Page 72 of Soul Food

“I guess I couldn’t be selfish after all,” I said through tears. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Even as a dying girl, my plans of being selfish weren’t enough to make me hurt another person.

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AMIT

She was crying.

The moment I walked out of her house, I stepped back through her door in my reaping form so that I could be with her. As of late, no, as always, I found a reason to be with her.

Lars stepped out of her dog, Moose, and approached me. “It’s time to stop, Sire. Either eat her soul or leave her alone.” I ignored him. “There’s no way this will end well.”

I knew that.

“Her soul is wilting,” he whispered, and he almost seemed sad.

I continued to ignore him until he said, “Sire, so is yours.”

Chapter Twenty

Ten years ago,

As told byLars…

My master wasn’t like any other. No one I’d met before him moved me so deeply. When I first met him, I was but a child gremlin. He conquered and devoured souls while I fed on flesh. I thought we made quite the pair though; he didn’t let me live the gremlin way.

He wasn’t even nice to me the day I met him. In fact, he was very cold much like he was now. I couldn’t tell you what I liked about him that day, but his presence overwhelmed me. That was how I knew he was my master. My kind often sought out someone to serve. I’d admit that my kind also wreaked havoc on life until a master came along and commanded us in their direction.

It wasn’t easy at first to change my ways and even now; I messed up. His way of thinking was different and strange to me, but all the same, I was drawn to him even more because of that. Soul reapers were typically cold and vicious creatures, a demon kind on the verge of extinction since they were being eradicated by Grim and his Reapers. They were a powerful force in the Underworld and on Earth since they kept the balance between both worlds. They weren’t someone you wanted to make an enemy of and because soul reapers survived off of eating souls—they killed to survive. Soul reapers often went on killing sprees and plundered souls just to be doing it even when they weren’t hungry. That put them on the Reaper radar. Except my master. He was above the rest.

I’d never met a demon with a code—a way of living—before my master. He had a thing called principle and at first; I judged him for it. Sometimes, I still did. But mostly, I’d admire his preservation and will to live. I followed him everywhere for a long time. Even when he didn’t want me to until one day, he finally accepted me and ordered me to help him. I would have followed him until the end of time, and he must have knew that and gave in.

Boundless. Immeasurable. Those were words I’d used to describe him, but as perfect as he was, there would eventually come a time where his crack would show. No one had more willpower and restraint than him, but even he couldn’t keep it up forever.

I was going to tell you the beginning. Where his fell began. It was ten years ago—ten yearsof watching him slowly losing chunks of that discipline he was so superior at. His downfall wasn’t himself, but another soul.

I spotted his first mistake that day when he was walking around in his reaping form, searching for a soul to eat, and stumbled acrossher. He stopped, and I nearly bumped into him before I realized he was no longer moving.

“What is it, Sire?” I followed his gaze and found the bright soul running past us. She was rushing to get somewhere, and her soul slipped right through him. She paused, looked around like she felt him, only there was no way she could have. She resumed running again.

“That soul… That’s the one I want,” his voice rumbled through his form.

My gaze followed her as she ran away from us. “But, Sire, her soul is good. You don’t eat good souls. You said it goes against your—”

“There’s always an exception and with the books, there’ll be no issue,” he said quickly, still eyeing her as she hurried to wherever she was going.

Still his words didn’t ease me. He couldn’t see what I saw that day. The change in his form. All my master stood as was a giant, dark soul that ate other souls, and that day, his reaping form quivered.

The following days to come, we followed her around. This was another clue of his impending doom. He never ate vibrant souls, and he never spent more than a few minutes hunting one. He always chose and devoured within seconds apart, yet here we were.

He took us to an abandoned building and filled it with a mirage of books the day he decided he wanted her soul. “You bring her here to me.” His third change, and his third mistake.

“Why, Sire? Why not just devour her soul like you do the others?” I asked him.

“I want to approach her.”

Had he gone mad? “Why?”

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