Page 6 of Haunted Hearts

“Willow is attached to the trunk of the tree on the other side,” Jonah explains. “And not only do we have theUtikyieto contend with, there are—”

Demons approaching, Death hisses angrily from behind us.

“We were just discussing how we were going to save Willow when you showed up, sir,” the reaper, Brock, states.

You won’t get anywhere with theUtikyieguarding her.Death pauses.It will take all my attention and power to wrangle them up, break whatever spell is over them, and get them back to where they belong. You five will have to take care of the mage, demons, and kill Willow.

Death might as well have sucker punched me.

“Excuse me?” Theo whirls around to face her father as Viktor swears violently.

I’m slower to turn, as surprise causes my movements to be stiff and jerky.

Thisabomination, Death waves his hand towards the tree.Is a product of the Realm of the Living and of the Realm of the Dead. It is surviving because Willow is alive. The tree will drain her of life to feed itself, then replenish her life when she absolutely needs it. The Realm of the Dead is trying to do its job but can’t, not with the type of magic this warlock has infused into this thing. It doesn’t help that the Death Magic Willow possesses would naturally protect her from this Realm’s ability to kill her too.

“In other words, she’s dying, but won’t ever truly die.” Brock shakes his head, his nostrils flaring and his jaw clenching.

It is a fate worse than anything you can imagine.Death shudders.Kill her and set her soul free.

I stare at Death, frozen in horror.

“It will be done,” The reaper vows.

“There’snoother way?” I ask, my entire being shying away from the idea of taking Willow’s life.

Jonah shuffles around nervously, clearly just as uncomfortable with the idea as I am. “What if we return her to the Realm of the Living after—”

“We’re dead, Jonah,” Viktor snaps sharply. “If she returns, she will die without us anyway.”

“Like Brock said, one of us will do it.” Theodon’s voice is strained, and when I meet his gaze, I see the pain there. “But it will not be me. I’ve already plunged a dagger into her once. I can’t do it again.”

Figure it out when you get to her. There’s no more time to waste,Death steps around us as the ground vibrates.

The sound of demons approaching grows louder.

Instinctually, my hand goes to my hip where my sword is typically kept. To my surprise, it’s still there. Looking down, I realize that everything I’d been wearing before I died is still on me. Good. That means my dagger is still in my boot in case I need it.

Death steps back, away from us.I’ll take care of theUtikyie. The minute they’re gone, go get my daughter. While you handle the other obstacles, don’t let your souls get destroyed. There is nothing after this.

With that, Willow’s father vanishes right before our eyes.

Wasting no time, I pull my sword from its sheath and turn to Theodon and Viktor who do the same. At the same time Brock’s scythe returns to his hand.

“We’re going to have to find a weapon for me at some point. Preferably a gun,” Jonah says, eyeing the sword in my hand.

“You have horns, use them,” I turn to Theodon. “What’s the plan?”

Theo looks to me, then at the others, before looking back at the tree where Willow is being kept.

“Fulton needs Willow forsomething. Whatever he is doing, he clearly needs her alive or he would have killed her by now.”

I already see where this is going and I hate it, “You think we should make killing Willow the priority.”

“Good plan.” Brock moves closer to us. Judging by the hard look in his eyes as they roam over the three of us, I have a feeling our presence isn’t all that welcomed. “According to Jonah here, these demons are part of Willow’s curse, right? If we kill her, they may back off, too. Our target won’t be Fulton or the demons, it will be Willow. The faster we remove her from the equation, the quicker all the threats to her will be vanquished.”

Theo nods his agreement.

“Who’s going to be the one to do it?” Viktor’s voice trembles as his jaw clenches.

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