Page 74 of Reaper's Reward

24

ADDIE

Inearly stomped my foot in frustration. I was tired of running from Fenrir. There would come a day when we couldn’t run. We would have to stay and hold our ground to keep him from devouring the world.

Every time we retreated, it felt like an admission of weakness, and I was growing tired of it. Even if Fenrir tore me apart or cast me into the void…okay, we had to retreat for obvious reasons. It didn’t mean I had to like it. In fact, I hated it.

We were only saving ourselves at this point. If we couldn’t stop him, then we would have nothing. Our entire future would be destroyed. I had to find a way to best him. But I couldn’t do that alone.

With a resigned sigh, I lifted my head and took in my surroundings. A sense of déjà vu told me there was something not quite right here. The landscape, Hel’s underworld, was familiar yet wrong. It reminded me of a video game that wasn’t quite rendered all the way. Some of the textures seemed like flat images.

That was when I realized I was dreaming.

At least, I knew I wasn’t dead. This wasn’t a real afterlife but a facsimile of the one that I knew.

A hand slid into mine. I yelped and jumped away from the person. Maddox pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at me.

“Bastard,” I muttered even though I was overjoyed at the sight of him.

He slid his hand into mine again. The overwhelming scent of strawberries wafted from his skin and told me that this was the real Maddox. He wasn’t a figment of my dreams. Persephone had sent him to me.

“I told you I would find you no matter where you went,” Maddox said before pulling me close.

With his body warm against mine, I sucked in a breath and prepared myself for what was to come. Persephone wouldn’t have sent Maddox, my familiar and husband, to me if this was just a normal dream. There was a trial ahead; I could feel it.

“Ready to become a god?” Maddox asked.

I snorted. “People don’t just become gods.”

Could they? I knew that I had divine blood in me, but I didn’t know what that meant other than extra added responsibility.

I turned to Maddox and looked up into his dark eyes. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into this.”

His response shouldn’t have startled me, yet it did all the same. He pulled me in for a deep kiss, his tongue pushing past my lips so that he could explore the full extent of my mouth. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine so that our breaths could mingle.

“I would follow you into Hell if I had to. Besides, I always wanted to save the world. If I can’t do it as a detective, then I’ll do it as your husband.”

His words made my core tingle. I held on tight to his shirt—his dream shirt? Because I remembered him shifting at one point. Was he naked in Hel’s domain while we dreamed? The thought made me chuckle to myself.

Together, hand in hand, we pushed deeper into the halls of this dream version of Hel’s domain. I asked myself if Maddox was real or if he was a figment of my dreams, but his soul assured me that the man holding my hand was, in fact, the real deal.

Alone, we were strong. Together, we could do anything.

Except navigate this damned labyrinth. Every turn looked the same as the last one. We delved deeper and deeper, yet we felt no further in our progress than we’d been moments ago. Frustration gripped my lungs and made breathing nigh impossible, but Maddox’s hand on mine helped ease the pressure.

“What am I even supposed to be doing?” I asked, exasperated. “How is this helping me pull my form back together? I remember being eaten by Fenrir. I’d managed to find my way out, and I’d pulled myself back together the best I could. My…my body wasn’t staying in one piece. I remember feeling like I was coming apart at the edges.”

Scowling, I reached into my arcana and found the vast sea full to the brim. Instead of grasping a bit of it, I let go of the walls holding it in. Arcana rushed in every direction like waves of blue fire. Pale orbs of blue light appeared at every intersection, lighting the way forward.

Here, I seemed fine. Maddox held onto me with no problem. He wasn’t phasing through me, and I wasn’t falling through him. My arcana seemed unaffected, so I wasn’t sure what was even going on here.

Maddox mentioned becoming a god. Was I truly supposed to accomplish a divine feat down here? If that was the case, then why hadn’t anyone given me a set of instructions? I was sick of this DIY attitude that everyone seemed to have.

“Persephone mentioned finding your own domain,” Maddox said as he ran his free hand up and down my arm like he couldn’t bear being this far from me, even though we were still holding hands.

Scowling, I said, “I’m not a god, though…I don’t evenwantto be a god.”

What I wanted was to live out my own human life. That’s why I did my best to write my own fate. I had no interest in the plans that others had in store for me. They could suck an egg, for all I cared.

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