Page 12 of Stolen By the Reaper

I tested my wards again as possessive fire licked at the empty walls of my heart. “She’s more than that. She gained a soul’s attention during a reaping.”

“Indeed.” The glyphs on Veridian’s skin began to shift, the swirling patterns coalescing into fresh forms. “But that isn’t the only attention she’s gained, is it? She’s awakened something in you. Something you thought long dead.”

I snarled, patience wearing thin. “Can you read her or not?”

Veridian’s laughter echoed off the cavern walls, mingling with the maddening whispers. “Very well. Let us see what the threads of fate reveal.”

She closed her eyes, arms outstretched and glyphs pulsing with an unheard heartbeat. Her pinky plucked a single thread from the tangle on the loom, and she pulled it taut between her fingers.

The whispers in the cavern grew to a fever pitch.

“I see... a spark igniting an inferno. A key turning in a long-forgotten lock.” Her voice took on an otherworldly quality. “The stolen bride becomes the thief, pilfering what was thought lost. Shadows dance with light, blurring the lines between realms.”

“Speak plainly,” I growled.

Veridian’s eyes snapped open, fixing me with that unnerving gaze. “Your stolen sacrifice is no ordinary soul, Reaper. She carries great potential within her—potential that could reshape the very foundations of our realm.”

“How?” I demanded. “What kind of power are we dealing with?”

“The kind that topples empires and births new gods,” Veridian said softly. “Whether that power becomes a force for creation or destruction... that remains to be seen.”

A chill ran down my spine. “You’re saying she could be a threat?”

“To the current order? Absolutely.” Veridian’s lips curved in a mirthless smile. “To you? As with all women, that depends entirely on the choices you make and if she accepts your bond.”

Bond. The word echoed in my head, sending my thoughts into a frenzy.

I could have a mate.

I could be bound in union and partnership. The lonely, hollow void of my existence could be filled with companionship, passion, and connection. I could have everything I had once foolishly given up for a poorly worded bargain and the chance to save a different soul.

Mates were almost unheard of for the beasts below. We weren’t worthy.

But the pull I’d felt from the first moment I touched Josephine’s soul couldn’t lie or deceive. Her scent alone set my blood alight with a raging need to protect and possess. Every second since had only strengthened the desire to hold her, to touch her, to hear her soft moans and pleas as I worshiped every inch of her body...

I wanted to watch her lop Clauneck’s head from his shoulders as punishment for all his dirty deals.

I opened my mouth to demand more answers, but Veridian held up a finger, silencing me.

A heartbeat later, I felt it—my wards shattering like glass.

“Josephine,” I snarled, already summoning the shadows to whisk me away.

In a blink, I stepped into what should have been my chambers. The acrid stench of Clauneck’s magic filled the air. Expected, but the veneer of Clauneck’s halls still made my nose wrinkle in disgust.

And there, lounging on the illusion of Clauneck’s throne, was Josephine’s ex. The smug bastard’s lips curved into a taunting smile as he met my gaze.

“Ah, there you are,” Alain drawled. Power radiated off him—his master’s doing, no doubt. “I was thinking you’d run off and left poor Jo all alone.”

Red clouded my vision. How dare he enter my domain? How fucking dare he speak of the woman he traded away without batting an eye? “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just checking in on my bride. Jo’s fine, by the way. Just bathing.” He winked. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

The glyphs etched into my skin flared to life as fury consumed me. I lunged forward, ready to tear the smirking prick limb from limb.

But Alain didn’t flinch. He raised a hand, and the oppressive weight of his borrowed power halted me mid-step. “Careful now, Reaper. You wouldn’t want to upset your betters, would you?”

I struggled to push back, to move even a fraction. He had to be burning through the borrowed power, and quick. But for all the strength I felt in that power, it was no match for mine.

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