Page 44 of Reaper's Quest

I pressed my palms to the ground.

Breathe, I commanded myself.Breathe.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a white-haired, pale-skinned male?appearing more phantom than physical?cutthrough the creatures, dispersing their misty makeup like a gust of wind through a cloud of smog.

The guy smiled at me as he passed, while doing nothing to fight the creatures. The specters merely shrank from his presence. No clicking and clucking—they simply vanished into the cold cobblestone of the street.

And the pasty male kept on moving, right past me, Aldine, and the female zombie. He headed down the street, straight for Raven.

Whatever sent black shadows of the night skittering away with nothing more than their presence… Well, that kind ofthingfell into the” shifty” category.

My nostrils flared, and I glowered at the guy’s retreating form. The gritty texture that coated my throat strangled my attempt at a warning call to Raven.

Aldine coughed and coughed. He, too, had dropped to his knees, and he no longer appeared trapped in a transfixed state.

“Are you all right?” My throat felt raspy and sore, and my voice slipped forth as hardly audible.

I balanced myself and my elder against the hard ground.

Aldine nodded and rubbed his throat. Taking him at his word, I snapped my attention back to Raven and the male making his way in her direction. The white-haired stranger walked, ran, then disappeared into the nooks and shadows lining the buildings.

Maybe he chased after Raven, or maybe his direction remained nothing more than a coincidence. Either way, our team needed every available reaper on this task, and I couldn’t afford to lose her.

At least, that’s what I told myself was the reasoning behind any concern cracking my chest.

For a moment…the tiniest sliver of time…I sat beside Raven in the lecture hall, a prickling heat washing over me when my arm pressed against hers. The memory came and went like a blip, vanishing as quickly as it had awoken.

I dipped my head to Aldine’s ear. “Forget the reaps for now. Head back to the pub. Raven and I will be right behind you.”

I patted his shoulder then, fighting against the burn in my body, pushed to my feet. Swallowing hard, I soothed the scratch of my throat, if only for a second, and belted Raven’s name.

The three-wide specter wall of dark smoke obscured her form, revealing only a faint outline of her back and swinging ponytail.

Her run faltered.

If she slowed, those things would catch her. Then do to her what they’d done to me.

I lurched forward, preparing to break into a sprint. I’d never reach her in time. Raven was a goner. But I needed to try.

Behind me, Aldine cried out.

I froze.

Raven. And now Aldine. Hadn’t Ijusttold the older reaper to head back to the pub?

Must I be the only one thinking clearly?

I had less than a second to weigh my options. Zero chance existed of getting to Raven in time, but Aldine kneeled mere feet away. No matter how much the decisioncut through my chest, the choice became beyond obvious. Even if it made my blood curdle.

I spun toward Aldine, and my muscles tensed. Instead of making his way toward the pub, Aldine stood in front of the zombie woman, his palms pressed to the side of her head. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his body shook.

“What are you doing?” Dashing forward, I yanked Aldine’s hands away from the woman.

She remained unchanged.

Aldine stammered, “I tried…I tried…”

“What? What were you trying to do?” I glanced past him down the street toward Raven.