Page 14 of The Reaper's Mate

“I was sent here for you. I’m a reaper. Your soul is forfeit in a few minutes. But I won’t let him take you. I’ll save you.” I burst into the kitchen we cut through earlier, then run out into the alley where the truck waits, the back still open. “Here.” I jump down the stairs and lift her into the back of the truck. “You’ll be safe he—”

A roaring pain shoots through the side of my head. I turn to find Gaius shaking out his hand. Stars skitter along the edges of my vision from the hit.

“I have to take her.” He backs away a few steps and twirls his scythe.

“You can’t. She’s still alive.” I wish I had time to reach up and pull the door of the truck closed, but I don’t dare make a move that will leave Annabelle open for an attack.

“Her aura is terminal. She’s about to go up like a firework.” Real sorrow crosses his eyes. “I’m sorry, but you know we don’t control when their lives end.”

“You aren’t taking her.” I hold my scythe at the ready. “But you do what you have to do, and I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Stubborn fuck!” He twirls his scythe faster. “So be it.”

He lunges forward. I parry his assault and tangle our scythes. One fist to his jaw sends him staggering backward for only a moment. He lands a hard right to my ribs, then drops and tries to sweep my legs. I jump to avoid the move, but he’s calculated for it, and grabs my calf and yanks. The pavement beneath me cracks when I land.

He tries to jump over me and onto the truck. Annabelle screams. I rage up from the ground and grab Gaius by the waist, then slam him down. The buildings shake, bits of plaster falling into the narrow alley from above.

I pin him to the ground and wrest his scythe from his grip. Lightning crackles around us; Annabelle’s time is past due.

“I have to!” Gaius tries to surge from the ground, but I slam him back to the earth, the pavement breaking around him like a spider web.

I rear back and land solid punches, each impact breaking bones in my hand. Gaius tries to buck me and gets in a few good return punches, but I’m running on the pure, instinctual need to protect my mate. I’ll kill him if I have to. I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try if that means she’s safe.

“Boss!” The pixie from earlier runs out the back door and toward the truck. I want to look and see what she does with my Annabelle, but I can’t let up on Gaius.

Pain radiates up my arms as I pummel him until blood streaks his face. He’s still fighting back, each blow growing weaker than the last. Something down the alley grows bright in my vision.

I can’t stop, even as I sense Annabelle’s aura growing nearer. I risk a quick glance. She’s out of the truck, and the pixie is hurrying her down the alley.Fuck.

Gaius lands a particularly hard punch on my jaw, and black spots invade my mind for a split second. It’s all the opening he needs. He bucks me off and reaches for his scythe. The light from the end of the alley becomes blinding, then passes in a rush of acceleration.

A car.I turn just in time to see Annabelle dash out into the alley. The pixie screeches as the car hits my mate. I shove Gaius away and run to the spot. Annabelle lies awkwardly on the ground, her eyes staring into nothing. I clutch her to me as my heart burns into ash. She focuses on my face, her blue eyes sparking for a slight moment as she takes her last breath.

Her glittering soul clings to her body for a few labored heartbeats, then takes to the air, waiting to be claimed by Gaius’ scythe. My roar breaks every window in the French Quarter.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ANNABELLE

Loud noise. Yikes. Really loud. Where am I? I can’t seem to put my thoughts together, as if they’re frothy inside my head. My head? I try to reach up and feel for it, but I can’t. I can’t feel. Panic begins to take hold, and I struggle, but there’s nothing to struggle against. Only weightlessness.

I can see. I’m hovering above the alley. A car is crashed into the back of the hotel, the front steaming. It’s a red Cadillac—Mr. Trevor’s. There are people below me—Vera and a guy who looks familiar, and Matt.

“Matt!” I yell for him.

He’s on his knees and has something in his lap. He looks up at me.

Are those tears?

“Matt, are you okay?” I call to him, but he doesn’t respond. Can he hear me?

The man—Gaius, I think—walks up to Matt and squeezes his shoulders, then points his blade at me. The blade shines a brilliant gold, and I want to go to it. It’s mesmerizing. It pulls me closer. What happens if I touch it?

A murky fog rises from the crashed car. It floats upward, but doesn’t get far. I stare in horror as the visage of Mr. Trevor bubbles up through the smoke. His eyes are red, his mouth wide open. Matt yanks his scythe from the pavement and hurls it at the writhing plume of darkness. A shriek pierces the stillness as the black cloud is sucked into the reaper’s blade. With a pop, Mr. Trevor is gone, and the scythe flies back to Matt’s side like a boomerang.

“Matt!” I scream again as confusion engulfs me.

Matt shakes his head and stands. Then I see what’s been in his lap. It’s me. Horror curls around me like claws. Matt holds my bloody body in his arms. He said it was my time. Am I dead?No, no, NO!

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