Page 80 of Rites of Passage

Ryu, Yoo-Mi, and Ye-Seul sauntered in behind her, Noah in their wake.

Ryu looked around. “Wow. You guys look like you had a wild party. Maybe we should have stayed for this meeting.”

Mae pursed her lips. “It was a riot.”

“Is everyone okay?” Noah asked tersely.

Derrick looked from Mae to the sorcerers and witches she had healed. “We are now.”

Ryu stiffened, concern clouding her face.

“I’m alright,” Mae said quietly.

Linus stirred. He blinked his eyes open and froze.

“Am I dead?” the sorcerer groaned.

They followed his stilted gaze to the tall, hooded, skeletal figure with the scythe standing quietly next to his couch. Half the room gasped and shrank back.

Alicia’s orbits flared crimson as she met a sea of horrified stares. “I’m sorry. You seemed to be having a touching reunion. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Karin swayed. Gerard clutched her shoulder and steadied her.

“I kinda forgot to tell you guys about Alicia,” Bryony announced glassily. “Alicia, these are my friends. Everyone, this is Thod, the Queen of Soul Reapers. She goes by the name of Alicia Calvarro in this, er, guise.”

Ye-Seul sniggered.

Yoo-Mi sniffed. “Your bones are showing again, lady.”

Alicia blinked. “Oh.” She looked down and frowned. “Dammit, I always forget to switch.”

She snapped her fingers and morphed into her human appearance.

The room sighed in relief. The sound was drowned out by an almighty rumble.

Mae made a face at their stares. “Sorry.”

Yoo-Mi narrowed her eyes. “Not that I disapprove of your healthy appetite, but I really don’t know where you put all that food.” She indicated the bloodied couches with a vague wave. “Also, these are going to be a bitch to clean. I hope we have insurance.”

CHAPTER34

“The ghouls are being actively recruitedby Barquiel and his minions,” Alicia said.

Mae’s hand stilled on the piece of fried chicken she’d just picked up. Tension knotted her shoulders. “Any idea why?”

They’d cleared the sitting room for an impromptu, late-lunch meeting. Heavy crunching rose from where Brimstone, Hellreaver, and Tarang were inhaling entire bowls of fresh meat. A serving trolley with plenty more stood next to them, with another one on its way.

Brimstone had made space for Nadia’s desert fox and Derrick’s hawk. The rest of the familiars were eating primly on the clean stretch of floor beside the hungry carnivores.

“It took a while to corner one of them,” Alicia grumbled. “They’re slippery little shits, especially down there. The one I captured wouldn’t speak at first, but I can be pretty persuasive.”

Her scythe glinted at the base of her throat.

Gerard shifted uneasily in his chair.

“According to the ghoul, Barquiel promised them some kind of redemption in return for their sacrifice,” Alicia continued.

Vlad frowned. “Redemption?”

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