Page 63 of Haunted Hearts

Brock studies me before his annoyance shifts to confusion. “She really didn’t tell you?”

Instead of replying, I simply wait. Brock sighs. One hand comes up to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

“Jeez, I really thought she would. Willow was really upset when she stormed away. She said I had to choose all of you, or nothing… You know what? Never mind. Either way, I still owe you an apology, Theo,” he sighs. “Look, I hated you from the moment I saw you and your guys across the Veil. You know how I feel about your presence in Willow’s life, and I thought, once I spoke to Willow, she’d see it the same way. I don’t know what outcome I was hoping for, maybe keeping at leastyouat an arm’s length away, but damn if that didn’t backfire on me.”

Anger warms my blood. Still shoved into my pockets, my hands fist. Brock tried to build a wedge between us? My heart rate increases. Did he not hear anything Death had said the other day? It doesn’t matter what Brock wants in all of this. Ultimately, we’re Willow’s as much as she is ours. There’s no splitting up. We’re practically one in the same.

“Do you understand how important it isfor herfor us all to work together?” I ask, my voice softening even as my rage builds.

“Yeah, but—”

“Butnothing!” I cut him off sharply. “She’s having a hard enough time withyougone and you don’t even possess a piece of her soul. Can you imagine if she tried to push me and the others away? Or the trouble that would arise if she didn’t trust us? Death expects her to help him, and she won’t be able to if she’s distracted. This isn’t about what you want, Brock, this is about what’s best for Willow.”

“I know and I understand that now,” Brock agrees with a sharp nod, his expression twisting with contrition. “I was watching from a distance this afternoon, unsure of how to approach the five of you, and I watched Willow struggle.”

He sighs as he turns his body to the side to study the pond. I glare at his profile, ready to be done with this conversation.

“I also saw how determined you were to help her,” he tilts his head to look at me with a frown. “Watching you, hell, just watchingallof you guys with her… It just proves that I’ve misjudged the situation. I thought you guys were the poison in her life. It’s clear, though, that you’re the antidote to a pretty shitty hand she was dealt. Being Death’s daughter… Her second life is going to be tough. She looks to you for guidance, and she trusts you, as do the others. There’s a reason for that and I guess, until you prove otherwise, I can trust you as well.” He turns to face me again. “What I’m trying to say is I’m sorry, and whatever you need from me, you’ll get it without resistance.”

If this was any other situation, I’d dismiss him and his apology. But this is Willow’s mate. Brock will be in my life as long as he’s in Willow’s. We need to be a cohesive unit if this is going to work. Willow must have known that telling us what Brock had shared with her would cause a rift, which is why she hadn’t shared this with me. It’s why I hadn’t told Willow what Brock had said to me the first day here. This reaper has caused issues already and he’s barely been around… As irritating as it is, that frustration shifts as I think about Willow. Shedefendedus, choosing us over a relationship with her fated mate. A new warmth spreads through my veins.

She choseme.

All the anger seeps out of me as I realize just how much Willow loves me and remains steadfast in her loyalty to us. I bask in that knowledge for another few seconds before giving Brock a tight smile.

“Like I said, we need to work together. Don’t try to break us apart again, and we’ll be good.” I lower my head in a nod and remove my hands from my pockets.

“Thanks for understanding,” Brock grumbles, looking away from me.

“You have her best interest at heart.” I can give him that at least.

Brock nods but doesn’t say anything. I look away from him, sure that I can trust him now not to attack me, and study our surroundings. The first day we were here, I’d been so wrapped up in what was happening with Willow that I had barely paid Brock’s property any mind. But now I have a moment, so I take it in.

The trees around us aren’t stacked on top of one another. In fact, they’re pretty few and far between but they stretch around us in every direction in a way that makes it feels like a dense wood. Movement through the trees, across the pond, captures my attention. There, about another hundred, maybe even two hundred yards away, is a cabin similar to Brock’s. Soft sounds of laughter and shouting drift through the woods from that direction and… I turn a hundred and eighty degrees to catch sight of another house through the woods not too far away. The sound of a conversation between several people comes from that direction as well.

“You have neighbors.” It’s not a question, not really. But were the occupants of those houses around when we arrived? Did they hear us as easily as I can hear them? If so, what did they learn?

“What? Oh, yeah.”

I turn my head to face Brock who is looking across the pond.

“There was something else I needed to talk to you about before we head back,” Brock admits as he looks back at me.

Of course there is. I wait expectantly. When I don’t press him, Brock grunts and says,

“The disruption that I told you all about in this realm, it’s really bad. Cataclysmic in fact. There are whispers of reapers going to the Realm of the Living and disappearing, parts of smaller realms on this side partially collapsing … These guys,” Brocks waves his hand towards both houses, “are my friends, and they’re reapers themselves. We have always looked out for one another. They came to me the first night I was away from you all and asked if I would come with them to search for a missing friend. We went topside—”

“Topside?”

Brock shakes his head, “Sorry, we went to the Realm of the Living, to where Remy was supposed to be. We didn’t find him, but while the others looked around, I found signs that Fulton was trying to recreate spells”

My stomach drops. “Shit, Willow said Fulton was looking into pulling her over into the Realm of the Living… That’s not possible, right?”

Brock’s brows rise in alarm before they come crashing back down and furrowing. “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. It shouldn’t be, but Willow’s entire existence is technically impossible, so who knows?” He pauses as he shakes his head in frustration. “When Jonah first arrived, he said something about you guys being cursed by a book of spells. This was important to the warlock, right?”

At my cautious nod, Brock continues, “I think he’s trying to rewrite that book from memory but is struggling. I saw half-written spells and curses laying all over the room he’s staying in. He’s looking for a way to harness the power in his realm, the Third Realm, and the Realm of the Dead again. I think Remy’s disappearance may be the start of him collecting Death Magic again. He could be using Remy and whatever other spirits he can find to try to bring Willow over.”

My blood runs cold at the reality of the situation. “There’s no other reason your friend would be missing? Could he be dead?”

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