Page 143 of Reaper's Ruin
He bled—his very essence seeping out in thick plumes of darkness.
His hatred. His ambition.
All of it dissolved into nothing.
“Impossible,” he gasped, staring at me with disbelief as he faded.
“You dared to threaten what was mine,” I growled, kneeling over him as the darkness tore through his dissolving form. Then I rose, voice cold as the void. “And when Death comes for you—he doesn’t miss.”
His last words were a whisper. “The Veil Lords... they’ll never stop hunting you.”
“Then let them come.” My voice was low, steady, final. “Death’s coming for them too.”
I watched the smoke of his soul twist and vanish, drifting away to nothing. I turned back to Soraya, not wasting a second enjoying the end of Sevrin though I wanted to savor the moment.
“Rhyker,” she whimpered, tears filling her eyes as I grabbed her.
“Almost there,” I said, helping her toward the gates. “Just a few more—”
A piercing scream cut through the air, so high and terrible it drove every Reaper to their knees, hands clasped over ears in agony, me included. I looked up to see what I’d feared most—the Sentinels had arrived.
They descended from the highest towers of the Keep, their massive wings spreading like living night across the sky. Beautiful and terrifying, these lethal warriors moved with impossible grace, their red eyes burning like coals in their perfect faces. Shadowswrithed beneath their skin like living tendrils, growing darker as they descended toward us.
The screams stopped and I scrambled to my feet.
“What are they?” Soraya gasped, staring up at the approaching horrors.
“Sentinels,” I answered grimly, my ears still ringing from their audible onslaught.
Even Reapers told stories in hushed tones of the winged nightmares that defended the Veil Lords. No Reaper could stand against one.
Not me. Not Taelon. Not all of us together.
Their appearance meant only one thing.
We had to run.
“Sentinels!” Lorien shouted. “Get to the bloody gates!”
I saw Skorn, Lorien and Taelon climb to their feet and start sprinting toward us. But they slammed to a stop when a Sentinel landed in the courtyard between us with enough force to crack the ground beneath her feet. When she opened her mouth, another scream tore through the air, driving even the most powerful Reapers to their knees in anguish. I resisted the agony ripping through me, my centuries of experience and sheer will to protect Soraya allowing me to remain standing, though the pain was nearly unbearable.
The other four Sentinels landed, forming a circle around us. Their wings, unlike mine, were made for true flight—massive, feathered appendages now bristling with lethal energy. One raised her hand, and lightning crackled between her fingers before lashing out toward us.
“No!” Soraya screamed, throwing herself in front of me.
“Soraya!” I called out, but instead of exploding from a direct Sentry hit that would have killed even the strongest Reaper, she simply absorbed it with her latent Storm court abilities.
The Sentinel shrieked again, vibrating the air around us. But I pushed the pain searing through my body, shredding my ears, and rattling inside my brain, and I grabbed her as I bolted with her toward the gate.
Across the courtyard, I saw Taelon and his friends struggling against their own opponents. Skorn’s ice magic clashed with a Sentinel’s fire, steam erupting where their powers met. Lorien had created a shield of water that momentarily held back another Sentinel’s attack. Taelon fought like a demon, flames engulfing everything around him.
But they were losing. We all were. For every Reaper that fell to our side, three more replaced them. The Sentinels were too powerful, their ancient magic beyond even what Court Warriors could match.
A Sentinel burst into the space in front of me, her attack catching me off guard. One swoop of her wing slashed across my chest like a blade. I stumbled backward, nearly falling. Another closed in from behind, her hands glowing with deadly energy.
I fought with everything I had, but my scythe found nothing but air. They were too fast. Too powerful. A blow from behind drove me to my knees. I looked up to see a Sentinel standing over me, her beautiful face, warped with darkness and shadows, cold and merciless as she raised her hand for the killing stroke.
I sought Soraya’s eyes across the chaos. If these were to be my final moments, I wanted her face to be the last thing I saw. Our gazes locked, and I poured eight centuries of love into that one look—all I’d never had the chance to tell her, all I’d never had the chance to be.
