Page 16 of Haunted Hearts

“When spirits linger in the Realm of the Living, they are trapped in the moment of their death. They don’t move forward. Here, your spirit is free,” Brock’s gaze flickers up to my horns. “As for your current appearance, your spirit takes on the form that you liked yourself the most in. It’s not a conscious thing, more like a deeply rooted subconscious desire to be that version of yourself again.”

Kwil stops his pacing by the small kitchen table to look at the reaper, his brows drawn together in confusion.

“That can’t be right, I never wanted to be likethis.”

This, as in a monster. He emphasizes his point by waving a hand across his face. My tail twitches and rises again, this time to touch my horns. Did I like being stuck like this half-Shadebroode thing?

Brock shrugs, “It’s not about how youlooked.It’s how you felt. You must have liked the person you were while you were in this form.”

Ah, that makes sense. My tail drops down to my collar again as my lips stretch into a smile. The last month of my life had been filled with happiness and I’d been proud of being someone another could count on. Kwil opens his mouth to argue, but suddenly his face lights up with surprise and his mouth shuts. I don’t miss the way his eyes flicker towards the bedroom door.

“Trust me, I am not wrong. I’ve been doing this for well over eight hundred years,” Brock continues after a moment. “You won’t age or change in the Realm of the Dead. Your soul is permanently fixed like this… for most spirits at least. It’s different if an infant or child comes to the Realm of the Dead. Their souls are still so full of life that they get to grow up to a point.”

Some part of whatever Brock has said captures Theodon and Viktor’s attention. Both have been gravely silent, lost in their own thoughts as they digest everything we’ve been told. Viktor leans forward, propping his forearms on his legs as his pupils narrow on the reaper.

“Make sure you tell Willow how old you are, you’ll enjoy her response,” he says, a hint of a smile pulling at his mouth.

Before Brock can respond, Theodon cuts in with a thoughtful frown.

“Well, you haven’t been reaping thiswholetime. From what Death told us, for the last half a decade, neither spirit nor reaper has been able to cross over to the Realm of the Living. That’s why Willow’s been sending over souls en masse, because you guys haven’t been able to come to our realm.”

Brock gives him a sharp nod.

“We haven’t been able to get intoanyrealm, not just yours.” Brock corrects with a heavy frown. He looks over to the bedroom door, his expression shifting to wonder. “I wonder, with Willow here now, if she could do something about that. Death’s been busy trying to keep the Realm of the Dead balanced, so maybe she could help him out.”

I lean back on the couch and reach up to rub my throbbing temples.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could,” I tell him. “We’ve seen Willow do some pretty cool things. What happened earlier, was a whole new level of Willow that none of us have seen.”

Brock snorts.

“Yeah, well, she’s not a spirit. Not like you guys anyway. I doubt, with Death being her father, she’ll ever have a limit to what she can do.” He shakes his head, a fond smile appearing. “I figured she was special, what with her having the ability to open the Veil without the help of a scythe. I just never could have guessedwhatmade her so special.”

Yeah, it was a surprise to us too, finding out the woman that we were bound to had some extra abilities. I open my mouth to tell Brock this, but Theodon rises from his chair.

“What does Death being her father have to do with Willow and her abilities?” Theodon asks.

Brock’s smile fades as he regards Theodon. Though there is nothing hostile about the way the two of them stare at one another, the tension in the room shifts, thickening. Kwil and Viktor notice it too. Causally, Kwil moves just a little closer to the group as he starts pacing. Viktor’s body tenses beside me.

What is with all this posturing? Is it because they see him as some sort of threat to Willow? Jeez, having someone else onboard who knows the Realm of the Dead seems to be the best possible scenario. I don’t mind sharing Willow with her new mate, he seems decent enough.

“Death isn’t a spirit. He never was. No one knows what he is or how he came to be, but rumor has it he’s as old as time and more powerful than anyone that has ever actually lived.” Brock looks away from Theodon to look around at us. “Willow may have lived at one point, but she’s not a typical spirit. Whatever her dad is, she is too. I don’t think that even with a human mother, she’ll have many limitations.”

Theo frowns. “Then there’s no need to worry about threats in this realm coming after her, not if she can defeat them.”

Brock shakes his head quickly. “Oh, no, just the opposite. There are beings here that are nearly as old as Death who seek ways to take him down and run this realm like he does. If they get a hold of Willow… it’ll be bad for all of us.”

I throw my hands up in frustration,

“Now I have evenmorequestions!” I lean back against the couch cushion and scowl. “What are we missing that we should know about Death?”

Brock sighs, “I honestly don’t know too much about him. Reapers work for him, but we’re so far under his radar, since he has others running the day-to-day things in this realm, that we don’t see him. Last night was the first time I’ve actually been in his presence. I don’t think anyone knows much about him really.” He pauses. “Willow hasn’t told you anything about him?”

I open my mouth again, ready to tell Brock all we know but Theo gives me a warning glance that shuts me up. Turning back to Brock, he says, “She mentioned that she didn’t know much either. That her fathercouldn’ttell her things while she was alive.”

Brock looks between me and Theo. I nod, not sure what else to do. It’s not a lie. We really don’t know much. But we do know that Willow is expected to have some sort of a job now that she’s here. Is that what Theo wants to keep from Brock?

My stomach growls loudly. Patting my belly, I groan, “Do you have any food around here because I’m—”

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