Page 46 of Reaper's Ruin
I watched him scan the crowd, his intimidating presence keeping the market’s predators at bay. My protector, my only ally, my terrifying, confusing anchor in this upside-down world.
Maybe I didn’t understand this realm yet. Maybe I didn’t understandhimeither—this beautiful, dangerous being who could snap a man’s bones without hesitation yet looked at me withsomething almost like gentleness.
But I knew one thing with absolute, bone-deep certainty:
I wasn’t alone. I had him on my side.
A reaper.
Death incarnate in leather and fury.
And somehow, that was becoming more comforting than terrifying.
CHAPTER TEN
Rhyker
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A royal dagger from the Storm Court.
The information swirled in my mind as we made our way out of the Dark Market. None of this was making sense. Why would Storm Court royalty target a human girl and her mother in the Mortal Realm? Were they after Soraya specifically? Or perhaps her mother or someone else had been the true target and Soraya merely collateral damage?
I glanced at her walking beside me, her face still pale from the revelation. She had enough to process without me voicing all my suspicions. The dagger was our only lead, and whether she was the primary target or not, it was a starting point.
As we navigated the thinning crowd of unsavory traders and patrons, movement caught my eye—a familiar silhouette behind the veil that separated the Shadowveil from Faelora. I froze, instinctively positioning myself between the figure and Soraya. He stood motionless, staring directly at me with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Even blurred behind the veil, I knew that face.
Taelon.
Fuck. We’ve been discovered.
“What is it?” Soraya asked, noticing my tension.
“Another Reaper,” I said quietly. “Behind the veil.”
I felt her press closer into my back, her hands gripping my coat as she seemed to attempt to dissolve into me. Something unfamiliarsurged in my chest at her trust, at the way she sought protection from me—the very being who’d been sent to erase her from existence.
As I stared at Taelon staring back at me, I tried to read his expression. Was he going to run back to the Veil Lords? Tell them what I was doing and send a new Reaper for her immediately? Washesent to reap her? Could she even be reaped in this form? Reapers couldn’t hurt humans, and she was technically human in this mortal shell, wasn’t she? Or because she was dead, could a Reaper still pull her into the Shadowveil and wipe her from existence? My mind reeled with possibilities as I stood frozen, eyes locked with his.
But then, suddenly, his shocked face broke into a stupid grin, and I realized he at least wasn’t here for her. He seemed genuinely surprised, and of course, happy, to see me.
“Is he here for me?” she whispered.
“No,” I said, fairly certain of my answer. “He’s a... colleague. Probably here for someone else.”
“Does he see us?” she whispered.
Taelon moved closer, his mouth hanging open as he studied me in my physical form.
“Oh, yes. He sees us.”
Taelon stopped in front of us, his gaze raking me up and down, brow furrowing as he tried to process why I was on the wrong side of the veil. Soraya peered out from behind me, her eyes growing wide as she looked at him, then ducking back behind me.
Taelon, his form visible but skewed behind the veil, jutted a finger in her direction. “She can see me?” he asked in amazement, his voice carrying across the veil. “How the fuck is a human seeing me right now? And how are you over there—” he gestured at my physicalbody, “—like that?”
“It’s complicated,” I replied, acutely aware that to everyone else in the marketplace, I appeared to be talking to empty air. “Not here. Follow me.”
