Page 17 of A Shadow in the Reaping
"...No."
My face falls into a frown and I think I see the Reaper's lips twitch.
"It is one hundred percent not that."
My eyes narrow to slits as I glare at him, and I definitely see his lips twitch. I see a light in his eyes that isn't a flame. The echo of a smile is there. It detonates a thought in my brain that I never expected:I wonder if I could ever make Ashen laugh.
No. No, no, no. I don't need to take up that challenge. But there's a whisper from the box in my mind that's saying otherwise. The same part of me that loves to get away with something also loves an impossible challenge. Making the Reaper laugh absolutely fits the bill.
I clear my throat and push that idea to the darkest recesses of my mind where it can die of starvation and neglect. I look down at the journal and scribble a new note.
Who is ‘they,’ anyway?
“I think we killed the rest of ‘them’ off. It’s just the Alpha now, until he inevitably finds a new pack to claim. It’s Semyon Abdulov,” Ashen says, his eyes sharpening in he slightest as he assesses my reaction. “Do you know him?”
I’ve heard the name around over the years.
“And? What have you heard, exactly?”
I dunno, Reaper. Werewolf stuff. Petty squabbles and scraps among their kind. None of it’s good or interesting, really. I don’t bother keeping track.
“Werewolves are your enemies, how can you not be interested in their movements and motivations?” the Reaper asks as his eyes narrow to thin slits.
I shrug.I prefer cats,I write.
The Reaper’s shoulders drop. He looks away to the side of the room as though I’m both frustrating and exhausting.Excellent. “That’s… nonsensical. And ludicrous. And does not scream of self-preservation.”
I hold back a sly smile, happy to have irritated this ill-tempered, judgy demon taking up far too much space in my cramped room.Since you're in an especially charming mood today, why don't you go away and charm someone else for a while.
"Yes. I need to leave. You're going to be late for work," Ashen says as he stands. I'm not at all surprised that he's memorized my schedule, the nosy fucker. "Please knock at my door when your shift is done. We will get lunch."
I nod once.
Ashen pauses at my door and turns, his gaze lingering on my arm where the shimmering white tattoo is barely visible. He meets my eyes with a look of warning. "Keep your guard up, vampire. At least two others of your kind went missing before I got to you. It's only a matter of time until the Alpha gathers another pack and tries to find you, unless we can find the Alpha first."
He turns away to leave. I pick up a tube of hand lotion from the nightstand and throw it at the back of his head. It makes contact with a satisfyingthwack, and the Reaper turns his fiery glare on me.
I'm not the only one the wolves are coming for. If they found Angelwing, they were expecting you,I write.
"I know," he says, pulling a plastic bag from the interior pocket of his blazer and tossing it onto the bed beside me. I pick it up, recognizing the obsidian blade within. I can smell his blood still lingering on its surface through the thin plastic.
"We're going to find the apothecary that made it. And your witch Ediye is going to help us."
Chapter 10
There's only one thing that's been going through my head since the Reaper left my room this morning:
Ediye is going to murder me.
It will be a justifiable killing. I deserve it. I've brought trouble to Bian's doorstep with the presence of the Reaper in her Inn, and Ediye is next. She has been my only immortal friend and ally since I went into hiding three centuries ago. I thought I'd put trouble far enough behind me to live close to her again. Evidently, I was wrong. And now that Ashen knows her name and that a connection exists between us, I have failed in keeping her safe from harm.
And now here we are...
...In Ashen's car...
...Driving to her house.
Motherfucker had broken into my room and packed my bag as I worked. Even thekatanawas already in his car, lying across the black leather of the rear seat.
