Page 64 of Reaper's Quest

Even if she reacted to Winter in a manner I had not before witnessed.

Focus.My mental self-order echoed through my thoughts.The task.

Since we’d gotten off the train, I’d had nothing but one ugly question after another.

Why was the citadel magically fortified and trapped? Who smuggled one of the monster-morphed citizens to Ubel and why? What was Uncle Mortifier after? Why was Aoes still in the citadel if he was able to come and go as he pleased? What were the specters, and where did they come from? Why did they affect the people the way that they did, and how had Winter chased them away?

And now, who was the one hiding in the shadows, appearing to direct the zombified citizens in Raven’s direction? I might have already known the answer to that question if I hadn’t allowed them to escape when my attention had jumped to Raven upon her shriek and fall.

With a heavy sigh, I swallowed a too-big swig of ale and shifted my body away from Winter and Raven’s interaction.

I didn’t trust any of them. Not Aoes, definitely not Winter, and not even Raven…as a Gunn and a mess-up. A distraction in countless ways.

Still, I wanted to trust her on a level I couldn’t comprehend.

I studiedthe journal my mother had forced upon me at the train station as I consumed my supper in silence. Raven, Aoes, and Winter sat at a different table and conversed. They spoke about games and commonalities as if they were age-old friends.

The social interaction was the most I had witnessedRaven engage with the pair. They talked loudly and quickly and laughed often. And Winter found too many excuses to touch her, albeit lightly.

My glare tightened on each graze or nudge. Raven and Winter’s enjoyment, their friendliness, shouldn’t upset me, and yet heat fumed beneath my skin.

When they invited me to join in the dialog, I refused. My mind felt too heavy to partake in idle discussions. Plus, I might have punched Winter a second time.

Nevertheless, endless questions preoccupied me—those that had arisen since our arrival and the ones now spawned from the entries I’d read in the journal.

Countless entries filled the old journal, words scribbled by a family member I had never met. A Badden whose mother might have been a Gunn.

Oh, the scandal. Or, quite possibly, the source of the family feud.

But what did it mean for me, here and now? And why did my mother want me to know? Would any of the information help me sort out the secrets I suspected—no, knew—Ubel kept?

“Let me show you.” Winter’s words tugged my thoughts back to a position of observation.

Winter took Raven’s uninjured hand and opened her palm flat in his own.

He dipped his head a tad too close into her personal space with a smile as sugary as honey. “I’ve only seen this done a few times, so please don’t judge me too closely.”

Winter’s smile sickened me. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

With a finger, the jerk slowly traced a long crease across her palm. “This is your lifeline.”

She shivered.

And my hand curled into a fist.

Winter moved slower than necessary, and I was no fool to what the scum was doing. If I were interested in her, I might have done the same.

But Raven was my coworker, and I needed her head in the task for this curse of a reap. And Winter… Well, he had become a concern with or without his flirtations.

Reaping hell, I reveled in the feeling of my fist connecting with his face.

“So very long.” Winter continued to run the tip of his finger along the line of Raven’s palm. “You just might live forever.”

His eyes shimmered with mischievous laughter, and Raven chortled.

The direction of his finger shifted. “And this…”

I raised my eyebrow and waited for his next words.