Page 79 of Tethered Souls
My chest aches at the memory of wanting Uncle Myers alongside the rest of my family the last time I nearly died. He came in so concerned, so convincing in his desire to help Khalid find the bastard and kill him. And all this time…
All this time, he was just staying close so he could find another opening. Because I’m an abomination, a freak.
As soon as Louise’s magic heals my physical wounds, I stand. The cuts were clean, so they didn’t take her long. I start to head for my brothers, watching Micha with Dayne only in my peripheral vision. Their arms are around each other, neither of them paying attention to me.
“You good to talk to Vinny?” I ask Maddox, knowing Khalid has already filled him in.
He doesn’t smile like he normally does when given permission to “talk,” but he does nod.
“Then let’s –”
“She’s the fucking Reaper of the Sired,” Micha says, her voice light, and I turn my head to see her smiling.
“What?” Dayne asks, no doubt confused where this came from. But my chest feels lighter from hearing her words, her excitement. She really will be okay.
“Sau. She’s the fucking Reaper. Varius told me –”
“What?” Dayne shouts, absolutely fangirling.
Her smile falls as she turns her head away from him, searching the room. As if she’s looking for something she’s certain she won’t find.
Then her eyes land on me.
And the biggest fucking smile lights up her face, pushing back every bit of darkness clawing around inside my mind.
Locking my muscles down before I do something stupid like go to her and ‘claim her as my girl’ in Khalid’s eyes, I nod, then turn. “Let’s go,” I say sharply to my brothers.
But later, when Micha and I are alone, perhaps…
Perhaps I will finally let myself get to know her.
Twenty-Eight
HIM
Vinny is sitting in a chair at the table, his arms and legs magically restrained in gold binds, a mute spell drawn over his lips, red and glowing, looking like a line of stitches. His face is stoic, though, giving nothing away. His pulse is calm. He doesn’t sweat. Doesn’t fidget. Uncle Myers trained him well, just like he trained all of us to be able to withstand a “talk.”
My eyes flick to Maddox as he splits off from Khalid and I to search through the cabinets. He moves casually, without any tension, without any hesitation, and I know he’s locked himself down into that dark place inside of himself. Where people stop being people and just becomethings.
Where the pain of Uncle Myers’ betrayal no longer hurts. It’s just a fact. He’s no longer the man who raised him, the only father Maddox remembers, Caden having left before his final son was born.
“Everyone else out,” the reaper signs as we stop on the other side of the table to Vinny. All of our brothers stand behind him. Mother is off to the side, a mask of calm, ever the collected lady. But beneath that facade, she is trembling with so much fear, an absolute mess of emotions. I’ve never seen her so afraid, and I wonder what she knows. What she is so worried Vinny might know…
Or perhaps I’m being paranoid, and all she’s concerned about is Khalid hunting down an ex-reaper after this.
Although my brother has an ace up his sleeve, able to pull the monsters to him while he’s in shadow form, it is severely risky to use. For the more often he does, the more agitated the monsters become, and although an ancient pact with a djinni stops them from eating us...they can still touch us. They can still drag us into the Plane of Monsters, and once there, we’re no longer able to use our magic, including our ability to open a portal and escape.
Theoretically, another Shadow could pull him out just like we do the items we keep in our etheric storage, but that requires us to know exactly where our stuff is. The Plane of Monsters is vast, and we’ll have no idea where Khalid ends up, and he will have no idea how to make it to one of our storage areas. So Khalidcoulduse that technique to kill our uncle, but if he uses it and then is unable to grab hold of Myers, the monsters will grab hold ofhim.
The twins, Rudy, Leno, and Krypto file out instantly, knowing it wasn’t their brother that gave the command to leave. It was the reaper. Vinny’s reasoning could potentially resonate with them, and that would put a risk to the Family. Khalid will listen and then share only what he deems appropriate.
Talon and Mother, however, linger.
“He’s family,” Talon says, his voice raw. Vinny is his age, and the two of them have always been close. Always getting into trouble together. When our father left the first time, Vinny was the only one who could get him to eat. When his first crush died in his arms, Vinny was the one who took him on a week-long bender through our nightclubs in Miami. Watching over him. Letting him work through the pain. Alcohol never helps, not really, but whatever Vinny said to him during that time did. These two are as close as brothers, and for a moment, I wonder if Talonshouldbe here. If he should be sitting right beside Vinny… If we need to “talk” to him too.
But I can’t handle that right now. If he’s a traitor, I’ll deal with him later. After I’ve recovered from the loss of Vinny and Uncle Myers.
“I know,” I say softly.
