Page 27 of Shadows and Vines

“Not the first to tell me that, not the last. Now, if you’re done crying, we can figure out how

to train you to be the second-best Reaper who ever lived.”

Shaking his head, Devon knew it was useless to argue with the deranged man.

“Fine.” Devon threw up his hands. “Let’s start. You’ve already ruined my day and it’s only begun.”

“That’s the spirit!” Thanatos stopped moving around like a boxer and stepped forward to

where he was face to face with Devon, a few inches apart. “What do you feel?”

“Awkward and homicidal. Back up a step, would you?”

“Perfect. You are uncomfortable with my closeness. Do you fear me?” Devon kept an eye on him as Thanatos walked around him, sizing him up. “Not anymore. I did, but now I just find you incredibly annoying.”

Before Devon could see Thanatos move, he felt the pain of Thanatos’ fist hitting his jaw. It was hard enough to knock Devon back several steps, and he was only just able to keep himself from falling.

“Change.” Thanatos demanded, his voice no longer joking.

“You psychopath! Why would you do that? Change what?” Devon asked, bewildered and angry. He held his jaw as Thanatos squinted his eyes. Devon felt some kind of force pulling at him, like Thanatos was inside his chest and moving his organs around. If Thanatos wasn’t standing right across from him with his arms crossed, Devon might have thought the Reaper was trying to rip his heart out.

“I am trying to pull at your Reaper powers, to help you take on your Reaper persona. You need to be in Reaper form in the beginning to feel the souls before you acclimate and are able to sense them in any form.”

Devon felt the pull again, stronger, almost painful now. It was beginning to overshadow the pain in his jaw.

“Stop…” Devon muttered through clenched teeth, closing his eyes as he tried to focus on

something else.

“No, your magic is stubborn like you. I have no idea why…”

The pain was intense and now he was sure Thanatos was trying to kill him.

“I can hit you again if that will provoke you to change or I can continue pulling your magic with mine. It gets a lot worse, believe me…”

Devon felt something in him snap, like a rubber band breaking and the tension was gone.

His eyes flew open, and he looked to see Thanatos, standing back up from being knocked down, and dusting himself off.

“Ah, there you go,” Thanatos replied, his smile that of a shark scenting blood.

***

After a day of training with Thanatos, Devon was in need of a strong drink.

He raised his hand to grab the attention of a nearby Reevka, who appeared in solid form as an older, gentlemanly butler.

He realized he didn’t know if it was actually appropriate to call them Reevka or not. If there even was a politically correct way to address them.

Lowering his hand, he watched as the Reevka caught the movement and made his way to Devon, thankfully not turning into a moving shadow.

“What can I do for you, my Lord?” the Reevka asked in a polite and proper accent.

“It’s Devon,” he stressed, a bit firmer than he had meant to be. The Reevka raised his eyebrow in question. “My name is Devon. I am not a Lord. Sorry, that was probably rude. I just really need a drink and absolutely no additional information or weird things to happen as I walk to my room.”

Devon was blabbering like an idiot, his mouth running away as his brain was far too tired and overwhelmed to rally his systems back under his control.

“Any preference, sir?” the Reevka asked, his lips upturning slightly before he settled his face

---