “Carry a part of him as a host or become possessed by him?”

“As a host,” she replied.

I gritted my teeth with exasperation at the obnoxious way she forced me to drag every tidbit of information out of her in a slow drip, drip.

“Will that allow him to control me?”

“No.”

“Will this be something permanent or only temporary?”

“Temporary. Pharos wants to be free. If you succeed, he will return to his own vessel, and there will be no more bond between the two of you,” she said.

“Deal!” I exclaimed, although I bit back the urge to chastise her for not just telling me that from the start.

“Not with me, my dear,” the Weaver said in a mocking tone. “It is he you need to make an agreement with. I can only tell you how to proceed in summoning him.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “For you to be willing to provide this aid free of charge, you must truly want to see Cornelius defeated. You are powerful, far more than I can ever hope to be.Why not take this matter into your own hands, especially since you already know how to perform the ritual?”

To my surprise, instead of the haughty expression I expected her to give me for implying one such as she would lower herself to perform such menial tasks, Cliona’s face hardened with genuine frustration laced with anger.

“Believe me, child, if I could, I would have taken great pleasure in obliterating him in the most gruesome fashion,” she said with such venom that a chill ran down my spine. “But we are all bound by rules. In my case, I may not interfere in the matters of mortals. I can nudge you in a certain direction, put down breadcrumbs, but not directly change the thread of Fate.”

I nodded slowly. “Very well. How do I go about this?”

“You must go to a safe place of power, ideally a fairy ring. You chose an appropriate dwelling as there are a few suitable ones nearby with the right level of privacy. Make sure to set up wards to keep unwanted visitors from intruding. It is vital that you keep this secret. Cornelius may not know what is happening before it is too late, or he will shackle Pharos further,” she explained.

“Understood,” I said, feeling both nervous and thrilled.

She whipped out a piece of parchment and drew on it the strangest circle I had ever seen. It wasn’t the usual summoning pentagram. It didn’t even have a pentagram in it but an unusual series of swirls and lines around the edges of the circle, none of them crossing its center.

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