Page 26 of Ravished By the Reaper

“Only one way to find out.”

Little white lights flicker along the wall, dancing downward in a dizzying spiral. “What if I can’t?” I whisper.

“Then you’ll activate the band you’re wearing.” He taps the bracelet he made each of us wear, where the biggest sigil linesup with a trio of my freckles. “Press and hold for five seconds, and I’ll come check on you. No matter where you are.”

“In the basement?” Since that’s where he’s sending me.

“Yes,” he agrees with quick certainty, but something in his gaze wavers and makes me think he’s lying. “Leander will be your guide below.”

I edge the toes of my sneakers to the top stair. “I have to go now?”

“The sooner you go, the sooner I can check on your friend, who seems to have gotten lost in the house.”

Ava.I can’t hear water running or footsteps or anything that would clue me in to where she might be. “I should?—”

He stretches his arm in front of me, not quite touching me, but definitely stopping me. “It’d be safer that you stay on your own path. I promise to find your friend.”

Talk about some cryptic shit. How much training did this guy receive in creeping out guests with words alone? So far, this house looks scary on the outside, normal on the inside, and not at all what I expected. But Theo’s solemnness sends shivers up my spine that have me damn near shaking. My heart triple-bangs like a gong being clanged as a battle rattle, and my breath catches in a panic-punch that burns like a flame charm in my favorite online game.

Gripping the miniature in my fist, I stop before I break her.What would Lady Snarl do? She would march her ass down the stairs and let Theo find Ava, since he’ll be faster. Right now, I hate my own creation.

“Okay,” I mumble and slow drudge down the first few steps. My feet feel as though they weigh a thousand pounds each. I’m more of a lumbering orc than the graceful healer I play in most games. “Wait—” I spin toward the door that slams in my face. So much for an easy exit.

The lights twinkle happily in a path that leads me down, down, down. “Hello?” I call, cringing when my voice echoes back to me. How far does this staircase go? To the seven circles of hell?

I lower my voice to a whisper-yell. “Leander?”

No one answers. I’m not sure if I’m stressed or relieved to be alone. A purr from below has me jumping. A tiny kitty with huge eyes stares up at me before winding around my legs, brushing its fur against my jeans in a swish.

I stoop to pet the sweet baby who rewards me with a head butt. “You must be Leander.”

“Mwrr.” The squeaky meow seems to be all the answer I’ll get.

A shimmering pool of color appears a few stairs below.

Let the terror begin.

Haunted houses go to the top of my “nope out” list for future fun. I debate sitting on the steps with the kitten and waiting until Theo comes back to find me. Except he mentioned a mission, and I don’t like to leave things unfinished. It would be the same as abandoning a half-carved game set.Sacrilege.

My furry new friend darts down the stairs into the rainbow abyss, stopping long enough to look back at me with ayou coming?taunt, and my loyalty rushes forward. I can’t let an itty-bitty kitty tread into the unknown with grown-ass me too afraid to follow. Not when I want to level up from healer to warrior more than anything. I stumble ahead, leading with borrowed courage instead of brains. The lights flicker again in a ripple.Hurry, I can imagine them saying. Intensity and impatience thrum through me.

I rush through the colors, my head spinning and my stomach threatening to be sick on a roiling wave.Don’t pass outbecomes my new goal.

“Leander?” I murmur, hoping the kitty can hear my pitiful rasp.

“I’m here, Meg.” A deep voice full of gravel and grit booms from above. That definitely doesn’t belong to a teeny black cat.

The rustle of movement and a rush of warm air has me looking way up. A beast looms over me. Darkness swirls, and my vision goes hazy.

Looks like I might pass out after all.

I cometo in a princess bed—which startles me as much as anything else in a haunted house could. My childhood dreams revolved around me being a knight in dented armor or a sorcerer with full spell robes—not a pretty, poufy dress in sight. The scents of earth, damp stone, and spices fill my nose. A netting draped around the four posters hangs in perfect symmetry, as though someone designed this room and this bed for the gauzy, sheer veil that separates me from whatever waits beyond.

Panic has me bolting to a sit. How long did I sleep? Where are my friends? And why did they leave me down here? I grab for the bracelet, ready to call Theo so I can tell him how shitty his establishment is. Ava’s mom would love to sue them for whatever trippy drugs they piped in to make me pass out. Add moving me while I was knocked out, and she’ll be screaming six figure settlement for emotional distress.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” It’s the same deep voice from earlier.

My pulse picks up in a fastthump thumpthat makes me freeze, and a thrill runs through me.Stop it.Just because he sounds like the bad boy version of my favorite streaminggaming channel host doesn’t mean my body should react. I can’t let hormones stand in the way of me getting out of here. The kitten picks that moment to jump through a gap in the netting and pad across the bedding. With a purr to rival a toy freight train and a swish of a tail, he curls into a ball and settles in for a nap.

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