Page 3 of Saved By Her Guardian
He put his hand up, and she shut her mouth immediately.
“First of all,youlisten, young lady.People know you’re my niece, and as such, you’re supposed to behave appropriately.And that includes taking whatever assignment you’re given.Especially—especially—when the giver of the assignment isme.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”His upper lip curled, making him appear twisted and evil.
She looked away from him and took in the church.The windows were stained glass, but she couldn’t make out the designs, and the arching doorways looked like they were carved by hand out of stone.Gas lamps on either side of the big doors flickered in the breeze, making her wish she’d put on a thicker coat.
“My assignment is to ferry the souls of children.I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too sad.”
“That’s a human thought.You’re a reaper.”
“I can’t help it,” she said.“My territory assignment is in a town with a children’s hospital.There’s so much sadness there, so much grief.I don’t want to ferry the souls of children, Uncle Grim.”
“There is nothing sad about death to reapers; it’s our job.You—the daughter of reapers and part of the Lethe family line—were destined to reap souls, period.”He gave her a long, silent look with those icy-blue eyes that she felt could see intohersoul.“Will you take your assignment?”
Tilting her chin up slightly, she shook her head, but the words were frozen in her throat.She’d never gone against him in anything.He was too powerful to say no to, but here she was, shaking her damn head at him.
His brow arched.
“So be it.”
He rubbed his hands together and a crimson glow appeared.She watched his reaper power as it swelled between his palms and fell to the ground like drops of blood.The drops wiggled and stretched on the ground like vines, and she felt something settle over her.
A finality of some sort.
Shit, what had she done?
“I sentence you, Aralyn Lethe, to serve as reaper here in Eldermoor, Kentucky, at Saint Morrigan’s Church in the Cairnwood Cemetery until such time as you are relieved of your post.”
As his last words were spoken, a chill shot down her spine.
And then she heard it: three deep howls.
No, it couldn’t be.
The padding of paws echoed in the night, and she turned from one side to the other, searching, and then she saw him.Church, the supernatural black dog who guarded the oldest witch and warlock cemetery in the States.That was why the church’s name sounded familiar.It’s cemetery was named after Cairn, the Celtic goddess of fate and death.
Church stopped nearby and sat on his haunches.He had glowing red eyes and was the size of a pony.He was the guardian of the cemetery because sometimes people liked to steal artifacts from the church or the bones of witches and warlocks to use in spells and ceremonies.He killed anyone who tried.
“Uncle,” she said.
He hummed.
“This cemetery is full, Aralyn.That means that you will be unable to reap any souls.You can’t travel to reap souls anywhere but here, so while you can leave the area, you will return by sunset for your shift and stay until dawn every day, and you won’t be able to reap.”
“If there aren’t souls for me to reap, why are you assigning me here?”
“Because without reaping, your magic will leech away.Eventually it will be gone entirely, unable to be replenished, leaving you essentially human.Remember, only reapers who aren’t employed, like the elderly and very young, can utilize the Well of Magic.That would not include you.”
“Why would you do that to me?”She was shocked to the core.She didn’t know what she’d expected to happen, but this wasn’t it.
“I’m not doing it to you; it’s a punishment.You refused your assignment.Did you think you could do that without any ramifications?”
