Page 82 of Virgin Lust

The air whistled in my ear, and then I collided into a part of the ruined museum. The weakened structure collapsed as I crashed through it. Bricks fell on my legs. The agony made my vision spin, but when I tried to scream it got lodged in my throat. Holy—I sucked in a breath. Or tried to.No.I couldn’t. Intense pain ripped through my chest and ribs with each inhalation.I can’t do it. My head throbbed with the shallow breaths. The smoke, my broken ribs, the end—nothingwas in my favor. Panic swelled inside me, threatening to swallow me belly first.

If I died there,there would be no coming back to life. Tears spilled down my cheeks.

Dirk slapped me and shouted, “Exhale.”

Holy fuck!When I did, intense pain sliced up my ribs and back. Something was definitely broken. I gripped my side.

In that moment, I had an idea what made everything so scary. Although I’d experienced death hundreds of times over in my life, I’d never endured it as a mortal. To be human was a terrifying thing. No wonder we were tasked to protect mankind from the Devil and his demons. They only had one life to live. One life to fall in love. No wonder saying goodbye was so hard for them. The thought of leaving this world forever—losing Shepherd forever… I couldn’t die here.Just a little longer…All Joy and I had to do was survive Derrick’s assault until our powers returned.

Nothing was that easy, though.

With a painful scream, I pushed the fallen bricks off of my legs.

“Prudence!” Joy screamed as she approached.

“Don’t move,” Derrick said, and she stopped.

Get up.

Get up!

Closing my eyes, I placed my palms on the ground and rose. I coughed more, my lungs filling with smoke with every inhale.Everything hurts.But I was a Reaper, my father’s daughter, and Joy needed me. My sweet, gullible sister needed me. So I bit my bottom lip to keep from whimpering.

“My lady.” Dirk’s voice trembled.

“I’m fine,” I exhaled slowly.

“I may be a powerful proxy, but I’m not immortal like you and your family. I have to be careful with my life since I only get one, unlikeyou,” Derrick said. He was speaking to Joy.

Without my powers, I couldn’t see through the wafting smoke. But I had to move. Blinking my eyes, I stepped forward as the pain zigzagged up my ribs.

Derrick continued, “I had to choose the perfect opportunity to take one of you.”

So he’d been around Joy the entire time,waiting.Gritting my teeth, I staggered forward while holding my side. I didn’t know what I should do, but I had to divert his attention away from Joy.

“Leave her alone!” I yelled.

“Don’t come any closer, Prudence,” Joy shouted. “He doesn’t want you.”

“Joy!” I wiggled my fingers. Why hadn’t our powers returned? They’d never been gone for so long.

“Are you a Harvester?” Joy asked.

I wished I could see them. I wiped my eyes to no avail.

“He has someone that belongs to me, and I need your brother to die so I can have her completely.”What?Why did Derrick want one of our brothers dead? “With your powers fading, I now know it’s possible to kill a Reaper.”

Oh, no. I didnotlike the sound of that. We couldn’t let Derrick tell Harvest about our powers!

“My lady.” Dirk tugged at my pants. “Behind you.”

I heard the moaning first. The hairs on my arms stood on end as I turned. The groans grew louder. Rubbing my eyes didn’t help my blurred vision. Something dragged across the ground, the scrape of rocks and debris intensified. The thuds and gurgle kept increasing like there were hundreds of them moving closer. Bile rose in my throat.Just what the hell was coming?How did Joy remain unaffected?

“You can’t see, but youmusthide.” Dirk urged me forward.

I stumbled as I let him pull me forward several steps.

“Those abominations are coming for you.”

---