Page 43 of Reaper's Quest

(Three minutes earlier)

Aldine stood motionless as the silhouetted figures approached.

Move, you idiot.

The muscles in my legs ached from the strain I thrust upon them.Run faster.I needed to move quicker and get to Aldine.

Everything had happened too rapidly. Only moments ago, I’d stared at the name cutting into my arm with the sting of a cigarette to skin. The burn had tugged me toward the shadows lining the building at my side, the call beckoning me like a siren’s song.

I wanted to go. Needed to go.

But…

Raven marched in the opposite direction, Aldine in yetanother.

My gut churned with unease. Something pulled at us, attempting to separate us, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.

When the front doors to the church up the street had flown open, Aldine and the two people he followed froze. A billowing of black smoke had curled and fallen in wispy tumbles out the open doorway. And I… I’d kicked into a wicked sprint up the street, heading for Aldine and the danger taking shape.

From within the inky smoke exiting the building, creatures of black emerged. The woman screamed and fell to the ground, the darkness descending upon her. Her companion dashed away, another creature in tow.

And Aldine just stood there.

Move!

Could these shadowy specters have the same effect on reaper-kind? I really didn’t want to find out.

Three specters edged toward Aldine—and me—as I skidded to a stop at Aldine’s side and grabbed his arm. My elder turned his glazed eyes toward me while tiny pearls of sweat trickled down the side of his face.

Crap.

Steeling my nerves, I shook Aldine, lightly at first, then violently.

The shadowy specters slunk toward us. And even though the creatures moved at a slow pace, as if stalking and assessing their prey, Aldine remained immobile, trapped in a trance, making no effort to run or defend himself.

I clearly stared at the answer to my question. The one I had not wanted to know regarding reaper susceptibility.

I glanced down the street to Raven. She ran away, threespecters in chase. I called after her, but she kept moving. An odd sensation that I had failed to act on something imperative dropped in my gut, only…

I released a tight breath through my clenched teeth.

I couldn’t help Raven if she continued moving out of reach. I’d hoped she’d show more backbone, yet I couldn’t blame her for running. If Aldine hadn’t fallen into an unmoving state, spelled as he appeared, I might have done the same.

Might. Although, not likely.

Every pull and tug on Aldine’s arm had no effect. The old reaper didn’t move, as if stone encased his feet.

“Aldine. Please.” I might as well have been talking to myself for all the response I got…or didn’t get.

Specters surrounded us, their gassy forms engulfing our bodies. Tendrils of smoke slipped into my mouth and down my throat.

The choking. The struggle for breath. I fought the desire to tear open my own trachea. Blinking against the sensation, I ignited the reaper within me. But the reaper refused to wake.

I released my hold on Aldine and dropped to my knees.

My eyes burned for all the wrong reasons. They should burn with the fires of everlasting transition—the gateway for souls to the beyond. Not sting with frustration and defeat.

The time had not yet come to concede to such a thought, and yet…