Page 76 of Reaper's Ruin
And gods help me, it was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rhyker
The creature’s massive body lay at my feet, its blue-black fur still crackling with residual electricity. Even in death, the Voltmauler was fearsome—bone spikes jutting from its spine, claws like curved daggers, jaws that could crush a man’s skull with a single bite.
I stared at it, my mind struggling to process what had just happened.
My wings. They had manifested in this physical form—something that should have been impossible. The shadows that had been part of me for eight centuries had answered my call, erupting from my back when I needed them most.
Whensheneeded them most.
I flexed my shoulders experimentally, trying to summon them again. Nothing. No familiar stirring beneath my skin, no whisper of shadow responding to my will. The power that had surged through me moments ago had receded, leaving only echoes of what I’d been able to do.
“Rhyker?”
I turned toward the sound of Soraya’s voice. She stood a few paces away, her blue dress torn and mud-splattered, her hair wild with leaves tangled in it. But it was her eyes that held me—wide with shock, disbelief, and something else I dared not name.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, suddenly aware of the blood seeping through my own tattered hunting jacket. Several gashes crossed my chest and arms where the Voltmauler’s claws had connected.
She shook her head, taking a hesitant step toward me. “I’m fine. Thanks to you. But are you hurt?”
“No,” I said automatically, even as a sharp pain lanced through my side.
Rain continued to pour down around us, though the worst of the storm had passed overhead. Water dripped from her eyelashes, trailed down her cheeks, soaked through her dress until it clung to every curve of her body. I forced myself to look away.
“You shouldn’t have run off,” I growled, the fear I’d felt when I’d realized she was missing transforming into anger. “I told you to stay put.”
“I didn’trun off,” she protested, her own temper flaring in response. “Silverstreak bolted when she sensed that thing. I was just going to the ridge to keep sight of—” She stopped herself, guilt flashing across her features. “Okay, fine. I wandered. Like two hundred feet. But I was trying to keep track of—”
“That was not the plan,” I cut her off, my voice sharper than I intended. The image of her beneath that creature’s claws was still too fresh, too raw. “You could have been killed.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m already dead,” she fired back. “And I appreciate the concern, really, but I didn’tdoanything wrong. My magical flying horse-bird panicked because it sensed a giant electric bear-badger thing that apparently wants to eat people! What the fuck even was that thing?”
Water streamed down her face, her cheeks flushed with indignation. Even drenched and furious, she was breathtaking—alive in a way I’d forgotten was possible.
“A Voltmauler. It harnesses electricity and can eject it through its paws, killing you instantly.” I glanced down at the rips in myshirt realizing how lucky I was I’d only felt a slight shock and not the full weight of its power.
“Holy shit. That’s... that’s terrifying.” She stared down at the dead corpse, her eyes flaring wide.
“Yes. It is terrifying and if you hadn’t run off then you wouldn’t have run into one.”
She pinched her lips. “Itold you. I didn’t run off!”
I grumbled then let out a long rumbling sigh. “We need to get out of this rain,” I said, trying to quell the storm raging inside me that put to shame the one pounding down on us. “There’s shelter over there.”
I nodded toward a dense cluster of bushes grown over a natural rock overhang, just large enough to offer protection from the downpour. She followed without argument, and we crouched beneath the makeshift shelter, the space forcing us to press close together.
“How did you find me?” she asked after a moment, her voice softer now. “I was so far from where I left you.”
I had no ready answer. I’d been with Alaric’s hunting party when a chill had swept through me, a sensation so intense it had stopped me mid-sentence. I’d known, with bone-deep certainty, that Soraya was in danger.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just... sensed something was wrong. Like a pull toward you.” I frowned, considering. “Perhaps my soul locator is still working somehow. I’m still tuned in to your frequency.”
A small smile quirked her lips. “That’s kind of sweet you have like a Find My Soraya app installed in you. You know, in a kind of creepy, Reaper-y way.”
Despite everything, and despite having no idea what she was talking about, I felt a strange warmth spread through my chest at her obvious teasing.
