Page 19 of Reaper's Ruin
“So, how do I find my door?” I asked instead. “What am I supposed to do?”
“It’s different for every soul. Some need to say goodbye to someone they loved. Others need to finish something important they left undone.” He paused, studying me. “For souls who were murdered, it’s often about justice.”
“Justice,” I repeated softly. “You mean like... finding out who killed me and my mom?”
He nodded. “It’s possible you can’t move on until you understand why you died.”
“But how am I supposed to do that?” I gestured helplessly at the crowd moving through us. “No one can see me or hear me except you. I can’t touch anything. I can’t even remember most of what happened.”
I closed my eyes, trying to force the memories to come. “There was a man... I didn’t know him. He had this weird dagger with symbols on it. I remember how it caught the light before...” I shuddered, unable to finish the sentence.
When I opened my eyes, Rhyker was watching me with an intensity that stole my breath.
“I’m... I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said, though the gentle words seemed awkward in his mouth.
“But why would someone break into my house to kill me and my mom? We’re nobody. Just normal people. I’m a nursing student, for God’s sake. Was it like a serial killer? I can’t think of anyone who would want to harm either of us. And we both worked like crazy long hours, her two jobs and me in nursing school plus working nights. So, if it was just like a robbery, they had like tons of hourson any given day they could have broken in. This felt like someone wanted me dead. But why? And still the bigger question, how the hell did I end up here?”
Rhyker was quiet for a long moment, his brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he said, “There’s someone who might be able to help us understand what’s happening.”
“Who?” Hope flickered to life inside me.
“A fae sorceress who lives in the Sylvan Court. She can see both the living and the dead. She’s the only person I know who can see into the Shadowveil... see Reapers as you are seeing me now. I’ve crossed paths with her once or twice. I can talk to her, and she might be able to tell us why you’re here, why you’re jumping between realms.”
“Yes!” I said eagerly. “Let’s go see her. Maybe she can help me find my door, so you don’t have to... you know.” I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘reap me’ so I just slid my thumb across my neck and pulled a face.
His expression grew troubled. “There’s a problem. She lives halfway across Faelora.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant but then suddenly realization dawned. “Oh. So, like, how are we going to get there you mean?”
“Yes. Exactly. I can get there easily but I’m not sure about you. That thing you do where you pop up in different places. Can you control that?”
I shook my head. “No. It just happened every time I got scared. I can’t control when or where.”
He grumbled, those firm lips twisting as he thought.
“I can travel through the Shadowveil easily enough,” he explained.
“The Shadowveil? Is that that foggy stuff around you?”
He nodded. “Reapers live in the Shadowveil. A mirror world of the living. Usually no soul or human can see us though.”
“I can see you.” I stated, though rather obvious, so I continued, “but it seems like you’re kind of muted and like behind a mist or fog or something.”
“That’s how I see the living realm. Interesting. I don’t understand how you can do that. But the sorceress may since she has the same unique ability.”
“And how do we get there then?”
“Well, I can slice through shadows with my wings and be there in moments.”
“Wings?” I blinked, my eyes instinctively going to his back. “You have wings? Wait. So you canfly?”
A look that might have been amusement flickered across his face. “Not the way you’re thinking. My wings aren’t physical like a bird’s. They’re made of shadow and allow me to cut through the barrier between realms or move instantly between shadows.”
“So you don’t fly? You just... teleport?”
“I don’t know what teleport means but I can be anywhere in Faelora with a shadow in the span of a breath. But the problem is you. You’re stuck in Faelora, and the journey to the Sylvan Court would take weeks on foot.”
“Weeks?” My voice rose in dismay. “I don’t have weeks! Do I? What about those other creepy shadow guys? Will they come for me? Can they do that?”
